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Bristol Post

National

Shashana Brown

Stoke Lodge row: Cotham School’s 'covert' CCTV cameras deemed 'unlawful'

Cotham School Darren Jones Police ICO Bristol City Council

A Bristol school's controversial use of CCTV cameras to catch vandals was in “contravention of the principles of data protection law”, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It was asked to consider Cotham School's 'covert' camera row at Stoke Lodge playing fields, after complaints from members of the public who use the green space.

It installed hidden cameras inside an electrical junction box last year after being “subject to persistent criminal damage” between 2018 and 2021. The school said its decision to install the cameras was backed by police, who have confirmed they did suggest a school install secret wildlife cameras but only if the school already had clear signs telling people there were cameras in use.

The ICO has now said that the CCTV is “positioned in such a way that they are difficult to detect, and therefore not in a place that individuals would reasonably expect” adding that “the need for transparency is a fundamental aspect of data protection law” and the school must take “immediate steps to address the operation of the junction box cameras during permissive hours”.

In a statement published on its website on Thursday (January 19), the school said it would ‘act in accordance’ with the ICO requirements and ‘install enhanced signage informing members of the public’ that CCTV cameras were installed inside a metal junction box. The statement reads: “The cameras installed in the metal junction box were always an interim measure installed in response to crime prevention activities as advised by Avon and Somerset Police.

"This advice was provided due to the school being classed as a victim of crime following a number of acts of criminal damage that occurred at the school site at Stoke Lodge. Until the CCTV pole is installed to support the school in its safeguarding duty to our students and to prevent disruption to our PE lessons through the maintenance of a safe site and the deterrent of any further criminal damage the cameras in the junction boxes will remain in situ.

The fence at Stoke Lodge playing fields (James Beck/Freelance)

“The school applied for planning to install a CCTV pole and camera adjacent to the gate behind the neighbouring Stoke Lodge Adult Learning Centre on 30 April 2020, however, at this point in time this application remains with the Planning Department at Bristol City Council as undetermined.”

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 said the cameras captured footage of one man repeatedly vandalising the school fence. According to the school, he was questioned and accepted a caution for criminal damage from the police.

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 MP Darren Jones - 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’.

The ICO's investigation was in response to a request from Mr Jones, and he shared a copy of their letter of reply this week. The letter, dated January 18, added: "Due to the position and size of the cameras in question and the lack of any further signage within the site indicating their operation or location, we do not consider that the school has fully met its transparency obligations."

An additional letter to Mr Jones from Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Shelford, sent just before Christmas, noted that the police force gave the school "crime prevention advice and advised how CCTV might be used as part of a problem-solving plan". The letter continued: "The erection of a fence around the school parameter as well as the use of CCTV has angered many in the community, however, the police have remained impartial throughout and continue to try to keep the peace."

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