Calls for external inquiry into Bristol SEND report

Concerns have been raised that council workers were gathering information on parents who complained

Parents of disabled children are calling on the council to hold an external enquiry on Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).

It comes after concerns council workers were collecting information of parents who criticised the provision in Bristol.

A newly-published report cleared the council of wrongdoing following.

Councillors will now vote on a motion calling on mayor Marvin Rees to hold a "genuinely independent inquiry".

The social media monitoring was revealed in leaked council emails in July, leading to calls for an external inquiry.

A new 10-page report, written by the council's legal department, was published on Friday, 2 September, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The report shows staff were concerned about a perceived conflict of interest among two unnamed parents involved in running the Bristol Parent Carer Forum, who were also allegedly criticising SEND provision on social media.

A Bristol Parent Carer Forum spokesperson said: "We feel saddened that we're facing further unfounded allegations, and we feel that our focus should be on working with our partners to address the [SEND] crisis."

'Data harvesting'

Conservative Councillor Graham Morris said: "I found this revelation about data harvesting by officialdom to be deeply disturbing and profoundly provocative.

"This sort of activity can only destroy the confidence of parents with vulnerable children.

"I don't feel that many people will have any confidence in the rigour, findings or conclusions drawn from the [internal investigation]."

The report states there "is no evidence that systematic monitoring took place".

"The collation of social media content was done for the specific purpose of evidencing the conflict of interest," it added.

The motion for a new inquiry will be debated at a council meeting on Tuesday, 13 September.

Bristol has long faced problems with its SEND provision, with parents reportedly often waiting a year for education and health plans, which by law should only take up to 20 weeks.

In 2018, parents took the council to court after budget cuts to SEND schools; and in 2019 Ofsted inspectors said the city was failing in five key areas of its "disturbingly poor" SEND provision.