Approval for SEND spying investigation in Bristol
An independent investigation will be launched three years after the scandal erupted
Last updated 29th Aug 2025
An independent investigation into the social media monitoring of parents with disabled children will finally be launched three years after a scandal erupted. But doubts remain about how much the investigation will be able to find out because key politicians could simply refuse to take part.
Labour suggested what the inquiry should explore, but omitting the role of leading councillors. Other parties said the investigation must look at which politicians authorised the monitoring. They added that current Labour councillors have a duty to get former politicians to help out.
Bristol City Council will appoint an independent expert to investigate claims that staff monitored the social media accounts of parents with children with special educational needs and disabilities. SEND parents, including a Labour councillor, have said they were spied on.
The SEND spying scandal was revealed in 2022 when leaked emails appeared to show council staff cross-referencing private social media accounts, including with wedding photos. Posts criticising the council’s SEND support were used to justify cutting funding for a parents’ group.
Councillors on the children and young people policy committee approved plans for an investigation on Thursday, August 28. But they warned parents might be disappointed with the results, as three years have passed which could mean ending up with an “incomplete jigsaw”.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Varney said: “It’s very disappointing the investigation didn’t take place at the time. Now, almost three years later, it might be harder to get to the truth of the matter. I’m concerned that this investigation is going to be expensive, and the money will be coming from the SEND budget which we can ill afford to spend on other things.
“We can’t just have an investigation that focuses on council officers. It’s potentially the case that politicians may have known what was going on. We might never get completely to the bottom of this, and it will leave a lot of people unsatisfied. But we had a vote in full council three years ago, it was ignored by the previous administration, and I don’t want to ignore it today.”
Conservative Cllr John Goulandris added: “It was a mayoral administration that blocked a vote in full council, ignoring the democratic wish of full council. It’s disgraceful, shameful, and I think it’s one of the reasons why we got rid of an appalling system. I hope we never, ever go back to a mayoral system, which was such a stain on Bristol’s civic character.”
Delays to the investigation were due to ongoing legal action, according to leading councillors. Affected mothers tried to force the council to share information they held, to reveal further details about the alleged spying. Then in July, councillors on the children’s committee called for the investigation to finally go ahead, as some parents feared the monitoring is still taking place.
Labour tried to amend the decision, setting out terms of reference for what the investigation should explore. These included identifying all council departments and staff, commissioned services and partner organisations which were involved in the surveillance of or profiling of families of and campaigners for SEND children. Politicians were not included however.
These terms also included determining whether data processing was lawful, necessary and proportionate; reviewing council policies and training on social media monitoring; and whether cultural or institutional biases within the council led to a “hostile environment” for SEND families and whistleblowers. These would explore who authorised the alleged monitoring as well.
Labour Cllr Kerry Bailes, herself an affected SEND mother, said: “I didn’t vote for or against, I didn’t vote at all, I didn’t abstain on the original motion. It’s quite concerning that three years later it hasn’t happened. Nobody could move forward until that legal action had ended. My terms of reference would build trust with parent-carers, because we’ve waited a very long time.
“Whoever was involved, it would give us an answer, it would give us all closure. This has had not only an impact on us as parent-carers, it’s impacted on our children. We have to think about them as well. Our children are growing up with this on their heads.”
But councillors from other parties voted against her amendment, as the terms of reference omitted any mention of leading councillors during the previous administration. There were also doubts that former Labour politicians would take part in the investigation and give evidence. Instead, the terms will be set by a council boss consulting with councillors on the committee.
Green Cllr Christine Townsend, chair of the children’s committee, said: “This needs to look at members of the previous administration alongside political appointees. Such an investigation doesn’t have any legal powers, so anybody contributing from outside the organisation is doing so on a voluntary basis.
“Therefore we would be looking towards our Bristol Labour colleagues to ensure that those members of the previous administration, who were relevant to this, it’s going to be on you guys to get them engagement from them. Because if that is not forthcoming, we’re not going to get as full a picture as it would be possible to get. There will be people who will choose not to engage.”
One affected mother, Jen Smith, has long pressed the council to launch the inquiry. In a written statement to the committee she claimed that social media monitoring is “still going on”. She added that the problems extended beyond social media, and led to a loss of support for her son.
She said: “Whenever the issue is raised in the media, the narrative is around social media and Twitter. But the problematic behaviour was far more insidious than this. Bristol City Council staff did not just read a bit of social media. They also monitored what SEND families were saying in public. They profiled people. They involved outside parties. They bullied.
“Funding was also spitefully withdrawn from the city’s Parent Carer Forum. My son had EHCP education, health and care plan provision removed as a direct result of council staff behaviour. I’m sure you are well aware that I can provide evidence of this claim. Council staff continue to behave in shadowy ways rendering SEND entirely untrustworthy.”
Next steps include the terms of reference getting drawn up, which will go back before the committee for approval. Then an independent expert will be appointed to investigate the scandal. It’s unclear when the investigation will begin or how long it will take. After the meeting, Green Cllr Townsend said the council was committed to supporting SEND children and families.
She added: “In 2022, the Labour mayoral administration chose not to follow the motion passed by full council and did not deliver an external investigation during their time in office. In fact, Labour did not vote for the proposal at all. Cllr Bailes, who has recently started calling for this external investigation, has said that her vote wasn’t needed because she ‘knew the facts’.
“I expect that this is another example of a Labour councillor unable to stand up to the Labour machine that clearly did not want an external investigation to take place. I am glad that she feels more free to speak her mind under the committee system.
“I hope that Cllr Bailes and her Labour colleagues will now encourage those in power and their political staff in 2022 to cooperate fully with the investigation, and that despite the several years of delay, they are able to help provide some answers.”