Gareth Davies
Welsh Conservative · Wales
“It's a case of better late than never, so I'm pleased that funding has been provided by the Welsh Government to take forward design work on a replacement bridge, although I would like to make it clear that local news coverage today has been slightly misleading, as work is only just beginning on the design of a bridge not the construction,…”
“I would see no reason why the Cabinet Secretary couldn't make a commitment as, if the funding for construction wasn't provided, the £750,000 provided for the design would be a total waste of taxpayers' money.”
“I would like to raise a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales in both guises, really, regarding timescales for the repair of Llannerch bridge, between Trefnant and Tremeirchion, in my constituency.”
“It is about discerning what we should fight to conserve and what we should change. It's not to refuse all change for the sake of it, and conservatism is not equivalent to nostalgism, and does not include a yearning to return to a perceived golden era of the past.”
“Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you very much. I'm grateful for the opportunity to table this debate and I appreciate this remit is very broad, but I am grateful for any Member willing to share their views on the subject however they see fit. I've agreed to give Natasha Asghar a minute of this debate time tonight.”
“Thank you for that very comprehensive response, Commissioner. The 2025-26 Senedd Commission budget represents a total increase on the 2024-25 budget of close to 17 per cent, but the budget does not take into consideration the additional funding required to staff the offices of an additional 36 Members.”
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“I would see no reason why the Cabinet Secretary couldn't make a commitment as, if the funding for construction wasn't provided, the £750,000 provided for the design would be a total waste of taxpayers' money. So, can the Cabinet Secretary provide a statement outlining a timescale for the construction of the bridge, and can the Welsh Government make a commitment here today that the necessary funding will be provided for the construction of this bridge once and for all? Thank you.”
“It's a case of better late than never, so I'm pleased that funding has been provided by the Welsh Government to take forward design work on a replacement bridge, although I would like to make it clear that local news coverage today has been slightly misleading, as work is only just beginning on the design of a bridge not the construction, which we have no timescale for and, going by the general pace of local authorities, could still be over a year away. Construction of the bridge is also likely to far exceed the £750,000 provided so far, and we need confirmation that, once a design has been agreed, the funding for the construction will be forthcoming.”
“I would like to raise a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales in both guises, really, regarding timescales for the repair of Llannerch bridge, between Trefnant and Tremeirchion, in my constituency. We finally have confirmation that the preliminary remedial work will begin on the Llannerch bridge project, following the bridge's destruction nearly four years ago to storm Christophe in 2021.”
“It is about discerning what we should fight to conserve and what we should change. It's not to refuse all change for the sake of it, and conservatism is not equivalent to nostalgism, and does not include a yearning to return to a perceived golden era of the past. But we can undoubtedly agree that the pace of societal, cultural, technological and economic change has been dramatic over the past few decades, and we must all decide how a responsible Government should respond to this, if at all. The effects of these changes have led to deindustrialisation, demographic change, a social media revolution, a so-called culture war, climate change, a mental health crisis, globalisation and many more. All of these things have, without question, changed the way in which people live their lives and interact with one another.”
“Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you very much. I'm grateful for the opportunity to table this debate and I appreciate this remit is very broad, but I am grateful for any Member willing to share their views on the subject however they see fit. I've agreed to give Natasha Asghar a minute of this debate time tonight. Edmund Burke, the founder of modern British conservatism and one of the best political philosophers of the eighteenth century, once wrote of a contract, a partnership, between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are to be born. For myself as a Conservative, it is important to conserve what is valuable to us and what we love from those who want to destroy those things, because once they are gone, they are gone, and there's rarely an opportunity for us to resurrect them.”
“Yes, I'm aware of that. So, with that in mind, will the Cabinet Secretary outline his response to that and what remedial work the Welsh Government will undertake to solve some of these problems that are very acute in the local hospital in my constituency? Thank you.”
“I'd like to focus on Glan Clwyd Hospital, if I may, and as we embark on the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 outbreak, and in response to significant increases in casework matters in my constituency, I've submitted a freedom of information request asking Betsi Cadwaladr on the number of operational procedures and surgical procedures in that particular hospital. And what we've seen is nearly a 4,000 drop in surgical operations in Glan Clwyd Hospital, from 26,256 in 2019. There was a slight dip during the COVID years, for obvious reasons, but in 2023 that had dropped to 22,620, which is a decrease, as I say, of nearly 4,000 surgical procedures happening in that hospital per year. Given in mind the chronic wait—”
“The cost of the Senedd reform was also revised, increasing by £1.2 million on the previous projections, which adds to our concern that the true cost would be far higher still. The budget has also neglected to make targets for potential savings that have been identified in previous budgets. So, could the Commission outline what the true cost of Senedd reform will be, taking everything into account, and whether the Commission has been diligent in identifying potential ways to minimise the financial hit of Senedd reform to the public purse? Thank you.”
