A councillor at the centre of a row over “derogatory” comments made at a Kent County Council (KCC) meeting discussing special educational needs provision has resigned his post.

Maidstone cllr Simon Webb (Con) caused upset at KCC’s SEND sub-scrutiny committtee last month when he suggested having an educational health care plan (EHCP) was the “in thing”.

His comments led to calls from parents of children with special education needs and organisations that represent them for him to be sacked.

At last night’s meeting held at Maidstone County Hall, the first since his remarks, chairman Perry Cole read out a speech from cllr Webb in his absence in which he apologised.

He said: “Colleagues will be aware that during the last meeting I used phrasing which neither reflects my 46 years in the education field nor my command of the English language.

“This clearly caused hurt and distress to parents which was never my intention. I wish to apologise for the statements I made and as such, after a period of reflection, I feel it’s absolutely correct for me to resign from the committee as any further comments I make will be tainted with my previous ones.”

In the meeting on March 22 to discuss an increase in applications for ECHPs Mr Webb had made comments which had outraged parents of children with special education needs.

Cllr Webb had told the committee: “Where are the gatekeepers? If I am a parent who thinks that their child needs an EHCP, because that’s the in thing to do as a parent these days, who is going to turn around and say no.”

At the meeting he had also asked the council to take a trip to see how other councils work who manage to not give out so many of the provisions for children with special needs.

“How do they restrict their numbers of EHCPs and we don’t?” he said.

Later in the debate, Conservative councillor for Tonbridge and Malling Sarah Hudson also caused outrage after discussing the criteria needed to be met when applying for an EHCP and whether schools or parents should initiate the process.

She then suggested some parents only apply for the provision because of the extra benefits.

During the meeting at county hall, she said: “There are families who have never, even once, taken their own child to school because the state pays for a cab to take them.

“Even though it might only be just up the road and they are perfectly capable of doing it themselves because neither of them work.

She added: “They are deliberately choosing that route because they see all the add-ons that go with it and they think, ‘This is b***** good. Let’s go for it.’”

Cllr Hudson declined to comment when approached by KentOnline at the time and sent a substitute to last night’s meeting in her place.

Also absent from last night’s meeting were representatives from Kent PACT, a parent carer forum set up for parents of children and young adults with disabilities and additional needs.

Following last month’s meeting the group had said it was “shocked and disgusted” at the comments made by the elected council members and said it would refuse to attend meetings until an official apology was offered.

Speaking at the time, a spokesman for the organisation said: “We have written to the committee chair requesting a formal apology to SEND families and until significant changes are made we will no longer be attending meetings.

“A public apology to the families of Kent by members would be an appropriate response given the severity of their comments.”

The authority recently had to be bailed out on its special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) budget by the government and told it must bring its budgets into line quickly, ordering a major shake-up of where children with SEND are taught.”

Analysis From Paul Francis

The decision by Conservative county councillor Simon Webb to resign from the committee overseeing services provided for vulnerable children was inevitable.

Some will question why it has taken him so long to quit after some ill-advised comments during a meeting at which county councillors were discussing the authority’s role in providing support for young children with special needs.

Parents were rightly affronted by his suggestion that families were seeking help because it was the “in thing” to do and that there was very little that stopped them from securing support for care plans.

As he has belatedly recognised, his contribution to the committee would have been undermined given what he had said.

Councillors are, like the rest of us, prone to what Hilary Clinton described as ‘mis-quoting’ but as elected politicians have to choose their words carefully, knowing that verbal gaffes can cause offence.

Parents campaigning for his resignation had vowed to boycott the authority’s review of SEND after a damning Ofsted report.

It may be that Mr Webb has opened the door to them coming back - although there is no news yet about whether a second county councillor Sarah Hudson is considering her position on the committee after suggesting that there were families who applied for care plans because of the extra benefits.

She probably should follow Mr Webb through the exit door and if not willing to do so, be fired.