Neil Foden Was Not The First HeadMaster To Abuse Children In Gwynedd...

Neil Foden, the paedophile head teacher, jailed for sexual assaults against children in Gwynedd, was an abusive bully and seemingly immune from censure by those who should have stopped him.

From senior police officers and councillors who sat on the board of school governors, MP's and Assembly Members, Local Authority officers and their legal team, councillors of the Education/Economy scrutiny committee, the Education Workforce Council et al...

Parents raised complaints. Local media reported on his assault on a pupil at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle. 
Nothing was done...

It was the action of a child that finally brought his reign of terror to an end. 
A child that, after blowing the whistle, had to hide in a cupboard whilst the social workers at cyngor Gwynedd waited for the correct form to be filled in before they allowed the police to be called to Ysgol Friars.

The Plaid Cymru controlled council has apologised for its failings
These inadequacies stem, in part, from recommendations not being implemented after the case of headteacher, John Owen, whose abuse of children in another part of Wales led to the Clywch Inquiry and Report.

From an article written by Gwyn Loader, Chief correspondent, Newyddion S4C -
The Our Bravery Brought Justice report into Foden's offending has an annex devoted to similarities with Owen's offending, with reviewers noting "it is appalling that the recommendations of this review reflect those of Clywch so closely and that 20 years later the key issues still have not been resolved or acted upon"...

His Honour Nicholas Cooke KC, a former Deputy High Court judge and counsel to the Clywch inquiry, called for a national audit to ensure the 2004 report and its recommendations "haven't gone to waste as it's been acquiring cobwebs".

"History keeps repeating itself," he said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce3kexe2eeko

Neil Foden is not the first head teacher to be jailed for sexually abusing children in Gwynedd...
In 2025, an 87 year old former primary headmaster was arrested on historic abuse charges.

The ex teacher was jailed in 1964 for sexual offences against children at a school in Holyhead, on Anglesey, and struck off the teaching register.

In 1970, the paedophile was readmitted to the profession by the Department of Education.

In 1978, he again faced charges of indecency against children but was found not guilty by the Magistrates court in Blaenau Ffestiniog. 

The teacher was defended in court by Hugh Emlyn Hooson, QC, who was the Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire. Hooson later became Baron Hooson - 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emlyn_Hooson,_Baron_Hooson

Why this case was not heard in the Crown court is not known nor why a QC would take on a case in a Magistrates court.

This teacher taught at Gellilydan primary school in Trawsfynydd, and was then promoted to headmaster of Tanygrisiau primary school...

In 1986, he was charged with sexual offences against children, found guilty and jailed - again...

Gwynedd council held an internal review into the case which was called out as a 'whitewash' by then councillor, Wil Pierce. Frustrated by the council's behaviour, Pierce is believed to have then contacted the Ombudsman.

A reminder that this case occurred at the same time Gwynedd council suspended the social worker, Alison Taylor, who blew the whistle on the abuse of children in the region's care homes. 

For reasons unknown, the authorities are acting with no urgency in providing this now aged paedophile's victims with the justice they deserve.  If he dies, does this mean that documents relating to the safeguarding failures will not be examined in a court of law..?

In 2017, a FOI request for the number of complaints against this teacher from both parents and the general public was mishandled and refused by the council, who finally told the requestor that the council 'do not have any information relating to any complaints.'

The council was also asked for the name of all of the schools where the teacher had been employed prior to his arrest in 1986.
Gwynedd council shut this down by replying with 'The Council does hold information about the schools but this information is being withheld under section 40(2) of the Act.'

A request for an internal review was ignored by cyngor Gwynedd's monitoring officer. 

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Briefing Notes, LADO's And AI systems - Cyngor Gwynedd Council...

Concerns with the 'briefing note', circulated to members of cyngor Gwynedd's Governance and Audit committee by the monitoring officer, were raised at the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 8th October 2026.

An objection, by councillor Richard Glyn Roberts, was raised at the G&A meeting to the propriety of this note but technical reasons meant Iwan Evans explanation could not be heard. The meeting of 29th September was paused and eventually deferred until a later date. 

Councillor Roberts also sits on the Education/Economy committee and was present along with a few other councillors in the chamber, the remaining members participating via Zoom. In contrast there were 17 people sitting on the front bench, alongside the chair and Nia Jeffreys, the leader of the council.

Roberts again raised the matter of the briefing note. 
Dafydd Gibbard, the CEO, responded to the councillor.

Is the HR investigation perhaps asking questions of the involvement of the legal department at this point?
Jan Pickles report does mention that a senior legal officer was present during a safeguarding meeting that discussed the whistleblower's concerns with regard to paedophile Neil Foden. 

