Plaid Cymru failed to implement a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment according to a damning new report into the party's leadership and procedures. The party's National Executive Committee and leader Adam Price jointly commissioned the former Plaid Cymru Assembly Member Nerys Evan to look into the party's culture.
Last autumn Plaid Member for South Wales Central Rhys ab Owen was suspended for allegedly breaching the code of conduct for MSs and is currently being investigated by the Standards Commissioner. According to the party the suspension was "mutually agreed" and was a "neutral act". Mr ab Owen has not commented. Following this, and after a WalesOnline investigation exposed serious concerns within the party about how the leadership dealt with allegations of sexual assault, Ms Evans began her working group conducting a comprehensive review of the party’s culture and processes.
The report is utterly damning of the party leadership and makes 82 recommendations – all of which the party leadership have accepted and taken on board. In the summary of the report's findings it states: "No organisation or workplace is immune from misconduct of this kind but an environment where there is an inherent imbalance of power creates obvious vulnerabilities and concerns. This, coupled with inaction over many years from those with positions of power to challenge bad behaviour, has made a bad situation even worse."
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The first line of the summary says that "Plaid Cymru has failed to implement a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment". It went on to say the party needs to develop a system to "deal with the distinct issue of sexual harassment in the workplace and within the membership".
In a joint statement from leader Adam Price and Plaid Cymru chair Marc Jones on behalf of the party's national executive committee they said they were "deeply sorry" because "it is clear that there are instances – both historically and in more recent times – whereby unacceptable behaviour has been allowed to take place or go unchallenged and that our processes and governance arrangements have been inadequate to address this". They added: "Individuals have been let down as a result – women especially but also men."
In what can only be seen as a damning indictment of the current culture the report said that those spoken to during the investigation had "seen too many instances of bad behaviour by elected members be tolerated and feel that there is little point in raising concerns". It added that "despite having robust complaints system in place, administered by a committed group of party volunteers, there are a lack of policies and procedures in place to deal specifically with sexual harassment and there is lack of faith and trust in the policies we do have in place due to historic issues of inconsistencies in how our policies and procedures have been implemented which has exacerbated the situation".
Shockingly the report went on to say that "evidence from a recent anonymous survey of staff and elected members highlight cases of sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination" and that "these are not isolated cases" and "in the vast majority of cases of sexual harassment or bullying the victim did not report it or make a formal complaint".
The full statement from party leader Mr Price and the NEC read: "In December, with the support of the National Executive Committee, we jointly commissioned former Plaid Cymru Assembly Member and former member of staff Nerys Evans to establish a working group tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of the party’s culture and processes.
"The working group was asked to make robust and positive recommendations, reporting back to the NEC by spring 2023 with an action plan for change and regular reviews to ensure the actions are implemented. We can confirm that the NEC has now received the Prosiect Pawb report and has today (Saturday, April 29) discussed its contents and agreed to accept and implement all of its recommendations – without delay.
"In the interests of transparency and accountability we have made all of the recommendations of the review and a summary of its main findings publicly available on our website. We would like to thank Nerys Evans and the working group for their diligence and hard work.
"It is clear that there are instances – both historically and in more recent times – whereby unacceptable behaviour has been allowed to take place or go unchallenged and that our processes and governance arrangements have been inadequate to address this. Individuals have been let down as a result – women especially but also men.
"For that, on behalf of the collective leadership of Plaid Cymru, we are deeply sorry. It is clear that we must do better if we are to foster a culture which is safe, inclusive, and respectful to all. That is how we will regain the trust of colleagues and members. In accepting the report of the working group in full and in committing to implement its recommendations in full and without delay the NEC has agreed a comprehensive set of actions and a framework for their delivery, cutting across most aspects of the party’s work from HR to governance, finance to training and candidate selection.
"Whilst we will not in any way be complacent about the challenges that lie ahead it is encouraging to read in the report that improvements have already been made and are starting to take hold in recent weeks especially in relation to our working culture. Our focus will now be on ensuring that everyone within the party takes ownership of the report’s findings to bring about positive change."
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