Briefing Notes, LADO's And AI systems - Cyngor Gwynedd Council...

Concerns with the 'briefing note', circulated to members of cyngor Gwynedd's Governance and Audit committee by the monitoring officer, were raised at the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 8th October 2026.

An objection, by councillor Richard Glyn Roberts, was raised at the G&A meeting to the propriety of this note but technical reasons meant Iwan Evans explanation could not be heard. The meeting of 29th September was paused and eventually deferred until a later date. 

Councillor Roberts also sits on the Education/Economy committee and was present along with a few other councillors in the chamber, the remaining members participating via Zoom. In contrast there were 17 people sitting on the front bench, alongside the chair and Nia Jeffreys, the leader of the council.

Roberts again raised the matter of the briefing note. 
Dafydd Gibbard, the CEO, responded to the councillor.

Is the HR investigation perhaps asking questions of the involvement of the legal department at this point?
Jan Pickles report does mention that a senior legal officer was present during a safeguarding meeting that discussed the whistleblower's concerns with regard to paedophile Neil Foden. 

It was an odd meeting in many ways... 
Officers were reluctant to give themselves praise for the safeguarding work that has been done since Foden was arrested in 2023 - 
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-13591195/paedophile-head-teacher-hiding-plain-sight-abuse-girls.html

Officers informed that work is still in progress and concerns were voiced that Welsh government's guidance on LADOs did not align with the CPR recommendations, that the LADO should not act alone.

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) is responsible for managing and overseeing allegations against individuals working with children, ensuring that concerns are handled fairly and promptly. They provide guidance, coordinate responses among agencies, and monitor the investigation process without conducting investigations themselves.

The Jan Pickles report was very critical of the last LADO and his failures.

Meetings held behind closed doors and not recorded...
One councillor asked about the recording of safeguarding meetings and proper minute taking. Dylan Owen, the director of SS, reported that meetings were recorded via an AI system that presumably writes the discussion down. This is a new system and one hopes that it is being closely monitored for accuracy.

School governors also came in for criticism with the cabinet member for education stating that some governors were  passive in their work and just followed what the headteacher wanted. This is unfair as most governors are ordinary people who do great work.

A reminder that Ysgol Friars board of governors included two senior police officers and at least one councillor whose background is TV and media. One ex governor of Friars is Mair Rowlands, now an MS in Welsh government.

I have no knowledge of the board of governors at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle during the headship of Foden, but he was still in post even after the video of him assaulting a pupil appeared in the media. 
The education scrutiny committee itself discussed this video at the time but did nothing.
Why not?

Everyone knew Foden was an abusive bully but he was able to abuse because the culture within the council and the schools protected him from censure. New policies and procedures will not make any difference if the culture does not change. 

A reminder that many of the children abused by Foden were in the care of the council... 

Trauma informed or trauma induced..?
Menna Trenholme, the cabinet member for children, spoke of her work in becoming trauma informed. Trenholme may be even better informed if she read the work of Professor Luke Clements, who cites SS departments as causing trauma for many families when they seek help from the very services created to support them...

His report on Systems Generated Trauma can be found here - 
https://cerebra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Systems-Generated-Trauma-Report-web.pdf

The reports of the meeting can be found in the agenda pack here - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5777/Public%20reports%20pack%2008th-Oct-2026%2010.30%20Education%20and%20Economy%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10  

The webcast of the meeting can be found here - 
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1133653

Public inquiry now. 

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

 

Just Another Annus Horribilis - Cyngor Gwynedd Council.

2025 was yet another Annus Horribilis for cyngor Gwynedd...

Jan Pickles had began her extended CPR whilst the children's SS was avoiding proper scrutiny of this complaint - 

  

Sshh...
Two complaints about the education department were also not properly scrutinised. The cabinet member did not offer an explanation to the complaint about the assessment and skipped the meeting where the lack of response to a safeguarding concern was presented. 

 

School absences remained high with 1 in 10 children often not in attendance. Many of these children will have ALN and should be receiving support from ADYaCh. There is little support from the organisation and few schools cope so the number of expulsions rose across the county.