“Thank you for that very comprehensive response, Commissioner. The 2025-26 Senedd Commission budget represents a total increase on the 2024-25 budget of close to 17 per cent, but the budget does not take into consideration the additional funding required to staff the offices of an additional 36 Members. Unlike Labour, Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, the Welsh Conservatives are opposed to Senedd expansion, one reason being the £120 million price tag for an enlarged devolved Parliament at a time when both Welsh and UK Labour Governments are making spending cuts and raising taxes. So, it’s of concern to me that a more detailed costing of Senedd reform hasn’t been published that takes into consideration the staffing costs of new Members.”
“Thank you very much. I just wanted to ask, really. I think it would be helpful for the Senedd to understand how robust and how live the Welsh Government support is to, obviously, external and volatile factors, as Adam Price mentioned in his contribution about the geopolitical changes, obviously, with the United States and the consequences of certain actions on Ukraine and indeed those other parts of western Europe, the UK, the US, for example, in terms of that support from the Welsh Government. Is that something that you think you're committed to seeing? Is the Welsh Government support changing with an everchanging and volatile situation that we, potentially, could be facing?”
“I'm honoured to have the opportunity to speak on this subject today, to raise awareness of Holodomor, to recognise the links between Wales and Ukraine, and to honour the bravery of those currently fighting at the vanguard of European democracy, and commemorate the lives of those who are no longer with us. Diolch yn fawr.”
“I would also like to pay tribute to Mick Antoniw, Alun Davies and everybody in the Senedd 4 Ukraine group for their valiant efforts in Ukraine, supporting the resistance against Russian forces, having delivered 25 4x4 vehicles to the front lines in the summer, and a further four vehicles just over a month ago in October. I'd also like to thank the Senedd 4 Ukraine group for raising millions of pounds through donations, which will go towards those fighting on the front line of European democracy. I would aspire to join you one day, but my boss, which is my wife, is stopping me from doing so, but it would be a pleasure one day to join you, but you do have my full moral support in your quest. As echoed by the Senedd 4 Ukraine group, it's a tribute to Wales that we have complete political unity in support of the Ukrainian people.”
“We see similar propaganda from the Kremlin today, with the denial of the ongoing human rights abuses in Ukraine, so it's our duty as public servants to challenge this misinformation and propaganda, and bring events like the Holodomor to the public's attention. And we must make totally clear that any attempt for ideological reasons to excuse the crimes committed against Ukrainian people by the communist Soviet state is unacceptable and reprehensible. And likewise, we should not tolerate attempts to excuse the actions of Putin today.”
“Gareth Jones eventually paid with his life for his bravery, being murdered in 1935 by the Soviet secret police whilst working out in Mongolia. So, today we also honour the bravery and heroism of the journalists who bring these important events to our attention, and we honour the bravery and ongoing struggle of the Ukrainian people fighting for their statehood and survival as we speak. At the time of Gareth Jones's reporting of the heartbreaking and traumatic events in Ukraine, which involved him witnessing people dying in the streets and people even resorting to eating their own pet, many communists in the west denied the horror that was playing out in the east, and some people deny Holodomor to this day, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, as some people deny the Holocaust.”
“Some scholars also posit that the famine was a deliberate attempt to eradicate Ukrainian independency, something the Russian state is again trying to eradicate through its barbarous illegal invasion. We learned of the genocidal famine ongoing in Ukraine due to the reporting of a Welsh journalist—which has been spoken about many times in this debate now—from the Vale of Glamorgan, called Gareth Jones. Like the Holocaust, many people would have remained unaware of these tragedies as they were unfolding if it were not for the bravery of journalists like Gareth Jones, who first informed the western world of the starvation taking place in Ukraine due to the deliberate policy decisions by Stalin and his commissars, and journalist Malcolm Muggeridge, as Mick Antoniw just mentioned, who also reported on crimes against humanity in the USSR.”
