Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Jina Gwyrfai.

To receive any declarations of personal interest.

A declaration of interest was received from Councillor Elin Walker Jones. This was not a prejudicial interest and therefore she did not withdraw from the meeting.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration.

None to note.

Assurance as to the implementation of the Response Plan

1) Note the work programme

2) Request a progress report in 6 months on the work programme including information on the whistle blowing policy and its implementation

3) Request a report on securing Gwynedd a Child Friendly County status and becoming a Trauma Informed Council

4) Ask the Cabinet to consider the following:

• add a female contact name to the poster sharing information about how to raise concerns and ensure the contact details are available on schools websites and the Council's website
• address the importance of the family voice as well as the child's voice in work stream 1
• amend the text under the heading '2.3 – Estyn's audit of the Council's Education Department' on page 18 of the Response Plan to include a sentence reflecting the context that despite the praise by Estyn a school headteacher was arrested a few months later
• ensure that grooming training is available to all who need it
• provide external specialist safeguarding training for members and governors
• add "wellbeing of children and young people" to the description of work stream 7 - Supporting and Stabilising Ysgol Friars
• correspondence with Welsh Government to express concern about the challenges and risks surrounding the role of school governors

The report was submitted by the Council Leader, who thanked the members of the committee for the opportunity to bring the Response Plan to the Our Bravery Brought Justice Report to scrutiny, before it was formally adopted by the Cabinet. She apologised again to all victims affected by the heinous crimes of Neil Foden, she acknowledged that the Council had failed, and that the voices of the children had not been heard. She emphasised the Council's commitment to act and ensure that things changed. She said that the Council prioritised the vow to learn and change, to ensure that such failures would never happen again. It was highlighted that the Response Plan was a step on a long journey ahead to restore the confidence of the public, residents and staff, and it was noted that transparency was critical to this end. It was noted that the Response Plan was a live and public document. She noted that the minutes of the programme board meetings were also public, therefore it would be possible to monitor the progress that was happening. It was acknowledged that this was not an easy matter to discuss, and she acknowledged that the report's findings were atrocious. She thanked members for their preparedness to scrutinise this difficult subject, and for contributing to the improvement of child safeguarding procedures, in order to ensure that this would never happen again here in Gwynedd. She extended her gratitude to Professor Sally Holland, Chair of the Response Plan Programme Board, for her remarkable leadership. 

She noted that progress could be seen in many sections of the Plan, and it was noted that this was an example of cross-departmental collaboration to reach the same goal; i.e., improve the safeguarding arrangements in Gwynedd. It was expressed that the Council acknowledged that protecting and safeguarding children from harm was a responsibility for all, and comments, suggestions and any criticism from members were welcomed, in order to build on and improve the Plan and to ensure that the Council provided a comprehensive and thorough response. The importance of having member input into strengthening the Response Plan and to help draw up a safer future for the children and young people of the county, was emphasised. 

The Chief Executive elaborated on the Response Plan. It was noted that the first Response Plan had been published over a year ago, way before the publication of the child practice review. It was noted that there had been many attainments during this period, noting that approximately 42 to 43 various work tasks had been achieved over the past year, in an attempt to address what the Council was facing. It was explained that there had been acknowledgement from the outset that there would be a need to revisit the Response Plan following the publication of the Child Practice Review, in order to act on the appropriate recommendations.

Reference was made to Appendix 2 which included reports that provided an overview of the work of responding to the review, summarising  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.