Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Collective Amnesia...

Cyngor Gwynedd council held a Governance and Audit Committee on Thursday, 8th February 2024. Unlike most other meetings of this committee, this one was webcast and can be found here -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/852366
Yet again, the translated feed is not working. This happens too often to be an error...

It was notable that the minutes of the previous meeting could not be presented...
Geraint Owen, the former Head of Democratic Services and now an executive director of the council, began by asking the committee not to scrutinise the reports...

The first report up is authored by Dewi Morgan, Head of Finance. His report is based on the Intenal Audit Section published last year by Luned Fon Jones which can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s38031/OUTPUT%20OF%20THE%20INTERNAL%20AUDIT%20SECTION.pdf

At last years meeting, a service improvement group was elected to look into three main areas of concern -
Staff retention (exit interviews)
The Liberty Protection Safeguards formerly Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards DOLS
Smallholdings.

An excerpt from last years report -

Last years meeting discussed a possible rent increase for smallholdings. The committee, along with the Audit Wales officers in attendance will remember that Carys Edwards, a lay member, had to leave the meeting during the discussion on the rent increases as she herself lives in a smallholding rented from the council.

After the discussion ended and the lay member returned, the committee then elected her to the service improvement group totally ignoring the obvious conflict of interest...

Staff retention was a major concern for last years meeting and the exit interviews were deemed crucial to discover why staff were leaving the council and the SS departments in particular.

Dewi Morgan's latest report makes no reference to exit interviews - he now calls them 'Planning - Communication Arrangements'. He writes that 'plans are in place to re-establish the working group but no meeting has taken place so far...'

Why Gwynedd council's Head of Finance has altered the wording is unclear as is the reason for disbanding the improvement group in the first place. More importantly, are the committee no longer interested in staff retention? - have they all just given up?

The Estyn report was also discussed and yet another meeting that did not mention the arrest of school teachers and the effect that will have on school performance and the well being of pupils...
Estyn does comment that -

It would be interesting to discover how many of the 275 children looked after by Gwynedd council regularly miss school. Also how many of those with ALN/SEN are marked as absent?
Perhaps the exclusion officer could be asked for the information...?
Perhaps not...

The agenda pack for this meeting along with the reports sans minutes can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g4963/Public%20reports%20pack%2008th-Feb-2024%2010.30%20Governance%20and%20Audit%20Committee.pdf?T=10

Something is so very, very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

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...

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... 

 

 

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Scrutiny Fit For Purpose...?

Cyngor Gwynedd council held their Governance and Audit Committee on the 14 December 2023.These committee meetings are not webcast so not available to the public nor Councillors to view on the website.

Gwynedd's Digital Strategy Review was discussed. Geraint Owen, the senior officer with responsibility for the strategy bemoaned the fact that the timing for the review was tight and that the council did not at the time of the audit have a plan whilst acknowledging the previous Digital Strategy had come to an end in 2018...

The corporate director rejected Audit Wales's observation on the Council’s decision to not consult with the pubic to develop a Digital Strategy – he noted that there had been a consultation period on the Council Plan and that establishing a Strategy was part of that Plan. He also highlighted his opinion that the report created a misunderstanding of the developments in the field and that they need to avoid this in the future.

Wales Audit responded to the director by asserting that the consultation did not have sufficent focus on the digital field and reiterated the fact that Gwynedd council produced no evidence of reporting on progress or value for money and that the new strategy should adopt these monitoring elements.

Geraint Owen wished it noted that he did not agree with Wales Audit and on the point of ensuring value for money - it was recognised that the Strategy had not been refreshed since 2018, so in that respect it was difficult to understand how it would have been possible to monitor the achievement of a document that did not exist.

Dewi Morgan, the Head of Finance, attempted to support the director by adding - that a further discussion was needed on the definition of 'value for money', that is, discuss how value for money and productivity can be measured within the Local Authority.

Regardless of the protestations of the Executive officer, the Digital Strategy Review is scathing -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s39725/Appendix%201%20Digital%20strategy%20review.%20Gwynedd.pdf

A call for the Committee to support permanent revenue bids for realising the Digital Strategy was voted down.
Senior officers informed the meeting that the audit of the council's final accounts was not yet completed. The Chair expressed her disappointment...

The full minutes of the December meeting can be found in the agenda pack for the Governance and Audit Committee held on the 18th January, 2024 and can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g4962/Public%20reports%20pack%2018th-Jan-2024%2010.00%20Governance%20and%20Audit%20Committee.pdf?T=10

At the January 18th meeting, Gwynedd council's accounts were finally released alongside warnings that the financial situation is dire. Members of the Committee pointed out the disconnect between the public reports of the senior officers and the reality of the situation facing the council which was shared to members behind closed doors by the CEO, Dafydd Gibbard.

The accounts show the usuable reserves are just over £133.5 million pounds down from the previous years £142.5 million.