It was an odd meeting in many ways... 
Officers were reluctant to give themselves praise for the safeguarding work that has been done since Foden was arrested in 2023 - 
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-13591195/paedophile-head-teacher-hiding-plain-sight-abuse-girls.html

Officers informed that work is still in progress and concerns were voiced that Welsh government's guidance on LADOs did not align with the CPR recommendations, that the LADO should not act alone.

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) is responsible for managing and overseeing allegations against individuals working with children, ensuring that concerns are handled fairly and promptly. They provide guidance, coordinate responses among agencies, and monitor the investigation process without conducting investigations themselves.

The Jan Pickles report was very critical of the last LADO and his failures.

Meetings held behind closed doors and not recorded...
One councillor asked about the recording of safeguarding meetings and proper minute taking. Dylan Owen, the director of SS, reported that meetings were recorded via an AI system that presumably writes the discussion down. This is a new system and one hopes that it is being closely monitored for accuracy.

School governors also came in for criticism with the cabinet member for education stating that some governors were  passive in their work and just followed what the headteacher wanted. This is unfair as most governors are ordinary people who do great work.

A reminder that Ysgol Friars board of governors included two senior police officers and at least one councillor whose background is TV and media. One ex governor of Friars is Mair Rowlands, now an MS in Welsh government.

I have no knowledge of the board of governors at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle during the headship of Foden, but he was still in post even after the video of him assaulting a pupil appeared in the media. 
The education scrutiny committee itself discussed this video at the time but did nothing.
Why not?

Everyone knew Foden was an abusive bully but he was able to abuse because the culture within the council and the schools protected him from censure. New policies and procedures will not make any difference if the culture does not change. 

A reminder that many of the children abused by Foden were in the care of the council... 

Trauma informed or trauma induced..?
Menna Trenholme, the cabinet member for children, spoke of her work in becoming trauma informed. Trenholme may be even better informed if she read the work of Professor Luke Clements, who cites SS departments as causing trauma for many families when they seek help from the very services created to support them...

His report on Systems Generated Trauma can be found here - 
https://cerebra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Systems-Generated-Trauma-Report-web.pdf

The reports of the meeting can be found in the agenda pack here - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5777/Public%20reports%20pack%2008th-Oct-2026%2010.30%20Education%20and%20Economy%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10  

The webcast of the meeting can be found here - 
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1133653

Public inquiry now. 

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

 

Gwynedd Cabinet Member Ignores Yet Another Arrest Of School Staff - And Canolfan Brynffynnon.

Cyngor Gwynedd held a full council meeting on Thursday, 24th September 2026.

Questions were asked by councillors, that included concerns of drones at Llanbedr airfield.
The questions are asked in advance, vetted by the monitoring officer, then a written reply by the relevant member of the Plaid controlled cabinet is included in the agenda for the meeting.

Is it all scripted..?
The questions are then asked at the meeting and cabinet members recite the prepared answers.
A supplementary question is allowed.  
Not all councillors bother with a supplementary - for some that do, it is noticed that cabinet members know what the question is before it is even asked... 

The Scrutiny Annual Report 25/26 was presented by councillor, Cai Larsen, chair of the Scrutiny Forum, with Ian Jones, Head of Democracy Services (Head of Corporate Services) named as the contact officer...  
To ensure that scrutiny arrangements are effective, members across the political groups work as a team to investigate concerns about the quality of services; acting as a Critical Friend ensuring that proper attention is given to the citizen's voice; identifying good practice and weaknesses and holding the Cabinet and its members to account.

Smoke and mirrors..?
For many years now, complaints regarding abuse in Gwynedd have been nodded through by councillors instead of proper scrutiny or investigation.
 
Larsen himself sat on a committee that did nothing to hold Neil Foden to account, when a video of the head teacher physically assaulting a pupil at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, was reported in the media and discussed at the committee.
 
Ian Jones, the head of corporate services, has included a social services complaint in one of his past documents. This, some believe, was to avoid the care scrutiny committee - and a serious matter was simply passed through by cabinet members without proper discussion. 

