An open letter calling for better communication with special educational needs families has been hand-delivered to Bracknell Forest Council - after the local authority requested for the letter to be sent 'officially'. 

The letter, which has been signed by 148 people, asks for Bracknell Forest Council to ‘improve services for our children and young people, who for too long have been an afterthought from the very services who are there to support them’.

The council had been sent the recent letter by The Bracknell News on behalf of parents on October 11 - but a response to address the detailed concerns was refused until the letter had been sent by parents directly.

Parents - who previously questioned if the council expected the letter to be delivered 'by pigeon' - have now handed-in more than 140 copies of the letter at the council's headquarters. 

The stunt was born out of long-running frustrations over support offered for children with special educational needs. 

An investigation by The Bracknell News last month highlighted high senior staff turnover at the council and more than dozen complaints upheld by the local authority watchdog - totalling more than £24,000 in pay-outs over the last two years. 

Now the open letter represents a 'real appetite for action' and a desire to 'challenge the local authority really robustly,' according to one parent. 

They Bracknell-based parent, who asked not to be named, said: "The questions we have are really specific - so we want really specific answers. 

"It would just be really nice if we got proper responses and acknowledgment of were they have failed. 

"Historically what we have had is either no response or late responses and responses that don't answer the questions."

"I don't know how they are going to respond."

Among the open letters points, the council has been asked to publish the number of children who have deregistered from school in the last three years, as well as addressing concerns around communication with families and spending on SEN provisions. 

The letter follows The Bracknell News revealing that savings made by cuts to special educational needs provisions have been ‘wiped out’ by increasing costs this year. 

The council must reduce its overspend on an annual basis as part of a government ‘safety valve’ scheme, which will grant funding that will create two specialist schools in the area.

Bracknell families say they are closely monitoring legal challenges against 'safety valve' measures elsewhere in the UK.

Last month, the High Court gave the go-ahead for a legal challenge against a controversial bailout of Bristol City Council's school budget. 

One Bracknell parent said: "We are keeping an eye on what happens in Bristol.

Susan Halliwell, chief executive of Bracknell Forest Council, said it was working to review the contents of the letter. 

She added: "We received this on Friday and, as previously promised, we will look over all the concerns carefully. Once we have thoroughly reviewed the contents of the letter we will respond fully and honestly.

“We thank our community for raising their concerns directly with us and would like to assure residents that we are committed to improving SEND services for our children and young people – they are at the heart of our ongoing improvement programme.”