Why Wasn't Neil Foden Stopped? Cyngor Gwynedd Council

Why wasn't Neil Foden stopped...? Cyngor Gwynedd council

Earlier this year, Gwynedd council's children and family department reported that complaints of a historic nature had been received dating back to 2013. No action was taken by social workers of the Arfon team. When the report was presented to the Care Scrutiny Committee not one councillor commented or even asked about their welfare. Shameful...

Controversy has plagued Gwynedd council ever since its creation in 1996 after the North Wales abuse scandal. Concerns about its councillors have been raised in Parliament, too. More recently, the Ombudsman for Wales has found them guilty of maladministration - on several occasions.

In 2014, the safeguarding team along with officers from the education department and North Wales police began an investigation into a complaint of alleged cruelty against children at Canolfan Brynffynnon in Y Felinheli. The pupil referral unit (PRU) catered for children with behavourial issues and others who did not cope well in mainstream schools including those with disabilities. Two members of staff were arrested and suspended by the council.

It is believed that a few weeks later, a third member of staff was suspended after a separate incident was reported. It is claimed this staff member was interviewed by police who decided there was no case to answer.  

The initial allegation of cruelty has always been disputed and the case was dropped in 2016 after the Criminal Prosecution Service received new information from the police. This 'new information' has never been made public. 

This case is troubling on many levels. There has been speculation asking if the investigating officers followed law and official procedures when interviewing the children? Or did the investigation begin from a malicious allegation and then evidence gathered to support the initial complaint?

Wasn't Liz Saville Roberts, now MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, the Cabinet member for Education at this time? Perhaps she could throw some light on this case and put an end to the speculation?

Over £800,000 was paid to NWP by the council and then there is the cost of those suspended on full pay, plus the cost to the council conducting their own investigation(s) into the matter. A reminder that Gwynedd council have a history of interference in investigations and writing reports in spite of the evidence. 

Did the actions of the safeguarding team in 2014 make them reluctant to take on Neil Foden?  Or, as some have suggested, was he protected because of his paygrade?

The Foden case is a can of worms for senior officers within safeguarding, education and NWP. It is no surprise that senior officers wish for a review of safeguarding only - which will be so limited that it will be worthless.

Six months before Foden's arrest, Geraint Owen, executive of the council and councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, leader of the council presented the Ffordd Gwynedd Plan to the Cabinet. It talked of a change of culture and mindset within the council -
…This is all rooted in a change of culture, behaviours and mind-set and its aim of realising the ambition across all parts of the Council’s activities is acknowledged as a substantial challenge and one which requires a comprehensive programme of support…
Also -
Acting on the basis of evidence, rather than on the basis of what appears to be logical, is one of the cornerstones of the “way of working”and here there is an important function to ensure that managers and their teams use the information and data available to its full potential. 

The executive officers and many senior officers have worked for the council for 20 years plus. Are they responsible for the culture and mindset? To outsiders, the culture and mindset could be read as nepotism, bullying and collusion in cover up of bad decision making and even worse behaviours.

Then there is the Education Workplace Council investigation which found Foden guilty of unacceptable professional conduct. This alone should have been the end of him. What action, if any, was taken by the council and school governors at Ysgol Friars?

In early, 2022, a video was released online showing Foden appearing to grab a pupil by the scruff of the neck at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, in Penygroes. What action, if any, was taken by the council and school governors at Dyffryn Nantlle?

This video was discussed by the Education and Economy Committee but no action appeared to have been taken by the then head of education, Garem Jackson,, nor the former Cabinet member for Education, Cemlyn Williams, at that time. It is believed that Elin Walker Jones, now Cabinet member for children was a member of this committee. Her knowledge of what the council knew of Neil Foden and the discussions that took place would be invaluable.

Something is so very, very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

 

Neil Foden - Time For A Public Inquiry? - Cyngor Gwynedd Council...

Neil Foden
The abuse of children in Gwynedd has been going on for decades...

In 2012, Theresa May, then Home Secretary, gave a statement to the House of Commons with regard to historic allegations of child abuse in the region. Excerpts include -

In 1995, the then Secretary of States for Wales, my Rt Hon Friend the Member for Wokingham, appointed a QC to examine all the relevant documents and recommend whether there should be a public inquiry.  The recommendation was that there should not be a public inquiry but an examination of the work of private care homes and the social service departments in Gwynedd and Clwyd Councils

The recommendation not to hold a statutory public inquiry was a mistake.
'Examinations' and reviews of those responsible for the failings are heavily reliant on the evidence of those responsible for the failings and therein lies the problem.

