Rebuilding Communities - A Future For Gwynedd By Looking To The Past ?

A recent article, by Branwen Jones, a community reporter, has the headline - 
'Ban the sale of second homes or Welsh speaking communities face being wiped out, councillor claims' amid calls for a two tier market to be introduced in Gwynedd.

With nearly 40% of house sales bought as second homes last year, the paper returns us to 1973 and an article written by Ann Clwyd, the ex Labour MP, though makes no mention of Meibion Glyndŵr, a group of activists who, during the 1980's and early 90's set fire to over 200 English owned homes in the area and also letter bombed the estate agents they considered profitering from the house sales. 

Police reported finding a bomb in the garden of a local actor - (neighbours spoke of seeing a stranger in the garden the previous day) - and he was arrested and taken for questioning to Dolgellau. Rumours of MI5 involvement in the case were denied. Whilst the actor was finally released, one man was eventually jailed.

Many in the area were supportive of Meibion Glyndŵr, who saw the Welsh language being diluted and youngsters forced out of the area to seek housing and employment, ironically, in England. This was the time for local politicians and the council to act - they did not and the opportunity of buying cheap housing to improve and rent to locals was lost. It would be interesting to see the property portfolio's of those whose job it was to serve the local communities, back then and today.

Gwynedd Cabinet Member for Housing, Craig ab lago has said - "It doesn't matter how many homes we can build or how many empty ones we bring back into active use, until we sort out the root issue what we're doing is putting a sticking plaster over a gaping wound." 

The Councillor is right. 'Build more homes' has been the loud shout reverberating throughout Wales - mostly by those who can not think further than their own profitable links with property developers and the building industry. There is no need.

The idea of heavily taxing the property of wealthy incomers more, while attractive to many is also a non starter. Jersey is not a good example of how it could be done though not without some merit it will simply alienate and divide people even more.We must also remember that many locals have bought second homes as an investment and those who use such property as a business.

Cyngor Gwynedd recently revealed there are 1000 people on the housing list; coincidentally there are 1000 empty properties in the area. Let the council employ a small in-house team of builders, plumbers, electricians, and carpenters, let them take on local youth as apprentices, renovate the empty homes and rent them to the apprentices who have been working on them. Then move on to the next house, creating job security and affordable rental housing as it goes. 

I do believe, Councillor, Craig ab lago, has been working on such a program but progress will be too slow without the council and its senior officers fully supporting him.

The scheme would eventually pay for itself by the rental income and council tax raised on the properties that are currently rotting and worthless. When the apprentices become the masters, let them teach the new influx of apprentices. They will eventually move on, hopefully start their own businesses and create opportunities for other local peiople.

Insulate these properties properly - with the climate crisis in mind carbon neutral would be the goal or as near as damn it. Llyr Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru shadow rural affairs minister has been vocal with regard to Welsh wool being used as insulation in homes to support the regions sheep farmers who have been on their knees for years. Excellent. Use the wood from the regions sustained forests and Welsh slate for the roofs, too. This would not only support these businesses but massively reduce the carbon footprint importing these products from abroad.

These homes would not be available to buy and their tenancies would be linked to their employment with the council. Creating jobs and security for the local youth in the area. Once the program has started then renovate the houses for those in need on the housing list.

So where will the money come from initially ? 
UK governments have always provided money for apprentice schemes so use those grants now while still available. Other grants will also be available Across the North Wales council's is a £2 Billion pension pot - much of which is invested abroad. Why not invest that money in schemes supporting the region(s) ?

Ask for those in the community with expertise and knowledge to come forward to pass on their skills to the youth and the unemployed; stonemasons, engineers, metal workers, fishermen, computer coders et al. The area is awash with retirees and others who would be more than happy to volunteer their time and knowledge as the recent covid19 crisis has shown.

Reopen the youth clubs and community centres so these skills can be taught in the local communities by the local community.These schemes run locally will not cost much and if small amounts of monies are needed then dip into the council reserves. Schemes such as these will also deal with the issue of gangs of bored, youth roaming the town centres and estates. Dispersal notices are not the answer as the reported attacks on police in Bangor have shown. These centres could also be used as a focal point for all ages within the community - a meeting place for music, sport and drama - as they used to be.

The effects of the Covid19 pandemic, on health and the economy, will be with us for decades. Gwynedd, its people and the Welsh language could thrive with the right leadership. The last forty years has shown where mistakes were made - those lessons must be learnt otherwise they will only be repeated.

7 Managers And 3 Staff Members Have Left Gisda Since 2011 - Amid Bullying Claims.#Gwynedd

More bullying in Gwynedd.

Ten former employees at a homeless charity have said the chief executive's behaviour led them to leave their jobs.

Since 2011, seven managers and three members of staff have left Gisda, with many claiming to have been bullied.
The board of directors at the charity, based in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, said it had confidence in the ability of Sian Elen Tomos.
The youth charity is "committed to creating a healthy work space for its entire staff," the board added.
The BBC has spoken to 10 former Gisda employees who claim Ms Tomos's managerial style was the reason they left.