“When Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union in 1922 it was the nation's bread basket thanks to its fertile fields of wheat, as Ukraine remains the bread basket of Europe to this day. From 1928 Stalin began the process of collectivisation, uniting privately owned farms into state collective farms, with Ukrainian farmers having their land requisitioned by the Soviet state. Quotas for grain were raised to impossible levels by the USSR, and what food they did produce for themselves and their families was confiscated by the state, with refusal to comply resulting in execution. The exact number of people who died in the resulting famine is still not known, but historians estimate between 3.5 million and 5 million people perished, the vast majority of the death being in Ukraine.”
“It's a great privilege to speak on this debate this afternoon, tabled by the Welsh Government and co-submitted by my colleague Darren Millar. The Holodomor was without question one of the most important and tragic chapters in twentieth-century history and one of the most reprehensible acts of evil ever committed against our fellow man. Yet disappointingly, many people are totally ignorant of Holodomor, with many academics on the subject commenting that most of their students have never even heard of it. So, it's appropriate that we in the Senedd do our part to raise awareness of Holodomor, particularly in light of the ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine, once again at the hands of an evil dictator in Moscow.”
“We all know what the solution is to the chronic waiting times locally—it’s the building of north Denbighshire community hospital. So, I’m wondering what meetings and discussions you’ve had with Betsi Cadwaladr to deliver on this, and, if not, will you visit my constituency, spend some time at Glan Clwyd Hospital to analyse the problems, visit the site of the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Rhyl, to see the case for it at a ground level to finally get some solutions to this problem, which is, sadly, getting on for 11 years old now?”
“Thank you very much for your statement this afternoon, Cabinet Secretary for health—I was going to say ‘Minister’. With a statement of this nature, there does come a little bit of a degree of trepidation, and somewhat a sense of irony, when a Labour health Minister, 25 years into Government, suddenly professes to have a magic wand that’s going to solve chronic waiting times in Wales, and indeed for my constituents in the Vale of Clwyd, who are subject to chronic, long waiting times in Glan Clwyd Hospital, particularly the A&E department. And I’d be keen to know where that £50 million is going to be spent locally in my constituency, and what that means for people in the local area. It was mentioned in, I think it was, Sam Rowlands’s response to the statement, in terms of the structures and if the structure doesn’t change.”
“I am keeping up, because what we’ve seen is no statement from you in terms of the response of the Welsh Government in terms of the 20 per cent VAT on private schools. There are many private schools across Wales, and there’s not been one statement or one comment from you, Cabinet Secretary. So, I don’t buy that at all, and I am keeping up. [ Interruption .] No, I’ve taken enough interventions. So, after 25 years of managed decline in Wales under the Labour Party, it’s time for drastic change from the status quo in this country. Bring on 2026, I say, for the opportunity to drain the swamp finally here in Cardiff and make devolution work for the people the length and breadth of this country.”
“Absolutely, Mark, yes, and in particular I noted St David's school in Llandudno, which does have a rich history of providing that additional support for people with additional learning needs, and I do note the value that the private sector does play in that regard. But we've seen no directional statement by her or any of her deputies or officials in terms of the future of education in Wales, given the substantial ideologically driven policies of the new UK Labour Government. We need a Government in Wales that represents all people in Wales, no matter where they come from or where they live, rather than sitting here in the comfortable trappings of Cardiff Bay—”
“So, in 100 days of Baroness Morgan of Ely taking the reins of the Welsh Government, we've had no directional statement by her or any of her deputies or officials in terms of the future of education in Wales, given the substantial ideologically driven—”
“What impact assessment has the Welsh Government made in response to the news about the potential impact such decisions will have on the state school system in Wales? And how robust is the state school system to the potential of a mass populating of this system, given that the decision to apply 20 per cent VAT will impact the most upon the parents, children and families who make painstaking sacrifices in their personal lives in order to give their children the best possible start in life? The rich and the super rich won't be impacted, nor will the Chinese-backed private schools, of which we have many in Wales and the UK. It will be those private education providers and families who live hand to mouth—like Rydal Penrhos in Colwyn Bay, St David's College in Llandudno, and St Gerard's in Bangor—who will suffer the most.”
“But what I've increasingly become concerned about is the lack of acknowledgement from the First Minister and her Government in response to this news, and what the Welsh Government's view is on this matter, because no matter how you look at it, the policy around private schools in Wales and across the UK has gone from one polar opposite to the other in the space of less than 30 years. And the fact the Welsh Government has given no commentary on this matter is a cause for concern, given the historical status and presence of private schools in Wales, and the role they continue to play in society, albeit through a watered down framework compared to the halcyon days of 30 to 40 years ago.”
