Y Cyfarfod Llawn
Plenary
20/06/2023Cynnwys
Contents
Yn y fersiwn ddwyieithog, mae’r golofn chwith yn cynnwys yr iaith a lefarwyd yn y cyfarfod. Mae’r golofn dde yn cynnwys cyfieithiad o’r areithiau hynny.
In the bilingual version, the left-hand column includes the language used during the meeting. The right-hand column includes a translation of those speeches.
Cyfarfu'r Senedd yn y Siambr a thrwy gynhadledd fideo am 13:30 gyda'r Llywydd (Elin Jones) yn y Gadair.
The Senedd met in the Chamber and by video-conference at 13:30 with the Llywydd (Elin Jones) in the Chair.
Prynhawn da a chroeso, bawb, i'r Cyfarfod Llawn o'r Senedd. Yr eitem gyntaf y prynhawn yma fydd y cwestiynau i'r Prif Weinidog, ac mae'r cwestiwn cyntaf gan Joyce Watson.
Good afternoon and welcome to this Plenary meeting at the Senedd. The first item this afternoon is questions to the First Minister, and the first question is from Joyce Watson.
1. Beth mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn ei wneud i annog merched i mewn i addysg a gyrfaoedd STEM? OQ59722
1. What is the Welsh Government doing to encourage girls into science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and careers? OQ59722
Llywydd, I thank Joyce Watson for that question. The Welsh Government works with schools, colleges, employers, and with role models, to ensure that girls and young women are positively encouraged to select STEM-related qualifications and careers.
Llywydd, diolchaf i Joyce Watson am y cwestiwn yna. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn gweithio gydag ysgolion, colegau, cyflogwyr, a gyda modelau rôl, i sicrhau bod merched a menywod ifanc yn cael eu hannog yn gadarnhaol i ddewis cymwysterau a gyrfaoedd sy'n gysylltiedig â STEM.
I thank you for that answer, First Minister. This Friday is International Women in Engineering Day, and I'll be marking that with a visit to Dragon LNG. There are good initiatives out there, as you say, like the Engineering Education Scheme Wales programme, but, in the workplace, it remains the case that 73 per cent of the STEM workforce are men, women make up only 14.5 per cent of engineers, and only 20 per cent of women science graduates go on to work in STEM careers, compared with 44 per cent of men. It matters not just for gender equality, but because there is a shortfall of 173,000 workers in the UK STEM sector, costing the economy £1.5 billion a year. Climate change, food and water security, future pandemics and the global challenges we face demand STEM-based solutions. We can't afford to waste female talent and knowledge. So, what is the Welsh Government doing to help close that gap and to work with other partners to secure that?
Diolch i chi am yr ateb yna, Prif Weinidog. Mae hi'n Ddiwrnod Rhyngwladol Menywod mewn Peirianneg y dydd Gwener yma, a byddaf yn nodi hynny gydag ymweliad â Dragon LNG. Mae mentrau da ar gael, fel y dywedwch chi, fel rhaglen Cynllun Addysg Beirianneg Cymru, ond, yn y gweithle, mae'n dal yn wir bod 73 y cant o'r gweithlu STEM yn ddynion, dim ond 14.5 y cant o beirianwyr sy'n fenywod, a dim ond 20 y cant o raddedigion gwyddoniaeth benywaidd sy'n mynd ymlaen i weithio mewn gyrfaoedd STEM, o'i gymharu â 44 y cant o ddynion. Mae'n bwysig nid yn unig o ran cydraddoldeb rhywiol, ond oherwydd bod diffyg o 173,000 o weithwyr yn sector STEM y DU, sy'n costio £1.5 biliwn y flwyddyn i'r economi. Mae'r newid yn yr hinsawdd, diogelwch bwyd a dŵr, pandemigau yn y dyfodol a'r heriau byd-eang yr ydym ni'n eu hwynebu yn galw am atebion sy'n seiliedig ar STEM. Allwn ni ddim fforddio gwastraffu talent a gwybodaeth menywod. Felly, beth mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn ei wneud i helpu i gau'r bwlch hwnnw ac i weithio gyda phartneriaid eraill i sicrhau hynny?
Well, Llywydd, I thank Joyce Watson for those points, and I agree with her basic premise very much that the future in the Welsh economy is going to be the competition for workers to take up the posts that are waiting for workers to fulfil them. And that quite certainly means that the talents and the abilities of over half the population cannot possibly be ignored in that quest. Now, girls consistently outperform boys in maths and science attainment throughout compulsory education. In GCSEs, girls outperform boys in every aspect of the sciences other than physics. And girls outperform boys at A-level as well. What we have to do is, as Joyce Watson suggests, Llywydd, make a greater effort to persuade those young women to use those qualifications in the workplace in the jobs that rely on STEM backgrounds to be successful. It is why, thinking of what Joyce Watson said about Friday being the women in engineering day in Wales, the Engineering Education Scheme Wales has a particular strength, encouraging young girls as early as year 8 in school to have contact with employers, to have contact with people in higher education, so that they take an active interest in STEM before they make GCSE choices, knowing that those choices lead on into employment possibilities of the future. Right across the effort of Government—but not simply Government, employers as well—we need a focus on the way in which young women are persuaded that there are a range of possibilities for them there in the workplace, and that the investment that they make in studying STEM subjects will pay off for them in career opportunities in the future.
Wel, Llywydd, diolchaf i Joyce Watson am y pwyntiau hynny, ac rwy'n cytuno â'i chynsail sylfaenol yn fawr iawn mai'r dyfodol yn economi Cymru fydd y gystadleuaeth i weithwyr ymgymryd â'r swyddi sy'n aros i weithwyr eu cyflawni. Ac mae hynny'n golygu yn gwbl sicr na ellir anwybyddu talentau a galluoedd dros hanner y boblogaeth yn yr ymgais honno. Nawr, mae merched yn perfformio'n well na bechgyn yn gyson o ran cyrhaeddiad mathemateg a gwyddoniaeth trwy gydol addysg orfodol. Ar gyrsiau TGAU, mae merched yn perfformio'n well na bechgyn ym mhob agwedd ar y gwyddorau ac eithrio ffiseg. Ac mae merched yn perfformio'n well na bechgyn ar gyrsiau Safon Uwch hefyd. Yr hyn y mae'n rhaid i ni ei wneud, fel y mae Joyce Watson yn ei awgrymu, Llywydd, yw gwneud mwy o ymdrech i berswadio'r menywod ifanc hynny i ddefnyddio'r cymwysterau hynny yn y gweithle yn y swyddi sy'n dibynnu ar gefndiroedd STEM i fod yn llwyddiannus. Dyna pam, gan feddwl am yr hyn a ddywedodd Joyce Watson am y ffaith ei bod hi'n Ddiwrnod Menywod mewn Peirianneg ddydd Gwener yng Nghymru, y mae gan Gynllun Addysg Beirianneg Cymru gryfder penodol, gan annog merched ifanc mor gynnar â blwyddyn 8 yn yr ysgol i fod mewn cysylltiad â chyflogwyr, i fod mewn cysylltiad â phobl mewn addysg uwch, fel eu bod nhw'n cymryd diddordeb gweithredol mewn STEM cyn iddyn nhw wneud dewisiadau TGAU, gan wybod bod y dewisiadau hynny yn arwain at bosibiliadau cyflogaeth y dyfodol. Ar draws ymdrech y Llywodraeth—ond nid y Llywodraeth yn unig, cyflogwyr hefyd—mae angen pwyslais arnom ni ar y ffordd y mae menywod ifanc yn cael eu perswadio bod amrywiaeth o bosibiliadau iddyn nhw yno yn y gweithle, ac y bydd y buddsoddiad y maen nhw'n ei wneud mewn astudio pynciau STEM yn talu ar ei ganfed iddyn nhw o ran cyfleoedd gyrfaol yn y dyfodol.
Following on from what you just said, First Minister, about promoting an active interest to girls on STEM subjects before they get to GCSE level, as a proud ambassador for Girlguiding, I've been pleased to see that, over the last two months, Girlguiding Gwent have held space-themed events for Rainbows and Brownies, and over 80 guides have taken part in a STEM day. These girls have had an excellent time making lemon batteries, binary bracelets, and so much more, which, of course, has helped promote STEM subject to these girls.
As a Government, you should be doing everything in your power to ensure these girls have the best opportunities in STEM, and, obviously, a level playing field and opportunities when accessing higher education. Yet, First Minister, your Government seems to want to make it harder than ever for young female learners to go into STEM, by combining those three separate sciences into double science at GCSE level, as I mentioned the other week. You didn't want to recognise it last time, but this is something that has been widely criticised by the profession and the science sector alike: Dr Lowri Mainwaring, academic team lead in biomedical sciences at Cardiff Metropolitan University; Professor Alma Harris from the department of education and childhood studies at Swansea University; Eluned Parrott, head of Wales at the Institute of Physics. This Government, in one breath, is asking young girls to take up science, technology, engineering, mathematics and jobs for the future, and then, in the same breath, you're putting them at an immediate disadvantage to the rest of the UK when they're applying for jobs and universities. First Minister, how is restricting young people's STEM education actually helping girls to go into STEM?
Yn dilyn ymlaen o'r hyn rydych chi newydd ei ddweud, Prif Weinidog, am hyrwyddo diddordeb gweithredol i ferched mewn pynciau STEM cyn iddyn nhw gyrraedd lefel TGAU, fel llysgennad balch dros y Geidiaid, rwyf i wedi bod yn falch o weld bod Geidiaid Gwent, dros y ddau fis diwethaf, wedi cynnal digwyddiadau ar thema'r gofod ar gyfer Enfysau a Brownis, ac mae dros 80 o geidiaid wedi cymryd rhan mewn diwrnod STEM. Mae'r merched hyn wedi cael amser gwych yn gwneud batris lemon, breichledi deuaidd, a chymaint mwy, sydd, wrth gwrs, wedi helpu i hyrwyddo pwnc STEM i'r merched hyn.
Fel Llywodraeth, dylech chi fod yn gwneud popeth o fewn eich gallu i sicrhau bod y merched hyn yn cael y cyfleoedd gorau mewn STEM, ac, yn amlwg, chwarae teg a chyfleoedd teg wrth gael mynediad at addysg uwch. Ac eto, Prif Weinidog, mae'n ymddangos bod eich Llywodraeth eisiau ei gwneud hi'n anoddach nag erioed i ddysgwyr benywaidd ifanc fynd i faes STEM, trwy gyfuno'r dair gwyddor ar wahân hynny yn wyddoniaeth ddwbl ar lefel TGAU, fel y soniais yr wythnos o'r blaen. Nid oeddech chi eisiau ei gydnabod y tro diwethaf, ond mae hyn yn rhywbeth sydd wedi cael ei feirniadu'n eang gan y proffesiwn a'r sector gwyddoniaeth hefyd: Dr Lowri Mainwaring, arweinydd tîm academaidd mewn gwyddorau biofeddygol ym Mhrifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd; yr Athro Alma Harris o'r adran addysg ac astudiaethau plentyndod ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe; Eluned Parrott, pennaeth Cymru yn y Sefydliad Ffiseg. Mae'r Llywodraeth hon, ar un anadl, yn gofyn i ferched ifanc ymgymryd â gwyddoniaeth, technoleg, peirianneg, mathemateg a swyddi ar gyfer y dyfodol, ac yna, ar yr un anadl, rydych chi'n eu rhoi nhw o dan anfantais ar unwaith i weddill y DU pan fyddan nhw'n ymgeisio am swyddi a lleoedd prifysgol. Prif Weinidog, sut mae cyfyngu addysg STEM pobl ifanc yn helpu merched i fynd i faes STEM mewn gwirionedd?
Llywydd, I've rehearsed this issue with the Member previously. I don't agree with the points she makes, but, far more importantly than my point of view, neither do those people who work in the field. This is a proposal by Qualifications Wales—those people who we rely on for their expertise in plotting a path to futures for our young people. Industry bodies—. And, actually, I heard that she mentioned Eluned Parrott; I understand that Eluned Parrott is in support of the proposals that the Welsh Government makes, and, moreover, that those parts, those representative bodies that we rely on for advice in chemistry, in biology, and so on, are in favour of these proposals, because they believe that more young people—more young people—will end up studying science at that level, and doing it in a way that gives them the confidence to know that they can go on and study it at higher levels as well. I hear a series of assertions from the Member, in an evidence-free way. These are her opinions, which she wishes to persuade us of, in the teeth of the evidence—not opinions, the evidence—from those who are experts in the field that the proposals will do more to encourage young women, and young men, to study sciences in Wales, and that's why the Government is pursuing those ambitions.
Llywydd, rwyf i wedi trafod y mater hwn gyda'r Aelod o'r blaen. Nid wyf i'n cytuno â'r pwyntiau y mae hi'n eu gwneud, ond, yn bwysicach o lawer na fy safbwynt i, nid yw'r bobl hynny sy'n gweithio yn y maes chwaith. Cynnig gan Cymwysterau Cymru yw hwn—y bobl hynny yr ydym ni'n dibynnu arnyn nhw am eu harbenigedd o ran cynllunio llwybr at ddyfodol i'n pobl ifanc. Cyrff diwydiant—. Ac, mewn gwirionedd, clywais iddi sôn am Eluned Parrott; rwy'n deall bod Eluned Parrott yn cefnogi'r cynigion y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn eu gwneud, ac, ar ben hynny, bod y rhannau hynny, y cyrff cynrychioliadol hynny yr ydym ni'n dibynnu arnyn nhw am gyngor ym meysydd cemeg, bioleg, ac ati, o blaid y cynigion hyn, gan eu bod nhw'n credu y bydd mwy o bobl ifanc—mwy o bobl ifanc—yn astudio gwyddoniaeth ar y lefel honno yn y pen draw, ac yn ei wneud mewn ffordd sy'n rhoi'r hyder iddyn nhw wybod y gallan nhw fynd ymlaen a'i hastudio ar lefelau uwch hefyd. Rwy'n clywed cyfres o honiadau gan yr Aelod, mewn ffordd ddi-dystiolaeth. Dyma ei safbwyntiau hi, y mae'n dymuno ein perswadio ni ohonyn nhw, yn nannedd y dystiolaeth—nid safbwyntiau, y dystiolaeth—gan y rhai sy'n arbenigwyr yn y maes y bydd y cynigion yn gwneud mwy i annog menywod ifanc, a dynion ifanc, i astudio'r gwyddorau yng Nghymru, a dyna pam mae'r Llywodraeth yn mynd ar drywydd yr uchelgeisiau hynny.
2. Sut mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn annog ysgolion i ddod yn fwy ecogyfeillgar? OQ59694
2. How is the Welsh Government encouraging schools to become more environmentally friendly? OQ59694
Can I thank Russell George for that question, Llywydd? Our young people are the best advocates for making schools environmentally friendly. The success of the Eco-Schools movement in Wales provides an effective way in which that commitment can be translated into practical action.
A gaf i ddiolch i Russell George am y cwestiwn yna, Llywydd? Ein pobl ifanc yw'r eiriolwyr gorau dros wneud ysgolion yn ecogyfeillgar. Mae llwyddiant y mudiad Eco-Sgolion yng Nghymru yn ffordd effeithiol y gellir troi'r ymrwymiad hwnnw yn weithredu ymarferol.