Councillor Ioan Thomas, Cabinet Member for Finance presented the Savings Review report, the Revenue Budget and the end of November 2023 Capital Programme review which calls for an increase in borrowing and an increase in the use of grants and contributions to balance the departments overspends.

The review of Gwynedd council's scrutiny arrangements authored by Ian Jones, Head of Democracy Services and Vera Jones, Democracy and Language Services Manager was also presented. Tensions between members became high for this discussion with some Councillors complaining that scrutiny does not work. Mention was made that there can not be real democracy without proper scrutiny and that the Plaid Cymru group were in effect shutting down democracy.

Councillor Edgar Wyn Owen tried to rubbish the claims until it was pointed out that he himself was elected unopposed in his constituency of Waunfawr. In all 28 councillors were elected without a vote being cast - 19 of them Plaid Cymru members.

The Governance and Audit Committee is an important meeting and should be webcast by the council or at the very least the recorded Zoom meeting should be made available on Gwynedd's website for Councillors and the public to view...

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Monitoring Officer 'Advice' Overturned.

 Cyngor Gwynedd council held a Special Meeting of its Standards Committee on Wednesday, 10th January, 2024.  

The agenda pack can be found here - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=157&MId=5122

It involved two Councillors, Gwynfor Owen and Dawn Jones asking for special dispensation to be allowed to join the Task and Finish group that is to be set up to look into Gwynedd's Autism Plan. 

The two Councillors have worked with and have experience of those with autism and other Councillors supported their inclusion to the group. But the monitoring officer, Iwan G D Evans, 'advised' them that there was a prejudicial interest to their inclusion.

Task and Finish panels have no vote, nor do they allocate any funding so why the monitoring officer initially advised against the councillors makes no sense...

The committee granted both Councillors dispensation to join the task and finish group.

This special meeting will have incurred costs to the council and Councillor Owen had to give his evidence whilst on holiday in Spain. 

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Falsus In Uno, Falsus In Omnibus

Cyngor Gwynedd council have now appointed Huw Dylan Owen as Director of Social Services. The former Director had no experience of social service matters so someone with the correct background for the position hopefully meant that the past maladministration and failings within the services would not be repeated...

Bearing in mind, that Gwynedd council have admitted that the culture within the council needs to change, it is disappointing that the present director appears to be behaving in the same manner as his predecessor. In his annual report, presented to the council earlier this year, he states - .
...no young person from Gwynedd has been remanded since 2020.

This is not true and while the council may argue this was correct at the time of writing - it was most certainly not at the time of publication. Mr Owen's generic report also states -
Another example is that we refused to welcome Youth Justice inspectors as they were unable to guarantee bilingual inspectors, and they agreed to delay their inspection until this was possible.

How long ago was the last inspection?
It is unacceptable that the youth justice inspectors are not bilingual, but this does mean that the service avoids inspection by an outside agency and should be of concern to all...

Moving on, Mr Owen mentions feedback and recommendations from government regulators, perhaps not realising Gwynedd council has a history of agreeing to recommendations and then ignoring them...

The director goes on -
Unfortunately, cases have arisen where things go wrong and where we have not provided a service of the expected high standard. There is a statutory complaints procedure in place to ensure that we receive feedback, and respond to any concerns so that we do not repeat mistakes. Reference has already been made to the main trends of the complaints for this year, and an official summary will appear before the Care Scrutiny Committee in September 2023. We intend to place our complaints report and comments on the Council’s website in the future so that they are available to the public.

Gwynedd council's democratic services were recently asked for a copy of the report that the director informed at a previous meeting was available for members on request. It took a second email asking for an update to which an officer replied with -

The annual Social Services complaints handling reports have been presented to Cabinet and Scrutiny in the past but the reports for 2022/23 are yet to be scheduled to be presented to a committee meeting.

This word salad from the democracy service ignores the fact that the statutory documents have not been presented for proper scrutiny for nearly five years and confirms yet another statement from the director's report that is incorrect.

The children and adults complaints handling reports are important documents. Alongside the Director's Annual report they are the first documents to be read by government agencies as a snapshot of how the departments are performing. They may also be read by investigators when more serious concerns are raised.

A reminder that these reports have been called out for their disingenuity and data manipulation since 2016 and no complaints handling report has been presented to the care scrutiny committee since 2019...

For what its worth, the report from the director can be found here -
https://www.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/en/Council/Documents---Council/Performance-and-spending/Adroddiad-y-Cyfarwyddwr-Gwasanaethau-Cymdeithasol-22-23-SAES-2.pdf

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council... 

 

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Education Performance Fact Check...

Cyngor Gwynedd council held a Cabinet meeting on the 10th October, 2023. Once again, there are problems wth the translated feed and only the Welsh version is working -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/814616

One item of note was the Performance Report of the Cabinet Member for Education, presented by Beca Brown. It begins -
The purpose of this report is to update you on what has been achieved in the field for which I, as Cabinet Member for Education, have responsibility. This includes addressing the summer results, the Estyn inspection of the Authority's Education services, as well as outlining the latest with the pledges made in the Council Plan; the Department's day-to-day work; as well as the latest in terms of savings and cuts schemes.

