The Ombudsman for Wales email of the 23rd, December, 2021, also mentions Derwen, Cyngor Gwynedd council's disabled children's service and states -
"The consultant’s review
considered the role of Derwen
(responsible for assessments of children) and of NEWIAS (with a remit
for accessing adult diagnostic assessment) and the chart within the
draft plan seen demonstrates how the agencies will work together. The
need in particular for a transitional social worker
and additional training for relevant officers was identified and is to
be implemented as well as establishing an Autism champion."
What draft plan?
Gwynedd council and Derwen should have been working with agencies since 2008 and the introduction of the Autism SAP. How can they plan to work with agencies that they have been working with for the past 14 years?
With regard to an autism champion the Plaid Cymru Councillor for Glyder in Bangor, Elin Walker Jones, was the nominated autism champion from 2012 and was even nominated for an award in 2014 - she didn't win. What happened to her?
The 'additional training' the Ombudsman mentions should have already taken place (details below)
It
would be interesting to have sight of the evidence provided to Hugh
Morgan's Review by Gwynedd senior management - and fact checked.
The
SS departments these officers manage and their actions and behaviours
have been heavily criticised in five Ombudsman investigations . Four
of those investigations involved the bad treatment meted out to those
on the autistic spectrum. their families and even complaint
investigators. One investigation -
not autism related - was because of a death in a local care home.
Have the Ombudsman's recommendations from that case been complied with? The council's last CEO, Dilwyn Williams, warned the adult SS department that the work was long overdue before he retired. Where is evidence of compliance?
Hugh Morgan's review and recommendations that senior officers have accepted but also failed to implement can be found here -
https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.com/2021/04/finally-gwynedd-councils-autism-report.html
But why is Mr Morgan raising issues with the Derwen 'criteria'...?
The council were meant to have already updated their Derwen criteria to align with law from a previous investigation - the Ombudsman has signed this off as completed. It makes no sense....
Also this from an Ombudsman's investigation which the council accepted in 2018 -
What is the point of costly and time consuming reviews and investigations when nothing changes?
Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...