Thank you, First Minister. I agree with you entirely—I think young people are the best people to lead this area. Last week, I met with children from Llanidloes Primary School—Belle, Reggie, Millie and Willow—who are members of the school's eco-committee. Now, they're very keen to see a reduction of plastic waste when it comes to the provision of school milk, and they detailed to me that they receive 78 individual small plastic bottles of milk each day as part of a UK-wide scheme, which is part-funded also by the Welsh Government. The young people outlined to me that the school uses 15,210 plastic milk containers each year. They also outlined to me that this cost £5,171.40—they're very good at maths at this school, I should add. Now, if they purchased the milk themselves, including delivery, and used recyclable cups, there would be a huge saving in weight terms; in fact, they calculated that at three times the weight per year of their teacher, Mrs Stead. So, apart from the environmental savings, there would be a huge cost saving as well, at 50 per cent. In fairness to the children, they also considered there would be a resource in washing the reusable cups as well. They've met with their local authority, they've met with others, but they just feel that they've been knocking their heads against a brick wall, unfortunately—they feel demoralised, they feel like barriers are being put in place. So, can I ask, First Minister, that you task one of your Welsh Government officials to work with the children and the school, to run a pilot project, because, after all, there could be a huge saving in plastic use, and also a huge cost saving, if you think of £2,500 plus every primary school, each year? Thank you, First Minister.
Diolch, Prif Weinidog. Rwy'n cytuno â chi yn llwyr—rwy'n credu mai pobl ifanc yw'r bobl orau i arwain y maes hwn. Yr wythnos diwethaf, fe wnes i gyfarfod â phlant o Ysgol Gynradd Llanidloes—Belle, Reggie, Millie a Willow—sy'n aelodau o eco-bwyllgor yr ysgol. Nawr, maen nhw'n awyddus iawn i weld llai o wastraff plastig o ran y ddarpariaeth o laeth ysgol, ac fe wnaethon nhw esbonio i mi eu bod nhw'n derbyn 78 o boteli plastig bach unigol o laeth bob dydd yn rhan o gynllun ledled y DU gyfan, sy'n cael ei ariannu'n rhannol hefyd gan Lywodraeth Cymru. Amlinellodd y bobl ifanc wrthyf fod yr ysgol yn defnyddio 15,210 o gynwysyddion llaeth plastig bob blwyddyn. Fe wnaethon nhw hefyd amlinellu i mi bod hyn wedi costio £5,171.40—maen nhw'n dda iawn ym mhwnc mathemateg yn yr ysgol hon, dylwn ychwanegu. Nawr, pe baen nhw'n prynu'r llaeth eu hunain, gan gynnwys danfon, ac yn defnyddio cwpanau y gellir eu hailgylchu, byddai arbediad enfawr o ran pwysau; a dweud y gwir, roedden nhw wedi cyfrifo hynny fel tair gwaith pwysau eu hathrawes, Mrs Stead, bob blwyddyn. Felly, ar wahân i'r arbedion amgylcheddol, byddai arbedion cost enfawr hefyd, o 50 y cant. Er tegwch i'r plant, roedden nhw hefyd o'r farn y byddai adnodd o olchi'r cwpanau y gellir eu hailddefnyddio hefyd. Maen nhw wedi cyfarfod â'u hawdurdod lleol, maen nhw wedi cyfarfod ag eraill, ond maen nhw'n teimlo braidd eu bod nhw wedi bod yn curo eu pennau yn erbyn wal frics, yn anffodus—maen nhw'n teimlo'n ddigalon, maen nhw'n teimlo fel pe bai rhwystrau yn cael eu codi. Felly, a gaf i ofyn, Prif Weinidog, i chi ofyn i un o'ch swyddogion yn Llywodraeth Cymru i weithio gyda'r plant a'r ysgol, i redeg prosiect peilot, oherwydd, wedi'r cyfan, gallai fod arbediad enfawr yn y defnydd o blastig, ac arbediad cost enfawr hefyd, os meddyliwch chi am £2,500 ynghyd â phob ysgol gynradd, bob blwyddyn? Diolch, Prif Weinidog.
I thank Russell George very much for that supplementary question. That is a remarkable combination of problem-solving skills that we saw from the students at Llanidloes. I'm very pleased to agree that we will find someone to talk directly to the school, and, indeed, to the children, to see whether their ideas can find a further way into practical action. But it is great to see, isn't it, the way that young people themselves are not only interested, in that general sense, in the future of the environment, but they translate that into the things that they see in front of them every day, and then come forward with those sorts of imaginative ideas to create new solutions.
Diolchaf i Russell George yn fawr am y cwestiwn atodol yna. Mae hwnna yn gyfuniad rhyfeddol o sgiliau datrys problemau i ni ei weld gan y myfyrwyr yn Llanidloes. Rwy'n falch iawn o gytuno y byddwn ni'n dod o hyd i rywun i siarad yn uniongyrchol â'r ysgol, ac, yn wir, gyda'r plant, i weld a all eu syniadau ddod o hyd i ffordd arall o gael eu rhoi ar waith yn ymarferol. Ond mae'n wych gweld, onid yw, y ffordd y mae gan bobl ifanc eu hunain nid yn unig ddiddordeb, yn yr ystyr gyffredinol honno, yn nyfodol yr amgylchedd, ond y ffordd y maen nhw'n cyfateb hynny â'r pethau y maen nhw'n eu gweld o'u blaenau bob dydd, ac yna'n dod ymlaen gyda'r mathau hynny o syniadau llawn dychymyg i greu atebion newydd.
First Minister, as Members of the Senedd, I think we do get a strong sense of that passion that school pupils have for the environment when schools come here to the Senedd to visit and to learn more about the work of Senedd Members, and also when we visit schools. I've been very pleased to see local schools in Newport East setting a very good example, I think, in terms of recognising the passion of their pupils for the environment and organising around it: inviting local representatives in to discuss environmental issues and how action can be taken forward; organising survival skills experiences; taking lessons forward through Forest School; and climate action change measures, First Minister. So, would you agree with me that we need to look at schools in Wales that are setting a very good example, and make sure that we draw on that passion, as we take these policies forward?
Prif Weinidog, fel Aelodau'r Senedd, rwy'n credu ein bod ni'n cael synnwyr cryf o'r angerdd sydd gan ddisgyblion ysgol at yr amgylchedd pan ddaw ysgolion yma i'r Senedd i ymweld ac i ddysgu mwy am waith Aelodau'r Senedd, a hefyd pan fyddwn ni'n ymweld ag ysgolion. Rwyf i wedi bod yn falch iawn o weld ysgolion lleol yn Nwyrain Casnewydd yn gosod esiampl dda iawn, rwy'n credu, o ran cydnabod angerdd eu disgyblion at yr amgylchedd a threfnu o'i gwmpas: gwahodd cynrychiolwyr lleol i mewn i drafod materion amgylcheddol a sut y gellir bwrw ymlaen â gweithredu; trefnu profiadau sgiliau goroesi; bwrw ymlaen â gwersi trwy Ysgol Goedwig; a mesurau gweithredu ar y newid yn yr hinsawdd, Prif Weinidog. Felly, a fyddech chi'n cytuno â mi bod angen i ni edrych ar ysgolion yng Nghymru sy'n gosod esiampl dda iawn, a gwneud yn siŵr ein bod ni'n defnyddio'r angerdd hwnnw, wrth i ni fwrw ymlaen â'r polisïau hyn?
Well, Llywydd, I agree, of course, that we ought to find all the ways we can to draw on that passionate commitment that young people feel to the future of the planet that they will go on inhabiting. We will meet tomorrow with the Youth Parliament here, in this room, and I'm sure we will hear then views of those young people on climate change, on biodiversity loss, on ways in which we can act together to improve the environment.
Now, I happen to have seen that the Member for Newport East was in Ringland Primary School recently, meeting their eco-council and sharing ideas with them. Just as in Llanidloes, here's another school with lots of practical ideas. I was taken by the fact that I saw that they have a weekly recycling competition in which every class has everything that they have collected that weak weighed, and then a winner of the competition declared every week, and that creates an interest in every child and in every part of the school in doing the practical things they can do to make a difference.
Wel, Llywydd, rwy'n cytuno, wrth gwrs, y dylem ni ddod o hyd i'r holl ffyrdd y gallwn ni i fanteisio ar yr ymrwymiad angerddol hwnnw y mae pobl ifanc yn ei deimlo at ddyfodol y blaned y byddan nhw'n parhau i fyw arni. Byddwn yn cyfarfod yfory â'r Senedd Ieuenctid yma, yn yr ystafell hon, ac rwy'n siŵr y byddwn ni'n clywed bryd hynny safbwyntiau'r bobl ifanc hynny ar y newid yn yr hinsawdd, ar golli bioamrywiaeth, ar ffyrdd y gallwn ni weithredu gyda'n gilydd i wella'r amgylchedd.
Nawr, digwyddais weld bod yr Aelod dros Ddwyrain Casnewydd yn Ysgol Gynradd Ringland yn ddiweddar, yn cyfarfod â'i heco-gyngor ac yn rhannu syniadau â nhw. Yn union fel yn Llanidloes, dyma ysgol arall sydd â llawer o syniadau ymarferol. Cefais fy nharo gan y ffaith fy mod i wedi gweld bod ganddyn nhw gystadleuaeth ailgylchu wythnosol lle mae popeth y mae pob dosbarth wedi ei gasglu yr wythnos honno yn cael ei bwyso, ac yna caiff enillydd y gystadleuaeth ei gyhoeddi bob wythnos, ac mae hynny'n creu diddordeb ym mhob plentyn ac ym mhob rhan o'r ysgol mewn gwneud y pethau ymarferol y gallan nhw eu gwneud i wneud gwahaniaeth.
I had a wonderful meeting with Albany school's council, and they raised the issue of adults feeding pigeons that prevented them using the little bit of green space they had around their school. So, children make the best eco-warriors. They also raised with me the problem of cars parking on pavements, which got in the way of their walking to school safely. So, I think there's a great deal more we can do. I would want to just remind the Government about the importance of ensuring that all students have the ability to walk, cycle or scoot to school, if that's physically possible. It may not be possible for all the students in Llanidloes, who may have a distance to go. But, just as we have a scheme for enabling people to buy a bike if they work for us here in the Senedd, has any consideration been given to having some sort of bicycle loan scheme so families would be able to buy a bike slowly?
Cefais gyfarfod gwych gyda chyngor ysgol Albany, ac fe wnaethon nhw godi mater oedolion yn bwydo colomennod a oedd yn eu hatal nhw rhag defnyddio'r ychydig o fannau gwyrdd a oedd ganddyn nhw o amgylch eu hysgol. Felly, plant yw'r eco-ryfelwyr gorau. Fe wnaethon nhw hefyd godi â mi y broblem o barcio ceir ar balmentydd, a oedd yn amharu ar eu gallu i gerdded i'r ysgol yn ddiogel. Felly, rwy'n credu bod llawer mwy y gallwn ni ei wneud. Hoffwn atgoffa'r Llywodraeth am bwysigrwydd sicrhau bod pob myfyriwr yn gallu cerdded, beicio neu fynd ar sgwter i'r ysgol, os yw hynny'n bosibl yn ffisegol. Efallai na fydd yn bosibl i'r holl fyfyrwyr yn Llanidloes, a allai fod â chryn bellter i'w deithio. Ond, yn union fel mae gennym ni gynllun ar gyfer galluogi pobl i brynu beic os ydyn nhw'n gweithio i ni yma yn y Senedd, a roddwyd unrhyw ystyriaeth i gael rhyw fath o gynllun benthyg beic fel y byddai teuluoedd yn gallu prynu beic yn araf?
I agree with Jenny Rathbone that children are the most persuasive advocates with their own parents about actions that can be taken to improve environment around their own schools. As every Member here in the Senedd, I'm sure, I have visited schools where you see the displays of the messages that children convey to their parents about smoking, about littering, about parking, about all the things that make that immediate difference to the environment of the child. And, in fact, I believe that there are schemes that already exist that encourage schools to buy bicycles themselves so children can borrow them and can cycle back and forth to school—combining that with cycling proficiency classes, all the things that make cycling fun, as well as making it a better alternative for children getting back and forth from home to school. And, of course, I encourage all schools and all local education authorities to go on doing everything they can to persuade young people and to enable young people to make those healthy and active choices.
Rwy'n cytuno â Jenny Rathbone mai plant yw'r eiriolwyr mwyaf perswadiol gyda'u rhieni eu hunain ynghylch camau y gellir eu cymryd i wella'r amgylchedd o amgylch eu hysgolion eu hunain. Fel pob Aelod yma yn y Senedd, rwy'n siŵr, rwyf i wedi ymweld ag ysgolion lle'r ydych chi'n gweld arddangosiadau o'r negeseuon y mae plant yn eu cyfleu i'w rhieni am ysmygu, am sbwriel, am barcio, am yr holl bethau sy'n gwneud y gwahaniaeth uniongyrchol hwnnw i amgylchedd y plentyn. Ac, mewn gwirionedd, rwy'n credu bod cynlluniau sydd eisoes yn bodoli sy'n annog ysgolion i brynu beiciau eu hunain fel y gall plant eu benthyg nhw a beicio yn ôl ac ymlaen i'r ysgol—gan gyfuno hynny â dosbarthiadau hyfedredd beicio, yr holl bethau sy'n gwneud beicio yn hwyl, yn ogystal â'i wneud yn ddewis gwell i blant fynd yn ôl ac ymlaen rhwng eu cartrefi a'r ysgol. Ac, wrth gwrs, rwy'n annog pob ysgol a phob awdurdod addysg lleol i barhau i wneud popeth o fewn eu gallu i berswadio pobl ifanc ac i alluogi pobl ifanc i wneud y dewisiadau iach ac egnïol hynny.
Cwestiynau nawr gan arweinwyr y pleidiau. Arweinydd y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig, Andrew R.T. Davies.
Questions now from the party leaders. Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew R.T. Davies.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. With your permission, can I welcome the new leader of Plaid Cymru to his position, and wish him well—not too well—in that position? [Laughter.] I’m sure we will have some good debates and exchanges across the floor of the Welsh Parliament.
First Minister, last week’s unemployment figures here in Wales were disappointing. They showed that, regrettably, the numbers were going up for unemployment here in Wales, as opposed to going down in other parts of the United Kingdom. What assessment has the Welsh Government been able to make of those figures, and what actions is it taking to respond to the rising number of unemployed here in Wales?
Diolch, Llywydd. Gyda'ch caniatâd, a gaf i groesawu arweinydd newydd Plaid Cymru i'w swydd, a dymuno'n dda iddo—ddim yn rhy dda—yn y swydd honno? [Chwerthin.] Rwy'n siŵr y byddwn ni'n cael dadleuon a sgyrsiau da ar draws llawr Senedd Cymru.
