SEND Fresh hope of inquiry into council spying scandal

THE council chief in charge of education in Bristol has resurrected the possibility of a formal inquiry into the scandal of council officers spying on the parents of children with special needs - just a week after she defended the officers and questioned the need for one.

- Tristan CORK

In a statement, Cllr Christine Townsend invited Labour councillors calling for an inquiry to work with her and officers to propose what that inquiry would look like, but pointed out that many of those Labour councillors didn't vote for one when they were in power.

But a Labour councillor and SEND parent who called for an inquiry last month said Cllr Townsend's new statement on the scandal was 'disappointing,' and claimed the education chief was still 'deflecting blame and further delaying justice!

Cllr Townsend, the chair of the council's education committee, rebuffed renewed calls for an inquiry, during a committee meeting at the end of June, and questioned whether what happened should be considered 'spying' at all, since the council officers were collecting information from social media posts that could be viewed by anyone.

That U-turn came as a shock, because Cllr Townsend was one of the more vocal councillors calling for an inquiry and supporting the parents involved, while she was an opposition councillor before 2024.