In April, 2019, after a whistleblower raised concerns re Neil Foden, the head of children and families SS sent an email to Gwynedd's LADO requesting a meeting -' Mater Diogelu Brys- Cyfrinachol’ (Urgent Safeguarding matter – Confidential)  But with a senior officer of cyngor Gwynedd's legal team present, the safeguarding meeting became one of a 'professional issue' only. Who made the decision to ignore the safety of children - and why? Is the answer to be found in the Canolfa

Neil Foden, the paedophile headteacher, who was in charge of Ysgol Friars, Bangor and Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes was arrested in September, 2023 and jailed in 2024.   Many people in Gwynedd, including some councillors are of the belief that Foden was a one off. Abuse of children, especially of those in care in north Wales has been going on for decades. The North Wales Child Abuse scandal... Where children were abused in 'care' homes across Gwynedd, Clywd and Wrexham.

The full council of cyngor Gwynedd met on the 5th March, 2026.  The agenda pack for the meeting can be found here -  https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g5675/Public%20reports%20pack%2005th-Mar-2026%2013.30%20The%20Council.pdf?T=10 Council tax increase... The Plaid Cymru council passed - A budget of £379,701,110 should be set for 2026/27, to be funded by £264,009,390 of Government Grant and £115,691,720 of Council Tax income (which is an increase of 4.75% baseline

Cyngor Gwynedd council are advertising for a new head of the children's SS department. The job is paying £84,480 - £93,163 a year, which is a lot less than the £104,15, the former head, Marian Parry Hughes was 'earning' last year. The highest-paid council employees in Gwynedd and Anglesey https://www.northwaleschronicle.co.uk/news/25065053.highest-paid-council-employees-gwynedd-anglesey/ Hughes failed to act when concerns were raised against Neil Foden in 2019.  The former he

In 2017, Ysgol Friars underwent an inspection by Estyn -  https://estyn.gov.wales/system/files/2020-08/Ysgol%2520Friars.pdf In June, 2023, Estyn undertook an inspection of education services in cyngor Gwynedd - https://www.estyn.gov.wales/system/files/?file=2023-09/Inspection%20report%20Cyngor%20Gwynedd%202023_0.pdf   It's not my fault...   But cyngor Gwynedd did not have an effective digital strategy at this time.  Geraint Owen, the former corporate director, was responsibl

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

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

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