Mention is made of the recent Estyn report and the member states -
The report is very positive and I am very proud of that, since it is testament to the hard work and contribution of everyone within the system.

The Estyn report raises concerns with pupils in need of social, emotional and behavioural support -
However, neither the status of, nor the steps for accessing the behaviour support hubs, are wholly clear. Senior leaders also do not have a strategic overview of the outcomes or nature and quality of this provision.
https://www.estyn.gov.wales/system/files?file=2023-09/Inspection%20report%20Cyngor%20Gwynedd%202023_0.pdf

The high number of absences and exclusions from school are concerning.
How many of these pupils have additional learning needs?
The reality is that even after specialist intervention some schools in Gwynedd do not implement the support recommended...

Then there is the sudden resignation of the Head of Education. The former Head was ultimately responsible for special needs provision - who has that responsibility now?

Estyn also mentions safeguarding -
Safeguarding arrangements within the education service are generally sound. Officers understand their roles and responsibilities in this area and work effectively with children’s services officers.

The recent arrest of a high paygrade employee shows the absurdity of this statement.
Did this employee ever support Estyn in their inspections?

Concerns of sexual harassment, bullying and drug taking have been raised for some time.
What of the school governors? Also the children's services officers?
How have they dealt with these concerns?

For what it's worth, the cabinet member's report can be found in the agnda pack here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/g5055/Public%20reports%20pack%2010th-Oct-2023%2013.00%20The%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - 'Where Are Your Principles?'

Cyngor Gwynedd council held a Planning Committee meeting on the 2nd October, 2023.

It began with an announcement from the chair, Edgar Wyn Owen, that the monitoring officer, Iwan G D Evans, has resigned his position as solicitor for the planning committee. Miriam Evans is now responsible  for any legal matters arising...

Councillors voted to approve one application contrary to the recommendation of the officers.
The application by a former councillor was allowed. His son who sits on the committee had to leave the meeting during discussion and was not allowed to vote.

"Where are your principles", asked councillor Elwyn Edwards.
The chair quickly moved the meeting on...

The webcast can be found here - press english for the translated video -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/812297

The committee has a history of voting contrary to its own planning policies...

Nine days later on the 11th October, Andrew Forgrave, wrote in the Daily Post -
Cyngor Gwynedd Council was adjudged to have 'behaved unreasonably' over the issue
The decision, by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), overturned previous rulings made Cyngor Gwynedd Council’s planning committee which went against officers’ recommendations. Welsh Government inspector Janine Townsley considered the local authority to have “behaved unreasonably”.
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/century-old-footpath-row-ends-27881162?int_source=nba

Perhaps the Cabinet Member could give an explanation?
With a breakdown of the costs incurred by the appeal...
How many more appeals against planning decisions are there?

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Task And Finish Groups...?

Gwynedd's Care Scrutiny Committee met on the 21st September, 2024. The Housing Allocation Policy And Housing Waiting List  was discussed. It was reported that empty homes are not being refurbished as quickly as was hoped. For the translated feed press the english tab -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/808714

One councillor asked about the social housing that would be built through the council tax premium.
No social housing is to be built - the premium is for 'affordable' housing.
Does affordable housing attract more grants?
Can they then be rented out for higher/market rates?

Problems with the online application form was mentioned and issues with the data was raised. The cabinet member for housing, Craig ab Iago, challenged the officers with regard to outsiders being given a house and said he knew of an example where this happened. He asked for anyone with examples to contact the department and to also inform him. With regard to homelessness, the cabinet member mentioned a sticking plaster on cancer and what was needed was solutions...

Councillors wanted knowledge of who was moving in to their area and if there was a local connection.
One councillor mentioned that refugees have been given a house while six local families are left waiting in one village and said that animosity will increase...

Councillors asked for the senior officers of the housing associations to attend a meeting. The report was accepted while asking for an update - in a years time.

On supported housing - one councillor expressed his disappointmrnt at the housing officers who had already left the meeting. A lack of accountability for these homes was also raised with the fear of abuse for those vulnerable residents. The Head of Adults SS, Aled Davies, said the quality assurance team responsible for services 'is not as strong as it should be'.
In light of the recent embargo on care homes in Gwynedd could this be considered a high risk?

The Autism plan was discussed...
A task and finish group is to be established. Concerns were raised with the wording of the report and what was highlighted.  Vera Jones, the lead officer who was to present the report was absent but her colleague said it was a mistake and the whole plan should have been included in the brief.

The draft brief focuses on learning disabilities and there was a call for those in the autism field to be included in the autism plan. Councillor Gwynfor Owen who has a son receiving support said he was not allowed to be a member of the task and finish group after discussion with the monitoring officer.

The former chair of the care scrutiny committee stated that his wife received domiciliary services but this was not considered prejudicial by the monitoring officer - he simply declared an interest where money was discussed and left the meeting. Others did not think it an issue either. It was thought the councillor's knowledge of autism would be invaluable...  

