Gwynedd Council - FOI Internal Review - 50 Working Days And Counting.

                     

In June, 2019, the Chief Executive Officer of Cyngor Gwynedd Council, Dilwyn O Williams, wrote a letter of apology for the failings found within Gwynedd Children's Social Services department. 

It was short, making no mention of the Ombudsman's findings of Gwynedd SS's interference in an 'independent' investigation, nor the behaviour by senior officers meted out to the Investigator who felt 'bullied' and 'overwhelmed' to change critical aspects of a complaint report. But he did affirm the SS department's agreement to implement the recommendations within three months that included -

The Council should (within three months) seek specialist input to develop a plan for dealing with future assessment and support requests from/for those suffering with Autism

In November, 2019, Mr Williams, declared to a Care Scrutiny Committee that all recommendations had been met, bar a nuance. Mr Williams, was then summoned to Cardiff by the Ombudsman for Wales to discuss why the recommendations had not been met.

Previous blog articles have published excerpts of emails from the Ombudsman for Wales that contradict the statements of Mr Williams and Mr Dafydd Paul to the Care Scrutiny Committee and the general public - so where are we now?

The specialist input involves a review of Autism services in Gwynedd which should have been presented to the council in March,2020. The council then told the Ombudsman that the external expert commissioned to undertake the report had failed to complete on time due to the pandemic. The Ombudsman was informed that the consultant would present the report to the council by the 30th September, 2020.

Having lost all trust in the council, a copy of this report was requested. Morwena Edwards, Director of SS, replied saying that the request had been treated as a Freedom of Information request (FOI) and the council had decided to refuse the request. So on December 3rd, 2020, an Internal Review of the FOI refusal was requested. This should by Law take 20 working days.

The 20 working days came and went with no response - then 30 days. An email was sent to the Information department asking for an update - this was ignored. A second email was sent to both the Information department and to customer care, this time asking for acknowledgment of the email - no response from either.

An email was then sent to the officer who originally dealt with the FOI request. A response was received on a Sunday explaining that the Monitoring Officer, Iwan G D Evans, was dealing with the Review and had been since December 3rd. So an email was sent to the Monitoring Officer asking for an update. This too was ignored.

As no-one had responded, the original email to Mr Evans was resent to customer care asking them to pass on the email to the Information department and the Monitoring Officer and to acknowledge receipt that the email had been received. 

A response was forthcoming this time, again from the same officer who had refused the original request. He replied that he hoped the Monitoring Officer would be in contact soon. It is now 50 working days since Mr Evans received the request for an internal review.

The Monitoring Officer has a statutory responsibility to ensure that the Council operates in a lawful manner and that it does not do anything which could amount to maladministration.
How's that going ?

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council.

                

 

Cyngor Gwynedd Council to review vehicle policy amid 'misuse' claims.

 https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/article.cfm?id=135014 - by Gareth Wyn Williams

Cyngor Gwynedd Council is reviewing its transport policy amid claims the authority’s vehicles have been “misused” by some members of staff driving them home and falling foul of regulations.

According to the council, staff who require vehicles are permitted to take them home if “on call” or have “stand-by” out of hours duties, by being available to support incidents such as storms or accidents.

But officers have conceded there have been “some instances” where staff have not adhered to the policy, confirming it is currently being reviewed as part of ongoing talks with unions.

The move comes after the unveiling of a banner on a busy roundabout in #Caernarfon calling for a stop on the “misuse” of vehicles. It was swiftly taken down by officers who say it had been installed without consent.

A Gwynedd Council spokesman said: “We allow staff that are participating in a recognised out of hours arrangement that requires the use of a specialist vehicle to take a council vehicle home so that they can respond to emergencies as quickly and safely as possible.

“We are aware 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.”

Arfon MS Sian Gwenllian has already written to the authority after concerns were raised with her, confirming she would “continue to communicate” with the council.

Cllr Aeron M Jones said he had received similar concerns from council employees.

He said: “For the council to say they’re looking into it, well, I’ve been a member for 12 years and they’ve been saying the same for all of that time.”

“I agree that any member of staff that may have to go out on call should have their council vehicle with them, but there are officers who may be on-call only over the phone and others, perhaps managers, who don’t need them at all in my view.

“The running of these vehicles cost a lot to the taxpayers of Gwynedd and it’s only right that people get value for money, especially with council tax rising every year.

