Bristol City Council's 'spying' report a 'whitewash', say parents

The council allegedly gathered comments

Parents of children with special educational needs say a report into allegations they were "spied" on by council staff is a "whitewash."

Bristol councillors met on Monday to discuss the internal report, which rejected claims officers carried out "systematic monitoring" of residents.

Bristol City Council had collated social media comments from parents who were critical of its SEND programme.

One parent said she was "unfairly targeted" after trying to speak out.

Jen Smith, who has two children with special educational needs, told the meeting: "We are nowhere near understanding the amount of data council staff have amassed and shared.

"Twitter users are being unfairly targeted and profiled in their attempts to speak out about injustice, and imbalances of power in this city. Everyone should be worried."

'Humiliated and spied on'

The internal report found that no "unlawful activity" had been uncovered.

It did however, recommend the council's social media guidelines were updated with clear rules on the viewing and sharing of residents' social media activity.

Two of the parents involved told councillors they felt "humiliated" and "spied on" by senior council staff.

Parents' allegations of spying came to light earlier this year when leaked emails indicated council staff had gathered information on those who were also members of the Bristol Parents Carers Forum (BPCF) - a group that works with the authority to improve SEND provision.

The report said council staff were concerned about a "conflict between their campaigning activity and the co-production role of the forum." The report did not investigate whether any conflict actually existed, something both parents strenuously denied.

'Reputational damage'

Hayley Hemming, chair of BPCF, said: "We're all volunteers, we do it because we care about SEND. To be attacked because of that is gutting. I feel really humiliated because [council staff] claiming we have done things which are unprofessional and we haven't."

The council subsequently cut funding to the forum.

But Councillor Asher Craig, cabinet member for education, said: "The particular social media protocols were just one of a whole series of other issues we needed to contend with, and despite the efforts and interjections from outside bodies, I didn't think we should continue with that relationship."

At the meeting councillors voiced their displeasure at what had happened - and voted unanimously for a motion which described the episode as causing "great reputational damage to the authority".

The motion also called on the Mayor Marvin Rees to approve an external investigation into what happened.