Response to Crime Plan – Cyngor Gwynedd update

Cyngor Gwynedd has updated elected members and key partners on the latest steps taken as part of the plan to investigate and respond to the horrific crimes committed by Neil Foden.

 

These key stakeholders have been informed this week that positive progress has now been made on several work streams including responding to the recommendations of a specialist safeguarding barrister.

 

The other positive steps include:

• Arrangements for investigating safeguarding concerns – The Council will put in place arrangements for dealing with concerns which do not reach the formal child safeguarding thresholds and is taking the opportunity to create a new system which could benefit this important field.
• Record keeping – Although the Barrister identified good practice in terms of keeping records of meetings, opportunities for improvements were also identified. As a result, record keeping arrangements for safeguarding matters across the Authority have been strengthened and a central recording keeping management system put in place. In addition, the record-keeping element within staff safeguarding training has been strengthened.
• Whistleblowing – The Council has strengthened its whistleblowing arrangements for staff across the organisation.
• Safeguarding training – While staff in the Council's Children and Education Departments already receive a higher level of safeguarding training, arrangements are now in place to ensure that all staff in each department receive relevant training.
• School safeguarding policy – Steps have been taken to strengthen the procedures that school staff should follow in challenging safeguarding cases, including when to share information with governing bodies.

 

These developments come in the wake of the Response Plan, adopted by Cyngor Gwynedd’s Cabinet in January 2025. The aim of this detailed plan is to set out the range of procedures and arrangements that Cyngor Gwynedd will be implementing internally to:

• establish all the facts of the case and to learn lessons,
• improve all aspects of the Council's work,
• do everything possible to ensure that no one ever suffers in the same way again.

 

One of the tasks within the plan was to commission an independent barrister who specialises in safeguarding investigations to carry out an investigation into the specific incidents in 2019 highlighted during Neil Foden’s criminal trial. This detailed work is now complete.

 

The full report has been sent immediately to the independent investigators of the statutory Child Practice Review, which is being carried out by the North Wales Safeguarding Board. The content of the report will feed into the conclusions and recommendations of the Review.

 

Alongside this, Cyngor Gwynedd has received legal advice from independent experts on the next steps. As a result, the Council’s elected members have received all of the inquiry’s recommendations and an update on how the Council will be putting them into action.  

 

Councillor Nia Jeffreys, Leader of Cyngor Gwynedd said:

“Neil Foden's horrific crimes continue to have a far-reaching impact on the people and communities of Gwynedd. The victims and their families remain in our thoughts as we investigate what went wrong and what more we can do to ensure children are safe in our schools.

“While we cannot undo the effects of Neil Foden's horrific crimes, as a Council we are determined to use this serious case to identify and learn lessons and use them to strengthen our arrangements. Our aim is to ensure that we have the best possible safeguarding arrangements to protect the young people of Gwynedd and which can also be of use to other councils across Wales.

“Creating the Response Plan back in December was the beginning of the journey. Since then, we have made progress with all the work streams, but we are fully aware that there is more hard work ahead especially when we receive the recommendations of the statutory Child Practice Review in the autumn.”

 

Dafydd Gibbard, Chief Executive of Cyngor Gwynedd added:

“As a Council, we have made it clear that we will leave no stone unturned in the search for answers and to learn and improve. The Response Plan helps us with this by setting out in a single document the measures that have been put in place.

“Council officers immediately started to implement the recommendations made by the independent specialist barrister who looked into specific incidents in 2019.

“In addition, the investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office has been completed and we have updated our Freedom of Information procedures; the Council's Scrutiny Committee has started its investigation into safeguarding arrangements in our schools; and an independent investigation into a report commissioned by an Independent Complaints Panel has been completed and will be shared with councillors soon.

“There is much more to do and we won’t rest until we are satisfied that everything possible has been done.”

 

Members of the public who have new information relating to possible child abuse are urged to report the matter directly to the Police or contact the Social Services Department of their local council.

 

Notes

• All the findings of the barrister investigation have been shared with the Child Practice Review.
• A statutory Child Practice Review is being carried out by the North Wales Safeguarding Board, which is independent of Cyngor Gwynedd. More information about the Board can be found here: North Wales Safeguarding Board – Safeguarding children and adults across North Wales
• The Response to Crimes Plan was adopted by Cyngor Gwynedd's Cabinet in January 2025. The report of the Cabinet meeting can be found here: 21.01.25_Cynllun Ymateb_Adroddiad Cabinet S.pdf  and the full plan can be found here: Appendix 1 - Response Plan.pdf
• The six main objectives of the Plan are:
  • To openly and publicly acknowledge that such crimes should never have happened and that no child should tolerate such experiences.
  • To sincerely apologise to the victims and their families for what they have had to endure.
  • Supporting thevictims, the school and the wider community to try and redress their situation.
  • Establish all the facts of the case, the history surrounding the situation and the wider context.
  • Learn all the lessons identified as part of the conclusions and recommendations of each investigation.
  • Improve by responding fully and quickly to all conclusions and recommendations with the aim of giving the public confidence that the Council is doing everything possible to ensure that no one will ever suffer the same way again.
• The Plan also formalised Cyngor Gwynedd's call for the Welsh Government to undertake a Public Inquiry into Neil Foden's crimes.