Home » Council to implement full investigation and apologise to victims of headteacher’s abuse

Council to implement full investigation and apologise to victims of headteacher’s abuse

Gwynedd Council

A NORTH Wales council leader has pledged to “turn every stone” to ensure the “horrific crimes” carried out by a paedophile headteacher can never be repeated. Cyngor Gwynedd leader Nia Jeffreys made the vow as she read out a statement to a hushed council cabinet meeting in Caernarfon today.

Cllr Jeffreys said the council wanted to apologise to all “victims and survivors” of former Ysgol Friars head Neil Foden who was jailed for 17 years last year for sexually abusing four girls over a four-year period.

A “Responding to Offending Plan” was approved today which opened with a reminder of the victims of the convicted headteacher. The council formalised its calls for the Welsh Government to undertake a Public Inquiry into how Foden was able to commit his crimes and reiterated its support for and commitment to the ongoing Children’s Practice Review (CPR) led by Jan Pickles, whose finding are due in the summer.

Cllr Jeffreys said: “We cannot for a second forget about the most important people in all of this, the girls who should have been safe….

“The whole purpose of every step that we take is to do everything possible to ensure that no one suffers in the same way ever again and this should be our main consideration at all times.”

Foden’s actions had had “a deep and shocking impact on the victims and survivors, their families, the school, community, staff and members of the council and entire county”, the meeting heard.

Cllr Jeffreys said: “We wish to apologise to all victims and survivors and to assure all concerned that we will do our utmost to discover all the facts and will embrace every lesson that needs to be learned to ensure improvement in the interests of future generations…”

The council would “turn every stone” and be “completely open and transparent” about its findings.

The cabinet agreed to accept a package of measures, including, to acknowledge “openly and publicly” that such offences should never have happened, and that “no child should suffer such experiences”.

It also aimed to “apologise sincerely” to the victims and survivors, their families, to support victims and survivors, the school and the wider community, and “learn lessons” as part of the ongoing investigations. It would also aim to respond “in full and at pace” to findings and recommendations to “give confidence to the public that it was doing everything possible to ensure no one would “suffer in the same way ever again”.

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The cabinet formally agreed, the plan and recommendation and commissioned the chief executive Dafydd Gibbard to make arrangements to implement the contents of the response plan, including establishing a specific programme board and regularly report progress to the cabinet.

Mr Gibbard was also authorised to organise temporary resources and necessary staffing capacity – funded from council reserves.

The report noted: “The council remains fully supportive and committed to the Children’s Practice Review already underway, but also calls for a Public Inquiry and asks the Welsh Government to reach a timely decision on that.”

Councillor Jeffreys praised the “courage and resilience of the victims and all those affected by these horrific crimes”. “Our responsibility as elected members is to do everything within our power to ensure that no young person in Gwynedd will suffer in the same way again.”

The Cabinet would also “provide assurance and clarity that our response to the offending of the former head of Ysgol Friars is being properly addressed”. Mr Gibbard said “because people have suffered, we want to do everything possible to ensure that never happens again”.

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