None were willing to do an interview publicly - but one agreed to speak anonymously.

Eileen - not her real name - said Ms Tomos "could make people feel very uncomfortable".
"Not taking into account what anyone else said, ignoring people and making it obvious in front of other people, turning her back on you as you were speaking to her and walking away," she explained.

"I've seen her walking out of a number of meetings. She would not speak to people for days. Not speaking at all. And she could be nasty to people too.
"I think she worked on people's weaknesses - bullyng, really."

"I didn't want to go to work," she added. "I think it affected young people too. They could see so much turnover.

"There was a feeling that she was untouchable. If anyone disagreed with her she got rid of them - or worked to get rid of them."

A letter sent to the board of directors and seen by the BBC shows a number of staff complained about the situation in 2017.

The BBC understands only three formal complaints have been made since 2011, but a number of former staff said they did not complain formally because they felt they would be ignored.

The letter noted staff felt "suspicious, dispirited, anxious and angry", and the charity needed to act decisively if the board wished "to avoid a morale crisis".
The letter finished by calling on the board to "consider the high level of staff turnover in the organisation".


Later in 2017, an independent report was commissioned by the charity in response to the grievances of two managers.

The BBC has seen a copy of the report, which states the grievances of the two previous managers and the complaints made by the chief executive about her staff, were partly upheld.

Acknowledging further issues at Gisda, the report made a number of recommendations.

These included to arrange mediation between Ms Tomos and the two former managers and the board should review its complaints procedures so complaints were acted upon and not ignored.

According to Eileen, who left months after the independent report was published, the recommendations were not acted upon.

Four other former members of staff who left after the report was published agreed.

To see positive change, Eileen said the charity should appoint a new board of directors and chief executive.

Ms Tomos and the chairman of the board of directors, Tudor Owen, were given the opportunity to respond separately to the claims.


More - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48044912

Disabled SW Suspended For 2.5 Years Wins Tribunal - Cyngor Gwynedd Council.

Gwynedd Social Services Senior Managers (again)

Disabled social worker's Employment Tribunal.

Corrected decision, Employment tribunal: unfair dismissal, disability discrimination, harassment of social worker by local authority employer ?

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5cf61dd7e5274a0771578036/1600022.2017_Mr_S_Parry_v_Gwynedd_Council_-_CORRECTED_JUDGMENT_AND_REASONS.pdf

Always Someone Else's Fault - Cyngor Gwynedd Council.

Paragraph 40 of the Ombudsman for Wales 2019 Report into Cyngor Gwynedd Children's Services -

"...However, the Council was of the view that it was not required to share any draft with
Mr & Mrs A. It said that the Regulations did not specify this. In support of its
view, it said that it had sought information from other councils in North Wales
about their practice, which accorded with the Council’s position.

The Council said that it was the IIO that had requested a meeting to discuss the
Second draft. The Council had referred the IIO to documents already
provided to review those inaccuracies it had pointed out. It said that ‘extra
copies’ of those documents were provided to her.

Only one additional (new) item was produced, which the Council had initially felt to be irrelevant to the IIO’s investigation, as it related to an earlier complaint made in 2010. The
Council said that the sole purpose of the meeting was to ensure the report’s
accuracy. It was not an attempt to influence the IIO.

The Council added that it had to chase the IIO to obtain the Final report. It was not sent until
11.13pm on 2 January 2018 (despite assurance it would reach Officer 1 by 29 December 2017).
This was ‘...unfortunate and highly disappointing that
the IIO’s reluctance to respond to [Officer 1’s] requests for a corrected
draft...during December further added to the delay’.
                                                  ************************

So Gwynedd Council told the Ombudsman that other County Council's in North Wales do not share Independent Investigation 'draft' Reports. I wonder if proof of this was provided to the Ombudsman? In any case, the usual procedure is that the Council accept the IO's Independent report and write a response letter and if they do not agree with findings and recommendations to say so in that response letter, not seek to change or remove things from the IO's report before they accept it.

The IO and IP stated that this course of action is NOT usual.

How can complainants challenge any inaccuracies in a Report if they are not allowed sight before publication ? I am astonished that the Ombudsman permitted this 'excuse' without challenge - especially as we pointed out that the Report does contain one inaccuracy that we would like correcting and asked what was to be done to correct this.
The question was ignored.

Gwynedd Council like to blame anyone but themselves, but to claim to the Ombudsman that the Council had to chase the IO to obtain the Final Report is disingenuous in light of the fact that this was the third report that she had submitted.

Bearing in mind, the Ombudsman was kept informed of the Council's behaviour during this time it is confusing the Ombudsman has not made more of this point. The Ombudsman even attempted to speed up the process by writing to the council to ask what had happened to their 'delayed response'.

A process that should take 25 working DAYS took 7 MONTHS.

And who is Officer 1 requesting a 'corrected draft' ?
Highly disappointing ? For whom ?

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council.

Bullying ? - Cyngor Gwynedd Council.