One officer suggested the autism plan may be too large for the task and finish group...
It was agreed to consider the whole plan and not simply the two points highlighted in the report by the democratic services manager.
The webcast then ended so the committee could have an informal meeting behind closed doors...

It must be remembered that the autism plan is separate from learning difficulties and the council has already received 'ringfenced' monies from government to create such services - since 2008 and the introduction of the autism SAP.

In other news, a member of a separate committee sits on a task and finish group that has been set up to investigate the county's smallholdings and rents in particular. This member has a smallhoding rented from the council...

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Education Problems...

Cyngor Gwynedd Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee met on the 14th September, 2023. The webcast can be found here -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/805628

SEND provision was discussed - or the lack of it. For those children with complex needs the committee was told that though medical cares and technologies have evolved to keep certain children alive they do bring extra pressures on the sector... 

Absences and exclusions from school was discussed - the figures are high...
Gwynedd council's exclusion officer blamed the pandemic and praised the schools for being open with the figures. The officer was asked twice before informing the highest number of exclusions are in the Arfon area.

The former inclusion officer tried to ensure an education for all - including those with complex needs, autism, behavioural issues et al. What is the problem with the Arfon schools? Has policy changed?

Why have these children been excluded? More importantly, what are they doing now?
The exclusion officer did comment that the youth clubs are to be 'reinvigorated'. Will these be the same youth services the council cut previously? 

The meeting is notable more for what was not discussed...

Garem Jackson, the Head of Education at cyngor Gwynedd, quit his post shortly after the meeting...

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

Focus On Appropriate 'Behaviours' - Cyngor Gwynedd Council...

For too many years, Cabinet members and other Gwynedd councillors have turned a blind eye to the behaviours and maladministration of senior officers but it is the CEO and leader of the council who are ultimately responsible for the culture of their organisation...

Cyngor Gwynedd's executive officers have commented on the culture within the council. They give little detail - and any insights are hidden amongst word salads with no explanations given. The comments can be found amongst the Ffordd Gwynedd report -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/g4839/Public%20reports%20pack%2007th-Mar-2023%2013.00%20The%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

The report by the leader of the council, Dyfrig Siencyn, and Geraint Owen, Corporate Director states  -  
...This is all rooted in a change of culture, behaviours and mind-set and its aim of realising the ambition across all parts of the Council's activities is acknowledged as a substantial challenge and one which requires a comprehensive programme of support...

The report starting at page 18 begins well enough with the present CEO stating -
Building on the culture and way of working, which is based on the principle of providing the best possible services to the residents of our county, with every one of us supporting each other to achieve this, is central to the Council's vision. The aspiration to ensure continuous improvement can already be seen widely across the Council and the next step is to ensure that nothing prevents us from embedding that mindset further and aim to improve even further what is already being delivered" (Chief Executive)

But the leader and executive officer are more honest -
...in order to maintain the "way of working", the mindset must be changed above anything else.
Doing the right things before making the things better" is the mantra. Unless we change the mindset before, or during, changing a process, we will certainly fail and the changes will not be sustained in the long-term.

The executive are adamant that they will focus on collaboration and developing appropriate leadership behaviours
Also - Develop methods to nurture an environment where managers feel safe to declare that performance is not up to scratch.

But it is officers of a lesser paygrade and the public that do not feel safe. What methods have been developed by the executive to protect them? Recording all telephone calls to the council would be a start. Removing the senior safeguarding officer from his role as the senior complaints handling manager? Ensuring that cabinet members have the conviction to challenge the departments they have responsibility for? How are the exit interviews going?

Other nuggets from the executive incude -
Each person working for the Council should have a job description setting out core expectations for their role, duties and way of working.
Focus on appropriate 'Behaviours'
Acting on the basis of evidence, rather than on the basis of what appears to be logical, is one of the cornerstones of the "way of working"and here there is an important function to ensure that managers and their teams use the information and data available to its full potential.

"Acting on the basis of evidence, rather than on the basis of what appears to be logical..."
This admission is the most frightening. That senior officers have acted without evidence on the basis of their unconscious and conscious biases...?
Which officers? Which cases? How many people harmed? What cost?

In other news, there is a bin strike in Gwynedd. This is another crisis of the council's own making. Relationships between the staff and senior officers have not recovered since the pandemic when a bonus was denied the essential workers. -

From the article by Gareth Williams, July,2020.-
Sent to the authority’s leader and chief executive, the letter notes: “In our view its totally unfair to expect us to work through this period on standard pay while the majority of (council) staff have been sent home on full pay or are working from home.
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-bin-collectors-call-front-18556569

Now there is a cost of living crisis and the council are again digging in their heels...

Also the Education and Economy scrutiny committee met on the 14th September 2023, Due to legal matters, scrutiny of the Education officer was presumably constrained. This meeting, like so many others, was plagued by technical difficulties during the live feed and following the dicussion became impossible. The translated feed has still not been uploaded to the council's website...

