Independent investigation into council’s surveillance of SEND families

The “scandal” over Bristol City Council’s monitoring of special educational needs & disabilities (SEND) families will now be the subject of an independent inquiry.

An external investigation into officers’ surveillance of private social media accounts is the only way to determine responsibility and begin to mend relationships with parents, according to councillors who voted in favour of such action on Tuesday.

It follows the ongoing saga that first came to light in July when leaked emails revealed how council staff had monitored the accounts of parents. A subsequent internal fact-finding report was branded a “whitewash”.

Calling for the mayor to commission an independent inquiry, Conservative Geoff Gollop said it was “of great concern that the administration appears to have not condemned these actions”, saying that this is tantamount to condoning them.

Gollop, a councillor for Westbury-on-Trym & Henleaze, stated the council monitored the parents of the city’s most vulnerable children, adding: “It doesn’t matter to me if that was systematic or random – it was wrong.

“Only an independent inquiry will tell us who was responsible for this.”

Christine Townsend, a Green councillor for Southville, argued it was “alarming” that no formal process was followed to undertake the collection of material from parents’ social media accounts.

“Whilst we are told there is no evidence of elected members authorising this, it suggests to me that such practices were assumed to be normalised under the political leadership of this administration,” said Townsend.

Two of the parents monitored for the council volunteered for the Bristol Parent Carer Forum (BPCF), a local charity representing parents and carers of children with SEND. The council went on to withdraw its support for the forum’s funding.

The amended motion that went to full council on Tuesday called for the council to write to the Department of Education and charity Contact to voice support for BPCF and state the council will commit to working with the forum.

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Read more: Council attempts to block funding for SEND charity amid surveillance row

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Deputy mayor Asher Craig objected to what she called using a motion to put political pressure on the decision of whether to fund an organisation without going through proper processes.

Craig, who is Labour’s cabinet lead for children’s services, education and equalities, said: “When we heard of the allegations, we immediately commissioned a report to get to the bottom of what happened. All the information that was collated was publicly available and any suggestion that this council was carrying out covert surveillance on parents is just ridiculous.

“But if councillors want to spend taxpayers’ money on an external investigation, then that’s fine.”

She added that officers had concerns about the governance of BPCF and a lack of representation of Bristol’s diverse parent-carer community, stating that the council has been working with a consortium of groups to rebuild relationships with SEND families.

Tim Kent, a Lib Dem councillor for Hengrove & Whitchurch Park, said: “What became clear from the fact-finding report is that an independent investigation is vital if the council is to regain trust. This issue will not go away until there is an independent investigation to resolve it.”

Mayor Marvin Rees said his administration would be happy to go ahead with the independent review – asking that the financial time and costs of doing so are made publicly available.

The vote saw 39 councillors in favour of an inquiry, with 18 Labour councillors abstaining.

Main photo: Rachel Sutherland

Read next:

• SEND failings see year seven pupil stuck in primary school 
• Report into council’s surveillance of SEND parents branded a ‘whitewash’
• Bristol City Council’s surveillance of SEND parents revealed
• Ofsted returning to Bristol to check progress on improving special needs education 

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