When Fay Lambert received the news, she cried. 

"I just sobbed for 20 minutes," she said.

"I looked at my friends and said I did it. I felt pure relief and pride and then felt really angry for all the families out there that are being failed."

Fay is among the families across Bracknell Forest who have been failed by the local authority's support for children with special educational needs (SEN) - but fought back to secure provision and pay-outs. 

Earlier this week, Fay had been told her complaint to the local government ombudsman had been upheld - resulting in Bracknell Forest Council paying a £3,500 fine.

The local authority had failed to provide Fay's 13-year-old child - who has autism and ADHD - with suitable schooling, causing the Fay to be out of work for months.

 Faye, who is on the autistic spectrum, had previously left a job she loved as a speech and language therapist in the NHS in order to look after her four children, who all have SEN, full time. 

The 40-year-old said: "I felt validated when I got the result. But also exhausted from the fight. 

"I came close to needing inpatient mental health care. My therapist wrote a letter to my doctor recommending impatient care.

"It almost feels abusive - you're being gaslit, being told your child is fine."

"It's triggered PTSD for me, not only having to support your children but not having support from professionals. 

"There are cracks in the system."

In 2022, Ofsted found "significant areas of weakness in SEN provision" in Bracknell, requiring urgent action from Bracknell Forest Council and Frimley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Concerns highlighted included parents facing a "wall of silence" when seeking help, and "too many" children and young people reach a mental health crisis due to a lack of timely support. 

Last month, Bracknell Forest Council reported "positive" feedback from government education experts who looked at the local authority's improvements to SEN provisions. 

The council says that complaints about the SEN service have reduced compared to the previous year’s first quarter, dropping from 49 to 28 for the same period in 2024.

But some families continue to have serious concerns about the services, as The Bracknell News reveals a high turnover rate among senior staff and more than £20,000 paid out in SEN-related fines over the last two years. 

Fay said: "Since October 2022, all the people who have dealt with (our case) have pretty much all gone.

"It feels like they constantly have no staff in"

Now more than 100 families have signed an open letter to the council, saying that they have yet to see any improvements. 

Emma Hester, 46, says families are fed-up with an alleged culture of "parent blaming" despite the council being repeatedly found at fault. 

In May, Emma was awarded £2,500 as her 13-year-old daughter had been without an SEN provision from November 2022 to June 2023, with a further £500 awarded for the distress this had caused to the family. 

The council's failure to act had caused Emma "frustration, and inconvenience through needing to follow up with the council on repeated occasions," the ombudsman ruled. 

Emma was a police officer for more than 20 years – but she felt she had no choice but leave her job to retrain as an occupational therapist in order to give care and support to her daughter. 

Her 13-year-old has been on a ten-year journey for a formal autism diagnosis – she had five referrals to CAMHS and was diagnosed just two years ago. 

Describing her ordeals with Bracknell Forest Council, the 46-year-old said: "It's a mess. 

"I think they save themselves thousands by pushing things down the road and creating delays. 

"If they wind up paying £3,000, that's still only the amount for 10 days of provision. 

"The biggest issue is the amount of parent blaming - it's exhausting, its draining."