“The whole system is failing families, failing children, and costing a lot of money.”
That’s the warning from the MP for Bracknell, Peter Swallow, regarding the crisis of special educational needs (SEN) across the country, as The Bracknell News reveals a high number of fines against Bracknell Forest Council as well as a high turnover rate for senior staff.
In this special two-piece report, The Bracknell News has spoken to several families who say they have been brought close to mental breakdown during their battles to ensure their children receive proper support from the local authority.
Data revealed by the News shows that a total of 14 complaints since 2022 were lodged against the council’s SEND services and then upheld by the Local Government Ombudsman – a higher number than neighbouring authorities.
Due to its failings, Bracknell Forest Council has had to pay out more than £20,000 to parents of SEN children since 2022.
The local government watchdog investigated each complaint and found consistent failings within the council’s procedures, often resulting in a delays to SEN children’s support plans, as well as poor communication with parents and delays in payments to specialist tutors.
This timeline shows each complaint handled by the watchdog, it’s key finding, and the amount of money ordered to be paid by the council.
When comparing the number of complaints with neighbouring authorities, Bracknell Forest Council was found to have paid out the most per capita.
While neighbouring authority Wokingham Borough Council was subject to 11 complaints totalling in fines of more than £24,000, the borough has a much higher population level, at 177,000 compared to Bracknell’s 121,000.
10 complaints were also lodged against Reading Borough Council, but only two of them found the council at fault.
Staff turnover has been a repeated concern for Bracknell’s SEN families, who report that the council has had 11 people act as the council’s head of SEND since 2020. The Bracknell News identified five interim heads of SENS services from August 2022 to August 2023.
Bracknell Forest Council was approached to confirm the number of senior staff that have acted as head of SEND services – but declined to comment.
There are more than 1,500 children in Bracknell are currently on an education, health and care plan (EHCP), a document which sets out a child’s needs.
It is an important first step in outlining a child’s specific requirements for education, providing clarity for parents, councils and schools over what is best going forward.
Councils then use the document as the basis for discussions with schools over placing children in the right learning environment.
But too often, it is not as straightforward as this. Nationally, only half of EHCP’s were completed during the statutory timeframe of 20 weeks.
Even if a child’s needs are identified, it is likely that a child may need to be sent far away to a school that can best serve them – and in many authority’s cases, this is outside of the borough. This racks up transportation costs, which also must be covered by councils.
It’s contributed to the large overspends reported by Bracknell Forest Council – who had a deficit of £1.25 million last year – and is unlikely to go down until more provision is in place, in the borough.
Speaking to the News last month, Peter Swallow MP said that the system at present is a ‘lose, lose, lose’ situation: A loss for parents, a loss for children, and a loss for councils.
Mr Swallow explained: “It’s a particular issue in Bracknell, because we have a higher proportion of kids with special educational needs in our schooling system.
“The council recognises that they need to do more to make the system work better and I have challenged them on that. I will continue being a critical friend on that. I want to see the council improve.”
But Bracknell Forest Council has said that making improvements to the service is of ‘paramount importance’, with more inner-borough school places being delivered in coming years.
In response, Bracknell Forest Council said that the figures represented a ‘small number of parents who have made multiple complaints’.
There has been a 50 per cent reduction in complaints to the SEN service between January 2024 to June 2024, compared to the same time last year.
Grainne Siggins, executive director of people, said: “Bracknell Forest Council has provided a significant investment into its special educational needs and disabilities services and is continuously working on improvements.
“We want the best for all our children, young people and their families and making improvements to our special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision is of paramount importance to the council and its political leaders.”
Bracknell Forest will get two new SEND schools in coming years under the Safety Valve Programme. The government will fund these and in return for Bracknell Forest Council will make various improvements, including reducing its overspend.
Improvements are being monitored by NHS England and the Department for Education on a quarterly basis.
Ms Siggins said that the ‘nature of the complaints are also changing as some of the SEN improvements are implemented’.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here