CEO Retires - What Next For Cyngor Gwynedd Council ?

The Chief Executive Officer of Cyngor Gwynedd council, Dilwyn Williams, has announced he is to retire at the end of this month.

Dilwyn O Williams was appointed CEO  in 2014, replacing Harry Thomas who had been in position since 2003.

Like Thomas, Mr Williams had worked for the council for many years, before the creation of the new unitary Gwynedd council and abolishment of the previous authority after the North Wales Child Abuse scandal and boundary changes.

The reign of Harry Thomas ended under a cloud with 'angry council workers will walk out of their jobs in protest after bosses were awarded pay rises of thousands of pounds while theirs were frozen...'
From 2013 -https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/angry-council-workers-walk-out-2503378 

"Assets and customer care director Dilwyn Williams, education, skills and regeneration director Iwan Trefor Jones and planning and public protection director Dafydd Lewis had rises of £5,839 to £88,960.
Increases for 11 heads of service ranged from £1,042 to £5,094. For example the heads of social services and education saw their salaries rise by £3,311 from £72,200 to £75,511. The decision was taken by the council in June but staff say they weren’t told."

Dilwyn started off as a clerk for the former Caernarfon Council, then became Head of Accountancy for the new authority, then Strategic Resources Director, Corporate Director and finally CEO, where he has held the position for the last seven years.

His tenure as CEO began when the Westminster government austerity cuts really began to bite.
Some in the council have praised his work over the period, making £millions of cuts to vital services and jobs, the closing of community schools and youth clubs, the increasing Council Tax rises. Less services for even more money. This in the main under the dictates of the westminster government and the austerity measures first imposed by Cameron and Osbourne.

Under his stewardship, serious failings with the council have been highlighted in many reports, including five Ombudsman for Wales investigations. These include breaches of Human Rights, interference with the social services complaints process and so called 'independent' investigations, ignorance of Law, policy and procedures and basically council officer's behaving very badly, indeed.

There have been data breaches, censoring of personal information, misrepresenting evidence, misinformation and fabrication.

There was the case of the social worker being suspended by Gwynedd council for two and a half years until she won her Employment Tribunal. More on that here -

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

Then there was the Employment Tribunal which found against the council for their dismissal of two local teachers - “extraordinary”, “ill-conceived”, and “emphatically wrong”.
More on that here - https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.com/2020/07/cyngor-gwynedd-council-extraordinary.html

Then along came the pandemic and a year of death, stress and change for all.

At a national and a local level Wales did well with the first lockdown and community spirit came to the fore. Some schools remained open to take the children of 'key workers'. People and organisations all rallied round and ensured medications were received and food parcels delivered to those in need.

Cyngor Gwynedd council kept things very close to their chests. Millions of pounds have been given out to local businesses for support during the pandemic whilst Councillors have complained of being left out of the decision making process -  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-councillors-say-were-shut-18705757
'One member claimed there was a 'lack of trust' in the ruling cabinet group'

Then came the issue of hotdesking and virtual locations and the Audit office raising concerns with travel expenses -  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/eyebrows-raised-what-schools-agency-18716183

'While the council's decision to change the rules was aimed at saving around £290,000 a year, GwE - which is funded by North Wales authorities - saw its expenditure increase between 2017 and 2019.'

'An audit also found that mileage claims were not being checked properly, leading to one instance where an 800 mile claim submitted for an 80 mile journey was processed before the mistake was found'

Then there was the issue of the council's car pool when it was reported that some officers were using the vehicles inappropriately, publicised by the very obvious banner next to Morrison's supermarket in Caernarfon, that was quickly taken down by the council.

A review of the council's social services policies for those with Autism without a learning disability has been released though not yet published. It mentions the ring fenced monies that have been allocated for such services over the years and calls for immediate actions.

Statutory annual reports from some council departments are already late, with no dates announced for completion nor opportunity to scrutinise what has been a truly tumultous period.

At the time of Dilwyn's announcement to retire the news came that a former colleague of his, Lucille Margaret Hughes, had died. Miss Hughes was once the Director of Gwynedd social services during the North Wales Child Abuse scandal and presided over the sacking of a social worker who attempted to whistleblow the care home abuses.

Miss Hughes, also worked for CAIS and had been living in the grace and favour apartments at Penhyrn Castle for many years.

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Year Of Non-Compliance - Cyngor Gwynedd Council.

It is now October - one full year of Cyngor Gwynedd council being in non compliance of the Ombudsman for Wales recommendations -

"71. The Council should (within three months) seek specialist input to develop a plan for dealing with future assessment and support requests from/for those suffering with Autism."

Nick Bennett has given the council chance after chance and even expressed to the family, his frustrations over the situation with the council - all to no avail it seems.

The council's CEO, Dilwyn Williams, appears to blame the SS departments for the 'slippage' whilst doing nothing to take control of the situation, himself. Whilst the Director of SS, who has no social work background blames the recent pandemic (that doesn't explain what happened to compliance before that time)

What to do now ? Putting in yet another complaint to the council means placing 'independent investigators' in the firing line to be bullied amd overwhelmed by senior officers and I am not prepared to do that.

