Bracknell Forest Council has told parents it ‘recognises the need for significant, lasting change’ in its special educational needs (SEN) management.

It comes in response to an open letter signed by 148 parents expressing ‘deep dissatisfaction’ with the council’s services.

Parents called on the authority 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’.

Chief executive of Bracknell Forest Council Susan Halliwell wrote: “We recognise the need for significant, lasting change, and while we are already making improvements, we acknowledge that these efforts will take time to fully realise.”

The letter was handed to the council by the local press on October 11 and then hand-delivered by signees at Times Square earlier this month.

Parents wrote they were 'still not seeing any improvement', with some describing their dealings with the local authority as 'traumatising' and 'worse than ever'.

A nine-page response to parents has now been shared, addressing a range of concerns raised.

These include claims of poor communication with council staff, an increase in watchdog complaints and school-nonattendance for SEN children.

Addressing staffing concerns, Mrs Halliwell said a ‘restructure of the team was needed’, which ‘took some time’.

Agency staff were used temporarily during the restructuring, but they are no longer being used, the CEO confirmed.

On the number of complaints, the council does not view a reduction as a ‘sole indicator of success’, and said positive feedback has ‘increased significantly’ over the past year.

The Bracknell News recently revealed that 14 Local Government Ombudsman complaints had been made against the authority since 2022, leading to fines totalling more than £20,000.

Mrs Halliwell added it was of ‘critical importance’ for the authority to improved SEN services as part of the Safety Valve programme.

This government scheme will deliver two specialist schools in the borough in return for the council to reduce its overspend on SEN.

The authority is currently predicted to overspend by £8.5 million this financial year, a reduction of half a million pounds from last year.

But finance bosses have said savings have been practically ‘wiped out’ by increasing costs of specialist provision.

A spokesperson for the parents said: “The general feeling is that we’re not satisfied. It doesn’t really address or answer the problems…in some cases it raises more questions than answers.”

The spokesperson said parents would be putting out an official statement on the council’s response.