'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...

 

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - How Many Excluded Children Have Additional Learning Needs?

There appears to be some confusion regarding Cyngor Gwynedd council's Cabinet meeting to be held on the 21st January, 2024. While the front page is still saying that it will be a virtual meeting, the agenda pack is showing a hybrid meeting.
So which is it?

To add to the confusion, the link to the agenda front sheet does not work...

As well as accepting Gwynedd council's response to Neil Foden's offending, the Cabinet is being asked by senior officers to close the day care services in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Cricieth. These closures come on top of the day centres that have already closed in Bala, Porthmadog and Caernarfon. 

From the report -

Senior officers insist that the financial situation is not the reason for the closures -

Of course it is a financial decision - but in typical Ffordd Gwynedd fashion, the report is written in such a way to absolve the senior officers of bad decision making and simply blurs and deflects from the reality of the situation.

One sentence shows a total lack of understanding and empathy for those with dementia -
The focus would be on building on the strengths of those attending, strengthening skills and learning new skills and giving them a flavour of new experiences... 

What of the carers - usually the spouse and aged themselves with their own medical issues?
The day centres offered a little respite from the constant demands upon them.
Exhausted and isolated who now cares for the carers...?

 

The agenda also contains reviews of the Revenue Budget, the Capital Programme and the Savings Overview.

GwE, the schools improvement service is to close. 
Following a review of the responsibilities of Education partners in Wales, a recommendation has been made to move to a wider regional model of working.
To that end, the Transitional Board has been established to oversee the arrangements for transferring GwE services back to the local authorities in North Wales.

GwE have had their problems including the hotdesking and inflated expenses scandal but they are acknowledged as having done good work supporting schools in the North Wales region. Why this support was not embedded within the councils own education departments is not known. Privatisation?
The transfer back to LA's at this time does risk losing much needed expertise in the field.

The cabinet member for Education is to give the department's Performance Report.
Will the member be giving an update on the the issues contained in the agenda of the cabinet meeting that he missed in December?

 

In these times especially, the safeguarding complaint should be of high concern...
The complaint about an assessment is also concerning.
The cohort of children requiring assessments are usually disabled and or those with Additional Learning Needs.

Gwynedd council has a history of faking assessments on children to deny support...

The report also contains a section on Additional Learning Needs and Inclusion.

The CEO, Dafydd Gibbard, should have a good understanding of the situation as his wife is the senior specialist teacher within ADYaCh. This service and their educational psychologists support those with additional learning needs, speech delays, eating disorders and autism...
ADYaCH offer training for teachers to aid inclusion of this cohort of children within schools.

School absences remain high with 1 in 10 children often not in attendance.
The report also mentions the rise in exclusions from school -

How many excluded children have additional learning needs?
How many of the council's 'looked after children' have been excluded?

The agenda concludes with the Performance Report of the cabinet member for Finance and the Forward Work Programme.

The full reports for the meeting can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5261/Public%20reports%20pack%2021st-Jan-2025%2013.00%20The%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...