Five years ago, Audit Wales flagged the culture within cyngor Gwynedd as 'destructive'.   https://www.wao.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/ffordd_gwynedd.pdf At the recent extraordinary meeting of the full council, councillors Nia Jeffreys and Olaf Cai Larsen spoke of staff feeling safe to challenge.  Irony indeed - speaking to a full council meeting where councillors had been 'advised' not to challenge... The webcast of the meeting can be found here -  https://gwynedd

An extraordinary meeting of cyngor Gwynedd's full council was held on the 5th February, 2026. Gwynedd councillors were shut down even before the meeting began when the monitoring officer, Iwan Evans, messaged them to 'advise' what could and could not be asked. Was Evans protecting the legal officer who advised senior officers in 2019? From the Jan Pickles review -  LA1 Head C&FS requested a meeting on a ‘Mater Diogelu Brys- Cyfrinachol’ (UrgentSafeguarding matter - Confidenti

Stephen Wood, manager of the Gwynedd and Ynys Mon Youth Justice Service presented his report to the care scrutiny committee on the 29th, January, 2026. The webcast of the meeting can be found here -  https://gwynedd.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1060285 There appears to be a change of culture within the service that coincides with a big drop in the numbers of young people being criminalised through the courts.  Wood informed that the short, sharp shock tactics d

Cyngor Gwynedd's care scrutiny committee meet on Thursday, 29th January, 2026. The agenda pack for the meeting can be found here -  https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=394&MId=5671 The meeting will discuss the ' Keeping Families Together Strategy'  co-authored by Sharron Williams Carter, the interim head of children's SS and Gwenan Medi Hughes, Sue Layton and Caren Brown.  A report from the Youth Justice Service , authored by Stephen Wood, will be p

Dafydd Gibbard, CEO of cyngor Gwynedd has authored the council's 'Response Plan to the Our Bravery Brought Justice Report'. He writes -  The Committee is asked to scrutinise the revamped Response Plan before it is submitted to Cabinet for formal adoption. This January, his report has gone before the Care scrutiny committee , the Education/Economy scrutiny committee and the Governance and Audit committee. His report can be found here - https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//doc

Last September, a cyngor Gwynedd enforcement officer allowed a private landlord to personally undertake the task of installing an electrical consumer unit into his rented property.  The landlord is not a qualified electrician but the enforcement officer, Alwyn Trenholme, assured the tenant that the work would be checked and certified by a registered electrician within a week... More on this here -   https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.com/2025/09/unqualified-installation-

2025 was yet another Annus Horribilis for cyngor Gwynedd... Jan Pickles had began her extended CPR whilst the children's SS was avoiding proper scrutiny of this complaint -    Sshh... Two complaints about the education department were also not properly scrutinised. The cabinet member did not offer an explanation to the complaint about the assessment and skipped the meeting where the lack of response to a safeguarding concern was presented.    School absences remained high wit

Councillor Beca Brown presented a notice of motion re Neil Foden to a full council meeting of cyngor Gwynedd on the 4th December, 2025. The motion can be found in the agenda pack for the meeting -  https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//mgChooseDocPack.aspx?ID=5505 There were also 6 questions put to the council by elected members. One raised by Councillor John Pughe Roberts asked -   The rest of the leader's response along with the other question and answers can be found here

Cyngor Gwynedd cancelled the Care Scrutiny committee that was to be held on the 20th November. The agenda pack for the meeting can be found here - https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5651/Public%20reports%20pack%2020th-Nov-2025%2010.30%20Care%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=10 A Task and Finish group is being setup to examine social services complaints. Has there been an investigation? Elliw Haf Hughes, is named as the Assistant Head of Safeguarding and Quality (no

Sally Holland, former children's commissioner, spoke at the full cabinet meeting of cyngor Gwynedd held on the 11th November, 2025. As the chair of the council's response board, set up after the abuse of children by Neil Foden, Holland presented the - QUARTERLY REPORT TO CABINET: RESPONSE PLAN PROGRAMME BOARDwhich can be found here -   https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=46340    The webcast of the cabinet meeting can be viewed here -  https://gwynedd.p