The former Prime Minister continued -
The Waterhouse Inquiry sat for 203 days and heard evidence from more than 650 people.  Statements made to the Inquiry named more than eighty people as child abusers, many of whom were care workers or teachers.

 In 2000, the Inquiry’s report, ‘Lost in Care’, made 72 recommendations for changes to the way in which children in care were protected by councils, social services and the police.  And following the report’s publication, 140 compensation claims were settled on behalf of the victims.

Theresa May's full statement can be found here -
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/historic-allegations-of-child-abuse-in-north-wales-home-secretarys-statement-to-the-house-of-commons

According to a SS complaints handling report published earlier this year by Marian Parry Hughes, two children raised concerns with social workers from the Arfon team, in 2013. One historic complaint concerned a social worker who did not take action to keep her safe.
Safe from whom?

Hughes gives even less information of the second historic complaint and claims the young person mentioned 'compensation' thus shutting down any investigation.

Since May's statement in 2012, many problems within schools in Gwynedd have been reported...

Teenage boy rapes female classmate shortly after sex education lesson -
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/teenage-boy-rapes-female-classmate-shortly-after-sex-education-lesson-9880277.html

Gwynedd schoolgirl, 14, left 'petrified' by bullies 'threatening to kill her', she claims -
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-schoolgirl-14-left-petrified-25241053

Pervert Gwynedd teacher brothers leave their jobs after downloading child porn -
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/pervert-gwynedd-teacher-brothers-leave-11587972

There are other examples...
It can be presumed that not all incidents are reported by the press...

Then there was the findings of the Everyone's Invited website - set up for children to report sexual harassment from other pupils in schools. Neil Foden, himself, commented on the findings -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58721707

In response to these findings, Gwynedd Education and Economy committee discussed a report on the 8th, February,2022, from Delyth Lloyd Griffiths, Senior Officer for Safeguarding Children -
The report responds to information that became apparent in 2021 when information on pupil sexual harassment was seen on the “Everybody’s Invited” website.
The report can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s32890/Item%206b%20-%20Sexual%20harassment%20in%20schools.pdf

The Cabinet Member for Education was then Cemlyn Rees Williams. It was at this time, that a video had emerged of Neil Foden, grabbing a pupil by the scruff of the neck. The Education and Economy committee knew of this video but failed to ensure the Cabinet member and the former Head of Education acted on the alleged assault.

Neil Foden was an abusive bully whose position as headmaster and as an executive member of the NEU trade union made him untouchable. The same could be said of officers in a senior position at other organisations in the region.

To some onlookers, Gwynedd council appears to run on nepotism, bullying and a culture of 'you don't dob on me and I won't dob on you.'

Executive officers have made mention that the culture within the council must change.
Does the same culture exist within Gwynedd schools..?
Have school officials, governors and councillors acted when they should?

The new Head of Education has reported that police DBS checks are now taking place. 

Any review into Foden and the council's risk model of safeguarding will be a waste of time and money. The only people who will come in for criticism will be the teacher(s) who worried more for Foden than they did the children he was abusing and Garem Jackson, who has already fallen on his own sword.

Jackson - a  man promoted above his ability and, it must be remembered, acted only after seeking the advice of a cyngor Gwynedd head of safeguarding.

What is needed is a statutory public inquiry.

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...

Credit for the video to Andrew Barton.

Inaccurate And Misleading ? - Gwynedd Council - Ysgol Abersoch

Cyngor Gwynedd Council's Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee met on 21/10/21 to discuss the closure of Ysgol Abersoch. The decision to close the small school in December has caused much tension between locals and the council.

Concerns have been raised that the majority of the consultation process has happened during the Covid19 pandemic and that the council's report was inaccurate and misleading...

The Cabinet Member for Education, Cemlyn Williams, is confident the process has been fair.
Can the same be said of other processes the Ed department has been involved with ? Are critical reports being sat on by this department, too ?

With the meeting going nowhere, Councillor Judith Humphreys proposed sending the matter back to the Cabinet.  This did not go down well and an amendment was raised by Dewi Roberts, Councillor for Abersoch, who asked for the matter to go before full Council to hear the views of all Councillors.

Things then became a little surreal. During the vote on referring the matter to full council - one lay member seemed to freeze and stated she did not know what to do and asked for help. Democratic services had to intervene saying she could not be advised how to vote. The lay member voted against referring to full council and the amendment fell by the one vote.

The proposal to send the matter back to Cabinet - from whence it came - was passed.

The webcast of the meeting can be found here - https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/610141