“I fully support whoever placed the sign, while the correct procedure may be for staff to raise concerns with their line managers, some may be afraid of repercussions and I fully support a new whistleblowing policy.

“I don’t know who put the banner up but they have been very brave and it has shed some light on an issue that is clearly of concern.”

 https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/article.cfm?id=135014

Betsi Cadwaladr Live Stream - Welsh to English Translation #BCUHB #Covid19 21/1/21

Why The Disparity? Public Health Wales Versus Office for National Statistics.

The three images below are screenshots taken from the Public Health Wales tableau on the 17th October, 2020. 

The first is #PHW figures which show nearly one million tests for #Covid19 have been carried out on 641,367 people in Wales and reports 1,708 deaths due to suspected Covid19.

The second is a graph showing the 'Cumulative deaths by Health Board of residence' - 

The third screenshot has been taken from a page which can be found when pressing on the ONS deaths tab (Office for National Statistics) and shows that there have been 900 more deaths than reported by Public Health Wales.

The Public Health Wales tableau can be found here -
https://public.tableau.com/profile/public.health.wales.health.protection#!/vizhome/RapidCOVID-19virology-Public/Headlinesummary

Copy and paste the address into your browser.

The Ongoing Saga At Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle - Cyngor Gwynedd Council.

In 2018, the BBC reported that staff at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes, had contacted their Trade Unions - NASUWT, NEU and UCAC with concerns about how the school was being run. The statement from Gwynedd council insisting good progress was being made held no water with the staff who wanted to discuss their concerns with an 'independent' party.

The joint letter from the unions repeated previous concerns teaching staff had with the school's management. Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle was placed in special measures in 2015 which lasted until 2017 after 'robust' improvements had been made.

The BBC article from the 18th May, 2018 with the headline 'staff issue strike ballot threat' can be found here -https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-44165753

Sadly, issues with the school continue. A recent article published on the 7th October, 2020, by the Local Democracy reporter, Gareth Wyn-Williams, reports on an internal review commissioned by Cyngor Gwynedd council and compiled in February.

 https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/staff-morale-extremely-low-north-19061041?

From the Daily Post article headlined - Staff morale 'extremely low' at North Wales secondary school, damning report finds -

Despite an acceptance that general pupil behaviour had improved, the report revealed that some staff remained negative about "concerning" aspects relating to a "small core."

With staff confidence in the leadership of the headteacher "needing to be restored," it reported staff openly admitting they were "afraid of some pupils" with some feeling that Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle was "sometimes used as a dumping ground for troublesome pupils from other schools".

Among findings was that governors "did not have a firm grasp" of how the school was operating, with a danger of the body becoming "factionalised" into those who supported the headteacher and those who didn't, while also being "slow to act" on performance issues.

Many staff including the Head have been off sick for long absences which has simply added to the many problems the school has faced.

Whilst the school, the governors, the council, the GwE, tom cobley and all scramble to protect their own reputations, the well being of the children and their education for their futures appear to be last on the list of priorities.

 

Caernarfon has been an area of deprivation since forever. Millions of pounds has been thrown at the area by UK government(s), the Welsh Assembly and the European Union over the years but the people remain poor. Poor quality housing and high rents exacerbate the issues. In the 80's, heroin, poor wages and unemployment were the problem. Now it is cocaine, poor wages and unemployment..

The local children in the area suffer the consequences that such deprivation has on the mental health of their parents and the local communities yet the council pull youth clubs and support services and local businesses either close or reallocate. A vicious cycle over and over...

A 2018 FOI request revealed that 21% of the pupils at the school were recognised as having Additional Learning Needs. If the Head and staff are off sick what happens then ? How are these children being supported ?

Pupil Referral Units (PRU's) were until 2013 held in separate buildings away from school premises, now they are run on site within the schools. The PRU's in Gwynedd were highly regarded but closed due to the cuts imposed by the council. Have the closures lead to the dumping of these children back into schools who can not cope to the detriment of all ?

The figures for those recognised with ALN are even higher in other schools in Gwynedd.

ADYaCH Behaviour Support link for those who have an interest -

https://adyach.cymru/en/Parents/Services/Inclusion/Behaviour-Support/Behaviour-Support.aspx

The Behaviour Support Service seeks a positive change in the behaviour of young people who experience behavioural, emotional and social development difficulties. The aim is to improve behaviour and reduce the risk of exclusion from school.