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

Cyngor Gwynedd - Misuse Of Public Vehicles Update...

Many people will remember the banner protesting cyngor Gwynedd officers misuse of council vehicles, in 2021. It was attached to the railings outside Morrisons supermarket in Caernarfon before being swiftly taken down by council officers...

A council spokesman said -  “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.

   

The picture is from the article written by Gareth Wyn Williams, in 2021 -
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-council-review-vehicle-policy-19777848

On the 13th April, 2023, Dafydd Meurig, Cabinet Member for the Environment reported -

A letter and email was sent to officers who had the right to take vehicles home as part of their working terms, on 29/03/2023. The letter stated that the consultation period has ended and that no officer from the Waste and Recycling service is now exempt from the new policy - 'Use of Council vehicles for commuting'. In accordance with the procedure, a period of notice must be given to staff and the period of 90 days has started on 31/03/2023 and ends on 29/06/2023. So by the end of June the exercise of using the council's vehicle for journeys between home and work will come to an end.

Does this mean that officers continued to misuse the publicly funded vehicles for nearly two and a half years? Perhaps councillor Meurig could give an explanation for the long delay?

The public and local politicians may presume that this directive applies to all departments. Where cyngor Gwynedd is concerned nothing should be presumed...

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - Leader Of The Gang...?

In November, 2021, Neil Foden, headteacher at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes wrote to parents informing that any child with a debt of 2p would be refused school meals. This caused a national furore with interventions from Marcus Rashford and blogger Simon Harris (men behaving dadly)

The headteacher blamed the decision on his council bosses who he claims 'threw him under a bus' -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-59341464
"All I did was to pass on the authority's message to parents."

Gwynedd Council blamed "lack of clarity" from its education department on school food debt policy -
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education/council-apologises-school-meal-debt-22153658

Councillors of Gwynedd's Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee challenged the Head of Education, Garem Jackson, for an explanation. He did not provide one but promised an update for the next meeting.

Two months later, a video was posted online that appears to show Neil Foden grabbing a pupil by the scruff of the neck -
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education/head-teacher-filmed-appearing-grab-22967578

At the next scrutiny meeting, Mr Jackson failed to answer the committees previous concerns and was also unwilling to respond to the latest incident. Once again, promising to get the full facts and return with an update for councillors.
There is no record of Mr Jackson updating the committee on either incident...

Mr Foden has a history of controversy. In 2018, a Biology teacher was awarded £8,000 compensation after an 'outrageous' suspension by the Ysgol Friars headteacher -
The tribunal was convinced Mr Foden had at one stage been “looking for an excuse to make things difficult for the claimant”.
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/biology-teacher-awarded-8000-compensation-14867550

Also -
“We developed a particular view about the evidence given by Mr Foden which undermined his credibility and/or reliability as a witness.”
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/autocratic-gwynedd-headmaster-included-malpractice-14853841
How is this not perjury?

In 2020, he was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct by the Education Workforce Council.
It was proved that Mr Foden treated a third teacher unfairly when providing a reference in 2016 in which he said he was facing an allegation of malpractice when, in fact, the teacher had been cleared.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54300055

The panel heard evidence that included -
"I felt victimised by Neil Foden due to the way he operated. You were either in his gang or you were not," person D told the panel. He claimed he was never interviewed by school governors and that Mr Foden's daughter had investigated the allegations against him.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51710557

The teacher claimed Mr Foden was looking to "pressurise" him after he made whistleblowing complaints over erroneous submissions of exam results by his department boss.
Person D said he made the whistleblowing complaints in 2014 because pupils had been "awarded an exam pass" and he was initially concerned it was an "administrative error".

However, he said the evidence had been moved for the five pupils concerned. "The evidence had been removed from a computer file. It had taken a year and a quarter for the exam board to be told."
Person D said he and two other concerned teachers were not interviewed about the exam concerns until "four to six months later".
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/headmaster-victimised-teacher-who-blew-17850450

The delay in interviewing the teachers will affect any legal process as there is a very short window to lodge complaints and/or take legal action. After one year, it is presumed that the exam board would dismiss any concerns as out of time...
Mr Foden is also Head of Ysgol Friars in Bangor.

Perhaps the scrutiny committee could remind the Head of Education of his promise to report on the incidents and also ask for an update on the two teachers believed to have been suspended on full pay for 9 years...

In 2014, the council's safeguarding team began an investigation alongside north wales police.. It did not go well. In 2018, the CPS threw out the case after they did a deep dive of the 'evidence'. 

A spokesman for the council said -
"This process concluded with the CPS deciding not to proceed with any prosecutions. The council is currently carrying out its own subsequent internal investigation into the matter and as a result the individuals remain suspended from their posts.”
https://web.archive.org/web/20180729072902/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/welsh-councils-paid-9m-staff-14876849

Gwynedd council also paid over £800,000 of public money to north wales police. For what...?
The costs of this case, including the legal fees, must be approaching 2 million pounds - if not more... 

