Report into council’s surveillance of SEND parents branded a ‘whitewash’

An external investigation has been called for after a report into the council’s surveillance of SEND families was branded a “whitewash”.

The fact-finding mission concluded there was “no evidence that systemic monitoring took place” in the wake of concerns that officers were collating data from the private social media accounts of parents of children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

But scrutiny councillors have joined affected families in slamming some of the findings in the report. They are calling for an external investigation and for measures to be put in place to protect campaigners and whistle blowers in future.

The people scrutiny commission meeting on Monday also acknowledged “great damage has been done to the reputation of the council and its relationship with parents” and endorsed requests for a robust new policy on social media within the council.

It comes after leaked documents revealed the monitoring of SEND parents’ social media accounts by council officers.

Speaking in a personal capacity on Monday, SEND parent and former vice chair of Bristol Parent Carer Forum (BPCF) Jen Smith, who was one of the people whose social media was monitored by council staff, said: “The fact finding mission is a whitewash.”

In a public statement, she continued: “The heavily redacted report is not supported by even a scintilla of evidence, with claims in places that are at best misleading and at worst mendacious.

“There are so many questions and deeply concerning issues raised in the report that you can’t scratch the surface of this in one statement alone.”

Smith added: “Co-production in Bristol genuinely will not work because the council has created an untrustworthy and toxic environment for all residents, with the exception of administration cheerleaders.”

Mark Weston, a Tory councillor for Henbury & Brentry, said the surveillance show a “complete lack of moral compass” and targeted the most “vulnerable families” in the city.

“There should be no point where the council is even perceived to be spying on campaigners,” said Weston.

“This opens up a whole can of worms. This should never have been allowed to happen.”

Following the revelations that sparked concern about privacy and who else the council is monitoring, the council initially stated BPCF had requested the surveillance. The charity denied this and went on to have its funding pulled.

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Read more: Charity denies requesting surveillance of SEND parents 

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The report was produced by the council’s legal services team in order to “establish the facts around what occurred and the reasons why” and the “lawfulness of the viewing and sharing that took place”.

Evidence was requested from and provided by Hugh Evans, the executive director for people, and Alison Hurley, the director for education and skills, as well as a number of other officers whose names were redacted from the public report.

The report noted: “Officers working in the service area already had concerns in relation to the functioning of BPCF in terms of the governance of the group and the fact that it represented a relatively small section of the Bristol parent carer community.”

It stated there were further concerns in relation to the appointment of the chair and vice chair of the BPCF, who took up post in January, due to a “perceived conflict between their campaigning activity and the co-production role of the forum”.

Report authors added: “It is not within the remit of this report to investigate the veracity of those concerns, but it is important contextually to be clear that those concerns existed.”

The report’s conclusion that there was no systemic monitoring was based on the statement from officers that they collated data from social media accounts on two occasions. This did not, according to the report authors, count as “systematic” – an interpretation that was challenged by scrutiny councillors.

Council officers accused a member of BPCF of sharing data from what the report described as a “confidential meeting”. This is despite the meeting being open to anyone who registered via Eventbrite and the person in question attending in a personal capacity.

In a public statement, Hayley Hemming, the chair of BPCF, said: “In a time of SEND crisis across the country, we feel saddened that we are facing further unfounded allegations and feel that our focus should be on working with our partners to address this crisis.”

A letter signed by 90 people expressed faith in the current chair and vice chair of the forum.

A motion, tabled by chair of the commission and Lib Dem councillor Tim Kent, notes the limited remit of the fact-finding report and calls on the mayor and council chief executive to approve an external investigation into media monitoring of SEND, to be carried out under the direction of the overview and scrutiny management board.

It also calls for BPCF to be reinstated as the council’s co-production partner pending the outcome of the external investigation and for the recommendations to be sent to Ofsted, whose inspectors are due to return to Bristol next month to check on the progress made improving special needs education in the city.

Read more:

• Bristol City Council’s surveillance of SEND parents revealed
• Ofsted returning to Bristol to check progress on improving SEND provision 
• Charity denies requesting surveillance of SEND parents 

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