“I'm not advocating that we wind back the clock and go back to those times at all, but it's more to highlight the speed of societal change, driven by the left, in abolishing opportunities for kids from less wealthy backgrounds to prosper, through the abolition of new grammar schools in 1998 and the discouragement and universality of what the Welsh education system has become since devolution, in creating a singular exam board that all state schools have to adhere to, no matter what their needs or location are. A harsh critic might say it's a forced egalitarianism that Lenin himself would be proud of.”
“Personally, I'm, unfortunately, old but young enough to remember and be a beneficiary of the assisted places scheme of the 1980s and 1990s, where the UK Conservative Government actually paid private school fees for children who passed an entrance exam, and the opportunity that gave to gifted children from less wealthy backgrounds, which achieved social mobility and fluidity for people from backgrounds who wouldn't have had that opportunity to flourish otherwise.”
“Although the Labour Party are ideologically opposed to the very existence of private schools, they still have a profile and a voice within the parameters of a Welsh context. And what we've actually seen over time since devolution and the one-party state, which Wales has become, is a significant reduction in private school provision in Wales since the 1990s, with swathes of closures of schools that, historically, had a long-standing presence in many communities across Wales.”
“What I'd like to focus on is point 2 of the Welsh Conservatives' motion today, which states that we regret 'that the First Minister has failed to stand up for Wales and deliver the improvements that the people of Wales deserve.' And the area I want to focus on, which applies to part 2 of our motion, would be the lack of commentary or acknowledgement from the First Minister in response to the UK Labour Government's plans to impose 20 per cent VAT on private schools across the UK, and removing their current charitable status. Although I recognise that this specific area is not devolved to Wales, given that it's a value added tax matter, it equally has an impact on education systems in Wales, which, no doubt at some point, fall onto your table, and also that of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and her deputies.”
“Deputy Llywydd, it's a pleasure to take part in this debate this afternoon. I'm always conscious when I'm one of the final speakers on the list that I don't try to repeat things that have already been said, but I think the remarks I've drafted today would be in no danger of doing that, given that I don't believe the subject has been raised in most degrees in the entire length of this sixth Senedd thus far.”
“So, it's clear from the statistics that disabled pupils disproportionately experience bullying in schools and that better safeguards need to be implemented to identify the bullying sooner. I'd like to know how the Welsh Government intends to ensure that guidance is being followed by schools, that disability strategies are frequently revised with routine consultation of children, and how the Welsh Government intends to improve safeguarding against bullying for disabled children and recognise the important role that mental well-being plays in the discussion surrounding barriers to a successful education. Thank you very much.”
“Professionals also identified disabled young people as being at the most risk of bullying, with over 17 per cent of disabled young people reporting that they never felt safe at school. This, of course, compounds the issue of educational accessibility, it exacerbates social isolation and results in poorer educational attainment. We should accept that having a disability necessitates poorer educational outcomes and that every child deserves equal access to good-quality education, and it is important to recognise that the barriers are not always financial. The NASUWT—I'll put my teeth back in—told the committee that, sometimes, incidents are not labelled as bullying and therefore bullying strategies don't kick in.”
“There is no delivery or resources put into the delivery and implementation of the new guidance, therefore, it's essential that accessibility strategies are constantly revised, with consultation of children and young people and that the decision-making structures that allocate the resources are fully in sync with the requirements of pupils. Given that it's Anti-Bullying Week, I would also like to draw attention to some of the barriers to education that disabled pupils face as a result of bullying, and the importance of pupil well-being. Shockingly, according to the Ambitions for Wales survey of over 10,000 children, young people and parents, just under 60 per cent of young people aged between 12 and 18 who identified as disabled report having experienced bullying.”
“The Children's Commissioner for Wales said that they are aware that the statutory requirement for schools to consult with children and young people on accessibility plans does not always happen, with Whizz Kids also highlighting that they are not routinely consulted. It's important, also, that the accessibility strategies and plans are evaluated and revised on a rolling three-year basis, and consider all aspects of education. Children themselves must be consulted and the rolling revision will ensure that strategies remain responsive to changing trends. So, I'm keen to know what the Welsh Government is doing to ensure that statutory guidance is being followed, as, so often, people are told what they want to hear; the guidance is published and the results are never seen.”
