Cllr Farhat's Petition For Public Enquiry Into Safeguarding

Cllr Leena Farhat has launched a petition calling on the Senedd to commission a Public Inquiry into the safeguarding and governance failures exposed by the Child Practice Review "Our Bravery Brought Justice." 

“This petition is something I feel strongly about, and it goes beyond party politics.”

During the Senedd election campaign, I called for a statutory Public Inquiry because the victims who came forward deserve more than a non-statutory review with no power to compel witnesses or evidence.

The report reveals that warnings about Neil Foden were raised as far back as 2018, and were dismissed. He was then appointed to a second Executive Headship in 2021, the year after a Professional Misconduct finding by the Education Workforce Council. Twenty years after the Clywch Report, the same governance failures in Welsh schools remain unresolved.

This isn't about scoring political points, it's about accountability. But it would be wrong not to acknowledge that a number of Plaid Cymru MS's who are now sitting in the Senedd were councillors on Gwynedd Council during the very years these failures were taking place. The public deserves to know what those in positions of authority knew, when they knew it, and why the warnings were not acted upon. A statutory inquiry,with the legal power to compel witnesses and evidence, is the only way to get those answers.

It's about making sure that every organisation involved; education authorities, North Wales Police, Betsi Cadwaladr NHS Trust faces proper, legally binding scrutiny.  It's about ensuring these failures can never happen again.

That's why I've taken this straight to the Senedd through a formal petition. At 250 signatures, the Petitions Committee must discuss it. At 10,000, it can be debated in the Senedd chamber itself.

Please sign and share, the survivors' bravery brought justice this far. Let's make sure the system finally catches up.