Prif Weinidog, roedd ffigurau diweithdra'r wythnos diwethaf yma yng Nghymru yn siomedig. Roedden nhw'n dangos, yn anffodus, bod y niferoedd yn cynyddu ar gyfer diweithdra yma yng Nghymru, o'i gyferbynnu â'r gostyngiad mewn rhannau eraill o'r Deyrnas Unedig. Pa asesiad mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi gallu ei wneud o'r ffigurau hynny, a pha gamau y mae'n eu cymryd i ymateb i'r nifer cynyddol o bobl ddi-waith yma yng Nghymru?
I'm aware, of course, of last week's labour market statistics. The background to them is a serious one for the whole of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party has crashed the economy, and we now see that working out in the pressures we see in the workplace as well. [Interruption.] I don't think that I can believe that I can think of Conservative Party Members laughing at the idea of the way that they've conducted the economic responsibilities of this country. But as far as Welsh figures are concerned, the figures that were published last week show a mixed picture. While the headline figures of unemployment went up in Wales, the figures that the ONS publish on monthly paid employees in Wales show that figure actually going up, and going up in Wales more strongly than any other part of the United Kingdom. So, they were two sets of figures, published on the same day, pointing in apparently different directions; while unemployment in Wales went up, the number of monthly paid employees also went up in the same month. And as ever, with any monthly set of figures, it is better to look over a range of months before we see which of these contradictory indicators turns out to be telling us the true story of the current state of the Welsh economy.
Rwy'n ymwybodol, wrth gwrs, o ystadegau marchnad lafur yr wythnos diwethaf. Mae'r cefndir iddyn nhw yn un difrifol i'r Deyrnas Unedig gyfan. Mae'r Blaid Geidwadol wedi chwalu'r economi, ac rydym ni'n gweld hynny'n datblygu nawr ar ffurf y pwysau yr ydym ni'n eu gweld yn y gweithle hefyd. [Torri ar draws.] Nid wyf i'n credu y gallaf i gredu y gallaf feddwl am Aelodau'r Blaid Geidwadol yn chwerthin ar y syniad o'r ffordd y maen nhw wedi cyflawni cyfrifoldebau economaidd y wlad hon. Ond o ran ffigurau Cymru, mae'r ffigurau a gyhoeddwyd yr wythnos diwethaf yn dangos darlun cymysg. Er bod y prif ffigurau diweithdra wedi cynyddu yng Nghymru, mae'r ffigurau y mae'r Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol yn eu cyhoeddi ar weithwyr cyflogedig misol yng Nghymru yn dangos bod y ffigur hwnnw yn cynyddu mewn gwirionedd, ac yn cynyddu yng Nghymru yn gryfach nag yn unrhyw ran arall o'r Deyrnas Unedig. Felly, roedden nhw'n ddwy set o ffigurau, a gyhoeddwyd ar yr un diwrnod, yn pwyntio i gyfeiriadau sy'n ymddangos yn wahanol; tra bod diweithdra yng Nghymru wedi cynyddu, fe wnaeth nifer y gweithwyr cyflogedig misol hefyd gynyddu yn yr un mis. Ac fel erioed, gydag unrhyw set fisol o ffigurau, mae'n well edrych dros ystod o fisoedd cyn i ni weld pa un o'r dangosyddion gwrthgyferbyniol hyn sy'n adrodd hanes gwirioneddol cyflwr presennol economi Cymru i ni yn y pen draw.
First Minister, the UK economy was the fastest-growing economy for the last two years in the G7. Germany is in recession; despite all your backbenchers and your Government wishing this country to be in recession, this country is not in recession. Last week’s figures clearly showed that unemployment was going up in this part of the United Kingdom, but going down in other parts of the United Kingdom. It is a fact that gross value added under Labour’s watch has not gone up as it should have gone up, it is a fact that there is £2,000 less in Welsh pay packets than those in other parts of the United Kingdom, and it is a fact that, sadly, we have more long-term unemployed in this part of the United Kingdom. The other fact is that we have 5 per cent of the population here in Wales, but we only generate 3 per cent of the wealth. For 25 years, the Labour Party have failed to improve those figures. I ask you again, First Minister: what is the Welsh Government doing to increase the long-term prospects for the Welsh economy and get those numbers moving in the right direction? Because those unemployment numbers last week just reinforced the failure of policy of Welsh Labour in Government here in Wales.
Prif Weinidog, economi'r DU oedd yr economi a oedd yn tyfu gyflymaf am y ddwy flynedd ddiwethaf yn y G7. Mae'r Almaen mewn dirwasgiad; er gwaethaf y ffaith fod holl aelodau eich meinciau cefn a'ch Llywodraeth yn dymuno i'r wlad hon fod mewn dirwasgiad, nid yw'r wlad hon mewn dirwasgiad. Dangosodd ffigurau yr wythnos diwethaf yn glir bod diweithdra yn cynyddu yn y rhan hon o'r Deyrnas Unedig, ond yn gostwng mewn rhannau eraill o'r Deyrnas Unedig. Mae'n ffaith nad yw gwerth ychwanegol gros o dan oruchwyliaeth y blaid Lafur wedi cynyddu fel y dylai fod wedi cynyddu, mae'n ffaith bod £2,000 yn llai mewn pecynnau cyflog yng Nghymru na'r rhai mewn rhannau eraill o'r Deyrnas Unedig, ac mae'n ffaith, yn anffodus, fod gennym ni fwy o bobl ddi-waith hirdymor yn y rhan hon o'r Deyrnas Unedig. Y ffaith arall yw bod gennym ni 5 y cant o'r boblogaeth yma yng Nghymru, ond dim ond 3 y cant o'r cyfoeth yr ydym ni'n ei gynhyrchu. Ers 25 mlynedd, mae'r Blaid Lafur wedi methu â gwella'r ffigurau hynny. Gofynnaf i chi eto, Prif Weinidog: beth mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn ei wneud i gynyddu'r rhagolygon hirdymor ar gyfer economi Cymru a chael y niferoedd hynny i symud i'r cyfeiriad cywir? Oherwydd y cwbl wnaeth y rhifau diweithdra hynny yr wythnos diwethaf oedd atgyfnerthu methiant polisi Llafur Cymru mewn Llywodraeth yma yng Nghymru.
The best thing that can happen to the Welsh economy is that we have a Labour Government at the United Kingdom level. If there was a single action that we could take to make sure that people here in Wales enjoyed the economic futures that they deserve, it would be to have a competent Government at the UK level, a Government without the astonishing stains on its economic record that the current UK Government has. It's genuinely astonishing to me that the Conservative Party should think that they can offer anybody a lecture on how to conduct economic affairs here in this Chamber.
The Member was wrong—he's often wrong; we know—when he said to me that economic inactivity rates in Wales were getting worse, because the figures that he relied on in his first question said that economic inactivity in Wales fell by 0.6 per cent in the last quarter in Wales. So, we are actually managing to get more people back into work from economic inactivity here in Wales—not fewer, as he said in his second question. And if he wants to look back over the whole of devolution, what he will find is the remarkable success story of so much here in Wales.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, the employment gap between Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom—. That gap has been halved in the period of devolution. If he looks back at economic inactivity figures in the early 1990s, Wales was a complete outlier in the United Kingdom, and that gap had been growing year on year. It would have astonished anybody in 1999 if you had said that 20 years later the economic inactivity gap between Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom had shrunk to the level that it is today. The Welsh economy, Llywydd, has been a success story in the last 25 years, in spite of and not because of the policies that his party have pursued in office.
Y peth gorau all ddigwydd i economi Cymru yw i ni gael Llywodraeth Lafur ar lefel y Deyrnas Unedig. Pe bai un cam y gallem ni ei gymryd i wneud yn siŵr bod pobl yma yng Nghymru yn mwynhau'r dyfodol economaidd y maen nhw'n ei haeddu, mae'n rhaid mai'r cam hwnnw fyddai cael Llywodraeth gymwys ar lefel y DU, Llywodraeth heb y staeniau rhyfeddol ar ei record economaidd sydd gan Lywodraeth bresennol y DU. Mae'n wirioneddol syfrdanol i mi y dylai'r Blaid Geidwadol feddwl y gallan nhw gynnig darlith i unrhyw un ar sut i ymgymryd â materion economaidd yma yn y Siambr hon.
Roedd yr Aelod yn anghywir—mae'n aml yn anghywir; rydym ni'n gwybod—pan ddywedodd wrthyf i fod cyfraddau anweithgarwch economaidd yng Nghymru yn gwaethygu, gan fod y ffigurau yr oedd yn dibynnu arnyn nhw yn ei gwestiwn cyntaf yn dweud bod anweithgarwch economaidd yng Nghymru wedi gostwng 0.6 y cant yn y chwarter olaf yng Nghymru. Felly, mewn gwirionedd, rydym ni'n llwyddo i gael mwy o bobl yn ôl i waith o anweithgarwch economaidd yma yng Nghymru—nid llai, fel y dywedodd yn ei ail gwestiwn. Ac os yw'n dymuno edrych yn ôl dros holl gyfnod datganoli, yr hyn y bydd yn ei ganfod yw stori lwyddiant ryfeddol cynifer o bethau yma yng Nghymru.
Yn y 1980au a'r 1990au, roedd y bwlch cyflogaeth rhwng Cymru a gweddill y Deyrnas Unedig—. Mae'r bwlch hwnnw wedi cael ei haneru yng nghyfnod datganoli. Os gwnaiff ef edrych yn ôl ar ffigurau anweithgarwch economaidd ar ddechrau'r 1990au, roedd Cymru yn allanolyn llwyr yn y Deyrnas Unedig, ac roedd y bwlch hwnnw wedi bod yn tyfu o un flwyddyn i'r llall. Byddai wedi syfrdanu unrhyw un ym 1999 pe baech chi wedi dweud 20 mlynedd yn ddiweddarach bod y bwlch anweithgarwch economaidd rhwng Cymru a gweddill y Deyrnas Unedig wedi crebachu i'r lefel y mae heddiw. Mae economi Cymru, Llywydd, wedi bod yn llwyddiant yn ystod y 25 mlynedd diwethaf, er gwaethaf ac nid oherwydd y polisïau y mae ei blaid ef wedi eu dilyn mewn grym.
Sometimes, you do wonder whether you should be in the comedy hall rather than on the floor of the Welsh Parliament, First Minister. It is a fact that when you were special adviser to Rhodri Morgan, you set the target for lifting GVA to be at least the average of the rest of the UK. You failed to do that. I highlighted to you how pay packets here in Wales are £2,000 lighter than in other parts of the United Kingdom, and I also highlighted to you how we have 5 per cent of the UK population but we only generate 3 per cent of the wealth. I asked you what strategy, what policy, you have in place to look forwards, not backwards, to make sure we can improve those numbers. You offered absolutely nothing. I offered you the opportunity. At the third time of asking, give us some idea of where you're taking the Welsh economy, with some tangible results that we can measure this Government on, because at the moment the results are showing a scorecard of 'very poor' when it comes to the economy here in Wales.
Weithiau, rydych chi'n meddwl tybed a ddylech chi fod yn y neuadd gomedi yn hytrach nag ar lawr Senedd Cymru, Prif Weinidog. Mae'n ffaith, pan oeddech chi'n gynghorydd arbennig i Rhodri Morgan, eich bod chi wedi gosod y targed ar gyfer codi gwerth ychwanegol gros i fod ar gyfartaledd gweddill y DU o leiaf. Rydych chi wedi methu â gwneud hynny. Tynnais eich sylw at sut mae pecynnau cyflog yma yng Nghymru £2,000 yn ysgafnach nag mewn rhannau eraill o'r Deyrnas Unedig, ac fe wnes i hefyd dynnu eich sylw at sut mae gennym ni 5 y cant o boblogaeth y DU ond ein bod ni'n cynhyrchu dim ond 3 y cant o'r cyfoeth. Gofynnais i chi pa strategaeth, pa bolisi, sydd gennych chi ar waith i edrych ymlaen, nid yn ôl, i wneud yn siŵr y gallwn ni wella'r rhifau hynny. Fe wnaethoch chi gynnig dim byd o gwbl. Rwyf i wedi rhoi'r cyfle i chi. Ar y trydydd cyfle, rhowch syniad i ni o ble'r ydych chi'n mynd ag economi Cymru, â rhai canlyniadau pendant y gallwn ni fesur y Llywodraeth hon ar eu sail, oherwydd ar hyn o bryd mae'r canlyniadau'n dangos cerdyn sgorio o 'wael iawn' o ran yr economi yma yng Nghymru.
I don't think the economic record of the United Kingdom is a laughing matter, nor do I think that, when the leader of the opposition finds himself on such thin ice, simply shouting ever louder at me is a way of disguising the weakness of his position. He's shouting at me again. It's a way in which he seeks to disguise the thinness of his own argument. Here in Wales, people tomorrow will face new hikes in interest rates. People who are paying mortgages in Wales will find themselves worse off again because of the economic mismanagement of his party. Here in Wales, this Government goes on investing in the Welsh economy, investing in the skills that people will need in the future, investing in the infrastructure that supports our economic effort, investing in those new industries—in cyber security, in renewable energy, in those things that offer Wales a successful economic future. We do so against the headwinds of the irresponsible actions of the UK Government. How well we remember how the leader of the opposition supported first Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss. How will he explain that to people in Wales, when they find their economic futures destroyed by the irresponsible actions of a Conservative Government that he has gone—[Interruption.]
Nid wyf i'n credu bod record economaidd y Deyrnas Unedig yn rhywbeth i chwerthin yn ei chylch, ac nid wyf i'n credu chwaith, pan fydd arweinydd yr wrthblaid yn cael ei hun ar iâ mor denau, bod gweiddi'n uwch ac yn uwch arnaf i yn ffordd o guddio gwendid ei safbwynt. Mae'n gweiddi arnaf i eto. Mae'n ffordd y mae'n ceisio cuddio teneuder ei ddadl ei hun. Yma yng Nghymru, bydd pobl yfory yn wynebu cynnydd newydd i gyfraddau llog. Bydd pobl sy'n talu morgeisi yng Nghymru yn gweld eu hunain yn waeth eu byd eto oherwydd camreolaeth economaidd ei blaid. Yma yng Nghymru, mae'r Llywodraeth hon yn parhau i fuddsoddi yn economi Cymru, i fuddsoddi yn y sgiliau y bydd eu hangen ar bobl yn y dyfodol, i fuddsoddi yn y seilwaith sy'n cefnogi ein hymdrech economaidd, i fuddsoddi yn y diwydiannau newydd hynny—mewn seiberddiogelwch, mewn ynni adnewyddadwy, yn y pethau hynny sy'n cynnig dyfodol economaidd llwyddiannus i Gymru. Rydym ni'n gwneud hynny yn erbyn blaenwyntoedd gweithredoedd anghyfrifol Llywodraeth y DU. Cofiwn mor dda sut y gwnaeth arweinydd yr wrthblaid gefnogi Boris Johnson yn gyntaf ac yna Liz Truss. Sut gwnaiff ef esbonio hynny i bobl yng Nghymru, pan fyddan nhw'n canfod bod eu dyfodol economaidd wedi cael ei ddinistrio gan weithredoedd anghyfrifol Llywodraeth Geidwadol y mae ef wedi mynd—[Torri ar draws.]
I think the questions have already been asked. Leader of the opposition, can you listen to the answer to the question?
