A DAMNING report into the Mik Smith affair has heavily criticised senior council officers, including the former Head of Youth Service Eirian Evans, former Chief Executive Bryn Parry Jones, and former Council leader Jamie Adams.
The report prepared by a task and finish group of councillors takes no prisoners as it lays into the series of missteps and attempted cover-ups regarding the way the local authority’s then-leadership responded to a whistle-blower who reported serious concerns about the convicted paedophile’s relationship with young people in his care while a youth worker for the Council.
In particular, the report says claims made by IPPG leader Jamie Adams at a full Council meeting that the Council’s CEO knew nothing about the serious allegations made by colleagues against Mik Smith were inconceivable.
The report dismisses Cllr Adams’ protestations, as a tranche of internal Council documents revealed that Bryn Parry Jones was told in a letter addressed directly to him by whistle-blower Sue Thomas, that:
· At least EIGHT professional youth workers had concerns about Mik Smith’s conduct toward children and that those concerns spanned ‘many years’.
· Youth workers felt intimidated and threatened when they reported concerns about Mik Smith to their managers
· Officers treated Mik Smith as though he was the victim of a campaign against him by other staff members and allowed him to chair a meeting which disciplined a member of staff for making allegations about Smith’s inappropriate conduct towards children, also confirmed by the report.
· Concerns were expressed about the way in which two officers, County Youth Officer Eirian Evans and Personnel Officer Catherine Davies held a meeting for staff to discuss their concerns about Mik Smith with the now convicted paedophile, who was their line manager, present.
The report praises Cllr Mike Stoddart for not being deflected from pursuing the matter, in the teeth of an attempt to cover up who knew what and when they knew it, particularly the IPPG’s desperate efforts to shield Bryn Parry Jones from criticism.
One claim made by Cllr Adams, namely that ‘the system worked’ as Mik Smith’s application for foster parenting was rejected, is comprehensively rubbished in the report as being ‘untrue’ and points out it was ‘only a matter of chance’ that a member of the fostering panel knew of previous investigations into Mik Smith,
Moreover, key HR documents were not available to the Task and Finish group having apparently ‘gone astray’.
As a result of their investigation, the Task and Finish group recommends that Sue Thomas be commended for her actions in whistle-blowing and that the Council apologise for the way she was treated. It further recommends that the Council should consider making an ex-gratia payment to her by way of thanks.