“So, it's important that the Welsh Government lays out how it plans to remain responsive to changing trends in neurodiversity in Wales, and ensure that there is recognition that neurodivergent children need support. Similarly to childcare provision, the report highlighted that, throughout Wales, inclusive provision is patchy and inconsistent; schools struggle with sufficient funding, staffing and expertise to deliver inclusive education. Of course, under the Equality Act 2010, schools are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils and the Welsh Government published statutory guidance back in 2018, with an aim to improve access to education.”
“The complexities of children's needs are increasing and, on an anecdotal basis, I visit many nurseries in my constituency in my capacity as shadow Minister for early years, and I always hear from nursery owners that children are presenting with more complex learning and behavioural issues that they are rarely equipped to deal with and that there is a lack of diagnostic support for children of that age. This was also echoed in the report, which outlines that the committee heard from both families and stakeholders that securing inclusive childcare can be complicated, because needs are only just beginning to emerge, and it may only be once a child is in childcare that it becomes clear, and families then have to deal with waiting times for assessment.”
“I'm pleased to be discussing some of the really important findings in this committee report this afternoon, and I'm keen to hear the Welsh Government's response to the report's conclusions, as the Chair of the CYPE Committee has already highlighted in her opening of the debate. To begin with childcare, the report found that inclusive and accessible childcare provision is patchy, variable and, in some places, non-existent, and this immediately sets some children at a disadvantage from the earliest age. Childcare provision for all children is increasingly expensive, and places are sparse. So, for patients—parents, I should say, sorry—of neurodiverse children, places are even harder to find. The children's commissioner said that there is very little specialised early years provision and that the gap is widely acknowledged.”
“The concerning data shows a decline in teacher satisfaction, which will have a negative effect on the education of learners and will, in the long run, cause significant problems with the recruitment and retention of teaching staff across Wales. I look forward to hearing your response, and thank you again for your statement this afternoon.”
“I'd like to hear from the Cabinet Secretary more specific plans for delivery and how they expect to see results, and I'd like to see the Cabinet Secretary also lay out a broader plan of how all of these intertwined issues are being addressed. The concerning rise in poor behaviour is also undoubtedly linked to poorer pupil well-being, so it's important that the Welsh Government also addresses these as one. The Welsh Labour manifesto also pledged to work with social media organisations to tackle hate and protect our young people from bullying, so I'm also keen to hear from the Government what work has been undertaken by the Welsh Government to this end. And finally, I would like to hear how the Welsh Government plans to address the well-being of educators as well as students.”
“These results are higher than ever previously reported in the survey, which is deeply troubling, particularly three years on from the Welsh Government enshrining a legal duty to consider the mental well-being of children and protect them from hate. The reports also show a higher rate of girls being bullied than boys, with over 40 per cent of girls reporting that they experience bullying in schools in Wales. So, despite the warm words from the Welsh Government, we have seen a total lack of delivery when it comes to improving the mental well-being of our young people and reducing rates of bullying in schools.”
“Eighty-six per cent of teachers report that this has affected their morale and enthusiasm for their job, with more than half of teachers in Wales experiencing stress and anxiety. It's important, therefore, that the Welsh Government takes a holistic approach that considers the well-being of both educators and learners and addresses all factors that are contributing to the decline, which will include bullying, social isolation, phone use in the classroom and poor behaviour. To focus on bullying, the figures are equally disappointing, with the number of pupils in Wales reporting being bullied increasing from 6 per cent between 2021 and 2023, and the number of pupils that reported experiencing cyber bullying increasing by 3 per cent between 2021 and 2023.”
“The School Health Research Network survey of 130,000 learners from years 7 to 11 across the 200 secondary schools in Wales demonstrated a regression from 2021 to 2023 on just about every metric of pupil well-being. The report found a growing sense of social isolation, with fewer young people saying they can rely on their friends, compared to data from 2017. This appears to be a growing trend following COVID, in which we've seen disappointing progress in assimilating pupils back to school following self-isolation. And this lack of support is also reflected in the shocking rise in behavioural issues in schools across Wales. The well-being of educators is also declining, with 95 per cent of Welsh teachers reporting in 2023 that they had experienced physical abuse or violence from pupils.”
