We Account – My MP
We Account – My MP
I am being ignored by people earning £90,000+ a year.
One of them is paid £173,000.
For five years, the data has shown a worsening crisis.
And yet—
we get silence.
Due to serious concerns in my own family—and after a heartbreaking failure to secure any meaningful intervention or oversight for a child at risk—I realised that if I wanted answers, I’d need to go directly to the source. So I submitted a Freedom of Information request to my local council, asking for the hard data.
To my surprise, my MP initially supported the inquiry. But once the figures came in—and the scale of neglect became undeniable—he fell completely silent. Despite multiple follow-ups and increasingly urgent concerns, he has failed to respond. It now appears he is deliberately ignoring me.
And I need to ask: If even one child was being failed this badly, shouldn’t that be enough to warrant a response?
[This is the FOI request I sent initially]
Subject: Oversight of Children Missing from Education (CME) and Home-Educated Children
Dear FOI Officer,
Please find below a formal Freedom of Information request concerning oversight of children missing from education and home education provisions within Harlow.
This issue is of deep personal importance, and I believe the information requested may reflect broader concerns shared by many residents. I hope you will take this request with the seriousness it deserves.
Fri, Mar 28, 1:02 PM
Response from MP's office:
Thank you for copying Chris into your email containing an FOI on CMEs and Home Education in Harlow, a very important issue that Chris takes very seriously. As you mention, Chris is a former teacher, and so understands this firsthand.
Fri, Apr 11, 5:40 PM
Follow-up from caseworker:
Good afternoon,
Just checking in to see if ECC have responded to your FOI yet?
[At this point I had not received a response to my FOI and the 20 working day deadline had passed]
Fri, Apr 25
Email to MP:
Dear Chris,
Apologies for reaching out again, but it seems you remain the only point of contact through which I’ve been able to get a response from the FOI department. I hope you understand the need for this follow-up, and I appreciate any support in ensuring the appropriate team responds accordingly.
Warm regards,
Wed, Mar 19, 11:01 AM
Caseworker response:
Dear,
Thank you for copying Chris in to your email to Harlow Council.
Did you receive a response to this? If not, we will write to Harlow Council today.
Kind regards,
Ione Hepworth
Senior Caseworker to Chris Vince MP
Wed, Mar 19, 11:19 AM
Reply to caseworker:
Hello Ione,
Thank you for the swift response! My request was made on the 4th of Feb, the first response I received was acknowledgement that my FOI Request had been sent to the relevant department and I was given a reference number (This response arrived into my email account on the 5th of Feb).
I contacted them on the 4th of March (A month after my initial request) asking where the response was and on the 6th I got a response saying they'd look into it.
Again, I waited until you received my most recent email. (Around 2 weeks).
I really appreciate your time,
Best regards,
[At this point my FOI request came back regarding CME/EHE children in Harlow. I discovered 40 children are missing, one for as long as 390 days.]
Mon, May 5 — Subject: Urgent Safeguarding Inquiry — CME Oversight & Escalation
To: Ms. Lincoln
I hope this message finds you well.
I am writing to confirm whether you are currently serving as the Executive Director for Children, Families & Education at Essex County Council, as listed on public records.
If so, I’d like to raise urgent concerns regarding the Council’s handling of Children Missing from Education (CME), particularly in light of an incomplete FOI response (ECC18213227) and my subsequent escalation to the ICO.
Given the scale of the issue — over 100,000 children nationally, and 40 unaccounted-for children in Harlow alone — I believe this now warrants direct oversight from your office.
I have created a public petition calling for enhanced safeguarding and oversight mechanisms, including:
Petition:
https://chng.it/DZLN8hxY69
I will also be publishing further information via my public platform and continuing community outreach within the Harlow area.
If you are not the correct contact for CME oversight, I would be grateful if you could confirm who currently holds that responsibility at a senior level. It is vital that these concerns reach the appropriate office without delay, given the scale of risk involved.
For reference, I’ve attached Essex County Council’s FOI response to my original request, along with my second FOI request, which I submitted today.
Thank you for your time,
CC: Chris Vince (MP), Christine Howard (Harlow Safeguarding)
For transparency, I’ve copied in my MP, Chris Vince, as this issue falls within the scope of both local and national safeguarding oversight, and sits under his elected responsibility. I’ve also copied in Christine Howard, as a local safeguarding lead within Harlow Borough Council, given the direct relevance to our area and the vulnerable children affected.
[No response received]
Despite being copied into multiple emails—including my original FOI, the legal escalation, and even my urgent safeguarding petition—my MP has not replied. Not once.
When I raised concerns about 40 children missing from education—some for over a year—I hoped he’d act. After all, he’s a former teacher. Instead? Silence.