Rwy'n credu bod y cwestiynau wedi cael eu gofyn eisoes. Arweinydd yr wrthblaid, a allwch chi wrando ar yr ateb i'r cwestiwn?
—time and again out of his way to support here in Wales?
—allan o'i ffordd i'w cefnogi yma yng Nghymru dro ar ôl tro?
Arweinydd newydd Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth.
The new leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth.
Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. Mae hi'n anrhydedd cael fy ngalw fel arweinydd Plaid Cymru i ddal Llywodraeth Cymru a Phrif Weinidog Cymru i gyfrif. Efo'ch caniatâd, Llywydd, mi fyddwn i'n licio diolch i'm cyd-Aelodau ar y meinciau yma am eu cefnogaeth, am y dymuniadau gorau gan Aelodau ar draws y Siambr, a'r dymuniadau lled dda gan arweinydd y Blaid Geidwadol. Rydyn ni i gyd yn dod i fan hyn, i'r Senedd—neu mi ddylem ni, yn sicr—efo darlun o'r math o gymdeithas rydyn ni eisiau gweithio tuag ati, ac i fi mae hynny'n cynnwys gweledigaeth glir o sut Gymru dwi'n dyheu amdani hi.
Thank you very much, Llywydd. It is a privilege to be called as leader of Plaid Cymru to hold the Welsh Government and the First Minister of Wales to account. With your permission, Llywydd, I would like to thank my fellow Members on these benches for their support, for the best wishes from Members across the Chamber, and the relatively good wishes expressed by the leader of the Conservative Party. We all come here to the Senedd—or we certainly should come here to the Senedd—with a picture of the kind of society we want to work towards, and for me that includes a clear vision of the Wales I aspire to.
The Wales I strive for is more ambitious. It's fairer. It's greener. It's more prosperous. It's a country both independent and connected, setting its own course and seeking new partnerships. It's a journey, and I invite the First Minister to work with me towards that vision, even if he himself hasn't been convinced to the extent that I have in our capabilities as a nation. I invite him to push our boundaries as a nation right now. So, on the issue of greater powers in general, taking more responsibility, does he agree with the principle of 'if you don't ask, you don't get'?
Mae'r Gymru yr wyf i'n ymdrechu i'w sicrhau yn fwy uchelgeisiol. Mae'n decach. Mae'n wyrddach. Mae'n fwy llewyrchus. Mae'n wlad sy'n annibynnol ac yn gysylltiedig, yn pennu ei thrywydd ei hun ac yn chwilio am bartneriaethau newydd. Mae'n daith, ac rwy'n gwahodd y Prif Weinidog i weithio gyda mi tuag at y weledigaeth honno, hyd yn oed os nad yw ef ei hun wedi cael ei argyhoeddi i'r graddau yr wyf i o'n galluoedd fel cenedl. Rwy'n ei wahodd i wthio ein ffiniau fel cenedl ar unwaith. Felly, ar fater mwy o bwerau yn gyffredinol, cymryd mwy o gyfrifoldeb, a yw'n cytuno â'r egwyddor o 'os na ofynnwch chi, ni chewch chi'?
I ddechrau, Llywydd, croeso’n ôl i Rhun ap Iorwerth at gwestiynau i'r Prif Weinidog, fel roedd arweinydd yr wrthblaid yn ei ddweud. Pob lwc iddo fe yn y swydd newydd mae e wedi ei derbyn.
To begin, Llywydd, I'd like to say 'welcome back' to Rhun ap Iorwerth to First Minister's questions, as the leader of the opposition said. Best of luck to him in the new post that he's accepted.
As far as the future of Wales is concerned, there is much in what Rhun ap Iorwerth said that would be a shared ambition by many people across this part the Chamber. I do look forward to go on working with him and with other Members of his party as part of the co-operation agreement that we have successfully navigated in the first 18 months. We have a great deal of important work to accomplish in the second half of that agreement.
I'll answer the specific question in this way, Llywydd: the Gordon Brown report, commissioned by my party as a prospectus for a next Labour Government, whenever that might come, says that there is no reason why anything that is devolved to Scotland should not be devolved to Wales, should that be the wish of this Senedd. I think that that provides a route to answering the question that Rhun ap Iorwerth raised. If the Senedd wants to ask for powers that are already devolved in another part of the United Kingdom to be exercised here, the Gordon Brown report says there should be no barrier to that taking place.
O ran dyfodol Cymru, ceir llawer yn yr hyn a ddywedodd Rhun ap Iorwerth a fyddai'n uchelgais a rennir gan lawer o bobl ar yr ochr yma i'r Siambr. Rwy'n edrych ymlaen at barhau i weithio gydag ef a chydag Aelodau eraill o'i blaid yn rhan o'r cytundeb cydweithio yr ydym ni wedi ei lywio yn llwyddiannus yn ystod y 18 mis cyntaf. Mae gennym ni lawer o waith pwysig i'w gyflawni yn ail hanner y cytundeb hwnnw.
Fe wnaf i ateb y cwestiwn penodol fel hyn, Llywydd: mae adroddiad Gordon Brown, a gomisiynwyd gan fy mhlaid fel prosbectws ar gyfer Llywodraeth Lafur nesaf, pryd bynnag y bydd hynny yn digwydd, yn dweud nad oes unrhyw reswm pam na ddylid datganoli unrhyw beth sydd wedi'i ddatganoli i'r Alban i Gymru, os mai dyna oedd dymuniad y Senedd hon. Rwy'n credu bod hynny yn cynnig llwybr at ateb y cwestiwn a ofynnwyd gan Rhun ap Iorwerth. Os yw'r Senedd eisiau gofyn i bwerau sydd eisoes wedi'u datganoli mewn rhan arall o'r Deyrnas Unedig gael eu harfer yma, mae adroddiad Gordon Brown yn dweud na ddylai fod unrhyw rwystr i hynny ddigwydd.
Dwi'n ddiolchgar am y cyfarchion gan y Prif Weinidog, a dwi o ddifrif am gydweithio.
I'm grateful for those greetings from the First Minister, and I'm serious about collaboration.
Last week, my Plaid Cymru colleagues described why devolving power over water was so important, and how disappointed we were that the Welsh Government wanted that transfer of power delayed. But, of course, I'm pleased that the First Minister agrees with us now on the basic principle around that particular issue. But I want to push him for more, and I'm sure he’d expect me to want to push him for more.
With the Conservatives, I get it. As a party, they can barely hide their contempt for devolution, just as they've shown that they hold basic principles of integrity and trust in contempt. It's incredible, isn't it, that a majority of Welsh Conservative MPs effectively sided with Boris Johnson last night by not voting on that Commons report. You'd have thought that that was the least they could have done to try to get some redemption.
But back to those powers. Where there's real convergence between the First Minister and myself—on water, yes, but on HS2 funding and other issues too—I welcome that genuinely. But it has to be more than words. Does he agree that, whilst Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, disagrees on so many of those issues, and won't promise to deliver, they really are just words?
Yr wythnos diwethaf, disgrifiodd fy nghyd-Aelodau Plaid Cymru pam roedd datganoli grym dros ddŵr mor bwysig, a pha mor siomedig oeddem ni bod Llywodraeth Cymru eisiau i'r trosglwyddiad grym hwnnw gael ei ohirio. Ond, wrth gwrs, rwy'n falch bod y Prif Weinidog yn cytuno â ni nawr ar yr egwyddor sylfaenol ynghylch y mater penodol hwnnw. Ond hoffwn ei wthio am fwy, ac rwy'n siŵr y byddai'n disgwyl i mi fod eisiau ei wthio am fwy.
Gyda'r Ceidwadwyr, rwy'n ei ddeall. Fel plaid, prin y gallan nhw guddio eu dirmyg tuag at ddatganoli, yn union fel y maen nhw wedi dangos eu bod nhw'n dirmygu egwyddorion sylfaenol uniondeb ac ymddiriedaeth. Mae'n anhygoel, onid yw, bod mwyafrif o ASau Ceidwadol Cymru i bob pwrpas wedi ochri gyda Boris Johnson neithiwr trwy beidio â phleidleisio ar yr adroddiad hwnnw yn Nhŷ'r Cyffredin. Byddech chi wedi meddwl mai dyna'r lleiaf y gallen nhw fod wedi ei wneud i geisio cael rhywfaint o iachawdwriaeth.
Ond yn ôl at y grymoedd hynny. Lle ceir tir cyffredin gwirioneddol rhwng y Prif Weinidog a minnau—ar ddŵr, ie, ond ar gyllid HS2 a materion eraill hefyd—rwyf i wir yn croesawu hynny. Ond mae'n rhaid iddo fod yn fwy na geiriau. A yw'n cytuno, tra bod Keir Starmer, arweinydd y Blaid Lafur, yn anghytuno ar gymaint o'r materion hynny, ac na wnaiff addo cyflawni, mai dim ond geiriau ydyn nhw mewn gwirionedd?
First of all, let me agree on this point—it was an astonishing act of political cowardice last night that the Prime Minister of this country failed to back the report of an independent committee of the House of Commons charged with that investigation and coming up, with a majority of Conservative MPs on that committee, with a series of recommendations. The fact that the Prime Minister failed to support that committee, I think, is an astonishing example of his political weakness, and I'm quite sure that he will, and he deserves to, regret it in future as well.
As far as devolution is concerned, of course I don't share what the leader of Plaid Cymru said about the Labour Party's hesitation, because the Labour Party is the party of devolution. There would be no devolution if it were not for the Labour Party's commitment to that cause. There would have been no growth in the powers that we saw in the Senedd here. The coming of primary law-making powers to this Senedd would not have happened if it were not for a Labour Government and the 2006 Act that a Labour Government put on the statute book. I look forward, absolutely, to the day when there is a Labour Government again at Westminster, a Government committed to the principles of devolution, a Government determined to shape a United Kingdom where power and authority is dispersed amongst the regions as well as the nations. I think that will give us a very different prospectus here in the Senedd, and I look forward very much to the day when we're in that position once again.
Yn gyntaf oll, gadewch i mi gytuno ar y pwynt hwn—roedd yn weithred ryfeddol o lwfrdra gwleidyddol neithiwr i Brif Weinidog y DU fethu â chefnogi adroddiad pwyllgor annibynnol yn Nhŷ'r Cyffredin a oedd yn gyfrifol am yr ymchwiliad hwnnw ac am lunio, gyda mwyafrif o ASau Ceidwadol ar y pwyllgor hwnnw, gyfres o argymhellion. Mae'r ffaith bod Prif Weinidog y DU wedi methu â chefnogi'r pwyllgor hwnnw, rwy'n credu, yn enghraifft syfrdanol o'i wendid gwleidyddol, ac rwy'n eithaf sicr y bydd yn difaru hynny, ac mae'n haeddu ei ddifaru, yn y dyfodol hefyd.
O ran datganoli, nid wyf i'n rhannu, wrth gwrs, yr hyn a ddywedodd arweinydd Plaid Cymru am betruster y Blaid Lafur, oherwydd y Blaid Lafur yw plaid datganoli. Ni fyddai datganoli oni bai am ymrwymiad y Blaid Lafur i'r achos hwnnw. Ni fyddai unrhyw dwf wedi bod yn y pwerau a welsom ni yn y Senedd yma. Ni fyddai dyfodiad pwerau deddfu sylfaenol i'r Senedd hon wedi digwydd oni bai am Lywodraeth Lafur a Deddf 2006 y rhoddodd Llywodraeth Lafur ar y llyfr statud. Rwy'n edrych ymlaen, yn sicr, at y diwrnod pan fo Llywodraeth Lafur eto yn San Steffan, Llywodraeth sydd wedi ymrwymo i egwyddorion datganoli, Llywodraeth sy'n benderfynol o lunio Teyrnas Unedig lle mae grym ac awdurdod yn cael eu rhannu ymhlith y rhanbarthau yn ogystal â'r cenhedloedd. Rwy'n credu y bydd hynny yn rhoi prosbectws tra gwahanol i ni yma yn y Senedd, ac edrychaf ymlaen yn fawr at y diwrnod pan fyddwn ni yn y sefyllfa honno unwaith eto.
I'm certainly very proud of the co-operation that happened over a period of decades that led to devolution and the many decades of pressure from Plaid Cymru to get us to that point. But what I'm getting at today with my questions is that we really need to see the First Minister hold his own party's feet to the fire, but I also want to see more from this Government itself when it comes to seeking the powers to forge our own future. On the devolution of justice and police, another example, there was a recent written answer from a UK Minister saying that Welsh Government hasn't actually made any formal request for the devolution of justice and policing, despite it being an apparent policy position of theirs for the best part of a decade now. We'll talk more about that in a Plaid Cymru debate here in the Senedd tomorrow. But we need to keep making the case for our own future as a nation. So, back to where I started: if you don't ask, you don't get. How will the First Minister make sure that Wales is heard?
Rwy'n sicr yn falch iawn o'r cydweithrediad a ddigwyddodd dros gyfnod o ddegawdau a arweiniodd at ddatganoli a'r degawdau lawer o bwysau gan Blaid Cymru i'n cael ni i'r pwynt hwnnw. Ond yr hyn yr wyf i'n ceisio ei gyfleu heddiw gyda fy nghwestiynau yw ein bod ni wir angen gweld y Prif Weinidog yn dal traed ei blaid ei hun i'r tân, ond rwyf i hefyd eisiau gweld mwy gan y Llywodraeth hon ei hun o ran ceisio'r pwerau i lunio ein dyfodol ein hunain. O ran datganoli cyfiawnder a'r heddlu, enghraifft arall, cafwyd ateb ysgrifenedig diweddar gan Weinidog y DU yn dweud nad yw Llywodraeth Cymru wedi gwneud unrhyw gais ffurfiol i gyfiawnder a phlismona gael eu datganoli mewn gwirionedd, er ei bod yn ymddangos ei fod yn safbwynt polisi ganddyn nhw ers y rhan helaeth o ddegawd bellach. Fe wnawn ni sôn mwy am hynny mewn dadl Plaid Cymru yma yn y Senedd yfory. Ond mae angen i ni barhau i wneud y ddadl dros ein dyfodol ein hunain fel cenedl. Felly, yn ôl i'r man lle dechreuais i: os na wnewch chi ofyn, ni chewch chi. Sut gwnaiff y Prif Weinidog wneud yn siŵr bod Cymru yn cael ei chlywed?
Well, first of all, Llywydd, let me be clear: it is absolute nonsense for any Conservative Minister to claim that we have not asked formally for those powers. We have been in painful discussions with the UK Government over the Thomas commission report ever since it was published. We have gained tiny, tiny bits of ground on the many recommendations that Lord Thomas put to the UK Government itself: tiny gains in data, important gains, but, in the grander scheme of things, fractional compared to the ambitious agenda that Lord Thomas laid out and that we have put time and time and time again to that UK Government.
This Government in Wales continues to articulate the case for the devolution of the justice system based on that authoritative report. The sub-committee on justice that I sit on with my colleague Jane Hutt and chaired by the Counsel General develops that case alongside the wider legal community and the professional community here in Wales. The Gordon Brown report, Llywydd, to return to that, proposes the devolution of youth justice and the probation service. I look forward to both of those things happening. I think further devolution lies beyond that, but, in many ways, the first step on the journey can be the hardest to take, and the fact that the Brown report absolutely unambiguously endorses that those responsibilities should become responsibilities here in the Senedd—through that committee that we sit on, we are preparing now for the reality of those powers coming here to Wales; we will go on making that case, and we will go on making that case on the grounds that those services where decisions are made closer to the people directly involved in them and those people directly affected by them will be better decisions, and that those responsibilities will be more effectively discharged when they are here on the floor of this Senedd.
