Showing posts with label nia jeffreys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nia jeffreys. Show all posts

Sunday, 21 July 2024

Safeguarding, School Leaders And Article 4 - Cyngor Gwynedd Council...

The Article 4 directive was passed at the Cabinet meeting of cyngor Gwynedd council on the 16th July, 2024. Two members were absent from this important meeting. Apologies were received from the deputy leader of the council, Nia Jeffreys and the cabinet member for housing, Craig ab Iago.

The meeting was webcast and can be found here -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/895758
As often happens, the translated feed is not yet working...

The Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee met on Thursday, 18th July, 2024. Four councillors did not turn up and a co-opted member was also absent.  

Olaf Cai Larsen was elected as the new chair. A vice chair was not elected as no-one wanted the position. One councillor was proposed but he point blank refused and so the matter was deferred until the next meeting.

Overview and scrutiny is important in holding Council's policy makers to account and scrutiny committees are fundamental to the functioning of a healthy democracy. Some councillors have raised concerns that there is no proper scrutiny in Gwynedd and one has even compared it to a 'children's parliament'. 

The chair and vice chair of scrutiny committees are allowed access to the Scrutiny Forum. The forum is where the real power lies and determines what is and what is not to be scrutinised at the committees. This forum should be open to the public to ensure propriety.

First up on the agenda was the GwE Annual Report 2023-2024, presented by its managing director, Arwyn Thomas. GwE is to come to an end in March, 2025 and this will be its last report in its present form. GwE is a school improvement service for the whole of North Wales but this year their meetings have focussed more on job losses than any school improvements. 

GwE never really recovered from the 'hotdesking' and inflated travel expenses scandal that came to light in 2020. It has never been explained why the former CEO did not action when the council's internal audit flagged  - "To this end, Internal Audit cannot provide assurance that value for money has been taken into account when changing work locations."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53661995

Next up was the Middle Tier Review. This report comes about in part because -
Recent publications including Estyn reports, PISA and the personalised assessments national report, have identified a need to improve the quality of learning and outcomes within and across schools, and the consistency of this across Wales for ALL learners...

The report appears to lay the blame for this on poverty which does not explain those children who are failing whose parents are not in poverty. 

The report goes on to ask - How well are we doing? How do we know? How can we improve?
To achieve this, school leaders and practitioners should work in partnership with each other and their LA within an open, trusting environment.
So school leaders, practioners and the culture is the problem - not poverty.

Schools in Gwynedd have suffered from many issues over the years from bullying, harassment and assault. The problems have not been dealt with and the Neil Foden case only confirms that pupils (and teachers) are not safe...

A reminder that the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee failed to hold Neil Foden to account after the school meals debacle and also took no action when the video appearing to show Foden grabbing a pupil by the scruff of the neck appeared online.

A report, authored by Llion Williams and titled Safeguarding Arrangements in Schools was presented. The report can be found in the meetings agenda pack here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5168/Public%20reports%20pack%2018th-Jul-2024%2010.30%20Education%20and%20Economy%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10

As is to be expected after the Foden case arrangements have been updated. But they appear to focus on safeguarding children from their parents and it appears that little has been done to advise what happens if a senior teacher and/or the designated officer responsible for safeguarding is the one being abusive. 

One councillor pointed out that the school's last Estyn report stated that safeguarding procedures were robust - when they were obviously not. Did Neil Foden assist Estyn in this report?
To an outsider, Foden was able to abuse with impunity and there is nothing in this report that suggests those in a position of authority will not be able to abuse again. 

The BBC did report on this meeting but its focus was on matters relating to Foden -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cl4ym5kl85eo

The council's current head of education, Gwern ap Rhisiart, told the education and economy scrutiny committee that safeguarding was a "priority" for the department.

But Sharon Roberts, representing Arfon's parents and governors on the committee was more critical -
"Accept how little confidence there is out there among parents I speak to, everyone has been shocked by what has happened."

Gwynedd and Eryri Sustainable Visitor Economy Plan 2035 was discussed.
Cllr Gwynfor Owen mentioned that the national park agency do not engage with the county council and a plea was made to consult with councillors.

It was perceived that the report deals with growth rather than a sustainable visitor economy. The officer explained that they wanted to extend the tourist season rather than the peak in summer. There was little data to the impact on local jobs and the the language. 

The committee complained of the negative effects of tourism and that too many people were visiting the area, causing traffic jams and that locals were not able to get to the beach. Seasonal jobs were not great for those with families and mortgages and that all year round jobs were needed for peoples security. It was mentioned that many businesses were reliant on children...

This led to a trip down memory lane for some who talked of their own childhood experiences working for local businesses. It was pointed out that laws have since been introduced because of the exploitation of children by bosses...

