One year on from the publication of the independent and crucial Our Bravery Brought Justice report, Cyngor Gwynedd is confident that the county's children and young people are safer today having completed a number of improvements to its safeguarding arrangements. These include working with the NSPCC to develop specialist training that did not previously exist in Wales and investing to create a specialist team of officers who support schools with child safeguarding matters.
However, the Council has also stressed that it will not become complacent and that safeguarding children will remain its top priority.
Published in November 2025, the Our Bravery Brought Justice report made 27 important recommendations, with Welsh Councils being asked to deliver nine of these. Cyngor Gwynedd has now fully delivered eight of the nine recommendations, and the final recommendation will be completed before the end of the year.
The other 17 recommendations in the report are regional and national matters, but Cyngor Gwynedd has also addressed those recommendations and delivered 12 of them itself.
Over the past 12 months, amongst other changes, Cyngor Gwynedd has:
- worked with the NSPCC to develop specialist training on grooming, filling a gap where a suitable national training package did not previously exist;
- ensured that children’s voices are clearly heard when concerns are raised about their safety;
- established the Gwynedd Youth Forum to give young people a voice and contribute to decisions across the Council;
- invested in a specialist team who regularly visits each school to check that safeguarding arrangements are working effectively and that the highest standards of safeguarding are being maintained;
- increased the number of officers who support school Governors and Clerks from two to four to provide more training, new guidance and bespoke support on safeguarding matters;
- introduced new arrangements for receiving, investigating and making decisions regarding child abuse concerns;
- introduced measures to strengthen safeguarding awareness and training for the Council's 6,000 plus workforce with a view to ensuring that everyone knows how to identify and report concerns about a vulnerable child or adult.
The Council hopes that the investment in new procedures in Gwynedd will also help other schools and councils across Wales.
Councillor Nia Jeffreys, Leader of Cyngor Gwynedd said:
There is no doubt that the people and communities of Gwynedd continue to live with the profound impact of what happened. As we mark one year since the publication of Our Bravery Brought Justice, and share the progress made in implementing the report's recommendations, I once again stress that what drives us to improve is the courage of the survivors. Their voices led to justice through the courts and have now triggered change.
“The best tribute we could pay to the courage of the young people was to deliver the changes as quickly as possible. We've looked at our failures honestly, put all our energy into learning the lessons and done everything we can to prevent a similar situation from happening again. But it's also important that the change continues in the long term and that we ensure that this makes a real impact to protect our children.
“Safeguarding children is an ongoing responsibility. Despite the progress over the past year, this journey will not end. We will continue to challenge ourselves to stay on this path.”
Dafydd Gibbard, Chief Executive of Cyngor Gwynedd, said:
“We have prioritised this important work above all else to deliver a host of changes to our safeguarding arrangements and I am pleased that we have made good progress. We can never become complacent of course. Robust safeguarding structures depend on culture and mindset as well as good arrangements, and that must be ongoing work in any organisation.
“Safeguarding is also a responsibility on us all and we must all be prepared to speak up if we see something that is not right.
“We have put a great deal of effort into ensuring that Cyngor Gwynedd staff across all departments, and in all settings, receive the right training so that they are confident in recognising the signs, know how to raise their voices and are prepared to always listen to a vulnerable person.”
Cyngor Gwynedd’s plan to respond to Our Bravery Brought Justice, is scrutinised by a Response Plan Board. The Board is chaired by Professor Sally Holland, an authority on safeguarding children and former Children's Commissioner for Wales and is made up of leading safeguarding representatives such as the Welsh Government, Estyn, the Office of the Children's Commissioner for Wales and Care Inspectorate Wales.
Professor Holland said:
“As we mark this anniversary it is important to reflect on both the visible steps that Cyngor Gwynedd has taken and the work still to be done. It has been encouraging to see the Cyngor working not just to ensure that its safeguarding work was sound, which was a basic requirement, but to lay the foundations for cultural change. This includes clearer routes for children’s perspectives to be heard in Gwynedd’s schools and other services, and more meaningful training for staff.
“While procedures and policies have changed, it is going to take longer to re-gain the confidence of the people of Gwynedd. As part of our role, the Response Board has supported the development of measures so that the Cyngor can understand and report on children and adults’ confidence in the safeguarding system, and their experiences of its operations.
“The Board continues to be motivated by the bravery and dignity of the survivors to ensure we critically scrutinise progress, while also offering advice and support on how to develop further.”