Did Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales actually read this piece of work..?

Stephen Wood, manager of the Gwynedd and Ynys Mon Youth Justice Service presented his report to the care scrutiny committee on the 29th, January, 2026.

The webcast of the meeting can be found here - 
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1060285

There appears to be a change of culture within the service that coincides with a big drop in the numbers of young people being criminalised through the courts. 

Wood informed that the short, sharp shock tactics do not work.

On youth offender's...
Asked what the big problems were, he stated, violence and adults taking drugs.
He mentioned that middle class children also commit crime - but they don't get caught.
Hotspots include Caernarfon, Bangor, Holyhead, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llangefni.
Cocaine was also raised as a problem locally.

It takes a village to raise a child...
Over the years, local schools have closed and super schools built instead. Many village's then lost their local shop, their bakery closed and then the pub. Families moved and communities were lost.

Then the council shut the youth clubs and sacked the youth workers.
Audit Wales warned against this but the messenger was derided by councillors at a full council meeting on the 3rd October, 2019. 

Schools have failed the children, too.
Pre-pandemic the policy was to include children - now figures show more children are excluded.
Idle hands and all that...

Does the ''Keeping Families Together' strategy co-authored by the interim head of the children's department, Sharron Williams Carter, show a change of culture?
One can hope...

Predetermined to fail..?
The work of the 16+ team  was discussed. 
This service has had its issues, too. 
From social workers poor note taking and a team leader that has been accused of faking assessments and setting up children and families to fail. 

Estyn have just completed a joint inspection with a focus on safeguarding in Gwynedd Council -
The purpose of this inspection was to evaluate developments in Gwynedd Local Authority’s safeguarding arrangements since September 2023.
Joint inspection with a focus on safeguarding in Gwynedd Council by Estyn, His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education, and Training in Wales, and Care Inspectorate Wales.
Date of inspection: November 2025 

The inspection team considered one key question:-
 How well are children protected from individuals who may pose a risk to them and when concerns are raised about those who care for them or work with them, either in a paid or voluntary role?

This question is not answered...
Estyn and the CIW do mention this -

 

 

 

Did Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales actually read this piece of work?
https://www.effectivechildprotection.wales/en/

Was this presented to Estyn and CIW as new and innovative?
The 'effective child protection' model was created by Dafydd Paul - many years ago. 
It does not answer the investigation teams key question nor deal with abuse by those in a position of trust... 

Now where is the report of the fostering team..?

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

'Motivated Intruder' - Cyngor Gwynedd Council

Cyngor Gwynedd Education and Economy Scrutiny committee investigation report into safeguarding in schools has been delayed after they forgot to include the voices of the children...

The Woods report has been sat on since March...

Cyngor Gwynedd also appear to be shutting down FOI requests in relation to Neil Foden.
This request was submitted in May, 2024 - 

The council responded with -  You should therefore receive the information you have requested, subject to the application of any exemptions permitted under the Act, by 20/06/2024...

In January, 2025, after an internal review, the monitoring officer, Iwan G D Evans, came back with -

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/neil_foden

Less than 5 'reports' into Neil Foden since 2018/19...
Failing to answer properly and shutting down the rest of the FOI, Evans also introduced the phrase 'motivated intruder' into the dialogue. 

Another example -
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/neil_foden_3

Corporate services, initially refused the request but then had to reopen the case with - 
Following our response to you on the 17th July 2025, it has come to our attention that we failed to include our complaints procedure. 
Please find below our revised response and apologise for this error.

This request was also refused by the monitoring officer after he conducted an internal review.

Moving on to another FOI - also refused by corporate services -
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/what_concerns_were_logged_by_tea

And yet another FOI request regarding Neil Foden -
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/neil_foden_2
And yet another internal review - this time shut down by the head of legal services.

In refusing these requests, cyngor Gwynedd's senior officers make much of the privacy/personal data of the individual, ignoring the fact that senior officers have a much broader public impact (position of trust, policy/decision making, salary/pension).
A reminder that law favours disclosure...

On the 27th, October, 2025, ITV published an article - 
Two men arrested following paedophile headteacher investigation in Wales
Police looking into lines of enquiry related to convicted paedophile headteacher Neil Foden have confirmed that two men were arrested earlier this year.
North Wales Police said both men remain under investigation.It added the arrests followed allegations of “non-recent abuse” by “conducting inappropriate relationships”.
https://www.itv.com/news/2025-10-27/two-men-arrested-following-paedophile-headteacher-investigation-in-wales 

The timing of this release is odd, considering the arrests were made earlier in the year..

In other news - 
Andrew Grove & Co Solicitors is now appealing for former pupils of Gellilydan School in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Thomas Ellis School near Holyhead, or anyone else who can shed any light on this case, to get in touch.

“It is unbelievable that this man, who went to prison for sexually abusing children where he was a teacher, was allowed to teach again when he came out of prison. 
“It is equally unbelievable that after 11 children from Gellilydan School made allegations of sexual abuse this was not sent to Crown Court for trial but thrown out by the Magistrates’ Court where significant figures were his friends, or at least well known to him.

Contact details for those with information can be found in the link - 
https://www.andrewgroveandco.com/post/serious-miscarriages-of-justice-in-north-wales

Tanygrisiau school...
From The Times, dated 15th, April 1986 - 

There is little information on this case and google returns 'Some results may have been removed under data protection law in Europe' when searching for the headmaster.

In 2017, cyngor Gwynedd received a FOI request in relation to the headmaster Mr Ceryl Wyn Davies
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/complaints_made_by_parents

The request was refused citing personal data and though an internal review was asked of the officer's decision, the internal review was never answered.

This trial, in 1986, would have taken place around the same time that Gwynedd council suspended Alison Taylor, the social worker who blew the whistle on the abuse of children in the care of local authorities...

Taylor and investigators were hindered by what was called 'a cult of silence'.
For some older people, the present events appear a re-run of the past... 

 If not further delayed, the Jan Pickles review will now be published on the 4th, November. 
A public inquiry into Neil Foden and cyngor Gwynedd's internal processes is needed.

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...