Did Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales actually read this piece of work..?

Stephen Wood, manager of the Gwynedd and Ynys Mon Youth Justice Service presented his report to the care scrutiny committee on the 29th, January, 2026.

The webcast of the meeting can be found here - 
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1060285

There appears to be a change of culture within the service that coincides with a big drop in the numbers of young people being criminalised through the courts. 

Wood informed that the short, sharp shock tactics do not work.

On youth offender's...
Asked what the big problems were, he stated, violence and adults taking drugs.
He mentioned that middle class children also commit crime - but they don't get caught.
Hotspots include Caernarfon, Bangor, Holyhead, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llangefni.
Cocaine was also raised as a problem locally.

It takes a village to raise a child...
Over the years, local schools have closed and super schools built instead. Many village's then lost their local shop, their bakery closed and then the pub. Families moved and communities were lost.

Then the council shut the youth clubs and sacked the youth workers.
Audit Wales warned against this but the messenger was derided by councillors at a full council meeting on the 3rd October, 2019. 

Schools have failed the children, too.
Pre-pandemic the policy was to include children - now figures show more children are excluded.
Idle hands and all that...

Does the ''Keeping Families Together' strategy co-authored by the interim head of the children's department, Sharron Williams Carter, show a change of culture?
One can hope...

Predetermined to fail..?
The work of the 16+ team  was discussed. 
This service has had its issues, too. 
From social workers poor note taking and a team leader that has been accused of faking assessments and setting up children and families to fail. 

Estyn have just completed a joint inspection with a focus on safeguarding in Gwynedd Council -
The purpose of this inspection was to evaluate developments in Gwynedd Local Authority’s safeguarding arrangements since September 2023.
Joint inspection with a focus on safeguarding in Gwynedd Council by Estyn, His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education, and Training in Wales, and Care Inspectorate Wales.
Date of inspection: November 2025 

The inspection team considered one key question:-
 How well are children protected from individuals who may pose a risk to them and when concerns are raised about those who care for them or work with them, either in a paid or voluntary role?

This question is not answered...
Estyn and the CIW do mention this -

 

 

 

Did Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales actually read this piece of work?
https://www.effectivechildprotection.wales/en/

Was this presented to Estyn and CIW as new and innovative?
The 'effective child protection' model was created by Dafydd Paul - many years ago. 
It does not answer the investigation teams key question nor deal with abuse by those in a position of trust... 

Now where is the report of the fostering team..?

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Forum IDP's, Safeguarding And Children On The Margins...

When a child enters the care of a local authority, the council becomes their corporate parent. This means that every councillor has a responsibility to act in the best interests of that child, just as any parent would for their own child.

Councillors have a responsibility for all children in their communities - not just those in care.
This includes ensuring access to education, healthcare and youth services.
But safeguarding children is paramount...

Local authorities provide safeguarding training for councillors and officers...
This training will cover everything from interfamilial abuse, county lines, child exploitation and child sexual abuse. It will also include those in a position of trust who abuse...

But what happens if councillors and officers don't attend the trainings...?

Dyfrig Siencyn, the former leader of cyngor Gwynedd council, only completed his safeguarding training on 24th September, 2024, three weeks before he resigned after refusing to apologise to the survivors of Neil Foden.

Richard Medwyn Hughes, a school governor at Ysgol Friars during Foden's reign only completed the council's safeguarding training on the 8th January, 2025. Hughes resigned after Foden's arrest but is now back as governor...

Beca Brown, the former cabinet member for Education who resigned in protest at Siencyn's actions, only completed her training on the 22nd January, 2025.

Some councillors have attended safeguarding workshops every four years or so.
Other councillors have not attended any at all...
.
Last year, Dafydd Gibbard, the CEO of cyngor Gwynedd commissioned a piece of work to better understand the position of the council's 'looked after children'. When will that report be published?

Does it include the work of the Fostering team?
How many looked after children have been excluded from school?
Were any of Foden's victims looked after children..?

The Welsh Government have recently published a report -
Children on the Margins

It contains a lot of information on child criminal exploitation, sexually exploited children and homeless children across Wales.

It includes -
Some observed that the age of children going missing is getting younger. One professional suggested that children aged 12-14 were most at risk. Others indicated that they are seeing more girls going
missing than before...
Also -
Others highlighted the increased likelihood of neurodivergent children being excluded from education settings, which means that they do not benefit from the protective qualities of education establishments...

The full report can be found here -
https://senedd.wales/media/xmhhaypg/cr-ld16844-e.pdf

How many neurodivergent children or those with ALN are, or have been, excluded from Gwynedd schools? 

For those with ALN, most will have an Individual Development Plan (IDP).
From the Snap Cymru website -
 

https://www.snapcymru.org/get-support/idps/

In Wales, children with ALN have an IDP, of which there are two types, school/college maintained or local authority maintained.

Cyngor Gwynedd also use what they call a 'forum IDP'...
This does not exist in law, but makes it look like a child is getting more support than a school maintained IDP - this is not the case....

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...