Wel, yn gyntaf oll, Llywydd, gadewch i mi fod yn glir: mae'n nonsens llwyr i unrhyw Weinidog Ceidwadol honni nad ydym ni wedi gofyn yn ffurfiol am y pwerau hynny. Rydym ni wedi bod mewn trafodaethau poenus gyda Llywodraeth y DU ynghylch adroddiad comisiwn Thomas ers ei gyhoeddi. Rydym ni wedi ennill darnau bach, bach o dir ar yr argymhellion niferus a wnaed gan yr Arglwydd Thomas i Lywodraeth y DU ei hun: enillion bach iawn o ran data, enillion pwysig, ond, yn y cyd-destun ehangach, rhai main o'u cymharu â'r agenda uchelgeisiol a gyflwynwyd gan yr Arglwydd Thomas ac yr ydym ni wedi ei chyflwyno dro ar ôl tro ar ôl tro i Lywodraeth honno y DU.
Mae'r Llywodraeth hon yng Nghymru yn parhau i wneud y ddadl dros ddatganoli'r system gyfiawnder yn seiliedig ar yr adroddiad awdurdodol hwnnw. Mae'r is-bwyllgor ar gyfiawnder yr wyf i'n eistedd arno gyda fy nghyd-Weinidog Jane Hutt ac o dan gadeiryddiaeth y Cwnsler Cyffredinol yn datblygu'r ddadl honno ochr yn ochr â'r gymuned gyfreithiol ehangach a'r gymuned broffesiynol yma yng Nghymru. Mae adroddiad Gordon Brown, Llywydd, i ddychwelyd at hwnnw, yn cynnig datganoli cyfiawnder ieuenctid a'r gwasanaeth prawf. Rwy'n edrych ymlaen at weld y ddau beth hynny yn digwydd. Rwy'n credu bod datganoli pellach y tu hwnt i hynny, ond, mewn sawl ffordd, y cam cyntaf ar y daith yw'r anoddaf i'w gymryd, a'r ffaith bod adroddiad Brown yn gwbl ddiamwys yn cymeradwyo y dylai'r cyfrifoldebau hynny ddod yn gyfrifoldebau yma yn y Senedd—drwy'r pwyllgor hwnnw yr ydym ni'n eistedd arno, rydym ni'n paratoi nawr ar gyfer realiti'r pwerau hynny yn dod yma i Gymru; byddwn yn parhau i wneud y ddadl honno, a byddwn yn parhau i wneud y ddadl honno ar y sail y bydd y gwasanaethau hynny lle mae penderfyniadau yn cael eu gwneud yn agosach at y bobl sy'n uniongyrchol gysylltiedig â nhw a'r bobl hynny sy'n cael eu heffeithio yn uniongyrchol ganddyn nhw yn benderfyniadau gwell, ac y bydd y cyfrifoldebau hynny yn cael eu cyflawni yn fwy effeithiol pan fyddan nhw yma ar lawr y Senedd hon.
3. Pa fesurau y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn eu cymryd i leihau anghydraddoldebau iechyd a marwolaeth? OQ59687
3. What measures is the Welsh Government taking to reduce health and mortality inequalities? OQ59687
Llywydd, health inequalities are a manifestation of wider economic and social inequalities that shape the life chances of Welsh citizens. We know that the earliest actions we can take—the Healthy Start scheme and compensatory policies such as Flying Start—have the greatest impact, including reductions in health and mortality inequalities.
Llywydd, mae anghydraddoldebau iechyd yn arwydd o anghydraddoldebau economaidd a chymdeithasol ehangach sy'n llywio cyfleoedd bywyd dinasyddion Cymru. Rydym ni'n gwybod mai'r camau cynharaf y gallwn ni eu cymryd—cynllun Cychwyn Iach a pholisïau gwneud iawn fel Dechrau'n Deg—sy'n cael yr effaith fwyaf, gan gynnwys lleihad mewn anghydraddoldebau iechyd a marwolaeth.
The First Minister will agree with me that one of the greatest injustices globally, but also here in Wales, is when one's quality of life, one's health outcomes, but also one's life expectancy are narrowed by the circumstances of birth or the circumstances of your environment around you. We had a report before I tabled this question—I didn't know this report was coming—that showed the 10-year gap in mortality between places in my constituency like Ynysawdre in Bettws and Blackmill and those who live in Laleston and Brackla and Coity. And we had the cancer cross-party group report on how disadvantage impacts on cancer outcomes. This is Dr Julian Tudor Hart's inverse care law writ large, all those years after the creation of the NHS. So, 75 years on from the creation of the NHS, I think it's right that we ask: what would Nye do now? What would Attlee do now? What would Jim Griffiths do now, and others of that ilk, if they were looking at this and saying, 'How do we deal with this injustice?' But, more importantly, First Minister, what will we do now, in this seventy-fifth year of the NHS, to talk about the conditions of housing, the conditions of your upbringing, as well as health, and move to community and preventative models so that we narrow further that injustice in the gap of life expectancy and health outcomes? It is simply not fair, and we must do all we can.
Bydd y Prif Weinidog yn cytuno â mi mai un o'r anghyfiawnderau mwyaf yn fyd-eang, ond hefyd yma yng Nghymru, yw pan fydd ansawdd bywyd rhywun, canlyniadau iechyd rhywun, ond hefyd ddisgwyliad oes rhywun yn cael eu culhau gan amgylchiadau eu geni neu amgylchiadau'r amgylchedd o'ch cwmpas. Cawsom adroddiad cyn i mi gyflwyno'r cwestiwn hwn—doeddwn i ddim yn gwybod bod yr adroddiad hwn yn dod—a ddangosodd y bwlch o 10 mlynedd o ran marwolaeth rhwng lleoedd yn fy etholaeth i fel Ynysawdre ym Metws a Melin Ifan Ddu a'r rhai sy'n byw yn Nhrelales a Bracla a Choety. Ac fe gawsom ni adroddiad y grŵp trawsbleidiol ar ganser ar sut mae anfantais yn effeithio ar ganlyniadau canser. Dyma gyfraith gofal gwrthdro Dr Julian Tudor Hart wedi'i hamlygu, yr holl flynyddoedd hynny ar ôl creu'r GIG. Felly, 75 mlynedd ers creu'r GIG, rwy'n credu ei bod hi'n iawn ein bod ni'n gofyn: beth fyddai Nye yn ei wneud nawr? Beth fyddai Attlee yn ei wneud nawr? Beth fyddai Jim Griffiths yn ei wneud nawr, a phobl eraill o'r fath, pe baen nhw'n edrych ar hyn ac yn dweud, 'Sut ddylem ni ymdrin â'r anghyfiawnder hwn?' Ond, yn bwysicach fyth, Prif Weinidog, beth ddylem ni ei wneud nawr, ym mhymthegfed blwyddyn a thrigain hon y GIG, i siarad am amodau tai, amodau eich magwraeth, yn ogystal ag iechyd, a symud at fodelau cymunedol ac ataliol fel ein bod ni'n culhau ymhellach yr anghyfiawnder hwnnw yn y bwlch o ran disgwyliad oes a chanlyniadau iechyd? Yn syml, nid yw'n deg ac mae'n rhaid i ni wneud popeth yn ein gallu.
Llywydd, I think Huw Irranca-Davies has very well articulated the fact that improvement in health inequalities does not lie in the hands of the health service primarily; it lies in dealing with those underlying and precipitating causes that impact on the life chances of people in every part of our communities. That is why, as a Government, we invest in housing, because we know that the housing conditions in which you live have a fundamental impact on your health, from the earliest years right through to later on in life. It's why we invest in education to make sure that our young people have the best chance of going on to earn a living in an economy that is thriving, and in which they themselves find themselves able to live out lives where healthy life expectancy—not simply life expectancy itself—where healthy life expectancy lies in front of them.
As far as the contribution of the health service itself is concerned, then it is the things that my colleague, the health Minister, has emphasised so often when speaking here on the floor of the Senedd. It is smoking, it is obesity, it is the public health agenda that has that shaping impact on people's life changes, and it is moving services closer to where people live so that those people who live today with health disadvantages have those disadvantages eroded. In the Member's own constituency, I've been following the work of the health board in its plan to remodel Maesteg Community Hospital, a hospital that I've visited with the Member myself in the past, into a new future Maesteg community health hub, bringing social care and healthcare together, reducing the number of people who aren't able to take up appointments when they have to travel further afield, decreasing the number of late presentations. That's another real feature of health inequalities, Dirprwy Lywydd. People who have the least wait the longest before they bring their problems to the health service. When you move those services closer to those communities, you can erode those inequalities as well. And then the health service plays its part, but its part alongside all those other things that we need to do to tackle the scandal not just of health inequalities, but the way in which inequality itself has been allowed to grow in the United Kingdom over the last 15 years and more.
Llywydd, rwy'n credu bod Huw Irranca-Davies wedi mynegi yn dda iawn y ffaith nad yw gwelliant i anghydraddoldebau iechyd yn nwylo'r gwasanaeth iechyd yn bennaf; mae'n ymwneud â delio â'r achosion sylfaenol ac ysgogol hynny sy'n effeithio ar gyfleoedd bywyd pobl ym mhob rhan o'n cymunedau. Dyna pam, fel Llywodraeth, yr ydym ni'n buddsoddi mewn tai, gan ein bod ni'n gwybod bod yr amodau tai yr ydych chi'n byw ynddyn nhw yn cael effaith sylfaenol ar eich iechyd, o'r blynyddoedd cynharaf yr holl ffordd i gyfnod diweddarach eich bywyd. Dyna pam rydym ni'n buddsoddi mewn addysg i wneud yn siŵr bod ein pobl ifanc yn cael y cyfle gorau o fynd ymlaen i ennill bywoliaeth mewn economi sy'n ffynnu, ac lle maen nhw eu hunain yn cael eu hunain yn gallu byw bywydau lle mae disgwyliad oes iach —nid disgwyliad oes ei hun yn unig—lle mae disgwyliad oes iach o'u blaenau.
O ran cyfraniad y gwasanaeth iechyd ei hun, yna'r pethau y mae fy nghyd-Weinidog, y Gweinidog Iechyd, wedi eu pwysleisio mor aml wrth siarad yma ar lawr y Senedd yw'r rheini. Ysmygu, gordewdra, yr agenda iechyd cyhoeddus sy'n cael yr effaith honno o lunio newidiadau bywyd pobl, a symud gwasanaethau yn agosach i'r fan lle mae pobl yn byw fel bod yr anfanteision iechyd hynny y mae pobl yn byw â nhw heddiw yn cael eu herydu. Yn etholaeth yr Aelod ei hun, rwyf i wedi bod yn dilyn gwaith y bwrdd iechyd yn ei gynllun i ailfodelu Ysbyty Cymunedol Maesteg, ysbyty yr wyf i wedi ymweld ag ef gyda'r Aelod fy hun yn y gorffennol, yn ganolfan iechyd cymunedol newydd i Faesteg yn y dyfodol, gan ddod â gofal cymdeithasol a gofal iechyd ynghyd, lleihau nifer y bobl nad ydyn nhw'n gallu manteisio ar apwyntiadau pan fydd yn rhaid iddyn nhw deithio ymhellach i ffwrdd, a lleihau nifer y cyflwyniadau hwyr. Mae honno'n nodwedd wirioneddol arall o anghydraddoldebau iechyd, Dirprwy Lywydd. Y bobl sydd â'r lleiaf sy'n aros hiraf cyn iddyn nhw ddod â'u problemau i'r gwasanaeth iechyd. Pan fyddwch chi'n symud y gwasanaethau hynny yn agosach at y cymunedau hynny, gallwch chi erydu'r anghydraddoldebau hynny hefyd. Ac yna mae'r gwasanaeth iechyd yn chwarae ei ran, ond ei ran ochr yn ochr â'r holl bethau eraill hynny y mae angen i ni eu gwneud i fynd i'r afael â'r sgandal nid yn unig o anghydraddoldebau iechyd, ond y ffordd y caniatawyd i anghydraddoldeb ei hun dyfu yn y Deyrnas Unedig dros y 15 mlynedd diwethaf a mwy.
Daeth y Dirprwy Lywydd (David Rees) i’r Gadair.
The Deputy Presiding Officer (David Rees) took the Chair.
One of the other issues in relation to health inequalities is the huge disparity in the performance of the NHS in different parts of Wales. People in north Wales, for example, have the worst-performing emergency departments in the country. All three of the major hospitals in north Wales are severely underperforming, and people in north Wales are likely to wait longer for referral to treatment as well for many, many different operations. So, what action is the Welsh Government taking in order to turn around those inequalities so that we don't have the sort of postcode system that we have in terms of decent access to treatment when people need it?
Un o'r materion eraill o ran anghydraddoldebau iechyd yw'r gwahaniaeth enfawr ym mherfformiad y GIG mewn gwahanol rannau o Gymru. Er enghraifft, pobl yn y gogledd sydd â'r adrannau brys sy'n perfformio waethaf yn y wlad. Mae pob un o'r tri ysbyty mawr yn y gogledd yn tanberfformio'n ddifrifol, ac mae pobl yn y gogledd yn debygol o aros yn hwy i gael eu cyfeirio at driniaeth hefyd ar gyfer llawer iawn o wahanol lawdriniaethau. Felly, pa gamau mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn eu cymryd i newid yr anghydraddoldebau hynny fel nad oes gennym ni'r math o system cod post sydd gennym ni o ran mynediad digonol at driniaeth pan fydd ei angen ar bobl?
I don't disagree with the opening proposition that inequalities within the health service itself are something that we have to work harder to eradicate. When we used to talk about the prudent healthcare agenda on the floor of the Senedd here, I remember often quoting the fact that you were four times as likely to have your tonsils removed if you lived on Ynys Môn than if you were inside the same health board but were living in Wrexham. So, those variations in healthcare I agree are an important part of making sure that there is an effort to reduce health inequalities everywhere. And just as every part of Wales has its own challenges, so every part of Wales does better than anywhere else in some other important parts of healthcare.
So, when you think of health inequalities, one of the major weapons in the armoury, Dirprwy Lywydd, is vaccination to prevent avoidable illness, and, here, Betsi Cadwaladr leads the whole of Wales. It has the best flu vaccination rates in the whole of Wales. It has the best childhood vaccination rates of anywhere in Wales. Indeed, the rate of child immunisation by the age of five was at its highest since records began in 2020-21, and the leading player, the leading health board across the whole of Wales in that record performance, was Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. So, I’m not disagreeing with the Member that there are challenges there that need to be addressed, but, if you want to give a fair and rounded picture, you would also have to recognise that there are many, many things in which, as in every part of Wales, that health board excels in the service it provides to its local population.
