Free travel for son of former glamour model worth £35m
Taxpayers foot the bill for taxis taking Katie Price’s autistic son Harvey to school
Katie Price - who is worth a reported £35m - has her severely disabled son taxied to school every day at taxpayers' expense.
A private driver takes her son, Harvey, to a special school in London - more than 50 miles from their home in West Sussex.
The revelation last month sparked a debate about whether it is appropriate for millionaires to receive benefits.
Price, a former glamour model, has previously described herself as "a rich chav".
Arguing it would cost her £1,000 a day to fund the 100-mile round trip herself, the 36-year-old said: "Do you know how f****** expensive that would be? Ridiculous.
"To have a driver to take me to London and back is up to a grand a day."
Local mini-cab firms later quoted the return fare at more like £130 a day.
By law UK councils must provide transport to and from school for children under 16 who have a disability which affects their mobility.
The service is funded by the UK's Department for Education, but is administered by individual councils at a local level.
Harvey Price, who is 12, suffers from autism.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg later defended the expenditure.
Mr Clegg said he supported the principle of universal payments to fund children with disabilities, even if that meant that those like Price would benefit.
Saying disabled children needed to be treated with "compassion," he added: "I'm not going to start saying on the basis of what we have heard about Katie Price's child that we should throw out the principle of local authorities providing help to the parents of disabled children."
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ ... 12641.html