News / bristol city council
Council staff and politicians exonerated despite surveillance of parents
Four years after it was first revealed that Bristol City Council staff monitored the social media posts and photos of parents of children with special educational needs, an independent review has found that despite surveillance taking place it could not be defined as covert because the social media posts were in the public domain.
One parent’s tweets were monitored by a member of council staff for several months in 2022, with the investigation undertaken by Aileen McColgan KC saying this “may have amounted to surveillance for the purposes of RIPA” (the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act).
McColgan also found that some evidence-gathering of members of Bristol Parent Carer Forum by Bristol City Council “amounted to or involved ‘surveillance'” but concluded there was “no evidence that systematic monitoring took place”.
McColgan said her investigation “was made more difficult by BCC’s (Bristol City Council’s) practice of deleting the email accounts of staff when they leave”, saying that “this approach risks significant information gaps which are particularly problematic given BCC’s nature as a public authority”.
The heavily redacted report, which was conducted over seven months, found no evidence of staff wrongdoing and no evidence of political direction or involvement in the evidence gathering that took place.
In her conclusion, McColgan said “there was… no surveillance, as defined in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA)”.
“Nor is there any potential breach of the Article 8 (Right to Respect for Private and Family Life) under the Human Rights Act 1998, as there can be no reasonable expectation of privacy when personal information is being voluntarily put into the public domain by the person to whom that data relates…
“There is no evidence that systematic monitoring took place.”
Banners accusing Bristol City Council of “lies” previously appeared at City Hall – photo: X
McColgan’s report will be discussed on June 25 at a meeting of the children & young people policy committee.
Among her recommendations are that Bristol City Council staff’s work-related emails are retained “for a suitable period after their departure”, and that the council “takes all reasonable steps to protect current and former staff from the vitriol which I anticipate will accompany the publication of this report”.
McColgan also recommended that “express consideration be given in future to whether any evidence-gathering exercise on social media may amount to or include directed surveillance for the purposes of RIPA”.
Children & young people policy committee chair, Green councillor Christine Townsend, said: “This has been a detailed and extensive investigation that I know has had a profound effect on all involved.
“I am grateful to the independent reviewer for their diligence and the sensitive approach they have taken to their work.
“Likewise, I welcome the contributions of parents and current and former officers whose involvement has allowed for a thorough examination of the facts.
“I acknowledge that it has been a difficult period for many involved over the years it has taken to come to this conclusion.
“I hope that this thorough report helps put minds to rest and can provide people with confidence to continue to work with us on improving services and support for Bristol’s SEND community.
“Improving these services is ongoing but progress is being made thanks in large part through closer working with the parent carer forum and a much-improved relationship in place that supports the group to provide critical oversight of our ever-improving SEND systems.
“Our shared priority is to ensure that children and young people with SEND and their families have every opportunity to thrive in a supported environment that recognises their needs.
“We will continue our keen focus on making the improvements we’ve set out to deliver.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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