Raise yet another complaint with the Ombudsman ? What is the point ? Mr Bennett is not respected by anyone in this corner of North Wales and appears powerless to hold councils to account and so it would be a waste of public resources to do so.

The complaints system in Wales is not fit for purpose and Judicial Review appears to be the only way to hold any public organisation to account. But there is no legal aid and what family can afford the £25K+ - minimum - that is required to bring such a case ? Local authorities as we know have an unlimited amount of money at their disposal from public funds. 

The Ombudsman wrote to say that the autism specialist commissioned by the council promised to present their draft report to the council by the end of September 2020.

Not quite what the the recommendation called for, but, as Mr Bennett says, it is up to him to accept any variation on recommendations - as he sees fit.

No mention is made of the Ombudsman even receiving a copy of the draft report himself and even so draft reports can be changed.......

What next ? An email from the ombudsman later on today ?

Something is very, very wrong within Gwynedd council.

 

 

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

Groundhog Day At Gwynedd Council.

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 Children And Families Department Fail.

Though the parents 2nd stage complaint against Cyngor Gwynedd Council showed serious failings within the Children and Families Department and was upheld by independent investigators in 2010 nothing has changed.

I have read through the report and noticed that many names involved back then are now ensconced as managers in Gwynedd social services, though it is not for me to say if these same people are now acting out of spite or have always been so unprofessional.

My experience working in the mental health field with dementia, learning difficulties, challenging behaviour and acquired brain injury was no use to me at all in this case and I was playing catch up for the first year learning about PDA, the boy's complex needs and gaining his trust.

I stood back and watched as first the Council got in contact and after discussions agreed that support may be available and a social worker would be assigned. Everyone was wary because of the behaviour of social services in the past but it was agreed that help towards social skills and integration was more important.

A social worker was allocated and a support worker was granted. Unfortunately the support was still not provided and so in desperation a solicitor was contacted and only then was a support worker assigned.

The first social worker was replaced by a second , this time from Children and Families, as the disability team would not assess, due to the boy having too high an IQ. This social worker introduced himself as having no experience of Autism and was not a disability social worker but said he was there to help.

He did not endear himself to anyone over the next period by comments such as -

'We are really doing the education departments job' 

'What to do you want a core assessment for? I don't see what use it will be, can you explain to me how you think it will benefit *****? '

'I'm a very busy man you know' (when he failed to phone back)

'This service is really for people that need a social worker'


But he was all my partner had to work with and the fact the boy was, finally, going to get help with socialisation and independent living skills was enough for me to still my misgivings and keep my professional mouth shut.

The help and support that eventually began was anything but.

Communication was poor and I mean mono-syllabic from the support worker when asked for feedback. One day he just grunted at me when I tried to engage him.
Different days different times and sessions that were arranged with less than 24 hours notice - and sessions were strictly on a take it or lose it basis.

The stress of dealing with this 'care support' had a knock on effect in dealing with other aspects of care and we all suffered for a period.

So a letter of complaint was sent to Support Services at Cyngor Gwynedd Children and Families Dept asking for continuity of times and reminding them that due to the boy's complexities the family had no idea of where he was taken, what subjects were discussed or how he engaged with others if at all and simply a plea for feedback to help us to help him progress with socialisation.

It is called team work and every professional in the care field will recognise its importance for the child and family - except, it appears, at the Children and Families Department of Gwynedd council.

A letter was duly received apologising for blah blah blah and informing us that we had to ask the social worker to ask the support worker to communicate with us re the sessions !!!! But they did take on board our need for certain times to avoid clashing with the child's education.

To be fair we were allowed the same time and day every week which removed so much stress and I am grateful for that. Imagine being grateful for a regular weekly slot from a children and families service(!) but I truly was.

The feedback from the support worker however did NOT materialise.
(Another social worker was asked further down the line again if we could have some feedback - again nothing)

In fact we did receive reports written by the support worker eventually. We asked Social Services for their file on the family and they were included. So much interesting information (and mis-information)  But that is for future posts.

My misgivings and worry about what I considered unprofessional and totally unacceptable behaviour turned to anger when I returned home and found my wife crying. She had had a phone conversation with the social worker which had caused her upset.

Then after I listened to the recording of the conversation I became quite upset, too.

A meeting between the social worker and my wife had been arranged but I wanted to be there for support so I emailed Cyngor Gwynedd Customer Care to raise my concerns about their social worker, Jamie Haydon and cancel the meeting.

My email and first contact with Cyngor Gwynedd Council was dated 29th Feb, 2016.

#bing #yahoo  


















 

Challenging Behaviour At Gwynedd Council.

I wonder if the Children and Families Department in Gwynedd ever ask themselves the question "how did we get here ?"

They have had Assembly Members for Wales, Members of Parliament, District Councillors, County Councillors, the Ombudsman for Wales all notified of systemic failures in the Department and asking questions of their behaviour.

I have been astounded at how ineffectual all these people are against council managers - whom, it appears, can behave as badly and unprofessionally as they like and there is no comeback - but that is for another post.