A meeting was arranged by Cyngor Gwynedd Council's customer care officer to discuss with the Investigator what the Council claimed were factual inaccuracies within the Complaint Report and to seek clarity.

We had asked Dafydd Paul, the Senior Manager Safeguarding and Quality, if we could attend this meeting but were rebuffed - "This is not a meeting where you are invited".

The Independent Person, with a duty to oversee the Investigation process in the interests of the child, was NOT present at this meeting.

Senior Management Team members in attendance were -

                             Marian Parry Hughes.
                             Aled Gibbard
                             Sharron Williams Carter
                                    
Senior Social worker, Delyth Davies and Lowri Williams were also present.

The Head of Children's Services, Marian Parry Hughes, begins by accepting the meeting is "...unusual however the Stage 2 is complex and felt a face to face meeting would be beneficial"

 and goes on to say.....

"The meeting was not to try and influence the outcome of the report in anyway"
Cough.

One of the main reasons given by the Senior Management Team for not accepting the Investigator's original report was that it contained factual inaccuracies.

Yet the 2019 Ombudsman for Wales Report highlights the fact that -

"On the evidence before me, bearing in mind the Council has not identified anything specific by way of ‘inaccuracies’, despite ample opportunity to do so..."

It was at this meeting (referred to in the Ombudsman's Report) that the Investigating Officer felt "bullied" and "overwhelmed."

It is a concern that with so many senior officers present no official minutes were taken during this meeting.(An email from Lowri Williams that contained notes and comments on the meeting was received through a Subject Access Request).

Comments from Aled Gibbard have also been noted but that is for another post.

The final, final Report was at least 4 pages shorter than the first one, a report that highlighted an inadequate assessment of a vulnerable child's needs and failure to maintain the child's CIN plan. Prior references to 'risk' and 'need' were also absent, along with recommendations.

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd Council.

Comments From Cyngor Gwynedd Councillors On Member Training Meetings.

There has been a recent Report released entitled Learning and Development Provision for Members.

It lists two successes -

 • "I benefited from the Effective Presentation training. I have learned how to structure a presentation professionally, something that can become very useful when you have to present in a Committee eg Planning Committee. This training can be very useful for all Members. It was brilliant"

• "The Dealing with the Press was very valuable. No-one knows what issues can arise within their ward, and so the experience I've had on this course are great. Very challenging training, and gained valuable skills. "

It also lists challenges -

Attendance Numbers of Members attending are inconsistent e.g. "Unconscious Bias" training was organized at the request of a Member, but only 2 Members attended the whole session.

However, the response to some titles has been disappointing e.g. when a Corporate Parenting session was arranged for an evening in January (following a specific request from Members), the session had to be cancelled as only 5 registered to attend.

Comments that were received from the councillors included - 

• "I only attend titles that are of interest to me"

• "Too much training"

• "Of course I go to the Planning training because those are compulsory and I am interested in the subject as I am a Member of the Committee"

• "I think others are important, Childcare / Care of the Elderly etc, however, I have contacts that specialise in many areas - and I get any information that I need through those sources"

• "Between day to day work and all Committees, I have to prioritise matters"

• "It is sometimes better to have some Members who specialise in some areas, instead of Members trying to get information about everything"

• "The titles you offer are all that we need as Members and I can only praise that"

• "A great obstacle is that I have to take 'unpaid holidays' for the Committees and training that coincide with my working time, so attending events can be costly for me. In addition, it is very difficult to get time off. Events later in the afternoons would work well for me). "

• "If Members can not attend events, that they receive a copy of the materials by e-mail after the event, so that they can see the presentation."

• "Any area I need help with, I can get the information over the phone / email / internet and I do not feel that Managers / officers need to give me information."

• "At my age, I’m not sure how much more 'development' I need to do - so I do not think it's important for me by now."
 
The full Report can be found here - 
https://democracy.cyngor.gwynedd.gov.uk/documents/g2595/Public%20reports%20pack%2012th-Feb-2019%2010.30%20Democratic%20Services%20Committee.pdf?T=10

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Meeting Concluded. Hmm.

The Minutes of the Extraordinary meeting held on the 6th November, 2018, have finally surfaced and have been presented to the Committee meeting on the 31st January, 2019.

The meeting in November was held to receive the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) Report AND the Annual Complaints Handling Report of the Supporting Children and Families department.

Previous blog posts have publicised the emails sent to the members of the Care Scrutiny Committee in which issues were raised with the 'accuracy' of the Complaints Report, authored and presented by Dafydd Paul.

The minutes are, also, not an accurate record of the meeting and an email was sent to the Democratic Services on the morning of the meeting raising this point and asking for an explanation.

No reply was given and the meeting went ahead with the Minutes signed and are now seen as an accurate record - they are not. I wonder if the email was even presented to the Committee.

https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/400538

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd Council.

Allegations Against Cyngor Gwynedd Council Members - 2018/19.

Committee:THE STANDARDS COMMITTEE

Date:21 January 2019

Title:Allegations against members

Author:Monitoring Officer

Purpose: For information

Background -

The purpose of this report is to inform the Committee of the Ombudsman's decisions on formal complaints against members.