Nid wyf i'n anghytuno â'r cynnig agoriadol bod anghydraddoldebau o fewn y gwasanaeth iechyd ei hun yn rhywbeth y mae'n rhaid i ni weithio'n galetach i gael gwared arnyn nhw. Pan oeddem ni'n arfer siarad am yr agenda gofal iechyd darbodus ar lawr y Senedd yma, rwy'n cofio'n aml dyfynnu'r ffaith eich bod chi bedair gwaith yn fwy tebygol o gael tynnu eich tonsiliau os oeddech chi'n byw ar Ynys Môn nag oeddech chi yn rhan o'r un bwrdd iechyd ond yn byw yn Wrecsam. Felly, rwy'n cytuno bod yr amrywiadau hynny mewn gofal iechyd yn rhan bwysig o wneud yn siŵr bod ymdrech i leihau anghydraddoldebau iechyd ym mhobman. Ac yn union fel y mae gan bob rhan o Gymru ei heriau ei hun, felly hefyd y mae pob rhan o Gymru yn gwneud yn well nag unman arall mewn rhai rhannau pwysig eraill o ofal iechyd.
Felly, pan fyddwch chi'n meddwl am anghydraddoldebau iechyd, un o'r prif arfau yn yr arfogaeth, Dirprwy Lywydd, yw brechu i atal salwch y gellir ei osgoi, ac, yn hyn o beth, Betsi Cadwaladr sy'n arwain Cymru gyfan. Mae ganddo'r cyfraddau brechu rhag ffliw gorau yng Nghymru gyfan. Mae ganddo'r cyfraddau brechu plant gorau o unrhyw le yng Nghymru. Yn wir, roedd cyfradd imiwneiddio plant erbyn pump oed ar ei huchaf ers i gofnodion ddechrau yn 2020-21, a'r prif berfformiwr, y bwrdd iechyd blaenllaw ar draws Cymru gyfan yn y perfformiad gorau erioed hwnnw, oedd Bwrdd Iechyd Prifysgol Betsi Cadwaladr. Felly, nid wyf i'n anghytuno â'r Aelod bod heriau yno y mae angen mynd i'r afael â nhw, ond, os ydych chi eisiau rhoi darlun teg a chytbwys, byddai'n rhaid i chi hefyd gydnabod bod llawer iawn o bethau lle mae'r bwrdd iechyd hwnnw, fel ym mhob rhan o Gymru, yn rhagori yn y gwasanaeth y mae'n ei ddarparu i'w boblogaeth leol.
Gaf i hefyd ymestyn croeso mawr i Rhun ap Iorwerth ar ran y Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol? Diolch.
May I extend a warm welcome to Rhun ap Iorwerth on behalf of the Liberal Democrats? Thank you.
Good afternoon, First Minister. I had cause recently to visit an independent prescriber. You talked about services being close to the people. Independent prescribers and pharmacists are very close to our people, and they actually need continued support and funding to ensure that we have more and that they feel better supported and skilled. Dylan Jones is a fantastic independent prescriber based in Llanidloes and Llanwrtyd Wells. He says it’s one of the best things he’s ever done. But many of them talk about how important it is to have placements with GPs, and GPs say it’s important for them to have the funding and the support in order to provide those placements. So, I just wondered if you could talk about how you plan to ensure that this fabulous service, particularly in rural areas like Mid and West Wales, gets the support it needs to expand and carry on. Thank you—diolch yn fawr iawn.
Prynhawn da, Prif Weinidog. Cefais reswm yn ddiweddar i ymweld â phresgripsiynydd annibynnol. Fe wnaethoch chi sôn am wasanaethau yn agos at y bobl. Mae presgripsiynwyr annibynnol a fferyllwyr yn agos iawn at ein pobl, ac mae angen cymorth a chyllid parhaus arnyn nhw i sicrhau bod gennym ni fwy a'u bod yn teimlo eu bod nhw'n yn cael eu cynorthwyo yn well ac yn fwy medrus. Mae Dylan Jones yn bresgripsiynydd annibynnol gwych sydd wedi'i leoli yn Llanidloes a Llanwrtyd. Mae'n dweud ei fod yn un o'r pethau gorau y mae erioed wedi ei wneud. Ond mae llawer ohonyn nhw'n sôn am ba mor bwysig yw bod â lleoliadau gyda meddygon teulu, ac mae meddygon teulu yn dweud ei bod hi'n bwysig iddyn nhw gael y cyllid a'r cymorth er mwyn darparu'r lleoliadau hynny. Felly, roeddwn i'n meddwl tybed a allech chi siarad am sut rydych chi'n bwriadu sicrhau bod y gwasanaeth ardderchog hwn, yn enwedig mewn ardaloedd gwledig fel y canolbarth a'r gorllewin, yn cael y cymorth sydd ei angen arno i ehangu a pharhau. Diolch—diolch yn fawr iawn.
Wel, diolch yn fawr i Jane Dodds.
Well, thank you very much to Jane Dodds.
In answering Huw Irranca-Davies, Llywydd, I tried to say about the importance of moving services closer to people in order to deal with health inequalities, and the fantastic work that has gone on in Wales in community pharmacy, a cause that has been supported right across this Chamber over the whole of the period of devolution, has moved, as Jane Dodds says, into a new and very important phase with the investment we are making into independent prescribing rights for pharmacists. Llanidloes has been much mentioned on the floor of the Senedd this afternoon, but that’s exactly the sort of community where, if you have a wider primary care team, where people are enabled to practice at the top of their clinical licence, making the maximum use of the skills that they have acquired, and, in the case of pharmacists now, being able to prescribe independently within the range of that clinical competence, of course it means that services in more rural towns and villages come closer to people.
We still have nearly 700 community pharmacists here in Wales. The numbers in Wales are not falling as they are elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and that is partly, I believe, because of the partnership we have had with that profession and the investment that we are making in it. The more that we are able to do in the way that Jane Dodds said to recognise and to enhance the value that every member of that clinical team, that primary care team, is able to add, then the more we will have services that are available to people where people will go to see the person who is best equipped to respond to their need, and pharmacists are a fundamental part of the way in which we shape that future.
Wrth ateb Huw Irranca-Davies, Llywydd, ceisiais sôn am bwysigrwydd symud gwasanaethau yn agosach at bobl er mwyn ymdrin ag anghydraddoldebau iechyd, ac mae'r gwaith gwych sydd wedi cael ei wneud yng Nghymru ym maes fferylliaeth gymunedol, achos sydd wedi cael ei gefnogi ar draws y Siambr hon i gyd dros holl gyfnod datganoli, wedi symud, fel y mae Jane Dodds yn dweud, i gyfnod newydd a phwysig iawn gyda'r buddsoddiad yr ydym ni'n ei wneud mewn hawliau presgripsiynu annibynnol i fferyllwyr. Soniwyd llawer am Lanidloes ar lawr y Senedd y prynhawn yma, ond dyna'n union y math o gymuned lle, os oes gennych chi dîm gofal sylfaenol ehangach, lle mae pobl yn cael eu galluogi i ymarfer ar frig eu trwydded glinigol, gan wneud y defnydd mwyaf posibl o'r sgiliau y maen nhw wedi eu caffael, ac, yn achos fferyllwyr nawr, gallu presgripsiynu'n annibynnol o fewn ystod y cymhwysedd clinigol hwnnw, wrth gwrs mae'n golygu bod gwasanaethau mewn trefi a phentrefi mwy gwledig yn dod yn agosach at bobl.
Mae gennym ni bron i 700 o fferyllwyr cymunedol yma yng Nghymru o hyd. Nid yw'r niferoedd yng Nghymru yn gostwng fel y maen nhw mewn mannau eraill yn y Deyrnas Unedig, ac mae hynny'n rhannol, rwy'n credu, oherwydd y bartneriaeth a fu gennym ni gyda'r proffesiwn hwnnw a'r buddsoddiad yr ydym ni'n ei wneud ynddo. Po fwyaf y gallwn ni ei wneud yn y ffordd y dywedodd Jane Dodds i gydnabod a gwella'r gwerth y gall pob aelod o'r tîm clinigol hwnnw, y tîm gofal sylfaenol hwnnw, ei ychwanegu, yna po fwyaf y bydd gennym ni wasanaethau sydd ar gael i bobl lle bydd pobl yn mynd i weld y person sydd yn y sefyllfa orau i ymateb i'w hangen, ac mae fferyllwyr yn rhan sylfaenol o'r ffordd yr ydym ni'n llunio'r dyfodol hwnnw.
4. Pa asesiad y mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi'i wneud o'r effaith y bydd yr argyfwng bysiau cyhoeddus presennol yn ei chael ar ddarpariaethau'r Mesur teithio gan ddysgwyr? OQ59705
4. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact the current public bus emergency will have on the provisions of the learner travel Measure? OQ59705
I thank Carolyn Thomas. Llywydd, on Friday, the Welsh Government published a statement with bus industry partners and others. It confirmed that funding provided this year will ensure that essential services can continue. The impact on learners ahead of the new school year continues to be an integral part of this joint work.
Diolchaf i Carolyn Thomas. Llywydd, ddydd Gwener, cyhoeddodd Llywodraeth Cymru ddatganiad gyda phartneriaid yn y diwydiant bysiau ac eraill. Cadarnhaodd y bydd cyllid a ddarperir eleni yn sicrhau y gall gwasanaethau hanfodol barhau. Mae'r effaith ar ddysgwyr cyn y flwyddyn ysgol newydd yn parhau i fod yn rhan annatod o'r gwaith ar y cyd hwn.
Thank you for your response, First Minister. I am aware, especially in north Wales, that public transport is tied up with education transport—they help fund each other—and I really commend the partnership working that's been happening over the last few weeks to save as many bus routes as possible. However, we are on a skeletal service following two decades of declining passenger usage and also cuts in subsidies following more than a decade of public service cuts. We also have a driver shortage, and I know that regular drivers mean a lot to passengers; they encourage confidence to get passengers back on buses, they know the timetables and they offer advice as well. So, now we have some stability, going forward, would the Welsh Government help drive a recruitment drive to get drivers back onto buses, and also to get the passenger numbers back up again to make our services more stable, going forward? Thank you.
Diolch am eich ymateb, Prif Weinidog. Rwy'n ymwybodol, yn enwedig yn y gogledd, bod trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus ynghlwm â thrafnidiaeth addysg—maen nhw'n helpu i ariannu ei gilydd—ac rwyf i wir yn cymeradwyo'r gwaith partneriaeth sydd wedi bod yn cael ei wneud dros yr wythnosau diwethaf i arbed cymaint o lwybrau bysiau â phosibl. Fodd bynnag, rydym ni wedi cyrraedd cnewyllyn gwasanaeth yn dilyn dau ddegawd o ostyngiad i nifer y teithwyr a hefyd toriadau i gymorthdaliadau yn dilyn mwy na degawd o doriadau i wasanaethau cyhoeddus. Mae gennym ni brinder gyrwyr hefyd, a gwn fod gyrwyr rheolaidd yn golygu llawer i deithwyr; maen nhw'n annog hyder i gael teithwyr yn ôl ar fysiau, maen nhw'n gwybod yr amserlenni ac maen nhw'n cynnig cyngor hefyd. Felly, nawr bod gennym ni rywfaint o sefydlogrwydd, yn y dyfodol, a fyddai Llywodraeth Cymru yn helpu i fwrw ymlaen ag ymgyrch recriwtio i gael gyrwyr yn ôl ar fysiau, a hefyd i gael nifer y teithwyr yn ôl i fyny eto i wneud ein gwasanaethau yn fwy sefydlog, yn y dyfodol? Diolch.
I thank Carolyn Thomas for that. She is right that the statement that the Deputy Minister made last week is signed up to by six different partners across the industry, local authorities and the Welsh Government. There has been a huge effort over recent weeks to arrive at that point where we're now able to move into a bus transition funding model.
But, Carolyn Thomas is also right, Dirprwy Lywydd, that the challenge facing the bus industry is not simply funding; it is also a workforce challenge as well. The age profile of bus drivers is an ageing profile, and that is particularly true in learner travel, where companies rely on people who work not full time, but certain hours of the day and so on. It is a four-nation challenge, because the same profile is to be found in every part of the United Kingdom, and it is why we in Wales are part of a new four-nation approach to attracting people back into that industry, to find ways of overcoming barriers and to find ways in which people who previously worked in this industry could refresh their skills and take up posts in the industry again.
Our ReAct+ programme, Dirprwy Lywydd, for example, directly supports people who have lost their job in one industry and who may have previously worked as bus drivers, but who need now to go on courses that refresh their training and make sure that they have the skills and qualifications needed to be a bus driver in the contemporary period. A campaign to persuade people that this is a job that they could do and a contribution that they could make is, of course, something that we will look at very positively.
Diolch i Carolyn Thomas am hynny. Mae hi'n gywir bod chwe gwahanol bartner ar draws y diwydiant, awdurdodau lleol a Llywodraeth Cymru wedi ymrwymo i'r datganiad y gwnaeth y Dirprwy Weinidog yr wythnos diwethaf. Mae ymdrech enfawr wedi bod yn ystod yr wythnosau diwethaf i gyrraedd y pwynt hwnnw lle'r ydyn ni nawr yn gallu symud i fodel cyllid pontio ar gyfer bysiau.
Ond, mae Carolyn Thomas hefyd yn gywir, Dirprwy Lywydd, nad cyllid yw'r unig her sy'n wynebu'r diwydiant bysiau; mae her hefyd o ran y gweithlu. Mae proffil oedran gyrwyr bysiau yn broffil sy'n heneiddio, ac mae hynny'n arbennig o wir o ran teithio i ddysgwyr, lle mae cwmnïau'n dibynnu ar bobl nad ydyn nhw'n gweithio'n llawnamser, dim ond oriau penodol o'r dydd ac yn y blaen. Mae'n her pedair gwlad, oherwydd mae'r un proffil i'w weld ym mhob rhan o'r Deyrnas Unedig, a dyna pam ein bod ni yng Nghymru yn rhan o ddull newydd pedair gwlad o ddenu pobl yn ôl i'r diwydiant hwnnw, i ddod o hyd i ffyrdd o oresgyn rhwystrau a dod o hyd i ffyrdd y gallai pobl a oedd yn arfer gweithio yn y diwydiant hwn ddiweddaru eu sgiliau ac ymgymryd â swyddi yn y diwydiant eto.
Mae ein rhaglen ReAct+, Dirprwy Lywydd, er enghraifft, yn rhoi cefnogaeth uniongyrchol i bobl sydd wedi colli eu swydd mewn un diwydiant ac a allai fod wedi gweithio fel gyrwyr bysiau o'r blaen, ond mae angen iddyn nhw fynd ar gyrsiau nawr i ddiweddaru eu hyfforddiant a sicrhau bod ganddyn nhw'r sgiliau a'r cymwysterau sydd eu hangen i fod yn yrrwr bws yn y cyfnod presennol. Mae ymgyrch i berswadio pobl bod hon yn swydd y gallen nhw ei gwneud a chyfraniad y gallen nhw ei wneud, wrth gwrs, yn rhywbeth y byddwn ni'n ei ystyried yn gadarnhaol iawn.
