Risk Of Child Abuse, Slavery And Domestic Violence In Gwynedd As 'High' Due To Lack Of Safeguarding Training,

The risk level at Gwynedd council has been judged as “high” when it comes to protecting children and adults from abuse, neglect, radicalisation, slavery, domestic violence and exploitation, say auditors. 

The council auditors could only offer “limited assurance” on Gwynedd’s safeguarding arrangements after random checks found some residential home staff had not received mandatory training.

Gwynedd council said steps are already underway to address the findings, but issues raised include some residential home staff not having completed the necessary “safeguarding of vulnerable adults” training, with others also requiring a refresher after more than three years had passed since their last session.

Auditors also found that some leisure centre staff had failed to complete “e-learning” modules on safeguarding adults, child protection and safeguarding and domestic abuse.

As a result, Gwynedd’s audit committee passed to discuss the findings of the report during a sub-committee meeting over the coming weeks.

In their summing up, the internal audit noted that, while nine out of 10 staff members at one leisure centre had completed the ‘Safeguarding Adults’, ‘Child Protection and Safeguarding’ and ‘Domestic Abuse’ modules in the last two years, only a “small number” of staff from the other centres had completed the safeguarding modules.

They had been told by one duty manager that this training was “under way” and that the intention was to get the workers to complete the training “in the coming weeks.”

The auditors confirmed that a sample of officers from the four homes were selected and each was found to have a current Disclosure and Barring Service  (DBS) disclosure.

However, the report added: “Not all (care home) staff had received safeguarding of vulnerable adults training, and cases were identified where it was necessary for the training to be renewed.

“Employees should receive classroom training for safeguarding every three years. The training of several staff dated back more than the three-year period with some dating back to 2010.
“The manager was aware of the situation and it was found that she had organised safeguarding training for 13 members of staff during the year to come.”

It added: “E-learning training records including ‘Domestic Abuse’, ‘Safeguarding Adults’ and ‘Child Protection and Safeguarding’ modules were checked, a small number of staff had completed these modules at the time of the audit.

“Managers were aware of the need to complete these modules, one of them identified the difficulties they have had to get access to all staff and also the need to ensure a supply of staff on duty while others complete the modules.

“It is not necessary for staff to complete the safeguarding modules as they already receive face to face training but in terms of the ‘Domestic Abuse’ module it is necessary for all council staff to complete the module.”

Responding to the findings, a Gwynedd Council spokesperson said that robust arrangements and procedures to ensure that residents are protected is “a priority.”

“Every member of staff is responsible for reporting on concerns or suspicion that individuals are being abused,” he added.

More - https://www.northwaleschronicle.co.uk/news/17449306.auditors-judge-risk-of-child-abuse-slavery-and-domestic-violence-in-gwynedd-as-high-due-to-lack-of-safeguarding-training/

7 Managers And Three Members Of Staff Have Left Gisda, amid Bullying Claims.

Ten former employees at a homeless charity have said the chief executive's behaviour led them to leave their jobs.

Since 2011, seven managers and three members of staff have left Gisda, with many claiming to have been bullied.
The board of directors at the charity, based in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, said it had confidence in the ability of Sian Elen Tomos.
The youth charity is "committed to creating a healthy work space for its entire staff," the board added.
The BBC has spoken to 10 former Gisda employees who claim Ms Tomos's managerial style was the reason they left.

None were willing to do an interview publicly - but one agreed to speak anonymously.

Eileen - not her real name - said Ms Tomos "could make people feel very uncomfortable".
"Not taking into account what anyone else said, ignoring people and making it obvious in front of other people, turning her back on you as you were speaking to her and walking away," she explained.
"I've seen her walking out of a number of meetings. She would not speak to people for days. Not speaking at all. And she could be nasty to people too.
"I think she worked on people's weaknesses - bullyng, really."

"I didn't want to go to work," she added. "I think it affected young people too. They could see so much turnover.
"There was a feeling that she was untouchable. If anyone disagreed with her she got rid of them - or worked to get rid of them."

A letter sent to the board of directors and seen by the BBC shows a number of staff complained about the situation in 2017.

The BBC understands only three formal complaints have been made since 2011, but a number of former staff said they did not complain formally because they felt they would be ignored.

The letter noted staff felt "suspicious, dispirited, anxious and angry", and the charity needed to act decisively if the board wished "to avoid a morale crisis".
The letter finished by calling on the board to "consider the high level of staff turnover in the organisation".

Later in 2017, an independent report was commissioned by the charity in response to the grievances of two managers.

The BBC has seen a copy of the report, which states the grievances of the two previous managers and the complaints made by the chief executive about her staff, were partly upheld.

Acknowledging further issues at Gisda, the report made a number of recommendations.

These included to arrange mediation between Ms Tomos and the two former managers and the board should review its complaints procedures so complaints were acted upon and not ignored.

