Kellie Bright’s Battle for Autism Support: EHCP Reform Fears

Kellie Bright’s Personal Fight for Her Son’s Education

For many, Kellie Bright is best known as Linda Carter from the long-running British soap EastEnders. But away from the cameras, her most challenging role has been as a mother fighting for her son’s right to a suitable education. Her 12-year-old son, Freddie, is diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia—a combination that makes mainstream schooling especially challenging without additional support. Bright’s journey to secure an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) for Freddie highlights not just a bureaucratic ordeal, but the emotional toll such battles exact on families across England.

EHCPs: A Lifeline Under Threat

EHCPs are legal documents that guarantee tailored support and funding for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in schools. For families like Bright’s, these plans are more than paperwork—they are lifelines. Yet, the UK government is considering reforms that could phase out the current EHCP system, citing concerns about financial sustainability and rising demand. The National Audit Office recently described the system as “financially unsustainable,” with the number of pupils holding EHCPs nearly doubling over the past decade.

Bright fears these changes could be disastrous for families: “Families are exhausted, they are absolutely on their knees,” she told iNews. “The last thing they need is to think any tiny bit of power they had is lost by ending EHCPs.” She warns that removing the legal guarantee of support would pull the rug from under families who have fought hard for these provisions.

The Human Cost of a “Broken System”

Bright’s own experience was far from straightforward. She describes an “extremely frustrating process that leaves you feeling angry, like no one’s listening.” After eight months of paperwork and submitting 21 pieces of evidence, her son was initially denied even an assessment. Only after threatening legal action did Freddie receive the support he needed to transition from primary to mainstream secondary school.

This struggle is not unique. In her recent BBC Panorama documentary, “Autism, School and Families on the Edge,” Bright meets families who have been pushed to the brink. One mother, Tunde, had to leave her job as a midwife to navigate the labyrinthine EHCP process for her son, who has been out of school for a year. Another family, the parents of Charis, spent two years fighting for an EHCP only to find that the plan would force their daughter back into a mainstream environment she could no longer cope with. Desperate, they turned to homeschooling and paid for an expensive advocate to take the council to tribunal.

“The absolute amount of time and energy that it takes to move anything forward, even in the smallest way, is so consuming – it really does take over your whole life,” Bright said. For many, the process is so draining that it feels like there is no way out. The uncertainty created by government reform proposals only adds to the anxiety.

Why Reform Now? The Financial and Political Backdrop

The surge in EHCP demand is tied to a broader rise in autism and ADHD diagnoses. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, if the current trajectory continues, the annual cost of SEND support could rise from £17 billion to £22 billion by 2029. The government argues that the system in its current form is unsustainable and that more SEND units should be embedded in mainstream schools, led by specialist teachers.

However, critics—including many parents and some backbench Labour MPs—warn that simply shifting the burden onto mainstream schools without increasing resources or specialist skills will worsen outcomes. For children with the most complex needs, mainstream schools often cannot provide the necessary support, making EHCPs essential for securing places in specialist settings.

“Everyone I spoke to for the Panorama – teachers, parents, politicians, local authorities – agrees the system is broken and needs reform,” Bright acknowledged. “But in my opinion it would be a disaster to just load the burden on teachers without giving them the specialist skills and resources they need.”

What’s Next for Families?

The government maintains that there will always be a legal right to additional support, and it has pledged £740 million to create more specialist school places and embed SEND leads in family hubs across the country. But for families who have spent years fighting for EHCPs, the prospect of losing a hard-won safety net is deeply unsettling.

Bright’s Panorama documentary, airing on BBC One, offers a window into the lived reality of these families. It asks: If not EHCPs, what concrete support will replace them? How will the new system ensure that no child slips through the cracks? These are questions that remain unanswered—and for now, the anxiety is palpable.

The stakes are high. One in twenty pupils in England now has an EHCP. For these children and their families, the outcome of this policy debate will shape not just their educational opportunities, but the trajectory of their lives.

Assessment: Kellie Bright’s story is not just about one mother’s determination, but about a system at a crossroads. The government faces a difficult balancing act: making support sustainable without sacrificing the legal guarantees that vulnerable children and their families depend on. The real measure of reform will be whether it eases the exhausting battles that define so many SEND experiences—or simply raises new barriers in a system already stretched to its limits.