'Technical Difficulties...' Cyngor Gwynedd Council.

Two years have passed since Cyngor Gwynedd council agreed to implement the recommendations of an Ombudsman for Wales investigation yet the council remain in non compliance...

The last CEO of the council had told councillors that all recommendations had been met 'bar a nuance' - this was not correct.

The present CEO was meant to have had a meeting with the Ombudsman in which he was to provide the Ombudsman with an update and discuss issues around compliance. Unfortunately.... 'technical difficulties' meant the meeting had to be abandoned. Why the CEO could not update the Ombudsman by telephone or email remains unclear.

It has also been over two years since the Ombudsman for Wales sent two of his officers to North Wales to take a complaint in relation to non compliance with yet another Ombudsman's investigation.

                                     

The officer's explained they could not take this complaint as the Ombudsman's office had already signed off compliance without really understanding what was required of the council. The Ombudsman has apologised for the actions of the officer who signed it off.

The Ombudsman's investigator also refused to take a complaint against the social worker involved in the Stage 2 complaint investigation that senior managers of the council interfered with as the SW may have forgotten what happened....and may deny the charge..!!!

Instead, the Ombudsman wished to focus on the assessment undertaken by Gwynedd council in response to a recommendation from his previous investigation.

Concerns had been raised with the Ombudsman that the council would not treat the assessment fairly and we asked that an independent social worker be assigned. The request was refused and the council then tasked Sharon and Barry with conducting the assessment. It has come to light that Barry was not there for the assessment and one can only wonder why he was involved in the process.

The assessment carried out ended up an exercise in parent blaming...

Questions remain of who was actually in charge of the assessment. The assessor visited the parents to inform the assessment was complete before flying off to holiday in Florida the next day. Yet comments made after this have found their way into the file. Which manager in the SS department was responsible for the handling of this assessment ? A SAR (subject access request) was requested but Gwynedd council's information manager has heavily redacted the information to the extent it is unreadable. Sshh...

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

2019 Ombudsman Report On Cyngor Gwynedd Council Derwen Policy.

The Ombudsman for Wales makes comment on Gwynedd council's Derwen eligibility criteria.

 15. The Derwen policy document states that it is the team that ‘provides assessment, intervention and support for disabled children and young people with continuing needs as a result of disabilities or illness.’ It will support families, carers and the wider community in order to promote the health and welfare of disabled children. Derwen’s eligibility criteria sets out those who are eligible or ineligible, for its services. It says that those ‘with ADHD, but who are not disabled or have significant developmental delay’ are ineligible. It does not specifically mention Autism or other similar diagnosed conditions.

Those 'with ADHD, but who are not disabled or have significant developmental delay’are ineligible'.
Inclusive ? - I don't think so. I am not really sure what it even means.
 
The Ombudsman Recommends -

 70. The Council should review its Derwen policy to ensure its criteria aligns with the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010’s definition of ‘disability’, and ensure staff are informed about any changes (within three months).

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.

We were surprised at the Ombudsman's Recommendation in this respect - it was not part of our desired outcomes and though any review of Gwynedd council and its policies are welcome we are left wondering as to the why.

The Ombudsman employs specialist advisers who could have confirmed immediately whether Derwen's criteria was legal yet the council is asked to review its own policy.

Now I note the "...seek specialist input to develop a plan for dealing with future assessment and support..." but what of the children that have been failed by this department and its officer's for so many years ?

Our correspondence with the Ombudsman for Wales has included our thoughts on the second assessment of the child - only undertaken through a recommendation from a previous Investigation. We did relate the 'suggestion' from the social worker, that had been expressed during the Assessment and our horror and shock at her suggestion.

Both SW's were told that if they had 'suggested' that to a carer in any mental health setting that I knew of a managerial meeting would have been called and the SW reported.The other social worker present said he did not agree with the 'suggestion' but repeated 'it was only a suggestion'.

Was this the reason for the Ombudsman's finding and recommendations ? That it is so blindingly obvious to anyone independent looking at this council that there is a major problem with social workers and how they assess autistic children.

The social workers told us there were no autism services in Gwynedd. But they were both in my house to assess a child's eligibility for services ! How can a child be eligible for services that don't exist ? They can't obviously. Catch 22.

Unsurprisingly, the teen failed to meet the criteria threshold in this assessment(!) too. The SW's main reason was that he had helped cook rice with a teacher FOUR YEARS ago.

The SW's were asked what happens when he forgets he is cooking and walks off ? The SW's bowed their heads and mumbled sorry.

A complaint against this assessment was raised by the father last year - it has not been allowed to progress and is now 'out of time'.

Something is so wrong with Gwynedd council.