Related Articles
Bangor City Mayor and county councillor Medwyn Hughes served on the paedophile head’s governing body
A council leader has confirmed a serving cabinet member was on Ysgol Friars board of governors when jailed headteacher Neil Foden committed his abuse of children.
Plaid Cymru Canol Bangor councillor Medwyn Hughes, the Bangor City Council mayor, was on the school’s board when the paedophile headmaster committed his crimes.
The confirmation came during a questions and answer session at Cyngor Gwynedd’s full council meeting on Thursday, although Cllr Hughes was not named directly in the meeting.
Get all the latest Gwynedd news by signing up to our newsletter
Corris and Mawddwy Independent councillor John Pughe Roberts submitted a written query to the council leader Nia Jeffreys if anyone connected to the Foden scandal was serving in her cabinet.
Cllr Roberts asked: “Given the statutory obligations under the Education Act 2002 and Keeping Learners Safe (Welsh Government, 2021), governing bodies must ensure effective safeguarding arrangements, provide robust challenge, and verify that procedures are followed.
“The Child Practice Review has identified significant shortcomings, including inadequate challenge and oversight from governors, over-reliance on assurances from senior leaders rather than verification, insufficient safeguarding training and unclear or delayed communication with the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) and the local authority.
“In the interests of transparency, accountability and public confidence, I ask the leader to confirm that no individual connected to these failures is currently serving in her Cabinet?”
Councillor Jeffreys said “one of the Cabinet Members serves as a governor at Ysgol Friars”.
Although she did not name him in the meeting, it was confirmed that she was referring to Cllr Hughes, who had been a Cyngor Gwynedd representative on the Ysgol Friars Board of Governors since 2017.
During his time on the school board he was responsible for finance and the Welsh Language.
Issues with Foden dated back as far back as 2018, a damning report had found.
His sickening crimes ended in 2023 when a claim of sexual assault was made by a child and he was arrested.
He was jailed last year, for 17 years after being convicted of 19 charges involving four girls.
Cllr Jeffreys said: “I know that the member wishes to apologise to the victims for the far-reaching impact of the governing body’s failures, which have been highlighted in the Our Bravery Brought Justice report.”
She said: “As a cabinet and council, we fully accept the report.
“Our responsibility now is to act on all its recommendations and findings. The courage of the victims compels us to act swiftly and decisively.
“Members will also be aware that we are currently drafting a new version of our Response Plan, and all recommendations from Our Bravery Brought Justice relating to school governance will receive detailed attention as part of that work.
“In addition, I am pleased to hear that the Welsh Government has announced a review of the School Governance system, and as a council we are very keen to play every possible part in that process.
“We will need to look at the Council’s governance arrangements, and I will commission the Chief Executive to work with an external body such as the WLGA.
“We would welcome cross-party collaboration on the terms of reference for this work”.
Cllr Hughes was approached for comment.
The North Wales Live Whatsapp community for top stories and breaking news is live now – here’s how to sign up
Source link