An FOI seeking information on the matter was shut down by the monitoring officer who simply ignored the request for an internal review. The next step in the legal process - a complaint to the ICO - usually requires an internal review to have been undertaken. Regardless, the ICO can only 'advise' the council to release information. Gwynedd council have ignored the 'advice' of the ICO in the past...

Questions to the integrity and professionalism of the safeguarding team remain. The senior safeguarding officer for Gwynedd has not been seen at a council meeting since 2019 when he was called out for deceiving the care scrutiny committee in another case.

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cyngor Gwynedd - 'Unusual And Potentially Inappropriate...'

Last month, Cyngor Gwynedd council's monitoring officer's reassurance that there is indeed a code of conduct for members AND officers of cyngor Gwynedd council is welcomed, but is it accurate?

The code of conduct for councillors is regulated by the Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW). If a complaint is received the Ombudsman will investigate taking account of all evidence and come to a decision. Many of these complaints are petty and probably best described as turf wars between local councillors. One Gwynedd councillor has a history of complaining about their political opponents come election times but the code of conduct is much more than this...

No public record of the code of conduct for officers of the council can be found. Obviously, managers will have access to disciplinary procedures against employees who do not meet the Gwynedd standards but what happens when the problem is 'the management'? 

One Employment Tribunal found in favour of a disabled social worker in a dispute with her senior manager. Employment Judge T Vincent Ryan, found against Gwynedd council.
The decision to dismiss the claimant in these circumstances was discrimination arising from disability.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5cf61dd7e5274a0771578036/1600022.2017_Mr_S_Parry_v_Gwynedd_Council_-_CORRECTED_JUDGMENT_AND_REASONS.pdf

This case is disturbing on many levels. During the legal process, it is reported the senior officer wanted the complainant to undertake a psychological assessment. Perhaps the hope was a colleague would find the social worker unfit for work due to a mental health issue..?

This action forced a more senior manager to step in calling the psychological assessment 'unusual and potentially inappropriate'. Gwynedd council have a history of undertaking fake assessments so this officer should be praised for her actions.

The Tribunal also commented that the senior officer 'gave his evidence in an unconvincing way which was not credible in the circumstances'.  
How can being called out by a Judge in a court of law not break the officer's code of conduct?
Isn't this perjury?

The monitoring officer is well aware of the bad behaviour by the senior officers but instead of taking on the bad apples he appears to have washed his hands of them. The council's constitution has been recently changed so the MO is no longer responsible for the service. The 'responsible officer for SS complaints is now Ian Jones, the Head of Corporate Support.
More on that change here - https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/mgAi.aspx?ID=20536 

To sum up - fact checkers would say that the monitoring officer's claim is accurate.
One senior manager may say 'as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it.'

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board - 'a slow motion car crash whilst laughing along the way'

Cyngor Gwynedd Communities Scrutiny Committee met on Thursday, 13th July 2023.
Yet another meeting beset with 'technical issues' and translation problems.

The leader of the council, Dyfrig Siencyn, was to present the Annual Report of the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board 2022-23 - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/s38421/Annual%20Report%20of%20the%20Gwynedd%20and%20Anglesey%20Public%20Services%20Board%202022-23.pdf

The report lacks detail of the Board's work and committee members would have had many questions for the council leader. Mr Siencyn instead sent his apologies and did not attend the meeting.

Concerns were raised that the documents of the board's meetings were absent from it's own wesbsite and committee members asked how there could be proper scrutiny without them. An officer blamed admin for the site not being updated...

After a break to sort out more technical issues, a motion was raised that the meeting should be stopped. The motion was voted down and so 'scrutiny' continued...

There was discussion on the board's climate change subgroup and questions were asked to the meaning of net zero. One councillor reminded the meeting that CO2 is food for plants...

Questions were asked of the electric buses that should have been running since February. It was reported that Gwynedd council have three such buses but they can not be used. The officer blamed Scottish Power for the lack of infrastructure. Range anxiety was also mentioned.

The Welsh Government may have handed over four electric buses to the council - but technical difficulties made following the conversation difficult. Gwynedd council have since uploaded both the english and Welsh translations but there is a discrepancy with one being shorter in length -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/792005

Concerns were raised that bus services were already failing residents in outlying villages. It was revealed that due to 'issues' there will be even less buses running after 6pm. Will those issues be with the young people who had their youth clubs closed by Gwynedd council?

One councillor compared the plans to a 'slow motion car crash whilst laughing along the way...'
The reports were still accepted by the committee.

In other news, the council's bin collections are still a cause for concern.
Also the funding from Welsh Government for public transport during the pandemic will no longer be available from early next year.

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

 

Cyngor Gwynedd - A 'Children's Parliament...'

Cyngor Gwynedd held a full council meeting on the 6th July, 2023. The chair welcomed all and asked for everyone's full attention as the meeting was being webcast. Not all councillors got the message.

The Annual Report of the SS Statutory Director was presented. The report had not been corrected with regard to the work of the Youth Justice team and the recent imprisonment. Yet again, a generic report is published with incorrect data. The report was passed anyway. 

