Surr was assisted by board members Helen Taylor and Florence Fenwick Miller in bringing to public notice in 1881 certain scandals at St Paul's Industrial School, after a fire there: both Surr and Taylor were Board-appointed Visitors at the school. As a consequence, Home Secretary Sir William Harcourt ordered the school to be closed, and set up an inquiry. That inquiry came to nothing, however, finding a lack of evidence. The board's own discussions of the matter showed up internal divisions, with an "official group" led by Scrutton and Edward North Buxton, who were Liberal Party supporters, confronted by Surr's "independent" group of radical reformers backed by Helen Taylor and Florence Fenwick Miller. Its investigating committee failed to inspire confidence in Benjamin Lucraft and Edith Simcox, who refused to serve on it,