Decisions Complaint 14539/201702769
 

A complaint that a County Councillor had failed to register land ownership as an interest and had failed to declare this when discussing

a planning application with officers.

The Ombudsman investigated the complaint and reached the following

conclusion:

It appears that the member was in breach of the code by failing to

register the interest and by failing to declare this when e-mailing planning officers.

The content of the e-mail blurred the line between the member's role

as an individual and his role as a member of the Council.

Despite the Member's arguments to the contrary, the Ombudsman was

of the opinion that had received sufficient training on the Code of Conduct and if unclear about any aspect, it was his responsibility to seek further advice from the Monitoring Officer. 

 

Having considered the public interest test, it was decided that no further action was necessary in this instance as the individual was a new

member at the time, that this was the first time his conduct had been

brought to the Ombudsman's attention, and that he had since completed

the registration of interest correctly.

He would write to the member to emphasise the importance of keeping

separate his private and public roles and that he should seek advice

from the Monitoring Officer if he needs more training on the Code of Conduct.

Complaint 201805374

Complaint by a member of the public that a member of the Community

Council had:

made a false statement in order to undermine support for a local campaign led by the complainant.

used her influence on a committee of the local hall to prevent the

complainant from hiring the hall.

The Ombudsman resolved not to investigate the complaint for the

following reasons:

The complainant had not submitted sufficient evidence to support

the complaint, but even had she done so, the Ombudsman was not of the opinion that the Code of Conduct would have been breached.

It was unclear whether the Member was,at the time, acting as a Member. Even if she were doing so, the Ombudsman was not satisfied

that she had prevented the complainant from hiring the hall.

Analysis of the Complaints -

Below is an analysis of the nature of this year's complaints to date:

 

Member of community council - 8 

Member of Gwynedd Council - 3 

Member of Gwynedd Council and community council - 0 

Nature of the complainant 

Councillor - 3

Member of the public - 7

Officer -  1

Nature of the allegation 

Overall conduct - 4

Declaration of Interest - 7

Outcome

No Investigation - 10

Investigation–No evidence of breaching the Code of Conduct - 0 

Investigation – Evidence of breaching the code but no further steps

required - 1

Investigation – referral to the Standards Committee - 0

Investigation - Referral to the Adjudication Panel for Wales - 0

Open Cases -

The situation in relation to other cases is as follows:

Ombudsman considering an investigation - 2

Ombudsman investigating - 0

Recommendation -

The Committee is asked to note the information.

Why A Blog About Cyngor #Gwynedd Council ?

I feel it is time for a recap of the events that led to this blog being created.

The 2010 Independent Investigation - with all points upheld - was highly critical of Gwynedd SS and their management team in their treatment of an autistic child. But the recommendations of the Report were not acted upon and the child and family were ignored.

Our local MP, Liz Savile Roberts was contacted for help but her very good friend at the council, Marian Parry Hughes, intervened and Liz then ignored our request for a meeting to provide her with our evidence. Liz has continued to ignore our correspondence.

At the time, the child was on a CIN plan managed by a social worker whose attitude beggared belief, culminating in the social worker not bothering to turn up for a review of the child's case. A meeting that he, himself, had organised with parents and a teacher, letting them all down and wasting everybody's time.

A complaint was raised about his behaviour and that of the Head of Services. To say it was dealt with badly is an understatement and a Stage 2 complaint repeatedly refused. (The Ombudsman has since recommended that ALL officers involved in the complaint be given re-training in the Statutory Complaints procedure)

So I began to blog the story of how Gwynedd Council have behaved.

I have been careful to name only those officers who have behaved badly and deliberately not named one manager whom, I believe, had her arm twisted by more senior managers to misrepresent the Investigation of the censoring and mishandling of personal information and the Council's own data breach.

Gwynedd Adult services were recently lambasted by the Ombudsman for how they treated a young, autistic man. This case was only brought to the Ombudsman's attention because the Complaints department had refused to accept their complaint, also.
 
If those named would like the right to reply they have only to contact me. I am also willing to consider and/or publish their version of events if they so wish.

I would also like to thank those who have supported the family in our attempt to access services for 'high functioning' autistics and those children that continue to fall between the gaps in services.

Stage 2 Complaint Against #Gwynedd Council Update.

Today, the 25th of May, 2018, is the anniversary of our raising a Stage 2 complaint against Cyngor Gwynedd Council, on the advice of the Ombudsman for Wales.

One year in a process that should take 28 days and it is still not completed.

Gwynedd Council Maladministration 2018.

On the 16th March, 2018, Gwynedd Council's Corporate Director and Head of Social Services, Morwena Edwards, finally responded to our Stage 2 Complaint, nearly 5 months after the completed Report was received by the Council.

The entire process has taken over 10 months to conclude - a process that according to Gwynedd's Statutory Policy should take 28 days.

Our complaint(s) were upheld by the 'Independent' Investigator and her Report - twice sanitised by the Council - still makes for some very interesting reading. But that is for another time.

