Bristol City Council

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Features

Bristol’s children in care face growing shortage of foster homes

As the number of children needing care rises, a shortage of foster homes is pushing the council towards expensive residential placements, long-distance moves and unregistered accommodation

Anna Zuurmond

Edition 43

How local pension funds invest millions in defence, and why divestment isn’t simple

Faith Rhiannon Clarke
Faith Rhiannon Clarke

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Yassin Mohamud, the city’s first Somali lord mayor on bringing people together

Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media
Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media
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Opinion

The Greens’ UBI proposal doesn’t go far enough

A council motion argues for a UBI for Bristol's arts sector. But there are more radical ways of rethinking work and income

Rae Deer
Two individuals smiling at the camera, standing close together. One is wearing a 'Bristol Cable' branded T-shirt and the other a plain green T-shirt. The text 'PEOPLE JUST DO SOMETHING' is displayed across the front. In the background is a grainy image of high-rise buildings.

People Just Do Something

Listen: People Just Do Something – Veronica Wignall on Bristol’s billboards and reclaiming public spaces

Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins Priyanka Raval
Isaac Kneebone-Hopkins and Priyanka Raval

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Green councillor Ani Townsend on art, inequality and the case for a universal basic income

Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media
Neil Maggs / Maggs Smart Media

Profiling Power

Surveillance isn’t safeguarding: Think Family and the fight for transparency

Bristol City Council says its mass data gathering tool is designed to protect, not profile the 55,000 families it monitors. But is it pushing school children into the criminal justice system?

Sean Morrison
Sean Morrison

Opinion

The destructive juggernaut of Black Friday reminds us why we should resist the advertising industry

Co-founder of Adblock Bristol, Robbie Gillett, reminds us of the true cost behind Amazon’s Black Friday, and how advertising shits in your head

Robbie Gillett

Reports

Two men in suits stand next to each other smiling.

‘Crying out for radical change’: Bristol’s new Green councillor on defecting from Labour

We sit down with British-Palestinian councillor for Frome Vale, Alsayed Al-Magrabi, to discuss his his journey into politics, and his defection to the Greens

Adam Quarshie
Adam Quarshie

Investigations

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Bristol council paying huge sums of money to rent homes from banned landlord

Back in 2022, Bristol City Council obtained a five-year court order barring landlord Naomi Knapp from renting out her homes. Now, it’s spending hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money to use her properties as emergency accommodation.

Alex Turner Daisy Steinhardt
Alex Turner and Daisy Steinhardt

Opinion

East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood: Good intentions aren’t enough

Real climate justice isn’t about green mobility zones or bike lanes—it’s about dignity, equity, and solidarity.

Sara Melasecchi
Sara Melasecchi

Reports

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‘They needed to know how wrong this was’: one woman’s battle against council bailiffs

Bristol City Council claims to have an ‘ethical’ debt collection policy, but has sent bailiffs to thousands of vulnerable residents’ doors. After pressure from ACORN, the council has finally committed to investigate.

Matty Edwards
Matty Edwards
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