Dewi Jones, the cabinet member for Education, presented the -
Strategic Safeguarding Panel's Annual Report 2025/26 which can be found in the agenda pack for the meeting - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g6853/Public%20reports%20pack%2024thSep-2026%2013.30%20The%20Council.pdf?T=10 

His presentation to the full council was weak and he made no mention of yet another arrest of a school staff member just before the summer holidays.   How many arrests of school staff (past and present) have there now been since Neil Foden?  Seven? More..? Jones instead mainly focussed on pupils absent from school. There are those parents who home educate due to a failure to adequately support their children in school, some electively, some not. Not long ago there were issues with children being suspended, excluded and even off rolled by some schools - is this still the case?  Many of these children have ALN.... In some cases children are not popular with staff and this can become a problem for the child, this is not something that ever comes up for discussion though. Instead of acknowledging the pressures these children face with bullying and lack of understanding by some teachers, Jones wishes for more powers to punish the parents.  Where is the voice of the child? Has Jones spoken to the children and parents/carers of these particular cohorts?  If not - why not..?  The curriculum is also a concern for some parents. Dewi Jones. made no mention of the abuse of children at Canolfan Brynffynnon in Y Felinheli. The children who attended this unit had ALN. A recent documentary of the PRU by Y Byd ar Bedwar can be found here -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgMHbCNY0Yc One councillor did raise concerns and in response, Jones did promise to include Brynffynnon in next year's report... A reminder that three staff members were suspended for 9 years, two have been given redundancy packages and one has recently been reinstated by cyngor Gwynedd. The webcast of the full council meeting can be found here -  https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1129335 The Governance And Audit Committee of 29th September, 2026 10.00 am The Governance and Audit committee is one of the most important of all meetings, yet is not webcast so not available for later viewing by councillors or the public.  Members of the committee had been given a Briefing Note by Iwan Evans, the monitoring officer.  He directed lay members and councillors not to raise employment issues. This likely relates to Marian Parry Hughes and Dafydd Paul, who have been 'absent from work' on full pay since the spring of 2025... Evans was challenged over this note and he floundered in his response but technical difficulties meant he could not be properly heard and the meeting was suspended whilst officer's tried to sort out the problem,  This was not possible and the meeting was eventually deferred. The reports that should have been discussed at the G&A meeting can be found in the agenda pack for the Education and Economy meeting to be held on the 8th, October -  https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5777/Public%20reports%20pack%2008th-Oct-2026%2010.30%20Education%20and%20Economy%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10 Councillors could be asking Dafydd Gibbard, CEO and the legal team to - * Commission an independent investigation into Canolfan Brynffynnon. * Publish the Woods report that looked at the failings of council officers re Neil Foden. * Ask how many Section 5 meetings there have been in regard to staff that are in a position of trust since Foden's arrest?   * Ask if the senior legal officer who sat in on the meeting in 2019, when the concerns of the whistleblower re Foden were discussed and downgraded from a safeguarding concern to a professional issue only, is still in post?  Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...

School Closures, Population Needs And Complaints - Cyngor Gwynedd Council...

Cyngor Gwynedd held a meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday, 15th September, 2026 at 1.00 pm. 
The agenda pack for the meeting can be found here - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5769/Public%20reports%20pack%2015th-Sep-2026%2013.00%20The%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

Members confirmed the closure of Ysgol Nebo and Ysgol Baladeulyn despite objections from the public, local councillors and even cabinet members themselves. But when it came to the vote, the cabinet voted unanimously for closure...

'An Action Plan for the Prevention of Suicide and Self-harm 2026-2028' was passed. Perhaps now, those struggling with mental health including farmers and survivors of abuse etc will finally get proper support. Or is this just another programme that will benefit council staff only?

The 'Quarterly Report – Chair of the Response Plan Programme Board (July 2026)' was presented. 
This is the ongoing work arising from the sexual abuse of children by the paedophile, Neil Foden. Many in Gwynedd have little faith in those undertaking the work and even the work itself. 

Yet another arrest of a school staff member in the summer shows that the problem may be more systemic than councillors wish to believe. 

An 'Adoption of an Education Transport Policy to be operational September 2027 onwards' was passed. 
Due to the closure of so many schools in Gwynedd, more pupils need transport to the larger schools that have been built. The increase in costs to the transport budget has been raised as a concern by many councillors, who do not seem to understand the effect their decisions have on other policies.

Not all bullying happens in schools - it also happens on school transport. 
Has this been considered by the education department? 

Complaints regarding transport are being badly handled by the head of education so councillors may be unaware of the true problems facing pupils and their families...

Cabinet members also passed the 'Compact: Cyngor Gwynedd and Third Sector Collaboration Agreement' This was enlightening on many levels due to the contribution from Bethan Williams of Mantell Gwynedd.

It appears that cyngor Gwynedd has not been fully supportive of the third sector - including volunteering organisations - for some time.

A reminder that these groups are attempting to pick up the pieces due to the cuts imposed by Gwynedd cabinet members. For some time, issues with with the council being able and even willing sometimes to work with both the third sector and health has been a problem. 

The full webcast of the meeting can be found here - 
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1087345/start_time/354000

                                                             *******************

A Care Scrutiny Committee was held on Thursday, 17th September, 2026.
The agenda pack for that meeting can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g6830/Public%20reports%20pack%2017th-Sep-2026%2010.00%20Care%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10

It was a very long meeting, due mainly to councillors questioning the representatives of the housing associations that had been invited to the meeting. Some councillors do not like social housing and conscious and unconscious bias was evident at the meeting...

