Now, Katie Price has been forced to issue a statement after admitting that her son Harvey’s £1000-a-day care is funded by the Government.
The former glamour model incurred the wrath of Katie Hopkins on last night’s show after revealing that money for Harvey’s driver, who takes him to school every day, as well as the nurse who sits with him on the journey, comes from the taxpayer.
Katie Hopkins, who previously criticised mum-of-five Katie, took her to task over the admission, asking why she doesn’t pay for his treatment herself, out of her £40 million fortune.
In a statement released this evening, the 36-year-old’s representatives said:
“Harvey’s school placement was assessed and agreed by the Local authority. When this was done transport costs were included in the calculation.
This was done because Harvey has a Statement of Special Educational Needs because of his disabilities. Within this Statement it includes the name of the school Harvey must attend.
Where any child that is placed in school out of the immediate home area it is the Local Authorities DUTY to provide transport that meets the child's needs. This is common practice for all disabled children as there are not enough suitable schools available to them.
The cost of the school placement together with transport is not means tested as it is provided for the child. Local Authorities do not have special needs schools locally as these have been closed during the last 15 years as it was deemed a cheaper option to transport children out of borough. If Harveys school was on his doorstep as with schools for healthy children then this would not apply but it was the Governments choice to close the special needs schools.
The education law states that the local authority must provide transport to and from the school that is named in the statement. This must be appropriate to the child’s needs and include the provision of an escort (in Harvey’s case a nurse) who is trained to cope with the child’s medical needs.
The escort (nurse) is because Harvey’s condition is life threatening and has to have someone capable of giving emergency injections to save his life.
Kate's calculation of £1000 per day is based on hiring her private driver and a private nurse, to drive to and from her home to Harvey’s school twice a day (which is 1.5 hrs drive each way). This is not the sum that local authority pays.”
Katie’s comments from last night prompted an angry response from Twitter users, with many siding with Katie Hopkins in the argument.
