Cyngor Gwynedd - To Focus On Appropriate ‘Behaviours’

For too many years, Cabinet members and other Gwynedd councillors have turned a blind eye to the behaviours and maladministration of senior officers but it is the CEO and leader of the council who are ultimately responsible for the culture of their organisation…

Cyngor Gwynedd’s executive officers have commented on the culture within the council. They give little detail – and any insights are hidden amongst word salads with no explanations given. The comments can be found amongst the Ffordd Gwynedd report – https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/g4839/Public%20reports%20pack%2007th-Mar-2023%2013.00%20The%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

The report by the leader of the council, Dyfrig Siencyn, and Geraint Owen, Corporate Director states – …This is all rooted in a change of culture, behaviours and mind-set and its aim of realising the ambition across all parts of the Council’s activities is acknowledged as a substantial challenge and one which requires a comprehensive programme of support…

The report starting at page 18 begins well enough with the present CEO stating – Building on the culture and way of working, which is based on the principle of providing the best possible services to the residents of our county, with every one of us supporting each other to achieve this, is central to the Council’s vision. The aspiration to ensure continuous improvement can already be seen widely across the Council and the next step is to ensure that nothing prevents us from embedding that mindset further and aim to improve even further what is already being delivered” (Chief Executive) But the leader and executive officer are more honest – …in order to maintain the “way of working”, the mindset must be changed above anything else. Doing the right things before making the things better” is the mantra. Unless we change the mindset before, or during, changing a process, we will certainly fail and the changes will not be sustained in the long-term.

The executive are adamant that they will focus on collaboration and developing appropriate leadership behaviours Also – Develop methods to nurture an environment where managers feel safe to declare that performance is not up to scratch. But it is officers of a lesser paygrade and the public that do not feel safe. What methods have been developed by the executive to protect them? Recording all telephone calls to the council would be a start. Removing the senior safeguarding officer from his role as the senior complaints handling manager? Ensuring that cabinet members have the conviction to challenge the departments they have responsibility for? How are the exit interviews going?

Other nuggets from the executive incude – Each person working for the Council should have a job description setting out core expectations for their role, duties and way of working. Focus on appropriate ‘Behaviours’ Acting on the basis of evidence, rather than on the basis of what appears to be logical, is one of the cornerstones of the “way of working”and here there is an important function to ensure that managers and their teams use the information and data available to its full potential.

“Acting on the basis of evidence, rather than on the basis of what appears to be logical…” This admission is the most frightening. That senior officers have acted without evidence on the basis of their unconscious and conscious biases…? Which officers? Which cases? How many people harmed? What cost?

In other news, there is a bin strike in Gwynedd. This is another crisis of the council’s own making. Relationships between the staff and senior officers have not recovered since the pandemic when a bonus was denied the essential workers. –

From he article by Gareth Williams, July,2020.- Sent to the authority’s leader and chief executive, the letter notes: “In our view its totally unfair to expect us to work through this period on standard pay while the majority of (council) staff have been sent home on full pay or are working from home. https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-bin-collectors-call-front-18556569

Now there is a cost of living crisis and the council are again digging in their heels…

Also the Education and Economy scrutiny committee met on the 14th September 2023, Due to legal matters, scrutiny of the Education officer was presumably constrained. This meeting, like so many others, was plagued by technical difficulties during the live feed and following the dicussion became impossible. The translated feed has still not been uploaded to the council’s website…

Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council…