The full agenda can be found here - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=130&MId=4889

The former Chair of the Care Scrutiny Committee praised the work of scrutiny members and referenced a meeting he chaired that took the Wales Ambulance Service to task. But made no mention of the critical Ombudsman for Wales investigation(s) into the SS departments under the committee's watch. No mention either of the SS departments not being properly scrutinised for the past four years...

Some Councillors raised their own concerns with scrutiny practices and one compared it to a 'children's parliament.' 

Gwynedd council's monitoring officer did state that there is a code of conduct for members and officers - any concerns with his role are to be raised with the CEO.

Link to the webcast -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/789318

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...

 

 

Anglesey Council - Delay in the preparation and publication of the draft accounts beyond 31 May 2023...

This page has now been removed from the Isle of Anglesey website...
The statement of accounts explains Isle of Anglesey County Council’s finances during the financial year and its financial position at the end of that year.

Further information about the accounts and budgets of the council is available from the Finance Service. You are welcome to send any comments or questions to the Finance Service.

Delay in the preparation and publication of the draft accounts beyond 31 May 2023

Regulation 10(1) of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 (as amended) requires that the Responsible Financial Officer of the Isle of Anglesey County Council sign and date the draft Statement of Accounts of the Isle of Anglesey County Council and certify that it presents a true and fair view of the financial position at the end of the year to which it relates and of the council’s income and expenditure for that year.

The Regulations require that this be completed by 31 May each year.

However, the regulations make provision for local authorities having to delay preparing and publishing their annual financial accounts on the basis that a notice is published on the relevant council’s website to explain why the draft accounts have been delayed.

This notice is to inform Anglesey citizens and stakeholders that the council’s Statement of Accounts for 2022 to 2023 will be delayed.

Welsh Government’s expectations for the revised timescales for the preparation and publication of local authorities’ 2022 to 2023 Statement of Accounts are shown on this page. Welsh Government has recognised that 'following the pandemic and infrastructure assets (such as roads, footpaths, street lighting and street furniture), audit issues raised last year', there is an ongoing impact on local authority staff resources and there may be additional work to finalise the accounts this year. 

Welsh Government's suggested timetable

Draft Statement of Accounts

Statutory deadline: 31 May 2023

Extended deadline: 31 July 2023

Audited Statement of Accounts

Statutory deadline: 31 July 2023

Extended deadline: 31 December 2023

The Responsible Financial Officer has not signed and certified the draft accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 by 31 May 2023.

This is due to the impact of the delayed completion and audit of the Statement of Accounts 2021 to 2022, as highlighted by Welsh Government.

In addition, more complex and additional work has led to a further delay, particularly in relation to increased agency arrangements, more joint working with other local authorities, increased capital accounting due to the progress of the sustainable communities for learning projects, such as the new school Ysgol Corn Hir in Llangefni, and the building of new council dwellings, as well as the purchase and refurbishment of houses to further increase the number of council houses.

The draft statement of accounts is also delayed awaiting CIPFA guidance in relation to the council’s unusual pension asset position, which also affects several other councils. The council will, therefore, work within Welsh Government’s extended deadlines. 

Marc Jones FCPFA
Director of Function (Resources) / Section 151 Officer
Isle of Anglesey County Council
Council Offices
Llangefni
Anglesey
LL77 7TW 

https://www.anglesey.gov.wales/en/Council/Council-finances/Statement-of-Accounts.aspx
This page has now been removed by Isle of Anglesey council...

Cyngor Gwynedd - Rinse And Repeat.

In a meeting of cyngor Gwynedd's Language Committee held on Tuesday, 27th June, 2023 10.00 am, the Head of Children's SS, Marian Hughes, reports (from the translated feed) -

"...and then of course the other barrier we have as i have already mentioned is the provision of placements beyond Gwynedd and Wales for children and young people who have intensive needs need specialist placements in the same manner as well. We are also concerned about the language needs of young offenders who receive a custodial sentence. When I was writing up this report we didn't have any single person who needed a custodial sentence in Gwynedd for several years but unfortunately that has changed in the past week and we have one young person now who has received a custodial sentence for very serious offences and of course has been placed in prison in england. So the youth justice service and his social workers now ensure he has access to resources through the medium of Welsh and they'll work with the prison to ensure that happens. The prison where he's been placed or where he has been imprisoned is one that encourages the use and the use of welsh medium resources for prisoners from Wales who are Welsh with first language and of course need translations through the medium of Welsh. This matter has been included on our departmental risk register because of the fact we feel that young people from Gwynedd are placed under a disadvantage in terms of their choice and use of their first language in the prison..."

This was a hybrid meeting held over Zoom which Gwynedd council do not upload to their website. Minutes will be available, but as many Councillors are now discovering the minutes are not always accurate. 