The Data Breach and censoring of our personal information are currently being investigated as a separate complaint by Gwynedd's Information department. But we have now been told that the Manager is not able to deal with the issue of a senior manager, Melvin Panther, writing disparaging comments about the family to other agencies - so our complaint in this respect is still not concluded.

The official response from the Council is signed off by Morwena Edwards and she attempts to totally whitewash the highly critical Report into her department.

According to the Welsh Government Guidelines on Social Services Complaints, the Council were obliged to offer to meet with us to discuss the report and their response. They have not offered a meeting and as we have yet again been denied the opportunity to discuss the report and their response to it, we wrote in response to the Council.

We pointed out that the Children and Family department attempts to gloss over the systemic failings uncovered by the 'Independent' Investigator and still seek to blame anyone but themselves.

Social Workers and other Council Officers admit that the child's case was allowed 'to drift'.

Our reply to the Corporate Director(s) was that her response is nonsensical and farcical and disregards the failure of Social Workers and the appalling state of record keeping within the Children's department.

During this time, the Ombudsman for Wales has also been investigating Gwynedd Council.

Their Report upholds all our complaints and highlights maladministration and service failure by Gwynedd Social Services going as far back as 2010.

Yet this time Gwynedd Council have held up their hands to the Ombudman's Report and agreed to implement all the recommendations made - including certain officers being retrained in respect of the Council adhering to their Statutory Duties.

The Council would have received the Ombudsman's Report early last week. They have still not contacted us.

Something is so badly wrong within Gwynedd Council.

Re-Post From Last Year - Groundhog Day At Gwynedd Council.

A re-blog from 9 months ago - To be honest even I didn't think that the Council could/would act as badly as they have...but they have...

Where is the Independent Investigator's Report ?

"Last night, I listened to advice and raised a complaint against Gwynedd council.

I have no faith that the council will treat it fairly or even according to law after the debacle of last year..

Still - the official complaint has been lodged and I await a response from the customer care team at Gwynedd Council - (customer care lol such a misnomer in this area)

What have I learnt from my past experiences with Cyngor Gwynedd council ?

That I may be setting myself up for more false lighting, manipulation and bad behaviour by the public employees at a Plaid Cymru controlled council.

We shall see."
 
Gwynedd Council Fail.: Groundhog Day At Gwynedd Council.:

Cyngor #Gwynedd Council And It's Delayed Response.

Still no sign of the Independent Report into a Stage 2 complaint first raised with Cyngor Gwynedd council in May, last year, on the advice of the Ombudsman for Wales.

Out of frustration we emailed the Corporate Management team - see post from the 17th January - 

https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/so-we-emailed-cyngor-gwynedd-councils.html

Our questions were not answered to any satisfaction but we were told by an Executive Officer on behalf of the Director of Social Services, Morwena Edwards, that we would be receiving an update - 

"Thank you for your email and I apologise that I am unable at this point to answer your questions fully.

I understand that a meeting with the Independent Investigator has been arranged on the 30th of January. Following this meeting the Service will be in a better position to advise you on a timescale for sharing the report.

I understand your frustrations that this is taking longer than expected, however Lowri Williams will provide you with an update following the meeting on  the 30th."

As no update has been forthcoming we sent an email to the Director, Morwena Edwards, on the 6th February -

"Dear Mrs Edwards,

It has been a week since Senior Managers met with the Independent Investigator and we have not received any update as your Executive Officer promised.

So please now answer our very pertinent questions in relation to the stage 2 complaint first raised in May, last year, without delay and release the report immediately.

We remind you that the Council have had the report for 14 (fourteen) weeks now and it is coming up to 9 (nine) months since the complaint was first raised.

We are aware that two months were lost due to the accident befalling the first Investigator so 7 (seven) months in a process that by your own Statutory Policy should take 25 working days".

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

The Director and senior management remain silent.

Perhaps they are all taking the half term holiday early this year ?

Something is so badly wrong within Cyngor Gwynedd Council and its Social Services.

Complaint Against Gwynedd Council - Three Become One.

It is now 12 weeks since Cyngor Gwynedd council received the 'Independent Report' into our Stage 2 complaint first raised in May, 2017, as advised by the Ombudsman for Wales.

The council continue to ignore our requests for a copy of the Report and refuse to say whether our 6 points of complaint have been upheld by the Investigator.

The previous posts have given details of two points - of six - of our complaint and may go someway to explain Gwynedd's Children and Family Support Department's seeming reluctance to share the report with ourselves.

Due to the limitations I have in publicising this case and the way the Independent Investigator has written the complaint it is easier to discuss the next three points as one.

All three points of complaint reference the input of Senior Social Worker, Delyth Davies, who was assigned to carry out a Core Assessment of Needs on a diagnosed Autistic child with PDA and other complex issues.
 
The complaint contends that the Core assessment does not reflect the needs of the child and totally ignores the fact the child has needs relating to independence, socialisation and self-care skills, the child also has S.E.N. It states that all the child's needs are met by parents and education, but with no regard for the future and what the needs and possible limitations may be as the child enters adulthood.

