Criteria For Derwen - Cyngor Gwynedd Council's Service For Disabled Children...

The admission by one of cyngor Gwynedd's interim heads of the children and families department that their reporting is not 'completely accurate' comes as no surprise. There have been questions to the integrity of the council's reports going back many years...

One early example is the Annual Report on the handling of complaints by Adult, Health and Well-being Department and the Children and Family Support Department for 2015-2016, written by the former workforce support manager. 
That report can be found here - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s7887/Adroddiad%20Blynyddol%202015-16%20Sterfynol.pdf

The officer had personally led at least one of the investigations highlighted in her report which has been publicly called out as a whitewash. 

A Stage 2 complaint was raised. The investigator asked the customer care/complaint officers who the senior complaints manager was? Nobody knew...
Dafydd Paul, the council's senior safeguarding officer, then became active in the role from 2018. 

One recommendation from the Lost In Care report states - Every social services authority should be required to appoint an appropriately qualified or experienced children's complaints officer.

Since then, concerns to the integrity of the SS complaints handling reports have been raised with the council's democratic service, scrutiny committees, councillors and even cabinet members - all ignored. 
A question to possible data manipulation has also been ignored...

Cyngor Gwynedd has also had issues with completing recommendations for improvement and has been caught misleading government agencies in the past. A reminder that an investigation by the agencies will cease if a local authority accepts the recommendations...

Councillor Gwynfor Owen has recently raised questions of the criteria used to access Derwen, Gwynedd's service for disabled children. It is presumed the councillor was not content with the officer's response. Nor should he be. The 'criteria' has been called out as unlawful and discriminatory in the past. 

Pre pandemic, the PSOW made recommendations - agreed to by the council that - 
70. The Council should review its Derwen policy to ensure its criteria aligns with the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010’s definition of ‘disability’, and ensure staff are informed about any changes (within three months). 

In 2020, the Ombudsman wrote of its expectations of the council re its Derwen policy -

In spite of the further (and immediate) reviews supposedly undertaken by cyngor Gwynedd, the Hugh Morgan OBE report also recommends  - 

 

The Hugh Morgan report begins -
 

His full report can be found here - 
https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.com/2021/04/finally-gwynedd-councils-autism-report.html 

Hugh Morgan, also recommends staff training in ASD, but according to information given to the PSOW by Gwynedd council this training has already been completed as a recommendation from a previous investigation. 

The Ombudsman for Wales recommendations from an investigation in 2018 include - 

Have councillors had sight of any of the various reviews mentioned?

The Ombudsman's office has been provided clear evidence of wrong doing by senior officers - not investigated. It has also apologised for the failings of one of its officers and the former PSOW had to personally apologise to one family for failings in another investigation after an independent review.

The former children's commissioner, Sally Holland, also did not properly engage when concerns with children's social workers were raised with her office, in 2016. However, her office did comment on the council's criteria -
The Commissioner and our policy officers are aware of the criteria issue and this information will inform their ongoing work with Welsh Government. 

Professor Holland is now chair of Gwynedd's response plan programme board set up after the sexual abuse of children by Neil Foden and the failings of senior officers to hold him to account. Holland recently updated the council's cabinet members and that webcast can be found here - 
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/999635

In other news, the ICO has concluded a review into the council's handling of FOI requests. Gwynedd council are stating that it has been ranked 'reasonable'. Some FOI requestors would disagree. Has any councillor sighted the review from the ICO?

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...  

Cyngor Gwynedd Council - "I'm not claiming that the way we're reporting is completely accurate..."

Cyngor Gwynedd  held an Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee meeting on Thursday, 19th June 2025. The webcast of the meeting can be found here -
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/993870

The Task and Finish Group recommendations for Gwynedd council's Draft Education Language Policy - Cyngor Gwynedd Language Strategy 2023 - 2033 were discussed. There has been a recent push by councillors for schools to be taught through the medium of Welsh only...

The recommendations can be found in the agenda pack here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5496/Public%20reports%20pack%2019th-Jun-2025%2010.30%20Education%20and%20Economy%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10

On the 16th June, the Planning Commiittee held a meeting. That webcast can be found here - 
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/992005

The meeting discussed an application for an 'affordable self build' house in Penygroes. It has been refused in the past but the local councillor called it in for a debate. The councillor did not attend the meeting...
The recommendation was to refuse with the department citing three reasons including a lack of communication with the applicant. For reasons unknown some councillors wished to support the application anyway. The application was refused... 

Gwynedd's Care Scrutiny Committee met on Thursday, 12th June 2025.
The webcast can be found here - 
https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/991166

A performance report from the head of Housing and Property department, Carys Fôn Williams, was presented. 

Next up was the performance report of the children and supporting families department, presented by cabinet member, Menna Trenholme.
With Marian Parry Hughes absent from work, it was left to the interim heads, Aled Gibbard and Sharron Carter Williams, to answer members questions. 

The department's report makes no mention of the absences of two of its most senior officers and not one scrutiny member raised concerns. 

Morfa Bychan was discussed. The children's home should have been open last year. and whilst children have been placed there, the home is still not registered...

Councillor Beth Lawton raised concerns that according to the graphics in the report the interim heads had no concerns with the department at all. Lawton pointed out that there were concerns and described the Derwen service and its workload as huge.
Gibbard replied "I'm not claiming that the way we're reporting is completely accurate..." 

Councillor Gwynfor Owen asked the officers for the criteria that allows access to the disabled children's service. He was told, a learning disability and those with a substantial delay. Owen also asked if access to Derwen services was dependant on IQ. Gibbard replied no... 
Some parents have been told exactly that...

 
The Derwen criteria has been called out as unlawful in the past and in 2019, the Ombudsman for Wales recommendation was - 
The Council should review its Derwen policy to ensure its criteria aligns with the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010’s definition of ‘disability’, and ensure staff are informed about any changes (within three months). 

What of the Hugh Morgan Autism Review? 
Have his recommendations been implemented? Perhaps Mr Morgan could be asked for his thoughts on 'progress' since his review?
His review can be found here -
https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.com/2021/04/finally-gwynedd-councils-autism-report.html

Moving on, the report states that the purpose of the performance report is 'to present the performance of the Children and Supporting Families Department over the past year.'

But then states 'the report has been created based on the information and content of the latest meeting to challenge and support the performance of the Children and Supporting Families Department with the Director, the Senior Operational Officer and myself present at this meeting.'

So not over the past year? Only since the 'latest meeting' - whenever that was...?

The performance report for the Adults SS was also presented.

For what they're worth the reports can be found in the agenda pack here - 
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5531/Public%20reports%20pack%2012th-Jun-2025%2010.00%20Care%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10

In other news, Cyngor Gwynedd is advertising for a Corporate Director.
https://www.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/en/Council/Jobs-and-Careers/Corporate-Director.aspx

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...