ATL

ATL comment on surveillance aspects of Protection of Freedoms Bill

Ken McAdam, lead member adviser at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said:

"ATL has been alarmed at the increasing number of schools that are fingerprinting their pupils, so we are pleased that schools and colleges will have to obtain parental consent before fingerprinting pupils.

"We are also deeply unhappy about the widespread use of CCTV in schools and would welcome tougher regulations to control its use. While it is reasonable for schools to use CCTV to protect their premises, it must not be used to spy on staff or pupils. We firmly recommend that CCTV should not be installed before staff, parents and pupils have been consulted about its location and reasons for installation, and want strict guidelines about the use of any footage and who is allowed to access it."

Back in 2008, 85 per cent of teachers told ATL they had CCTV in their schools (press release attached) and 10 per cent said they had them in the school toilet blocks.

ATL guidance on use of CCTV: http://www.atl.org.uk/help-and-advice/school-and-college/CCTV.asp 
ATL policy on use of CCTV: http://www.atl.org.uk/policy-and-campaigns/policies/CCTV-policy.asp 

Notes to editors

1. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is an independent, registered trade union and professional association, representing approximately 160,000 teachers, headteachers, lecturers and support staff in maintained and independent nurseries, schools, sixth form, tertiary and further education colleges in the United Kingdom.

2. ATL exists to help members, as their careers develop, through first rate research, advice, information and legal advice.

3. ATL is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and Education International (EI). ATL is not affiliated to any political party and seeks to work constructively with all the main political parties.