I have been involved in Assessments in the past - assessing the elderly for dementia and related care needs - and in my professional opinion the assessment undertaken by Delyth Davies was 'inadequate' to say the least.

Delyth Davies was questioned by the parents why the assessment considered the child to have no 'disability', she acted surprised and stated that it was a mistake. When asked if she would then put right her 'mistake', she said she could not answer at that time, due to having to speak with her managers first. Those managers are Sharron Carter Williams and Melvin Panther.

Delyth Davies had asked for additional information to be sent electronically to her as she stated she could only add information and amend things on the computer and she couldn't just 'dip in and out of it'.

My wife duly scanned and sent copies to Delyth Davies electronically for this purpose, as she was asked. No changes were made.

Information provided by parents and a Tutor were 'filed' instead of being included in the Core Assessment as promised, nor was a change made to the Core Assessment to state that the child was considered disabled.

The complaint also asks Delyth Davies, for an explanation of why she thought it appropriate to send an email regarding our complaint to someone not being part of or involved, in any way, with the complaint.

I have sighted the email and I read it as being written for one reason only - to maliciously cause trouble for my wife. Hopefully, the social worker's explanation when finally released will assure me this is not the case.

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Incompetent Or Malicious ?

So why is Gwynedd council delaying the release of the Independent Investigators Report into our Stage 2 complaint raised with the council as advised by the Ombudsman for Wales in May, 2017 ?

I understand that this will spoil the council's data figures and put an end to the boasting by the Head of the Children and Family Department regarding the lack of complaints being escalated to stage 2, but these are small matters when compared to helping a disabled child obtain the help that is due him.

Aren't they ?

I am also aware that using the web to publicise our story may have entrenched some within the council and social services to deny the child his rights and us the Independent Report.

But it was the council themselves who first took to the web to whitewash and diss our attempts at obtaining services for the child and this blog was started to tell the very different reality of our situation, as the report gave a very one sided view of things.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that  Gwynedd Council's Complaints Department and Procedure is not fit for purpose and that when or if we are finally allowed the 'Independent Report' will it be so censored or sanitised that it bears no resemblance to the original ?

Fearing this, I feel it would be useful to have some record of the complaint available on the web and so I am going to go through each point of our complaint - and our desired outcomes - here. There will obviously be redactions to protect not only the identity of the child but, also, those employees of the council who have acted professionally.

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

One point of our complaint was -

 (Child) was on a Child in Need Plan, and as a result of Jamie Hayden (social worker) not attending the CIN Plan Review Meeting on 25^th May 2016, no review was carried out. Complainants wish to know what has happened to (Child's) Child in Need Plan since the last CIN Meeting held in February 2016, and how are social services evidencing that (Child's) needs are being met? (Parents) have never received any correspondence or information informing them that the Child in Need Plan had ended or why.

Our desired outcome to this point of complaint was -

The complainants seek a full and comprehensive explanation from Gwynedd County Council as to why (Child's) Child in Need Plan was not properly reviewed, updated, and minuted, as Gwynedd Social Services department policy and procedure clearly stated..

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

Oh dear - now this could be sticky for the council as all Children cases need careful review and updating and accurate records and minutes kept  - not just those on a CIN plan.

Gwynedd's Social Service's past mistakes and failings in this child's case are clearly documented in an Independent Investigators Report from 2010. Nothing appears to have changed.

Yet Gwynedd Council  literature, policies etc on complaints handling and outcomes assure the public that lessons are learnt and changes made.

Or are they..?

Answers on a postcard postage stamp, please.

More -  https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/

Cyngor Gwynedd Council Stage 2 Complaint 2018.

Following on from the post, last year, in which the customer care (!) team at Cyngor Gwynedd council advised contacting the Ombudsman for Wales to discuss our concerns regarding our stage 2 complaint, we did indeed contact the Ombudsman.

Their initial response appeared to imply that we could raise a formal complaint into our formal complaint and so, seeking more clarity we sent the email below -

"We were somewhat confused by your response. We have no in depth knowledge of the statutory policy and procedure in such matters and have sought advice from the Council as to our and the Council's rights during the process. So far without success....

We do know however that the handling of our complaint and us as complainants by the Senior Management Team and Customer Care is just plain wrong.

Your office has repeatedly stated that the Ombudsman is independent of both complainants and public bodies and from your own email the other day - 'He is not an advocate for either party and his function is to investigate complaints put to him, reaching a view on the evidence presented, in an impartial manner'.

May we remind you that the Ombudsman has made decisions on our case purely on 'new information' - not evidence based - provided to them by the council in the past without allowing us sight of said information or allowing us to comment and rebuff such 'information'.

We also remind you that the Ombudsman's office has given us assurances in the past which have transpired to be false and we have challenged the Ombudsman's past decisions in this case as inadequate and nonsensical.

Indeed we feel that had the Ombudsman's original decision been adhered to, that the Council were to undertake the Original Stage 2 complaint, then some of the current situation may well have been avoided.