In stark contrast to the Cabinet passing Article 4, one councillor talked of second homes bringing benefits to the local economy and called for a debate to dispel myths on the issue. He contended that these homes relied on local traders, such as plumbers and electricians who in the main spoke the language and that it was a win win. 

Many agreed that more research was needed and one commented that the report goes in every direction but the right direction. Councillors were not happy with the report but they voted to pass it anyway...

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...



 

 

 




Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Another Cabinet Member Avoids Scrutiny...

Cyngor Gwynedd council held a Care Scrutiny Committee on the 1st February 2024. Once again, the english webcast is not working making a mockery of the council's claim to have a bilingual service.
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/849190

Gwynedd's Housing Plan was discussed. It was meant to be presented by Craig ab Iago, the Cabinet member for Housing. The member had sent his apologies saying that he would try and attend the meeting later - this did not happen. 

The agena pack (with minutes of the last meeting) and details of the Housing Plan can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g4974/Public%20reports%20pack%2001st-Feb-2024%2010.30%20Care%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10

At the end of the meeting, the chair of the committee, Beth Lawton, expressed her disappointment with the member for failing to attend. A housing officer did try and explain the circumstances surrounding the member's absence, but the chair dismissed the officer's protestations. 

The behaviour of the chair is odd considering the care scrutiny committee have failed to hold cabinet members to account for the bad behaviour towards the county's disabled and autistics in particular -  culminating in several PSOW rulings against Gwynedd SS departments.

Cabinet members Beca Brown, Nia Jeffreys and now Craig ab Iago have all missed recent scrutiny committee meetings...

This was a long day for the committee with a briefing session held before the public meeting and then an informal meeting held behind closed doors after the webcast concluded.

In other news, the Governance and Audit Committee meet on the 8th February. Gwynedd council do not usually webcast these meetings but this one will be webcast and should be found here -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/852366

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...




Thursday, 1 February 2024

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Cabinet Members Not Attending Scrutiny...

Below is the link to Cyngor Gwynedd council's Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 25th January 2024 -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/846470

Non Welsh speaking Councillors and the public will not be able to view the webcast as the english version is not available...

The agenda pack (and minutes of the last meeting) can be found here - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g4895/Public%20reports%20pack%2025th-Jan-2024%2010.30%20Education%20and%20Economy%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10

The Gwynedd Economic Development Project was first on the agenda and was to be presented by the Cabinet Member for Economy, Nia Jeffreys. The cabinet member did not attend the meeting...
From her report -
...it was intended to produce a plan for the development of the economy in the period 2023-28. An independent company was commissioned to facilitate the work and on the 1st of April 2022 a joint workshop with our main partners in the field to initiate a discussion of the needs and priorities for the period ahead.

This work has not yet been completed...
One councillor did mention that a family member was a beneficiary of available grants.

The Equality Objectives Consultation Document was presented. The report authored by Delyth Williams, contains a lot of evidence of consultation with different groups and received many responses. Yet the meeting complained that not enough was done to involve the Welsh language. It was pointed out to councillors that the language has nothing to do with the Equality Act.

Next up was the Education Annual Report 2022-23, written by the newly appointed Head of Education, Gwern ap Rhisiart. Beca Brown, the Cabinet member for Education was to present the report but she too was absent from the meeting...

This report was also detailed and informative but again the scrutiny committee wished to focus on the Welsh language used in schools and some councillors were quite scathing. On a positive, pupil absences have improved slightly...

It was left to Councillor Cai Larsen to ask the important questions regarding the safety of children in Gwynedd schools. Gwern ap Rhisiart informed that police checks (DBS) were being carried out on teachers and school staff. He reminded councillors that he had only been in post for one month...

The GwE Annual Report for 2022/23 was presented. The annual report for this year is not specific to Gwynedd and covers every Local Authority and its schools. It is difficult to take GwE seriously after the 'hotdesking' scandal and the vastly inflated fuel expenses submitted by its officers before the pandemic. Their report begins on page 184 of the agenda pack...

Finally, the Post 16 Education Project report was presented. This came at the end of a long meeting and was passed without much ado. 

The meeting was most notable for the attitude of certain councillors towards the presenting officers. One wonders if they are driven by conscious bias...?

It will take time for the new Head of Education to get to grips with the failings of the past. Failings that committee members should be taking some responsibility for. They did not appear to act on media reports, nor presumably parents concerns. 

How many councillors were - or are still - governors at the schools where teachers have been arrested...?

Scrutiny committees are there to hold Cabinet Members to account for the work of the departments they have responsibility for, but it falls down when the Cabinet members do not attend...

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...