A headteacher has told local councillors that CCTV cameras hidden in a metal box on the school’s playing fields to catch vandals were not a case of ‘covert surveillance’, but instead ‘using overt CCTV which has been installed in a discreet manner’.
Cotham School headteacher Jo Butler made the claim in a letter replying to Stoke Bishop’s two ward councillors, John Goulandris and Henry Michallat, who wrote to the school to express concern after the presence of the cameras was uncovered as revealed by Bristol Live earlier this month.
The school admitted it had installed two ‘wildlife cameras’ inside an electrical junction box at Stoke Lodge, which are owned by Bristol City Council and leased to the school to use as its playing fields, after their presence was spotted by a local resident and reported by the We Love Stoke Lodge campaign group, which has been involved in a 12-year battle with the school over the use of the green space.
Read more: Bristol school installed covert cameras in ongoing row over fence
The cameras, which the school said were installed at the start of this year, did work - they captured video evidence of one man repeatedly damaging the fence erected around much of the green space to enclose and secure the area the school uses as a playing field. He was questioned by police and accepted a caution earlier this year, Avon and Somerset police confirmed.
There are other more overt CCTV cameras in the area, around the Lodge building itself, and signs on every entrance informing people of the presence of CCTV cameras, but the presence of cameras hidden in a metal box caused controversy, with Cllrs Michallat and Goulandris telling Cotham School headteacher Jo Butler they had been ‘inundated’ with concerns from local residents.
“We have been inundated with emails and telephone calls from anxious residents, who are, understandably, very concerned at being filmed without their consent and without notice of the covert CCTV,” the two Tory councillors wrote in a letter on October 6, a few days after Bristol Live broke the story of the hidden cameras. “We would welcome your written assurance that all the regulatory and statutory requirements/processes have been observed,” they added.
In a reply from the headteacher to the two councillors over the weekend and released by them yesterday, Monday, October 24, Ms Butler defended the use of the cameras. “Every entrance to our playing fields clearly states that permissive public access can take place when the school is not using the fields and at each and every one of these entrances to our school site there is clear signage advising all who enter that CCTV is in operation 24 hours a day, every day,” she wrote. “Therefore your constituents are knowingly choosing to access our private property on this basis, knowing that this is in operation.
“If they are unhappy with our use of CCTV and the possibility of being recorded on the CCTV then they can choose not to proceed and desist from using our facilities. There are other spaces a very short distance from our site that may suit their needs better,” she added, before explaining that she believed the description of the two cameras as ‘covert’ was not right.
“The school does not believe that it is conducting ‘covert surveillance’ but is using overt CCTV which has been installed in a discreet manner. The fact that CCTV is in operation is clearly signed to any users of the field, therefore there can be no misunderstandings on the part of the public. There is no legal requirement to make the position of any of the cameras known to users of our premises,” she said, before adding that she ‘can confirm to you that all requirements’ in the ‘Home Office - covert surveillance and property interference revised code of practice’ document ‘have been fulfilled’.
Ms Butler summarised her points, and stated: “There is no covert surveillance. No members of the public have been secretly filmed. The management of CCTV at all Cotham School sites including Stoke Lodge has been managed in a legal manner at all times. The CCTV at all the school sites including Stoke Lodge does not to our knowledge breach any data protection laws. There has been a statement regarding the school site and the CCTV issued by Avon and Somerset Police that confirms their engagement with the school, and members of the public are quite within their rights not to use our school site at Stoke Lodge.
She ended the letter by saying she was ‘disappointed’ that the councillors had written to her about the cameras.
Last week, Avon and Somerset Police’s statement on the issue of the hidden cameras confirmed that their liaison officers had discussed CCTV cameras as a way of gathering evidence on the ongoing issues of vandalism of the school fence and school property at the playing fields.
But the spokesperson for the police did say this was done ‘on the basis that there was already overt CCTV in operation and signs to make the public aware'. There are already CCTV cameras in operation, and signs on every gate, but those campaigning against the school's use of the playing field claimed the police had not totally backed up the school's version of events. The statement from Avon and Somerset police earlier this month said: "Due to continued problems at the site, at the start of this year a PC and PCSO had a further conversation with school staff around the use of cameras.
"Within that discussion we did reference the potential use of wildlife cameras which could be used as a cost-effective way of supplementing the school's crime prevention efforts, on the basis there was already overt CCTV in operation and signs to make the public aware.
"It is the responsibility of the organisation operating the cameras to ensure they are compliant with the necessary regulations. We will continue to work with the local community and the school to try to alleviate the issues around criminal damage and antisocial behaviour. We'd ask people report incidents to police or contact the neighbourhood police team with any concerns they have," the statement added.
In early October, Cotham School also confirmed that it changed its school policies back in January to remove a line about the school never operating covert surveillance on its premises. In a statement yesterday, the We Love Stoke Lodge campaign group, which tried to fight the school’s increasingly exclusive use of the playing fields and the erection of the fence for years, said the school’s claim was ‘ludicrous’.
“It is absolutely obvious that from January until at least October 5, 2022, Cotham School intended to use, and considered that it was using, two covert cameras to conduct covert surveillance at Stoke Lodge Playing Fields,” they said.
“What’s changed since then? Only the fact that we asked the school to confirm and publish evidence that it has appropriate authorisation in place to conduct directed surveillance under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in relation to these cameras," the group statement said. They claim the school "had no authority to conduct covert surveillance" and said they will be raising it with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.
“If the school’s claim wasn’t ludicrous enough in its own right, both the DPIA and the Data Protection Policy on the school’s website still state that all its security cameras will be clearly visible. ‘Discreet installation’ isn’t allowed, so even this trumped-up claim is a breach of their own policy. Unfortunately, the failure of the Cotham’s senior management to take accountability for its actions seem likely to make the school a laughing stock. We think the pupils deserve better,” they added.
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
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