The webcast of the meeting can be found here - 
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1126222  

The afternoon session began with the 'NORTH WALES POPULATION NEEDS ASSESSMENT 2027 DRAFT REPORT' and presented by Hawis Jones.

3. Details of the North Wales Population Needs Assessment 2027
3.1 Regional Partnership Boards (RPBs) must complete a Population Needs Assessment (PNA) of care and support needs under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. The report must assess the care and support needs of priority population groups including children and young people, older people, people with physical and learning disabilities, mental health, neurodivergence and carers who need support.

8. How does the assessment contribute to Council’s priorities?
8.1 The population needs assessment contributes to regional and local level strategic planning
cycles, consequently this will support all local authorities’ corporate priorities relating to the
health and social care needs of the population

This is one of the most important documents that cyngor Gwynedd produce.and helps drive services for the next five years. But like the last 'assessment' this too is ... lacking.

Unlike before, some councillors noticed and asked questions that Hawis Jones had trouble answering at times, this was not helped by cabinet member, Dilwyn Morgan's interruptions and his diversions away from what the members of the committee were seeking answers on. For some reason the head of adults SS, Mari Wynne Jones informed that she would be answering for both departments and Menna Trenholme cabinet member for children didn't seem to have anything to say at all! 
Car crash..?

Luckily, it is only a draft report and one can only hope that Jones uses the feedback to produce an informed and useful plan for the next 5 years...

The SS complaints handling report, authored by Sharron Williams Carter and Mari Wynne Jones was presented. Elliw Haf Hughes, the Assistant Head of Safeguarding and Quality was present but said very little during the meeting...

A reminder that the figures below may not be correct due to Gwynedd SS departments novel way of dealing with enquires and complaints...

 

 

In other news, councillors have signed off on properties to deal with the housing crisis -
To approve the purchase of Bron Menai, Caernarfon and Elm Bank, Bangor shown outlined in red on the attached plan, (including a commitment to agree a management fee for a period of 5 years to the current owners of the sites) in accordance with terms and conditions to be determined by the Head of Housing and Property.

More information can be found here -
https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-067c8e 

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Safeguarding Arrangements in Gwynedd Schools Still Lacking...

Cyngor Gwynedd have finally published their -
Scrutiny Investigation Report into Safeguarding Arrangements in Schools

https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s50904/Safeguarding%20Arrangements%20in%20Schools%20Scrutiny%20Investigation%20Report-.pdf

A reminder that this investigation was initiated by the Education and Economy Scrutiny committee in early 2025, yet makes no mention of the committee's own failings and missed opportunities to stop Neil Foden. 

Wasn't Dewi Jones, the cabinet member for Education, originally part of the investigation? 
Did he excuse himself..?

This report was intended to be published in 2025, but had to be delayed because the investigating team had not included the voice of the child...  

The children's voice...
It is of high concern that the council did not utilise the recognised 'provider' due to the provider having fears that the council's 'remit' did not go far enough.

Ignoring the concerns of the independent provider, cyngor Gwynedd chose instead to appoint Dr Ceryl Teleri Davies, a former senior officer within the council's SS department - on the initial remit that others had considered insufficient.

Only 57 pupils were engaged...
Her 'Pupil Voice Report' can be found in appendix 7 here - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/s50889/Appendices.pdf

The schools chosen by the council for the sample were - 

Davies includes four bite sized quotes from the children...

Why Ysgol Friars, and Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle (the main schools where Foden was found abusing) were not included is not known...

The most vulnerable children...
Ysgol Pendalar in Caernarfon is a special school yet Davies does not give any detail of how these children were engaged with. There is no information to what measures are in place for ALN/disabled or how they are kept safe from predators and abuse...

What of the 21%  of children in mainstream schools with ALN? 
From reading the report there is no mention of how these pupils are engaged with in an appropriate manner and how their understanding is checked. How are pupils with speech and language and other communication issues supported in all of this?

Protect the higher pay-grades...
A reminder that everyone knew Neil Foden was an abusive bully...
Safeguarding arrangements did not fail - the toxic culture within schools and the council protected him from censure.

The Ffordd Gwynedd way...
The Safeguarding Arrangements report is not comprehensive and like many of the documents written by cyngor Gwynedd appears to be yet another exercise in tick boxing and marking the officers homework...

The report is to be presented to the Education and Economy Scrutiny committee on the 14th, July, 2026. The webcast of the meeting will be found here - 
 https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1109262

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council - and its schools...