My involvement only began, last February, after a phone conversation between my wife and a social worker.

Remembering that - Gwynedd council need to be reminded that challenging bad behaviour does not mean people are whiny bastards - it simply means they are challenging bad behaviour.

Moving To Gwynedd.

In 2008, I had a heart attack.
I had a stent inserted but during the operation I had a second heart attack and so another stent was needed.

My life until then had been spent working in the care field.
It began as a roving first aid responder at Heathrow Airport, then moved to caring for the elderly in a residential setting.
After a year working nights as a Care Assistant in a Nursing Home my nose took me into the field of mental health and dementia.
I found the work fascinating and heartbreaking due to the callous, profiteering nature of Care(!) Home providers.
I managed a sheltered housing scheme for 8 residents in East Sheen – which I hated.
Management  meant staying in an office, dealing with budgets, Doctors and social workers.

I moved on a lot back then.

Learning Difficulties, Challenging Behaviour and the most upsetting for me – Acquired Brain Injury.

Owners of Homes used me to clean sweep their businesses.
Each home was eager for my knowledge and ideas on dealing with ‘challenging’ clients and to train other carers.

Exploring other ideas I had meant working for Agencies where I lived in Clients homes.
24 hours a day, 7 days a week gave me even greater insights into the issues that my clients faced.
I chatted with neighbours of my clients, dispelling their fears and getting them onside.
I asked local businesses to help spend time with them and even give them some unpaid work.
All to get them out of the house and meet and engage with the community.
Exhausting and wonderful.
It transformed their lives and I hope transformed those who gave their time, cash and love to them.

The heart attacks meant an end to all that, sadly.
I discharged myself from hospital after three days.
For the first three months, I was crippled. Gasping for breath, my liver shut down and I turned an interesting shade of yellow.
My doctor was useless so I stopped going though I did continue to take 7 lots of medication for a year.
I was living in Islington at the time but it was isolating for me and expensive. Relying on savings meant I had to find alternative accommodation quickly.

An old friend kindly allowed me to stay in his flat in west London when he holidayed abroad. Another friend allowed me to sit in his workshop during the day to keep warm and even threw me some money and bought me food in return for answering the phone.
Soon I was offered other flat sitting opportunities and some people even paid me to protect their properties when they were away on business. A weekend here, a fortnight there – time passed and my health slowly improved.

One year after the heart attacks, my girlfriend was diagnosed with Breast cancer.
Never rains but pours eh ? Long weekends were spent at her place in Surrey
My girlfriend struggled through the chemotherapy and the rest of her treatment but, one year on, she was given the all clear. She had beaten cancer but our relationship had changed from lovers to carers for each other and we parted.

A year later and I began suffering other health problems. My breathing had never properly recovered and I developed many infections.My back and neck stiffened and caused me pain. My left hand began to hurt and I could no longer clench my fist. By this time, the Conservatives had been elected, London became meaner and many of my friends had left the city. I found myself struggling to find accommodation and work opportunities were drying up. Care work was no longer an option because of Insurance issues and my worsening health meant I was no longer reliable, even for the piecemeal work I sought.

Cutting my needs and relying more and more on my meagre savings I struggled on for another two years. During this time I met up with an ex partner who also was my oldest friend. She was living in Gwynedd, North Wales, with her autistic PDA son.

Social Services in the Gwynedd area are appalling. She has had no support and Bangor CAMHS refuse to acknowledge the boy has any mental health issues, at all. After one incident, in which the teenage boy used violence against her, I gritted my teeth and moved in with both of them. That was 18 months ago now.

All my years in Mental Health did not prepare me in anyway for PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance). Within weeks my blood pressure went through the roof, chest pains, my heart rate became erratic. I ended up presenting myself at Shrewsbury A&E. (I have had experience of Ysbty Gwynedd and #BCUHB, who treated me after drinking contaminated water and, again when my partner miscarried our baby – it is my hope never to go there again). All the tests were good – well for a man with my cardiac issues and the Hospital put it down to stress.

I then signed on with the local Doctors Surgery and was given statins. Blood tests followed. The statin caused so much pain I could hardly move. A different statin and then Ramipril – more pain than before. I stopped the statin then realised it was the Ramipril. After nearly three months of pain and distress – I stopped the medication. My health improved – my stress levels did not.

The Doctor noticed something during an examination and ordered a Lung test. I failed and was diagnosed with COPD. I have not been back to see her since. My breathing has worsened this last year, blood pressure still too high but I need to be able to move quickly to deal effectively with the teenager and also my disabled partners needs are increasing as she ages.

The boy had recently been given four hours of support a week to aid with his social independence skills. Without warning or a re-assessment of his needs the hours were reduced to two – illegal in law. Take note anyone who has had their child’s support pulled.
The Support worker and Officer do not engage in any communication with us re the work they do with him. They refuse to give email addresses – no paper trail – do not give honest replies and are very evasive of communicating anything.  So unprofessional compared to the integrated planning around the client which I had been used to.