Damning Early Day Motion-Cyngor Gwynedd Council.
Just come across this House of Commons Early Day Motion into a review of Cyngor Gwynedd Council. It is twenty years old but some may still recognise the issues.
Tabled 01 December 1999.
1999-00 Session
That this House congratulates the District Audit on its damning Review of Grant-Funded Economic Development Schemes of Gwynedd Council, published in November 1999 and reported to the Wales Office (Office of the Secretary of State for Wales); deplores the actions of Plaid Cymru members of the Council criticised in the Review for not declaring their interests in companies of which they were directors when discussing the allocation of public funds to those companies; further notes the failure of a Plaid Cymru councillor to fulfill his statutory obligation to register directorships of companies; notes the many further irregularities disclosed in the Review and, recognising that Gwynedd is included in the area awarded Objective 1 status secured by a Labour Government, believes that decisive action is required by the Council because, in the words of the District Audit, 'it must now ensure it has adequate arrangements in place to ensure that value for money is obtained from Objective 1 investment and the highest standards of probity are maintained'; and calls on the said Plaid Cymru councillors to resign and for the Council urgently to implement the recommendations of the Review, failing which this House believes the public will not have confidence in Gwynedd Council.
The primary sponsor of this motion was Betty Williams, MP for Conwy (1997 - 2010) and was supported by many politicians, some are still MP's today. The motion and its sponsor's can be found here - https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/19132 Copy and paste the address into your browser. This was only three years after the old Council was wiped away after the North Wales child abuse scandal - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Wales_child_abuse_scandal When a Social Worker, Alison Taylor, took her concerns to a Gwynedd County Councillor (would that be a Corporate Parent?) she was sacked - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/alison-taylor-woman-who-blew-the-whistle-on-abuse-breaks-her-silence-8348387.html
Employment laws will mean that Gwynedd Council can not easily sack those officers who do raise concerns. So how do senior managers today deal with concerns regarding and raised by Council employees ? Do they just suspend them on full pay - for years ? Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council.