The Director of Gwynedd SS, Dilwyn Owen, would have known of this case but in his just published Annual Report states -
Implementing the 2022/23 Youth Justice Plan...
The rates of new offenders and reoffending rates are lower than regional and national comparisons and no young person from Gwynedd has been remanded since 2020.
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/s38361/Item%208%20-%20Appendix.pdf

He also states -
Using our influence is important. The former director was the national and regional lead on More Than Just Words, which enabled substantial progress in the provision nation-wide. Another example is that we refused to welcome Youth Justice inspectors as they were unable to guarantee bilingual inspectors, and they agreed to delay their inspection until this was possible.

This report along with the annual complaint handling reports are to be scrutinised by the Care Scrutiny Committee later this year.This will be the first time the SS complaints handling reports have come before the Care Scrutiny Committee since the senior complaints officer for the children and families department was called out for misleading the Committee in 2019. 

This also means that all through the Covid pandemic no SS complaints report went through a scrutiny committee, instead going straight to Cabinet for 'scrutiny'.
One of the jobs of the scrutiny committees is to hold cabinet members to account for their departments actions. In the past some Councillors even went to the press to complain of similar issues -
Gwynedd councillors say they were ‘shut out’ of decision-making during lockdown
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-councillors-say-were-shut-18705757

The former director's incumbency was littered with maladministration, managers who marked their own homework and wrote reports in spite of the evidence. The data is useless and recommendations for improvement from regulators unfinished. Officers have misled councillors and even the Ombudsman for Wales - repeatedly.

Mr Owen also raises concerns that some recent risks have not been managed by the Mental Health Service and worries for the future -
The Children’s Referrals Team received over 7,000 referrals this year - an increase of around 2,500 since the pre-COVID-19 period. The Mental Health Service saw a similar increase and I know that due to the excellent work of our teams the risks was managed in the vast majority of cases.
We take pride in this work, whilst also knowing that dealing with the increace in referrals is not sustainable, and I am concerned about the pressures placed on our workforce.

 

Could Cyngor Gwynedd Owned Smallholdings Be Used For Housing?

Cyngor Gwynedd meetings last month included the Planning Committee - yet another meeting plagued by 'technical difficulties'. The vote for a new Chair had to be retaken as a councillor who was not part of the committee took part in the vote.

One application caused consternation for some councillors who wondered whether having shares in the Wynnstay group meant they could not vote. It was pointed out that the application was not from Wynnstay and that officers were recommending to refuse.  

The councillors voted to go against the recommendation and accept the application...
The agenda and webcast can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=135&MId=4919 

On the 24th May, the GwE joint committe met. The school improvement agency reported a budget overspend -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=243&MId=4879

Has there been any action by the CEO to concerns raised by council auditors in 2020?
A council officer also conceded that it could be seen as "odd" that GwE amended many staff's official workplaces on the same day that Gwynedd's stricter guidelines were introduced, adding that the authority's HR department had attempted to challenge GwE on the decision.
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/eyebrows-raised-what-schools-agency-18716183

Then there was the Governance and Audit committee on the 25th May. The meeting elected a panel of three as a service improvement group to look into issues that the Audit flagged - some have been ongoing for years...
Staff retention (exit interviews)
The Liberty Protection Safeguards formerly Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards DOLS
Smallholdings.

With regard to Gwynedd council's smallholdings, officers have already actioned - 
The Estates Manager has committed to implementing the following steps to mitigate the risks highlighted:
Update the Smallholdings Management Policy to ensure consistency, encompassing e.g. responsibilities, procedure for letting the units, rent review, debt recovery and internal administration.
Update the Service's records with current details of the holdings.
Ensure that the tenants pay the correct rent.
Review the arrears reports and assist the Finance department to recover them.
More -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s38031/OUTPUT%20OF%20THE%20INTERNAL%20AUDIT%20SECTION.pdf

But in 2018, the CEO, Dafydd Gibbard authored a report presented by Dafydd Meurig to the Communities Scrutiny Committee -
The size of the estate extends to 2996 acres or 1213.53 hectares. The size of the holdings vary from 2.5 acres to 212 acres. The average size of a holding is 65 acres.
1.4 There are 2 holdings in the commercial category, 22 in the middle category, 15 in the start-up units and 5 holdings are grazing land only. Part of Penllyn Farm, Tywyn is on a business tenancy as a caravan site and the holding of Tŷ Nant, Dolgellau is currently let on a business tenancy as a café and bunkhouse...

The former senior property manager also mentions one of the reasons for retaining 'smallholdings' as -
A bank of land ready for any challenges the Council may face in future including affordable homes, environmental plans, carbon trading etc.
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s19509/Gwynedd%20Councils%20Smallholdings%20Estate.pdf

Much of this land is in the Dwyfor Meirionnydd area. Councillors have cited the difficulty in purchasing suitable land as one of the barriers to building more affordable homes. It makes no sense that the council has not taken the opportunity to build much needed council homes on this publicly owned land.

In other news, Gwynedd council have increased the amount in financial reserves to £130.6 million.
Perversely all departments are reporting large overspends in their allocated budgets bar corporate support.
 
Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...