We contend that the Ombudsman's methods do not allow for fairness and transparency when only one side is allowed free and unfettered access to his office and can present information that the complainant is told nothing about and so cannot counter argue. How on earth is this fair or acting in 'an impartial manner' ?

This whole process of dealing with the Ombudsman and the Council is exhausting and is causing considerable upset and anguish. We are reasonably intelligent and due to the life we lead have learnt to be mentally resilient,yet we are suffering - we know that so many others in similar situations give up in despair, worse is the fact that both the Ombudsman and the Council appear to have forgotten completely the needs of the child in all this...."

...We are at present pondering on whether to make another complaint with the Ombudsman or put in a formal complaint with the Council in regard to their handling of our current Stage 2 complaint. But our experiences tells us that this whole process is flawed to the extent of not being fit for purpose.

Please inform us whether submitting another Stage 2 to the Council, or raising a complaint with the Ombudsman's office will in any way further delay or interfere with our current Stage 2 complaint."
                                             ***********************
They replied -

"...If you wish for this matter to be considered by the Ombudsman, you would need to submit a complaint, by completing the online form on our website.  I am unable to speculate whether submitting a complaint to this office would affect the Council’s current Stage 2 investigation. The decision whether or not to approach the Ombudsman at this stage is yours and I am unable to advise you in that regard.  However, please be aware that we normally expect you to exhaust the Council’s complaints procedure before approaching us."

Now the Ombudsman's use of the word 'speculate' caused my spider senses to tingle.

So we contacted the Gwynedd customer care (!) and asked the question -

"... if we were to raise a formal complaint into how the council and the customer care department have been dealing with our formal complaint would this, in any way, interfere with or cause any further delay to our formal complaint first raised with you on the 25th May, 2017 ?"

Such a convoluted and insane question to ask a county council, but eh.

The council has fallen silent.

More -  https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/

Gwynedd Council - Clarity Or Cover Up ?

So what has become of the complaint against Cyngor Gwynedd Council Children and Family  Department first raised on the 25th May ?

The report by an Independent Investigator was completed and handed to Gwynedd council on the 30th October.

Gwynedd council are refusing to say if our complaint was successful and are also refusing us sight of the completed report.

Gwynedd council have also informed me there will be a further delay while they attempt to sanitise revise redact clarify some aspects of the 'independent' report before we are allowed a copy.

If our complaint had failed the council would have informed us of this by now so I can only assume that the complaint was upheld - for the time being at least !

More - https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/






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Shout Out In #Gwynedd

The stage 2 complaint first raised against Cyngor Gwynedd Council, in May, is nearly complete and to be published by October, 2017.

The Ombudsman for Wales has also started their separate investigation into Gwynedd Children and Family Support (!) team for issues arising from 2010.

I have encountered some truly unprofessional and appalling behaviour - from support services through social worker(s) to managers and even a head of department not to mention the misnamed customer care team.

And I wonder...this must have happened to other people in Gwynedd ?

For the next period of time many eyes will be on the Gwynedd Social Services Children and Family Support (!) department but the remit for scrutiny is only for this families case.

So I ask if you feel that you have been let down by Gwynedd council social services in the past, come forward and tell your story now.

To those good service workers in the department and elsewhere in the council - who know of poor management, unprofessional behaviour , bullying, bad practice etc - now is the time to speak out and help change Gwynedd's failing council.


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Do Gwynedd Council Play The Blame Game Too ?

I include this article on the blog to highlight the problems SEND parents face in other areas of England and Wales.
It mirrors some of the problems I have experienced with my dealings with Cyngor Gwynedd Council and the Children and Family Support (?) department.


Recently on SNJ's Facebook page, someone accused us of being too hard on local authorities who were 'trying their best'. Actually, I know first hand that many, many people working in LAs really are working diligently and with very large caseloads. I would encourage parents who have had a good experience to tell us about it, so we can herald good practice.

However - there's always a however, unfortunately - too often parents are still being told the wrong information or LAs are not playing by the rules (i.e, the law). Too many in SEND and in social care departments are still behaving as if the Children and Families Act was just a bad dream, best ignored. This is very perplexing to me as the law is clear to read and to follow, so what's happening to make compliance a bonus rather than the minimum expected?

Recently, I heard about something happening to a number of families regarding attempts to get social care help, that needs to be highlighted. Hopefully those who ARE doing good work in LAs can make sure it doesn't happen in their departments.

Nathan Davies of solicitors HCB, has written to explain what, in his experience, has been happening.

Threatened with care proceedings after asking for support...

It is common, in my experience, for parents of children with autism to feel that concerns expressed to local authority professionals are often discarded, or that there is a distinct lack of understanding of the condition itself. This leads to disputes and disagreements between the parties. These issues tend to arise once parents have realised that they cannot continue without extra support or an alternative placement be sourced for their son or daughter. The request being made is often the trigger point for intervention in some form by the authority; usually via its social services department.
The prevalence of social services intervention has steadily risen in recent times. In practice, the possibility of it being initiated by the authority remains on the increase, despite this being a highly controversial, and often inappropriate, tactic.