“When it comes to the Welsh Government's record on anti-bullying in schools, sadly the results have not matched the Government's expectations. The Welsh Labour manifesto for the 2021 Senedd elections vowed to 'protect our children and young people from hate crime and bullying', specifically working with organisations such as Google, Facebook and Twitter to achieve this. The Cabinet Secretary, whilst Chair of the Senedd's children, young persons and education committee in 2021, welcomed the Welsh Government's commitment to ensuring schools have a legal duty to consider the mental health and well-being of children. Since this was enshrined, however, the mental health of pupils has declined, and reports of bullying in schools have only increased, so the Welsh Government have failed in that duty, unfortunately.”
“I'd like to place on record my appreciation for your statement this afternoon, Cabinet Secretary, to mark Anti-bullying Week. It's very timely and important and I personally believe that there is no place for bullying within any settings, particularly in regard to this context anyway. This statement has been delivered in the Senedd today, in the context of Anti-bullying Week, and of course this is intertwined with the mental health and well-being of learners. But the poorer mental health and well-being of learners is linked to a variety of factors that cannot be considered in isolation. So, I welcome an approach that directs focus on the myriad of issues in the Welsh education system, which all intersect with pupil and teacher well-being.”
“You've said previously, Trefnydd, in response to similar questions that I've posed to you, that we're the second biggest recycling nation in the world. Well, it wouldn't be the case in Rhyl and across Denbighshire at the moment, currently. This cost in excess of £1.2 million and was something that was orchestrated by the Welsh Government as far back as 2017-18. So, could I please have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for climate change on what advice the Welsh Government is giving directly via themselves and through WRAP Cymru in order to remedy these problems, which are, sadly, only getting worse and causing much anxiety as we head towards Christmas time?”
“Could we please have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs on the increase in fly-tipping rates in Denbighshire currently, in response to the appalling roll-out of the Trolibocs system? I had a walk around Rhyl in my constituency on Friday and was appalled at the state of the town centre, both of private land and public land. There is rubbish, in some cases, up to 6 ft high, and this is as a result of the council being in a vicious cycle, where people are becoming frustrated at the lack of bin collections happening in the local area and are resorting to illegal methods of fly-tipping in the local area, which is causing huge concerns around public health and environmental issues.”
“But what I'm looking for, in terms of responses from the Minister, is in response to the UK Government's budget last week, and whether there can be any progress to be made on the construction, or the delayed construction, of a north Denbighshire community hospital in Rhyl, which would serve as an antidote to some of those acute waiting times at Glan Clwyd’s accident and emergency department. It's been promised for over a decade now, and we really need to be making some progress in order for my constituents to receive timely primary healthcare services in their local area. Thank you.”
“Thank you, James, for tabling this important discussion here tonight in the Senedd. Whereas it's welcome, obviously, that we're talking about broadening the scope of community healthcare provision in rural areas, I believe we're having a conversation around something that was set up organically many years ago, because I think of my patch, for example—we had a community hospital in most towns going back in history. We had Chatsworth House in Prestatyn, Royal Alexandra in Rhyl, HM Stanley in St Asaph. But what they did, organically, was take pressure off the acute units in Glan Clwyd and other major hospitals in north Wales. But we seem to be—not reinventing the wheel, but then almost having conversations around something that was there organically anyway.”
“—in the reporting process, in communications between agencies and in Welsh Government vetting. So, what is the Cabinet Secretary doing to ensure that these deficiencies are identified and fixed as soon as possible so that these mistakes are never made again?”
“And questions also arise regarding the thoroughness of Welsh Government vetting, given that the Welsh Government were unknowingly taking advice on education policy from a prolific paedophile. Neil Foden was also reprimanded by the teaching regulator and kicked out of his union in 2020. Yet, a year later in 2021, he was given more responsibility as a strategic superhead overseeing two different schools in north Wales. So, clearly there are huge deficiencies—”
“This individual is one of the most evil sex offenders in Welsh history, and there was a litany of failures, negligence, red flags that were missed that allowed this abuse to continue unchallenged. Perhaps the most shocking of the allegations is that Neil Foden gave advice to the Welsh Government. He was also disgracefully defended by the Plaid Cymru leader of Gwynedd Council, who refused to apologise to Foden’s victims after the disgraced headteacher’s conviction. Thankfully, the leader of Gwynedd Council has now stepped down, following pressure to do so from his own party. But there remain questions that need to be answered as to why he remained in the employment of Gwynedd Council when his trial started.”