A Bristol school has been referred to the Information Commissioner by a local MP after it hid wildlife cameras inside a junction box to film its school playing field in a bid to catch vandals.
Cotham School’s hidden CCTV cameras at the Stoke Lodge Playing Fields will now be assessed by the Information Commissioner - the regulatory watchdog for all things CCTV, data protection and information gathering by public bodies - after Bristol North West MP asked them to look into what happened.
Mr Jones described what Cotham School did this year as ‘appalling’, and the school’s explanation as ‘pretty amusing’, after the school told him and local councillors that the hidden cameras were not ‘covert surveillance’ but ‘overt surveillance in a discreet manner’.
Read more: Cotham School says hidden cameras at Stoke Lodge weren't 'covert' but 'discreet'
The row over the cameras, which Bristol Live first reported at the start of October, looks set to continue with the formal referral by Mr Jones, who said he understood why local people who also use the Stoke Lodge Playing Fields as a green open space were ‘very angry’.
In his latest regular Facebook Live Q&A, the Bristol North West MP said: “There’s been the issue with the covert surveillance cameras at Stoke Lodge, which I’ve written to the school about. They (Cotham School) installed covert surveillance cameras in an electricity box and filmed people without them knowing that the cameras were there, which is clearly, in my view, appalling and entirely unnecessary.
“I’ve written to the Information Commissioner, I’ve written to the Avon and Somerset police, I’ve written to the CCTV Commissioner. I’ve had a reply from Cotham School which if you’ve seen the reply they gave to the local councillors on social media, it’s basically the same thing. They now say it’s not covert surveillance, it’s overt surveillance in a discreet manner. I shouldn’t laugh but that’s pretty amusing - I mean, it’s covert surveillance.
“I will reply to the school, but essentially my intention is just to hand it all over to the Information Commissioner and to ask them to look at it. I know many of you are very angry about this, and I understand why you are angry about it so I will keep you posted on the progress that we make on that,” added Mr Jones, who joined local residents at Stoke Lodge on a demonstration against the proposed fence back in December 2018.
The status and usage of the playing fields have been a contentious issue for more than a decade. The grounds of Stoke Lodge are owned by Bristol City Council, which has handed them to Cotham School to use as playing fields on a long term lease. Cotham School began erecting a fence around a large proportion of the green fields in early 2019 after saying they could not use the land as playing fields for security reasons.
The fence itself has become a lightning rod for the long running battle over public access to the fields, and it was repeatedly vandalised. There are CCTV cameras around the lodge building itself and signs warning that the area has CCTV on every entrance. Cotham School said it placed two hidden cameras inside an electricity box back in January 2022, and it worked - the cameras captured footage of one man repeatedly vandalising the school fence - he was questioned and accepted a caution for criminal damage from the police this year.
The presence of the cameras was discovered and revealed by the We Love Stoke Lodge campaign group at the start of October and since then, questions have been raised by local residents and councillors - and Darren Jones MP - about the status, legality and ethics of using hidden cameras in a place that’s accessible to the public.
The school’s headteacher Jo Butler replied to letters from two local Conservative councillors and Mr Jones with a robust response, telling them that the Stoke Lodge Playing Fields are private land, monitored by CCTV and if people don’t want to be filmed they can visit other open spaces nearby.
Her defence of the status of the cameras - that they aren’t ‘covert surveillance’ cameras but are ‘overt’ ones in a ‘discreet manner’ was described by the We Love Stoke Lodge campaign group as making ‘Cotham School a laughing stock’, and Mr Jones himself described as ‘amusing’.
Read more: Stoke Lodge Playing Fields, a timeline
Dec 2018 - Hundreds protest on Stoke Lodge playing fields over fence plan
Dec 2018 - Playing field signs repeatedly damaged
Dec 2018 - School told to take down ‘offensive’ sign
Dec 2018 - Eight year legal battle has cost school £100,000 in legal fees
Jan 2019 - Local residents physically stop contractors erecting fence
Jan 2019 - Mayor Marvin Rees says he ‘doesn’t have the power’ to stop fence
Mar 2019 - Fence around playing fields is completed
Apr 2020 - Damage to Stoke Lodge fence will cost "thousands of pounds" to fix
Mar 2021 - Inspector recommends Town Green applications are rejected
Oct 2022 - One man cautioned by police after being caught on hidden cameras vandalising fence
Oct 2022 - Police explain advice given to Cotham School before hidden cameras installed
Oct 2022 - Cotham School says hidden cameras at Stoke Lodge weren't 'covert' but 'discreet'
Oct 2022 - Darren Jones MP reports Cotham School to Information Commissioner
Follow the latest updates on this story and others like it here.
