Katie Price has been left heartbroken after her local authority refused to fund her son Harvey’s care, stating that he has “no healthcare issues.” This decision comes just months after she was forced to withdraw him from a £350,000-a-year college due to her bankruptcy.
The former glamour model, 46, revealed that an assessor concluded her 22-year-old son “only needs social care.” Harvey, who is blind, and autistic, has septo-optic dysplasia and a learning disability, is one of 2,000 people in the UK with Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder.
Harvey is currently supported at the residential National Star College in Gloucester. However, Katie announced in March that she would have to pull him out because “West Sussex Council wouldn’t fund him” at a college far from her home.
Price has spoken publicly about her struggles to secure funding for Harvey’s college education while dealing with substantial tax debts. She now fears that her son will be moved into social care and is working to find a place for him closer to her new home in Sussex after being evicted from her £2 million mansion.
In a recent update on her podcast, “The Katie Price Show,” she said: “The socials came back yesterday, the people who do the funding, and they believe by seeing Harvey that he has no healthcare issues. They think he only needs social care. They want him to live in a social care place.
The former glamour model, 46, spoke of her dismay as she claimed authorities had refused funding for the 22-year-old, believing he has “no healthcare issues, only social care.”
Katie explained that Harvey’s doctors and social worker are encouraging her to appeal the decision. She detailed his medical conditions, including cortisol deficiency, which requires medication to keep him alive and could lead to an adrenaline crisis at any time.
“So now obviously the doctors and all that are good with me. He has a passport for the hospital, he’s on medicine to keep him alive, he’s cortisol deficient so can go into adrenaline crisis at any time,” she said. If he’s ill, he ends up in hospital. What are they on about? Anyone out there, if you’re in a situation like me, like everyone knows Harvey has healthcare issues, it’s been documented and I’ve done documentaries on it, but they just think it’s behaviour.
Katie was Harvey’s primary caregiver until he turned 19. Since 2021, he has lived independently at the specialist further education institute National Star College in Gloucestershire. For Harvey to attend the residential college, funding from the local authority is essential, covering costs up to £350,000 a year.
In March, Katie revealed the struggle to secure funding: “We were looking for him to stay at his college another year or if not a placement, but [the local authority] haven’t accepted it. They’ve given me three months that he has to find somewhere else by July. With someone like Harvey, you need the transitional move, you need to do it slow.”
Katie filmed Harvey’s move into the college as part of the BBC documentary “Katie Price: Harvey and Me,” showcasing the highs and lows as Harvey adjusted to living without his mother for the first time.
Last month, Katie’s £2million home was repossessed by court bailiffs. Despite the eviction, Katie insists she has “sorted” her financial issues after being declared bankrupt for a second time and has since moved into a smaller, rented home in Sussex.
Last month, Katie’s £2million home was repossessed by court bailiffs. The former glamour model, 46, was served an eviction notice for her mansion two months ago.
In July 2023, Harvey set a Guinness World Record for the longest drawing of a train, achieving a 21.3-meter-long picture of his favourite train, a Thameslink engine and carriages. This record was part of the Guinness World Records impairments initiative, developed alongside Mencap.
