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...