16-05-2025
Neil Foden: Gwynedd Council says ‘positive progress' made in response
Foden, 67, who was head of Ysgol Friars and strategic head of Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, was jailed for 17 years last July for 19 counts of sexual abuse involving four child victims between 2019 and 2023.
It was one year ago yesterday (May 15) that he was convicted of these charges, after a three-week trial at Mold Crown Court.
The council said stakeholders have been informed this week that 'positive progress' has been made on several work streams including responding immediately to the recommendations of a specialist safeguarding barrister.
These steps include:
These developments come in the wake of the 'response plan', adopted by Gwynedd Council's cabinet in January.
The aim of this plan is to set out the range of procedures and arrangements that the council will be implementing internally to:
The council said: '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.'
Council leader, Cllr Nia Jeffreys, 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 in a short space of time 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 Gwynedd Council, 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.'