According to Eileen, who left months after the independent report was published, the recommendations were not acted upon.

Four other former members of staff who left after the report was published agreed.

To see positive change, Eileen said the charity should appoint a new board of directors and chief executive.

Ms Tomos and the chairman of the board of directors, Tudor Owen, were given the opportunity to respond separately to the claims.

More - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48044912

Official who OK'd Obama birth papers dies in crash - USA TODAY - 2013

From 2013 -

The Hawaiian health official who verified the authenticity of President Obama's birth certificate died in a small plane crash.

The plane, carrying a pilot and eight passengers, went down Wednesday in the water a half mile off the Hawaiian island of Molokai, the Maui Fire Department said. The lone fatality was Loretta Fuddy, who has served as state health director since January 2011. Tom Matsuda, the interim executive director of Hawaii's health insurance exchange, confirmed Fuddy's death.

Fuddy, 65, made national news in April 2011 when she verified the authenticity of certified copies of President Obama's birth certificate. Obama had requested the release to curb claims by so-called "birthers" that he was born in Kenya and not eligible to be president.

Makani Kai Air President Richard Schuman told Honolulu-based KITV that he spoke with the pilot of the single-engine turboprop Cessna Grand Caravan after the crash.

"What he reported is after takeoff ... there was catastrophic engine failure," Schuman said. "He did the best he can to bring the aircraft down safely and he got everybody out of the aircraft."
Schuman said the cause of the engine failure had not yet been determined. The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the crash; NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said that based on the location of the crash it was unlikely the plane will be recovered.

"Our hearts are broken," Gov. Neil Abercrombie said in a statement. "Loretta was deeply loved and respected. She was selfless, utterly dedicated and committed to her colleagues in the Department of Health and to the people of Hawaii. Her knowledge was vast; her counsel and advice always given from her heart as much as from her storehouse of experience."

More -  https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/12/hawaii-obama-birth-certificate-fuddy/3996657/

new model army spirit of the falklands

US preparing more charges against Julian Assange - World Socialist Web Site

On Wednesday, CNN reported US federal prosecutors confirmed there is
an “ongoing criminal investigation” of Julian Assange, the 47-year-old
founder of WikiLeaks. Prosecutors also indicated “affiliates” of Assange
are under investigation, this according to another newly unsealed
document.



According to the CNN report, at least one document related to
this investigation has been withheld from the public due to “ongoing
activity.”




The revelation, CNN reported, “confirms CNN and other news outlets’
reporting in recent days that WikiLeaks is connected to at least one
probe that could result in more criminal charges.”




The report confirms the warnings made by the WSWS and others that the
charges related to computer hacking leveled against Assange are merely a
pretext for his extradition to the United States, after which
additional charges would be brought against him.




On April 11, Assange was expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy in
London and arrested by British officials on the public charge of
conspiracy to bypass a password. That charge dated back to events in the
2011 WikiLeaks’ publication of the Iraq and Afghanistan War Logs.
Chelsea Manning turned over more than half a million documents exposing
US war crimes and corruption to WikiLeaks for publication.




The expulsion and arrest of Assange has been accompanied by an
unrestrained campaign of media vilification aimed at transforming
Assange into a non-person, undeserving of democratic rights.




But since Assange has been imprisoned in the maximum-security
Belmarsh prison, public comments made by leading Democrats and US media
officials indicate that charge was not the primary aim of the US
investigation.




Democratic Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer tweeted, “Now that
Julian Assange has been arrested, I hope he will soon be held to account
for his meddling in our elections on behalf of Putin and the Russian
government.” Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Eliot Engel tweeted that Assange “time after time compromised the
national security of the United States and our allies by publicly
releasing classified government documents and confidential materials
related to our 2016 presidential election.”




US, British and Ecuadorian governments have claimed Assange’s
extradition is proper because the US is indicting on a single charge:
attempting to help Chelsea Manning bypass a password. But this has now
been revealed to be only the pretext. The real reason the US wants
custody of the whistleblower was stated by Schumer and Engel.




On April 15, the WSWS wrote
that these statements demonstrate the extradition proceedings are being
conducted under false pretenses: “The single public charge is a cover.
The government is planning to interrogate Assange, compel him to provide
testimony and further prosecute him for exposing US war crimes.” (“Stop
the extraordinary rendition of Julian Assange!”)




In December 2017, US prosecutors told a federal judge they wanted to
keep secret the charges Assange might face because learning of them
might have caused him to flee the Ecuadorian embassy. According to CNN,
the recently unsealed documents indicate that a grand jury in Virginia
indicted Assange in 2018 and prosecutors again demanded the charges be
kept secret for the same reason, and added their worries about evidence
tampering and witness intimidation.


More - US preparing more charges against Julian Assange - World Socialist Web Site

Collateral Murder - Wikileaks - Iraq