Supporting adults - or not...
Cyngor Gwynedd closed the day care services in Y Ganolfan, in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Encil y Coed, in Cricieth. These closures come on top of the day centres that have already closed in Bala, Porthmadog and Caernarfon. 

Whilst some residents were already having to travel out of area for services that Aled Davies, the former head of adults could not guarantee in future, Dilwyn Morgan and members voted for the closures. Meanwhile -  

'I had no help after my husband got dementia'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgyz3ez7ddo

There is no support and not for a lack of funding but a lack of carers.
Unpaid carers are not supported by the council either...

No english, no poor, no dogs..?
This year, Gwynedd's planning committee should have received more attention than it has.
Social housing is not welcomed by many members and applications are being refused contrary to their own planning policies. Warnings that schools may close due to a lack of numbers have been ignored...

Whistleblowing...
Then there was Gwynedd's audit on whistleblowing, undertaken by Luned Fon Jones. It does not make for good reading with 81 staff (who responded) saying they would NOT blow the whistle on something that is –
‘unlawful, fraudulent or corrupt‘
nor the –
‘sexual, physical or emotional abuse of clients‘

 

It is obvious that these staff have little faith in the management within the council...

Aled Davies, head of the adults SS then left his post.
Mari Wynne Jones, is the new post holder...

Cyngor Gwynedd then sacked an officer who they had suspended on full pay for 9 years.
The officer then took his case to an Employment Tribunal - 



Before the case could be heard in court, the council re-employed the officer...

Canolfan Brynffynnon
Two other officers also suspended for 9 years received redundacy packages.
Was a gagging order imposed?

The Genevieve Woods report was completed...
This led to to Marian Parry Hughes, the head of children's SS and Assistant Head safeguarding and quality officer, Dafydd Paul, being 'absent from work' since last spring. 

Have then these two registered social workers broken the Code of professional practice for social care ? 
And if so, has the council themselves referred these two officers to Social Care Wales? 

Code of Practice for Social Care Employers 
Section 5
Promote the Code of Professional Practice for Social Care and co-operate with Social Care
Wales’ proceedings

5.5 Take account of the Code of Professional Practice for Social Care when making any decision that relates to a worker’s fitness to practise.

5.6 Follow guidance on how to make a referral to us about a worker whose fitness to practise may be
impaired and, if appropriate, tell the worker a referral has been made.
https://socialcare.wales/cms-assets/documents/Employers-code.pdf

Gwynedd's CEO, Dafydd Gibbard, has not yet published the Woods report and is in possession of other reports that may be critical of the same officers and their role in the farce of Canolfan Brynffynnon. 
What was the 'new information' that stopped the criminal trial in 2016?

A full and independent review of the children's SS department and how it has operated over the years is needed...

Geraint Owen, retired as corporate director - Catrin Thomas has replaced him.

Morfa Bychan...
Last year, the council opened a children's home in Morfa Bychan. The home has still not been registered and should be considered unlawful. One councillor recently asked why registration was taking so long? 
Menna Trenholme, the cabinet member for children, appeared to blame Care Inspectorate Wales.

The CIW may not be comfortable endorsing any 'responsible individual' from Gwynedd council and who could blame them?  

Cyngor Gwynedd are now buying homes for foster carers to live in.
One of the final acts of Iwan Huws, former councillor for Bethel and Y Felinheli, was to sign off on the purchase of a house in the local area. 

Smallholdings...
Cyngor Gwynedd have released £2.1 million to pay for improvements to their smallholdings.
This money has come from the council tax premium which was meant to help the housing crisis. 

Are schools safe...?
One recent meeting heard reports of local school in Tywyn having to lockdown because of a pupil with a knife. In a separate incident, a taxi driver, who worked on the school run has been arrested. 

The chair of the committee tried to shut down the councillor who raised these concerns...

The year ended with councillors calling for the the council to be put in special measures and calls for a public inquiry... 

One councillor has asked for an extraordinary meeting of the full council to be held in the new year.
The director of SS spoke in support of this action.
It is not clear if the council will grant the request...

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...