First Minister, in March, the Deputy Minister for Climate Change said that a wide review was going to be taking place of the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008 because of the complex needs around learners and, actually, that there was going to be integration of more public transport into the delivery of learner transport across the country. However, I'd like to know how that's going and what consultation has been taking place with parents and local authorities, because in my constituency, where we've actually relied more on public transport, in Builth Wells, there were children being left on the side of the road or children actually standing on the bus because there was physically no room for those pupils to go on that public transport. So, can we have some assurances that when this review is taking place, that if we are moving to a model where we do use more public transport, we'll make sure there are those buses available so that we do not leave learners on the side of the road and young people are not forced to stand on a bus?
Prif Weinidog, ym mis Mawrth, dywedodd y Dirprwy Weinidog Newid Hinsawdd y byddai adolygiad eang yn cael ei gynnal o Fesur Teithio gan Ddysgwyr (Cymru) 2008 oherwydd yr anghenion cymhleth ynghylch dysgwyr ac, yn wir, y byddai mwy o drafnidiaeth gyhoeddus yn dod yn rhan o ddarpariaeth cludiant i ddysgwyr ledled y wlad. Fodd bynnag, hoffwn i wybod sut mae hynny'n mynd a pha ymgynghori sydd wedi bod yn digwydd gyda rhieni ac awdurdodau lleol, oherwydd yn fy etholaeth i, lle'r ydyn ni wedi dibynnu mwy ar drafnidiaeth gyhoeddus, yn Llanfair-ym-Muallt, roedd plant yn cael eu gadael ar ochr y ffordd neu blant yn sefyll ar y bws oherwydd nad oedd lle i'r disgyblion hynny fynd ar y drafnidiaeth gyhoeddus honno. Felly, a gawn ni rywfaint o sicrwydd, pan fydd yr adolygiad hwn yn cael ei gynnal, y byddwn ni, os ydyn ni'n symud tuag at fodel lle'r ydyn ni'n defnyddio mwy o drafnidiaeth gyhoeddus, yn sicrhau bod y bysiau hynny ar gael fel nad ydyn ni'n gadael dysgwyr ar ochr y ffordd ac nad yw pobl ifanc yn cael eu gorfodi i sefyll ar fws?
The review is proceeding and proceeding actively. Mr Evans asked what engagement there was with local authorities. There was a deadline of 5 June for local authorities to submit their evidence to that review—evidence around costs, numbers, modes of delivery of school transport. Over half of local authorities in Wales had returned their surveys by that date and we're expecting the remainder to submit their evidence very imminently. We're carrying out direct consultation with children and young people themselves. Between 16 June and 17 July, there will be direct consultation being carried out in schools in Wales, commissioned through Young Wales—that organisation—to make sure that we capture the views and preferences of young people themselves in that home-school transport.
My understanding is that Welsh Government officials expect to draw together all the strands in the review that has been taking place so that they can provide evidence directly to Minister by the end of this Senedd term. The Minister will then be able to review that himself over the summer, and then return to the Senedd in the autumn, so that Members are informed of the outcome of that review.
Mae'r adolygiad yn mynd rhagddo ac yn mynd rhagddo'n weithredol. Gofynnodd Mr Evans am yr ymgysylltiad ag awdurdodau lleol. Nodwyd dyddiad cau o 5 Mehefin i awdurdodau lleol gyflwyno eu tystiolaeth i'r adolygiad hwnnw—tystiolaeth ynghylch costau, rhifau, dulliau darparu cludiant ysgol. Roedd dros hanner yr awdurdodau lleol yng Nghymru wedi dychwelyd eu harolygon erbyn y dyddiad hwnnw ac rydyn ni'n disgwyl i'r gweddill gyflwyno eu tystiolaeth yn fuan iawn. Rydyn ni'n ymgynghori'n uniongyrchol â phlant a phobl ifanc eu hunain. Rhwng 16 Mehefin a 17 Gorffennaf, bydd ymgynghoriad uniongyrchol yn cael ei gynnal mewn ysgolion yng Nghymru, wedi'i gomisiynu drwy Cymru Ifanc—y sefydliad hwnnw—i wneud yn siŵr ein bod ni'n casglu barn a dewisiadau pobl ifanc eu hunain o ran y cludiant hwnnw rhwng y cartref a'r ysgol.
Fy nealltwriaeth i yw bod swyddogion Llywodraeth Cymru yn disgwyl tynnu ynghyd holl linynnau'r adolygiad sydd wedi bod yn cael ei gynnal fel y gallan nhw ddarparu tystiolaeth yn uniongyrchol i'r Gweinidog erbyn diwedd tymor y Senedd hon. Yna bydd y Gweinidog yn gallu adolygu hynny ei hun dros yr haf, ac yna dychwelyd i'r Senedd yn yr hydref, fel bod Aelodau'n cael gwybod am ganlyniad yr adolygiad hwnnw.
5. A wnaiff y Prif Weinidog nodi blaenoriaethau Llywodraeth Cymru ar gyfer gwella'r sector tai rhent preifat am weddill tymor y Senedd hon? OQ59676
5. Will the First Minister set out the Welsh Government’s priorities for improving the private rented housing sector during the remainder of this Senedd term? OQ59676
The introduction of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 last December has put in place the framework for significant improvements to the private rented sector, including a requirement for a written contract, better security of tenure and a greater certainty for landlords. Safety aspects have also been improved, including the requirement for mains-powered smoke alarms.
Mae cyflwyno Deddf Rhentu Cartrefi (Cymru) 2016 fis Rhagfyr diwethaf wedi rhoi fframwaith ar waith ar gyfer gwelliannau sylweddol i'r sector rhentu preifat, gan gynnwys gofyniad am gontract ysgrifenedig, gwell diogelwch deiliadaeth a mwy o sicrwydd i landlordiaid. Mae agweddau ar ddiogelwch wedi cael eu gwella hefyd, gan gynnwys y gofyniad am larymau mwg wedi'u pweru gan y prif gyflenwad.
First Minister, the Citizens Advice report 'Left in the cold' found that one in four private renters feel unable to heat their home to a comfortable temperature, seven in 10 have experienced excessive cold, damp or mould, and one in five didn't complain because they were worried about eviction. This reflects casework that I am picking with private renters waiting years, sometimes, to have heating fixed, having rooms badly affected by damp, and being threatened with eviction if they complain. I know there will be a statement here this afternoon on the Warm Homes programme, but could you outline how the Welsh Government is making sure that landlords in the private rented sector provide homes that are warm and habitable?
Prif Weinidog, gwnaeth adroddiad Cyngor ar Bopeth 'Diodde'r oerfel' ganfod bod un o bob pedwar person sy'n rhentu'n breifat yn teimlo na allan nhw wresogi eu cartref i dymheredd cyfforddus, bod saith o bob 10 wedi wynebu oerfel, lleithder neu lwydni gormodol, ac nad oedd un o bob pump yn cwyno oherwydd eu bod yn poeni am gael eu troi allan. Mae hyn yn adlewyrchu gwaith achos rwy'n ei ddewis gyda'r rhai sy'n rhentu'n breifat yn aros blynyddoedd, weithiau, i gael system gwresogi wedi'i thrwsio, yn byw mewn ystafelloedd y mae lleithder yn effeithio arnyn nhw'n wael, ac yn wynebu bygythiadau o gael eu troi allan os byddan nhw'n cwyno. Rwy'n gwybod y bydd datganiad yma y prynhawn yma ar y rhaglen Cartrefi Cynnes, ond a allech chi amlinellu sut mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn sicrhau bod landlordiaid yn y sector rhentu preifat yn darparu cartrefi sy'n gynnes ac yn ffit i bobl fyw ynddyn nhw?
Thanks to Vikki Howells for that, Dirprwy Lywydd. Indeed, the Minister will be making a statement this afternoon on the latest iteration of the Warm Homes programme and the difference that that has made already and will go on making in the lives of people who live in the most challenged physical circumstances. But, as a result of the actions taken by this Senedd, the problems that Vikki Howells has identified now have new solutions that tenants, particularly, can put to work. As I said in my original answer, Dirprwy Lywydd, in December of last year, the fitness for human habitation regulations came into force. They identify 29 specific issues that landlords have to attend to when they come to let properties in the private rented sector, and amongst those matters are measures to ensure that the property does not suffer from mould or damp or is excessively cold.
The Renting Homes (Wales) Act, of course, introduced protections against retaliatory evictions, which we know have been a feature of those properties that are not properly fit for human habitation, and when a tenant complains about it, instead of those conditions being put right, they've been issued with eviction notices instead. The renting homes Act will put an end to that, as well as providing tenants with the right not to pay rent during any period during which the dwelling is identified as unfit for human habitation.
Dirprwy Lywydd, Wales is full of good landlords, let's be sure about that, who attend properly to the standards of their property and who respond to complaints when they are made. But where there are landlords—and unfortunately there are too many instances of this as well—who do not live up to the basic standards that this Senedd requires, we have now put in place a new series of protections, and those protections will be directly exerciseable by those tenants themselves.
Diolch i Vikki Howells am hynny, Dirprwy Lywydd. Yn wir, bydd y Gweinidog yn gwneud datganiad y prynhawn yma ar iteriad diweddaraf y rhaglen Cartrefi Cynnes a'r gwahaniaeth y mae hynny eisoes wedi'i wneud ac y bydd yn parhau i'w wneud i fywydau pobl sy'n byw yn yr amgylchiadau ffisegol mwyaf heriol. Ond, o ganlyniad i'r camau a gymerwyd gan y Senedd hon, mae gan y problemau y mae Vikki Howells wedi'u nodi ddatrysiadau newydd erbyn hyn y gall tenantiaid, yn arbennig, eu rhoi ar waith. Fel y dywedais i yn fy ateb gwreiddiol, Dirprwy Lywydd, ym mis Rhagfyr y llynedd, daeth y Rheoliadau Ffitrwydd Annedd i Bobl Fyw Ynddi i rym. Maen nhw'n nodi 29 o faterion penodol y mae'n rhaid i landlordiaid roi sylw iddyn nhw pan fyddan nhw'n gosod eiddo yn y sector rhentu preifat, ac ymhlith y materion hynny mae mesurau i sicrhau nad oes gan yr eiddo lwydni na lleithder ac nad yw'n rhy oer.
Wrth gwrs, cyflwynodd Deddf Rhentu Cartrefi (Cymru) warchodaethau rhag troi allan dialgar, yr ydyn ni'n gwybod eu bod nhw wedi bod yn nodwedd o'r tai hynny nad ydyn nhw'n ffit i fod yn gartref, a phan fydd tenant yn cwyno amdano, yn hytrach na bod y pethau hynny'n cael eu cywiro, maen nhw wedi cael hysbysiadau troi allan. Bydd y Ddeddf Rhentu Cartrefi yn rhoi terfyn ar hynny ac yn rhoi'r hawl hefyd i denantiaid beidio â thalu rhent yn ystod unrhyw gyfnod pan nodir nad yw'r annedd yn ffit i bobl fyw ynddi.
Dirprwy Lywydd, mae Cymru'n llawn o landlordiaid da, gadewch i ni fod yn siŵr o hynny, sy'n rhoi sylw priodol i safonau eu heiddo ac yn ymateb i gwynion pan fyddan nhw'n cael eu gwneud. Ond lle mae yna landlordiaid—ac yn anffodus mae gormod o achosion o hyn hefyd—nad ydyn nhw'n bodloni'r safonau sylfaenol y mae'r Senedd hon yn gofyn amdanyn nhw, rydyn ni nawr wedi rhoi cyfres newydd o warchodaethau ar waith, a bydd modd i'r tenantiaid eu hunain arfer y gwarchodaethau hynny'n uniongyrchol.
Diolch i Vikki am y cwestiwn yma. Wrth gwrs, dwi'n ymfalchïo bod y cytundeb cydweithredu yma rhwng Plaid Cymru a'r Llywodraeth wedi arwain at Bapur Gwyn y byddwn ni'n ei weld maes o law, a dwi'n edrych ymlaen at gyfrannu ato. Dwi hefyd yn croesawu'r cyhoeddiad ar Bapur Gwyrdd gafodd ei wneud yn ddiweddar efo'r ffocws ar rentu. Mi ydych chi'n gwybod ein bod ni yma wedi bod yn galw am system i reoli rhenti yng Nghymru. Wrth gwrs, y brif ddadl yn erbyn hynny oedd y byddai hyn yn debygol o arwain at grebachu yn y farchnad dai sydd ddim yn wir, oherwydd yn ddiweddar ces i gyfle i fynychu gŵyl tai cymdeithasol rhyngwladol yn Barcelona a chael sgyrsiau efo'r sosialwyr Renaud Payre, is-lywydd awdurdod bwrdeistref Lyon, ac Ada Colau, maer Barcelona. Fe soniodd y ddau ohonyn nhw wrthyf i am y rhaglen o gyflwyno rheoli rhenti maen nhw wedi'u gwneud yn eu bwrdeistrefi nhw yn arbennig o lwyddiannus. Felly, ydych chi'n derbyn y gall math newydd o reoli rhenti, wedi'i gysylltu efo ansawdd a safon y tŷ, weithio yma yng Nghymru?
Thank you to Vikki for this question. Of course, I take pride that the co-operation agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Government has led to a White Paper that we will see in due time, and I look forward to contributing to that. I also welcome the announcement on a Green Paper that was made recently with a focus on rentals. You will know that we here have been calling for a system to control rents in Wales. Of course, the main argument against that was that it would likely lead to a reduction in the housing market, which isn't the case, because recently I had an opportunity to attend an international social housing festival in Barcelona and had conversations with the socialists Renaud Payre, the vice-president of the Lyon metropolitan authority, and Ada Colau, mayor of Barcelona. Both mentioned the programme of introducing rent control that they’ve introduced in their own provinces particularly successfully. So, do you accept that a new kind of rent control, linked to the quality of housing, could also work here in Wales?
Wel, diolch yn fawr i Mabon ap Gwynfor am y cwestiwn ychwanegol, a diolch am beth ddywedodd e am bwysigrwydd y pethau sydd gennym ni yn y cytundeb. A’r rheswm pam rŷn ni wedi cyhoeddi Papur Gwyrdd, wrth gwrs, yw achos ein bod ni eisiau tynnu tystiolaeth o bob man, a lle mae syniadau newydd ar gael o dramor, neu o’r Alban, neu o ble bynnag y mae syniadau newydd yn dod sy’n gallu ein helpu ni ar y llwybr i’r Papur Gwyn, rŷn ni’n agored i glywed ac i ystyried y dystiolaeth sy’n dod i mewn.
Dwi ddim yn gyfarwydd â’r dystiolaeth o Barcelona, ond mae’n edrych fel bod syniadau yna y gallwn ni dynnu arnyn nhw yn y drafodaeth sy’n mynd i fod yn rhan o’r gwaith sy’n mynd ymlaen rhwng Plaid Cymru a’r Llywodraeth i symud ymlaen at y Papur Gwyn, ac i ddyfeisio ffyrdd newydd yma yng Nghymru i ddelio â’r problemau rŷn ni'n gwybod sy’n wynebu’r sector a phobl sy’n dibynnu ar dai yn y sector preifat.