Your word against theirs

The problem parents in this position face is that it is often their word against that of school staff or local authority professionals and  that is never a good starting position. The root issue however, is the aforementioned lack of understanding of the condition itself.  Those on the high-functioning end of spectrum often present very differently across a variety of settings. The fact that a child presents as very shy and reserved in school and then explodes into one exhibiting challenging behaviour at home, is very hard for some professionals to fathom and can lead to them questioning parenting ability.
Parents struggling to cope and requiring additional support in the family home, are often deterred by the threat of intense scrutiny and criticism by social services. The possibility of raising child protection issues or launching even care proceedings (in extreme cases) are tools local authorities are increasingly using, especially during these times of austerity and public sector cuts. But cuts can in no way be an excuse for such unnecessarily heavy-handed approaches being employed.

Nathan Davies

Professional guidelines

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) has guidelines relating to standards of conduct, performance and ethics each registrant must uphold (this includes social workers). One of the pillars of practice is for the professional to ‘work within the limits of their knowledge and skills’. Given this, it is fundamental to ensure that each professional is appropriately trained and/or knowledgeable to a reasonable degree in autism to discharge their duties to the child and family appropriately.
If this is not done, one cannot expect a proper assessment of their social care needs to be undertaken; thereby polluting the entire process. Without such understanding of the condition, the HCPC guidelines specify that the matter should be referred to another practitioner if what the chid needs would be beyond the scope of their practice but this is rarely, if ever, done. It cannot be emphasised enough how important this is, especially when it is a requirement for each HCPC registrant to ‘promote and protect the interests of service users and carers’.
Below are some anonymised case examples which show how these strategies are being used by local authorities throughout the UK:

Case Study 1:

This concerned parents in England of a child with high-functioning ASD. Given her high-achievements at school, the child had attended mainstream school well into her teenage life (without an EHCP). Even when concerns were raised over challenging behaviour in the home as a result of her inability to cope at school, these were immediately treated as the parents over-exaggerating the child’s difficulties, even after they had secured a diagnosis for her from a multi-disciplinary team in the private sector.
The local authority, when requested to assess her additional learning needs, took action; they proceeded with social services intervention, a flawed and malicious assessment and subsequently placed the child on the Child Protection Register.  After seeking legal advice, the family challenged the authority, ultimately leading to a retraction. The child has now been issued with an EHCP with the SEN Tribunal agreeing that a specialist ASD placement be named.

Case Study 2:

This related to a family in South Wales, who again experienced great difficulties with their local authority.  The child had a diagnosis of Pathological Demand Avoidance but the parents had been unsuccessful in securing a specialist placement for their son via the Tribunal process, with the assistance of an advocate.
Given the extreme levels of aggressive behaviour in the home environment (and his inability access a school at all), it was imperative for the authority to accommodate the child, pursuant to section 20 of the Children Act 1989. The authority did so, but thereafter sought to target the family with a variety of unfounded allegations, unlawful s.47 investigations and blame for the child’s behaviour was attributed to perceived ‘bad parenting’, a manifestly unreasonable position to hold.
These issues were appropriately resolved in the parents' favour, who were issued with a comprehensive and unreserved apology from the director of social services. The child now attends a suitable local provision and is thriving.

We need to be aware...

Unfortunately, scenarios such as the above are becoming more common and intimidation of parents who are simply trying to get help for their child is often difficult for many to comprehend. Parents being penalised or vilified for seeking support for their disabled child is not right in any society, yet it appears that in 21^st century Britain this is perfectly acceptable in some LAs. Awareness of this issue being made known to the public can only help parents in similar situations.

Nathan Davies, Education Law Solicitor

 https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/social-care-tactics-send-problem-parents/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork

Gwynedd Department Head Finally Responds To AM.

The Assembly Member for Arfon, Sian Gwenllian, emailed me on the 5th July and sent me a copy of the long overdue response from Marian Parry Hughes, Head of Children and Families at Gwynedd Council.

See my post of the 4th July for more detail -

 https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/arfon-am-ignored-by-gwynedd-head-of.html 

Mrs Hughes begins by apologising for not responding to the AM and states  -

"It certainly wasn't deliberate on my part."

So what was the reason for ignoring the AM for three months then ?

Mrs Hughes goes on to explain that Sharron Carter, Senior Operational Manager, had responded to the solicitor by letter and answered all relevant questions - in March.

The solicitor - after searching their files - state they have not received a letter from Sharron Williams Carter, from the date in question.

And if they had I would not have asked the AM - in April - for help in getting a response now - would I ?

I include a link to my post where Cyngor Gwynedd lost another important letter - one that had been placed in their secure letterbox in the Caernarfon office addressed to Aled Gibbard.

https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/gwynedd-councils-secure-letterbox-not.html

How many letters do Gwynedd Council lose every year ? 
 

Sian, I am very grateful for your help in eliciting a response, finally, from the Department Head.

I am also very concerned that you were ignored by a council employee for three months.