Former Bristol Education Lead Tinkers With Torbay SEND
Bristol Send Spy Supporting Children and Families in South Devon
A former Bristol education lead who remains embroiled in a Send surveillance scandal, is currently heading a partnership board to ‘support children and their families’ in Torbay.
Alison Hurley was the Director of Education in Bristol from October 2019 until July 2022.
In a video published by Torbay Council in July, Hurley said: “I come to this role with a background in senior leadership both in schools and in local authorities. Most of my thirty year career has been focused on inclusion and send in one way or another. So I’m delighted to be able to join to Torbay in this role.”
Under Hurley’s watch in Bristol, the deficit on the High Need Budget spiraled out of control. Following departure in that specific role, Bristol moved onto the Department for Education’s (DfE) Delivering Better Value in Send. Later, Bristol City Council would secretly do a deal with the DfE to sign up to Safety Valve.
During Hurley’s tenure came accusations of spying on officers of Bristol’s Parent Carer Forum. Following this revelation in publication The Bristolian, the funding for the forum was cut entirely.
Hurley has recently been working on Bristol City Council’s Families First transformation plan.
Last week in Torbay, the SEND Local Improvement Partnership Board (SLAIP) chaired by Hurley, published an action plan addressing areas of concern highlighted in the LA’s recent SEND inspection.
One area of improvement noted by Ofsted and the CQC was the need for ‘Strengthening partnerships and improving communication with families.’
In Bristol in November 2022, a Joint area SEND revisit in Bristol found ‘sufficient progress’ had been made in addressing four of the ‘significant weaknesses’ identified in the initial 2019 inspection.
The one weakness Bristol City Council failed to make progress on was: ‘The fractured relationships with parents and carers, lack of co- production and variable engagement and collaboration.’
This work was supposed to be done during Hurley’s time as Education lead under Executive Director Hugh Evans – who is also implicated in Send Spying.
Lead Inspector Phil Minns said at the time ‘Some parents and carers continue to lack trust in the system and feel that leaders are not acting in the best interests of their children.’
With the publication of Torbay’s action plan last week, Alison Hurley said: “It’s essential we have robust arrangements in place for delivering the necessary improvements needed for children and young people with SEND in Torbay.
“I was delighted so many parents and carers made their views known during the summer. They played a vital role in co-producing the plan. It means their voices are at the heart of all the work that the partnership is doing to improve outcomes for Torbay’s children and young people.”
“It is clear there is a great deal that needs to be done to tackle the issues, and I am encouraged by the commitment and determination from across the partnership to deliver these changes.”
An independent investigation into the Bristol Send spying between the autumn of 2021 and the summer of 2022 – when Hurley left – is due to start imminently.
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