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