I even forwarded the follow-up FOI—where I explicitly challenged the council’s data handling. Still nothing.
I don’t expect miracles. But I expect a response. I’ve done more to investigate this crisis than most officials on payroll. And I’m unpaid, unwell, and doing this alone. That silence? It says everything.
[At this point I sent my urgent message to my MP and Ms Lincoln]
Dear FOI Officer,
Thank you for your response under reference RFI712873804.
I must admit, the information provided has left me extremely concerned.
According to your own statements:
This isn’t just underfunding. It’s a budget line that rounds to zero in real-world terms.
While Essex County Council may hold primary responsibility for educational provision, Harlow Council remains the first point of contact for many families—and the only authority with local visibility into who is missing, isolated, or potentially unsafe.
The scale of disengagement detailed in this response goes beyond underfunding. It reflects a position of institutional detachment, at a time when child safeguarding should be seen as an urgent and shared responsibility.
I would appreciate a full reply, including any clarification or correction of the points above if this information was incomplete or misrepresented.
Submitted: 5 May 2025
Subject: FOI Request – Follow-up: Children Missing from Education and Home Education Deregistration
Dear FOI Officer,
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I am submitting the following formal follow-up request regarding children currently identified as missing from education (CME) within the Essex County Council jurisdiction. This request builds upon your partial response to FOI reference ECC18213227.
Your reply to that request was appreciated. However, several of the most urgent questions remain unanswered. I now seek further clarity in the public interest.
Note: These questions were acknowledged in your previous reply but not answered. I am formally re-requesting that data.
These are not optional figures — they reflect how urgently the Council responds to safeguarding concerns.
With over 40 children in Harlow alone listed as missing from education, a vague response such as “we’re working on it” is inadequate.
These children may be neglected, abused, exploited — or worse. I must ask plainly: What level of danger must a child be in before a knock on the door is warranted?
This section seeks to clarify whether deregistration is being used — deliberately or unintentionally — as a loophole to avoid safeguarding scrutiny.
If no proactive contact occurs within the first month, a child could disappear — permanently.
This is not a rhetorical or emotional question — it is a matter of statistical transparency and legal duty of care.
It is essential that the public understands the true safeguarding risks associated with CME and the potential consequences of systemic inaction.
While many of these parents act in good faith, there is a risk that false assumptions or denial of needs may lead to long-term educational harm or unmet clinical conditions.
Understanding how Essex County Council tracks and responds to these cases is essential to determining whether this issue is being monitored or systematically overlooked.
This issue is of serious and growing public concern. These are not abstract statistics — they are real children, many of whom are now invisible to society.
I am currently conducting a public awareness campaign across the Harlow area, including lawful engagement in public spaces and the peaceful distribution of educational safeguarding material.
This effort is supported by an independent documentation platform, which includes a complete FOI timeline.
My intention is not conflict. My aim is transparency and accountability.
If you wish to avoid unnecessary public mistrust or further escalation, I respectfully request a complete and honest response within the statutory 20 working days.
Should this request remain incomplete or evasive, I reserve the right to pursue further transparency via additional lawful mechanisms—both at the local and national level—using every accountability framework available to the public.
This includes, but is not limited to: statutory data rights, internal complaint escalation, and formal third-party investigation.
The public is watching.
And the documentation of your response will form part of a growing case study in civic oversight.
Kind regards,
[I am now being ignored, both by my MP and my Council]
I’ve submitted multiple FOIs.
I’ve waited patiently beyond legal deadlines.
I’ve contacted my MP, caseworkers, council departments, directors of children’s services, and safeguarding officers.
I’ve built petitions, published evidence, and raised awareness locally.
And what have I received in return?
Silence.
When 40 children are missing from education — and one has been gone for over a year — that silence becomes complicity.
When councils admit they have no budget, no audits, no oversight, no outcome records, and no accountability? That silence becomes a scandal.
And when elected officials ignore the people trying to protect those children?
That silence becomes unforgivable.
I’m not asking for perfection. I’m asking for protection.
I’m not asking for miracles. I’m asking for responsibility.
I’m not asking for power. I’m asking for presence.
Every one of those missing children is real. They are not a statistic. They are not a footnote. They are not a forgotten file in a cabinet that never gets opened.
They are lives. And they are at risk.
To anyone reading this: If you think this isn’t your fight — I urge you to think again. Because when a system fails the most vulnerable and no one responds, it sets the precedent for silence everywhere.
This is not the end of my investigation. It is the beginning of public accountability.
I will keep documenting. I will keep sharing. I will keep fighting — peacefully, legally, and relentlessly — until the children in our communities are no longer invisible.
And to the institutions ignoring me?
You had your chance to speak.
Now it’s the public’s turn to listen.