Parents and campaigners across Solihull have expressed anger and frustration after a Conservative councillor described parent deputations to Solihull Council as “grandstanding.”
At a meeting of the Children’s Services and Education Scrutiny Board last Thursday, Cllr Richard Holt (Con, Blythe) said:
“We hear a lot of bad news and there’s a lot of grandstanding by opposition councillors who bring parents to the full council to give individual complaints about what happens, and we don’t hear about the good news.”
His comments were met with immediate concern. Chairing the meeting, Cllr Samantha Gethen responded:
“Councillor Holt, can I just say that I’m really disappointed that you feel that parents coming to give their experiences you see as grandstanding. I don’t like that comment at all.”
Cllr Holt continued his point, suggesting the council often hears only the negative, and that more balance is needed in how children’s services are discussed. However, many parents who have spoken at Full Council and scrutiny meetings say they feel dismissed and disrespected by his remarks.
On social media, parents who have made deputations — often sharing deeply personal stories of navigating SEND support or social care — said they were hurt by the language used.
One parent wrote:
“We have no choice but to do deputations to the council — it’s the only way our voices are heard.”
Another added:
“Cllr Holt has no idea the trauma families go through. Standing up and speaking is hard enough. To call it ‘grandstanding’ is beyond insulting.”
The moment has reignited wider criticism of how the council engages with families of children with special educational needs and those involved with social services. Several parents cited past experiences of feeling “ignored” or “shut out” of decision-making — and said that public deputations were often their last resort.
Cllr Ade Adeyemo, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and an observer at the meeting, said:
“Parents who come to Council are usually doing so after years of struggle. To describe that as grandstanding is deeply unhelpful.”
Praise was directed at Cllr Gethen for challenging the remarks in the moment. Some parents pointed to her decision — along with Cllrs Michael Gough and Alan Feeney — to leave the Conservative Party earlier this year and form the Solihull Independents, suggesting the party had grown increasingly “out of touch.”
Ongoing concern over children’s services
The controversy comes against the backdrop of years of scrutiny into Solihull’s children’s services, following the tragic murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in 2020 and subsequent inspection findings that revealed systemic weaknesses.
In 2022, a joint inspectorate review found under-staffing in key safeguarding roles, with children left at unassessed risk. An improvement notice was issued by the Department for Education, but progress has remained patchy. The council’s first in-house children’s home opened in 2024 but received an “inadequate” Ofsted rating just months later, with leadership, care quality and child protection all falling short.
The most recent inspection in April 2025 found some improvements but concluded the home “needs improvement to be good.”