Cyngor Gwynedd Council - The Car Pool, A Party And An Internal Review.

The return of staff to council offices should by now be complete - just in time for the council elections. 28 councillors have already been elected in uncontested wards as they were the only ones to put their name forward - 19 of these are Plaid Cymru members giving them nearly 30% control of the council before a vote is even cast.

So what unresolved matters will face the new councillors?
There is still the issue of Gwynedd council's own #partygate scandal during the pandemic -

'The incident which saw them share a minibus was described by Dilwyn Williams, chief executive of Gwynedd Council  as "completely unacceptable" in a letter to staff.
Mr Williams said in the letter that "the individuals involved will be dealt with accordingly" as the council has had to fork out additional costs to cover their work during the self isolation period.'

More on that here - https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-council-worker-tests-positive-18850705

Then there was the issue of officers misuse of the council's vehicles as reported in the Daily Post, last year -

“We are aware that there are some instances where staff may not have adhered to this policy, and we are working with our trade union partners to address this matter and update our policy.
“We can also confirm that the council removed a banner which was placed without consent on railings near Morrisons roundabout in Caernarfon last weekend.”

More on that here -
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-council-review-vehicle-policy-19777848

'Arfon Assembly Member, Sian Gwenllian has already written to the authority after concerns were raised with her, confirming she would “continue to communicate” with the authority'
Any update for the public?

Then there is the Education department and its failure to explain why the headmaster Neil Foden reported being thrown under a bus by the council during the school meals fiasco. No explanation of the video circulated on social media of the teacher appearing to have a pupil by the neck, either.

In other news, an FOI request was raised with the council last year. The Information officer did not answer the question fully and so an Internal Review was asked for. The council has failed to carry out this review and an email asking for an update was ignored...

What possible reason could the council have to ignore its duties under the FOI Act?

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

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Gwynedd Council - Family 'Under Siege' In Nefyn Granted Planning Permission.

During the pandemic, Welsh Government passed new laws and policies to enable more public participation in local authority proceedings. Hybrid zoom meetings with some councillors in the chamber and some at home will become the new normal.

Though all council meetings have been recorded since the pandemic very few have been uploaded to Gwynedd's website for viewing by other councillors and the public.

Members of the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee were to hear back from the senior Education officer regarding the video circulated on social media that appeared to show the headmaster of a local school grab a pupil by the neck. The last meeting of this committee was cancelled - have members of the committee been updated ?

The question of why Neil Foden complained to the press that he had been 'thrown under a bus' by the council over the school meals fiasco has still not been answered.

Senior Operations Manager Aled Gibbard presented the Care Scrutiny Committee with the Council's 'Autism Plan' on November the 25th 2021.

Observations submitted by members included the following  - "There was a desire to receive an information session for Councillors in order to improve understanding of the field. It was reiterated that this training should be held before April 2022"

Have Councillors received this 'training' session ?

Also - "The annual review of the Plan was welcomed by Members adding that there was a strong desire to receive an update before April 2022."

Have Members received that update ?

Moving on - the annual complaints handling reports of Gwynedd social services has not been presented for scrutiny since before the pandemic. The last Children's report was presented in 2019, by Dafydd Paul. A complaint was raised with the council that the officer had misled the committee but this complaint was downgraded to an 'enquiry' by the Director  of SS who dealt with the complaint personally and so details will not be logged - presumably...

The Adult and Children departments are responsible for the most vulnerable people in society. We have had two years of a pandemic - many have died - social care is in crisis. Why no scrutiny?

In other news - Councillors of the Planning Committee complained that planning policies were not fit for purpose....

Two proposals which the planning department refused have now been overturned by councillors. Planning permission to create a home from a ruin by a local resident was granted. The other was more controversial and worries of intervention by the Welsh Government were raised.

Some councillors appeared to know the applicant and spoke of the family's troubles. Mention was made that the family already own an ex council home in Nefyn but that the family have been experiencing abuse from some in their community which is now affecting their children.

 https://amg.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/planning/?fa=downloadDocument&id=341076&public_record_id=31950

The story of anti-social behaviour and concerns for their mental health, portrayed by one councillor as a family 'under siege' was enough to sway councillors and the application was passed.

 

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Harassment In Schools.

On the 8th February, 2022, Cyngor Gwynedd council held an Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee meeting. The agenda for the meeting can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=392&MId=4380

The agenda included -
HARASSMENT OF HEADTEACHERS, TEACHERS AND SCHOOL STAFF ON SOCIAL MEDIA
There have been incidents and the situation is being monitored...

What of the video of a Headteacher appearing to have a child by the neck? The same Headteacher who caused the social media backlash on school dinners - but then accused the council of throwing him under a bus...
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-headteacher-filmed-appearing-22954185

The Education officer thanked the committee for the question and said he would get back to them....

Why the headteacher accused the council of throwing him under the bus was asked at the Education Scrutiny Committee meeting but the Cabinet Member for Education, Cemlyn Williams, did not answer the question. Instead, he chose to focus on his perception that he was being compared to Boris Johnson. The Education officer simply wished to be 'moving forward'

Have Committee members thought about inviting Mr Foden, so that they may hear his side of the story?
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/headteacher-says-thrown-under-bus-22213496

SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN SCHOOLS
Whilst acknowledging there is a problem, there was again very little in the way of data. The main data coming from a UK website on bullying and harassment...

Where is the local data? The schools must have recorded incidents - why was that data not presented? Why is there no data from Gwynedd Youth Justice. The Police - Governors - Pupils - Parents?

With regard to the Economy report - the data driving future works in the county appears to come from a survey undertaken by the council. There were less than 160 responses...Of those some were critical of the lack of youth provision in Gwynedd - this criticism does not appear in the council report...

Regardless, the committee passed the reports...

This meeting should be available for public viewing on the council website sometime soon -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/home

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...