Well, I thank Mabon ap Gwynfor for that supplementary question, and I thank him for what he said about the importance of the items that we have in the co-operation agreement. And the reason why we’ve published a Green Paper is because we want to draw evidence in from everywhere, and where there are new ideas available from abroad, or from Scotland, or wherever the ideas emerge that can help us on the journey towards a White Paper, we are open to hearing from and considering the evidence that is submitted.
I’m not familiar with the evidence from Barcelona, but it looks like those are ideas that we could draw upon in the discussions that will be part of the work that will go on between Plaid Cymru and the Government to move forward to the White Paper, and to devise new ways of dealing in Wales with the problems that we know face the sector and people who rely on private sector housing.
6. Beth yw strategaeth Llywodraeth Cymru ar gyfer tai yng Ngogledd Cymru? OQ59723
6. What is the Welsh Government's strategy for housing in North Wales? OQ59723
Our strategy is to increase the supply of housing for rent and for purchase, while improving the quality of housing to match our climate change obligations.
Ein strategaeth ni yw cynyddu'r cyflenwad o dai i'w rhentu ac i'w prynu, gan wella ansawdd tai i gyd-fynd â'n rhwymedigaethau newid hinsawdd.
Thank you, First Minister, for that response. First Minister, you’ll be aware that, across Wales, around 13,000 people are currently in temporary accommodation, whether that be bed and breakfasts or hotels, at great cost to them personally and also to the public purse, as well, of course. At the same time, in north Wales, around 1,000 social homes are not able to be built because of Welsh Government policy and a lack of clarity among house builders on how to handle that policy. I know there was a summit earlier this this year, seeking to progress issues to resolve that problem. I wonder if you can give an update here today as to how that’s going, and how people in north Wales will be able to see those houses being built that we so desperately need.
Diolch, Prif Weinidog, am yr ateb hwnnw. Prif Weinidog, byddwch chi'n ymwybodol, ledled Cymru, bod tua 13,000 o bobl mewn llety dros dro ar hyn o bryd, boed hynny'n wely a brecwast neu westai, sy'n gost fawr iddyn nhw'n bersonol a hefyd i'r pwrs cyhoeddus, wrth gwrs. Ar yr un pryd, yn y gogledd, nid oes modd adeiladu tua 1,000 o gartrefi cymdeithasol oherwydd polisi Llywodraeth Cymru a diffyg eglurder ymhlith adeiladwyr tai ar sut i ymdrin â'r polisi hwnnw. Rwy'n gwybod bod uwchgynhadledd wedi cael ei chynnal yn gynharach eleni, a oedd yn ceisio symud ymlaen â materion i ddatrys y broblem honno. Tybed a allwch chi roi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf yma heddiw ynglŷn â sut mae hynny'n mynd, a sut y bydd pobl yn y gogledd yn gallu gweld y tai hynny'n cael eu hadeiladu y mae eu hangen yn daer arnom.
I thank Sam Rowlands for drawing attention to the pressures that are there in temporary accommodation in Wales. They’re there, as the Member will know, because of our policy of making sure that nobody is left homeless here in Wales. A series of actions are being taken by the Welsh Government to increase the supply of housing to meet that demand, whether that is bringing empty homes back into use, whether it is the support we continue to provide for Help to Buy here in Wales, whether it is the work that we support through the North Wales Economic Ambition Board that will, for example, result in over 300 new homes being built on the former Denbigh hospital site.
The issue of phosphates and the need to make sure that, when land is developed, it is not done in a way that adds to the very significant pressures we know are there to be found in rivers in Wales is a difficult problem to solve, because we want to see those homes built, but we cannot possibly agree that they are built in a way that deliberately and knowingly adds to another difficulty. That is why the summit was so important in bringing all those interests round the table who have a contribution to make to solving that problem. And there was a real focus in the last summit on finding ways in which land can be released for those very important housing purposes in a way that does not lead to further degradation of the condition of rivers in Wales; new ideas from Dŵr Cymru as to how they might be able to assist; and new ideas from the planning officers that we had there as to how land could be released for those purposes.
So, I want to give the Member an assurance that that was an intensely practically focused discussion, looking for ways in which we can release that land, because those houses are needed in north Wales as elsewhere, but not being prepared to solve one problem at the expense of another public policy problem, which, as we know, has obtained a real purchase on the minds of the public, concerned as they are at the state of the natural environment.
Diolch i Sam Rowlands am dynnu sylw at y pwysau sydd yno o ran llety dros dro yng Nghymru. Maen nhw yno, fel y bydd yr Aelod yn gwybod, oherwydd ein polisi o sicrhau nad oes neb yn cael ei adael yn ddigartref yma yng Nghymru. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cymryd cyfres o gamau gweithredu i gynyddu'r cyflenwad o dai i ateb y galw hwnnw, p'un ai drwy sicrhau bod cartrefi gwag yn gallu cael eu defnyddio eto, drwy'r cymorth yr ydyn ni'n parhau i'w roi ar gyfer Cymorth i Brynu yma yng Nghymru, neu drwy'r gwaith yr ydyn ni'n ei gefnogi drwy Fwrdd Uchelgais Economaidd Gogledd Cymru a fydd, er enghraifft, yn arwain at adeiladu dros 300 o gartrefi newydd ar hen safle ysbyty Dinbych.
Mae mater ffosffadau a'r angen i sicrhau, pan fydd tir yn cael ei ddatblygu, nad yw'n cael ei wneud mewn ffordd sy'n ychwanegu at y pwysau sylweddol iawn yr ydyn ni'n ymwybodol sydd i'w gweld mewn afonydd yng Nghymru yn broblem anodd ei datrys, oherwydd rydyn ni eisiau gweld y cartrefi hynny'n cael eu hadeiladu, ond nid yw'n bosibl i ni gytuno eu bod yn cael eu hadeiladu mewn ffordd sy'n ychwanegu'n fwriadol at anhawster arall. Dyna pam roedd yr uwchgynhadledd mor bwysig wrth ddod â'r holl fuddiannau hynny sydd â chyfraniad i'w wneud i ddatrys y broblem honno o amgylch y bwrdd. Ac roedd ffocws gwirioneddol yn yr uwchgynhadledd ddiwethaf ar ddod o hyd i ffyrdd y gellir rhyddhau tir at y dibenion tai pwysig iawn hynny mewn ffordd nad yw'n arwain at ddiraddio cyflwr afonydd yng Nghymru ymhellach; syniadau newydd gan Dŵr Cymru o ran sut y gallen nhw helpu; a syniadau newydd gan y swyddogion cynllunio yr oedd gennym ni yno o ran sut y gallai tir gael ei ryddhau at y dibenion hynny.
Felly, rwyf i eisiau rhoi sicrwydd i'r Aelod fod honno'n drafodaeth a oedd yn canolbwyntio'n gryf ar agweddau ymarferol, yn chwilio am ffyrdd y gallwn ni ryddhau'r tir hwnnw, oherwydd mae angen y tai hynny yn y gogledd fel mannau eraill, ond mae amharodrwydd i ddatrys un broblem ar draul problem polisi cyhoeddus arall sydd, fel yr ydyn ni'n gwybod, wir wedi cydio ym meddyliau'r cyhoedd sy'n poeni am gyflwr yr amgylchedd naturiol.
7. Sut mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cefnogi goroeswyr strôc? OQ59675
7. How does the Welsh Government support stroke survivors? OQ59675
Llywydd, amongst the actions that the health service takes to support stroke survivors are early supported discharge and the provision of essential rehabilitation to enable recovery at home.
Llywydd, ymhlith y camau y mae'r gwasanaeth iechyd yn eu cymryd i gefnogi goroeswyr strôc mae eu rhyddhau'n gynnar gyda chefnogaeth a darparu adsefydlu hanfodol i alluogi adferiad yn y cartref.
Thank you. Earlier this month, I visited Buckley stroke group, with the Stroke Association, to learn about their experience of stroke in Flintshire, Wrexham and Denbighshire. There are currently over 70,000 stroke survivors in Wales, and the number is expected to increase by 50 per cent over the next 20 years. I was reminded of the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme data showing that the time between a stroke patient starting to experience symptoms to when they arrive at hospital averages four hours, eight minutes in England, six hours, five minutes in Wales, and nine hours, 23 minutes at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Issues raised with me by stroke survivors included lack of joined-up care—although professionals were kind and caring—having a stroke in England, but not being told what was available when they returned to Wales; trouble getting through to GPs; not being told what happens when you have a stroke, and, when asking their GP if they can see a stroke specialist, being told 'Get me a name, and I will refer you.'
With the stroke programme board planning engagement on the future of stroke services, how will you ensure that the voices of stroke survivors and carers are heard and involved in the co-production of this work?
Diolch. Yn gynharach y mis hwn, ymwelais i â grŵp strôc Bwcle, gyda'r Gymdeithas Strôc, i ddysgu am eu profiad o strôc yn sir y Fflint, Wrecsam a sir Ddinbych. Ar hyn o bryd mae dros 70,000 o oroeswyr strôc yng Nghymru, ac mae disgwyl i'r nifer gynyddu 50 y cant dros yr 20 mlynedd nesaf. Cefais i fy atgoffa o ddata Rhaglen Archwilio Genedlaethol Strôc Sentinel sy'n dangos bod yr amser rhwng dechrau cael symptomau a'r amser pan fydd claf sydd wedi cael strôc yn cyrraedd yr ysbyty yn bedair awr, wyth munud ar gyfartaledd yn Lloegr, chwe awr, pum munud yng Nghymru, a naw awr, 23 munud yn Ysbyty Maelor Wrecsam. Ymhlith y materion y gwnaeth goroeswyr strôc sôn wrthym amdanynt oedd diffyg gofal cydgysylltiedig—er bod gweithwyr proffesiynol yn garedig a gofalgar—cael strôc yn Lloegr, ond peidio â chael gwybod beth oedd ar gael pan wnaethon nhw ddychwelyd i Gymru; trafferth cysylltu â meddygon teulu; peidio â chael gwybod beth sy'n digwydd pan fyddwch chi'n cael strôc, ac wrth ofyn a oedd modd iddyn nhw weld arbenigwr strôc, y meddyg yn dweud 'Rhowch enw i mi, ac fe wnaf i eich atgyfeirio chi'.
Gyda bwrdd y rhaglen strôc yn cynllunio gwaith ymgysylltu ar ddyfodol gwasanaethau strôc, sut y byddwch chi'n sicrhau bod lleisiau goroeswyr strôc a gofalwyr yn cael eu clywed a'u bod yn rhan o gyd-gynhyrchu'r gwaith hwn?
Well, Llywydd, I think we're very lucky in Wales to have such a powerful partnership and a powerful partner in the Stroke Association. And I heard what the Member said about the Stroke Association being part of his visit in Buckley. We have a long-standing relationship in Wales between the professional leadership of stroke services, and I think we've also always been very fortunate in Wales to have powerful clinicians who act as our national clinical leads. And Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who is the current national clinical lead for stroke services in Wales, has continued that way of doing things, making sure that the voice of patients is powerfully heard in the way in which stroke programmes, and stroke improvements in Wales, are brought about. We're very grateful for the way in which they are prepared, not simply to be the voice of patients in relaying experiences, but being the voice of patients in devising solutions as well.
And in the list of issues to which Mark Isherwood referred, there were a number of them that seemed to me to be amenable to solution very easily, simply by making sure that that lived experience is conveyed in the powerful way that the Stroke Association does to people who are responsible for their care.
Wel, Llywydd, rwy'n credu ein bod ni'n lwcus iawn yng Nghymru i gael partneriaeth mor bwerus a phartner pwerus yn y Gymdeithas Strôc. A chlywais i'r hyn y dywedodd yr Aelod bod y Gymdeithas Strôc yn rhan o'i ymweliad ym Mwcle. Mae gennym ni berthynas hirsefydlog yng Nghymru rhwng arweinyddiaeth broffesiynol gwasanaethau strôc, ac rwy'n credu ein bod ni wastad wedi bod yn ffodus iawn yng Nghymru hefyd i gael clinigwyr pwerus sy'n gweithredu fel ein harweinwyr clinigol cenedlaethol. Ac mae Dr Shakeel Ahmad, yr arweinydd clinigol cenedlaethol presennol ar gyfer gwasanaethau strôc yng Nghymru, wedi parhau â'r ffordd honno o wneud pethau, gan sicrhau bod llais cleifion yn cael ei glywed yn rymus yn y ffordd y mae rhaglenni strôc, a gwelliannau strôc yng Nghymru, yn cael eu cyflwyno. Rydyn ni'n ddiolchgar iawn am y ffordd maen nhw'n barod, nid yn unig i fod yn llais i gleifion wrth gyfleu profiadau, ond yn llais i gleifion wrth ddod o hyd i atebion hefyd.
Ac ar y rhestr o faterion y cyfeiriodd Mark Isherwood atyn nhw, roedd nifer ohonyn nhw'n ymddangos i mi'n hawdd iawn eu datrys, yn syml drwy wneud yn siŵr bod y profiad bywyd hwnnw'n cael ei gyfleu yn y ffordd bwerus y mae'r Gymdeithas Strôc yn ei wneud i bobl sy'n gyfrifol am eu gofal.
Ac yn olaf, cwestiwn 8, Natasha Asghar.
And finally, question 8, Natasha Asghar.
Thank you so much, Deputy Presiding Officer.
Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dirprwy Lywydd.
8. A wnaiff y Prif Weinidog roi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf am drafodaethau gyda Qatar Airways ynghylch dychwelyd i Faes Awyr Caerdydd? OQ59677
8. Will the First Minister provide an update on discussions with Qatar Airways regarding their return to Cardiff Airport? OQ59677
Well, Llywydd, I would welcome the resumption of the Doha service from Cardiff, but this is a commercial matter, to be pursued through negotiations between the airport executive team and Qatar Airways.
Wel, Llywydd, byddwn i'n croesawu ailddechrau gwasanaeth Doha o Gaerdydd, ond mater masnachol yw hwn, i'w ddilyn trwy drafodaethau rhwng tîm gweithredol y maes awyr a Qatar Airways.
Thank you, First Minister, for your response. Of course, news of Qatar Airways's potential return to Cardiff Airport is welcome, I'm sure, by all of us, even though it is a commercial decision—I agree with you there. With more flights running, passenger numbers should, in theory, increase, although we'll wait and see if that actually happens in the airport.
As I'm sure you're aware, First Minister, not too long ago, the UK Government announced a big shake-up of airport security rules, with the 100-ml rule on liquids and the requirement to remove large electric items from bags coming to an end. This major change, which may have come about because of new technology, will cut queuing and improve passenger experiences. Now, this change will be gradual, with airports having to install this new technique and improve screening equipment by June 2024, which is the deadline date. Obviously, carrying out these improvements at Cardiff Airport will mean that someone will have to put their hand into their pocket. I recently visited Heathrow Airport, where staff explained to me the challenges and huge sums of money involved in carrying out these improvements. [Laughter.] You may laugh, but at the end of the day, gaining knowledge about something that we need to improve here is worth while.
First Minister, are you confident that Cardiff Airport will meet the 2024 deadline, and have you worked out the total bill for these works, as I'm sure taxpayers across Wales will be keen to know what that's going to cost them?
Diolch, Prif Weinidog, am eich ymateb. Wrth gwrs, mae'r newyddion bod Qatar Airways yn dychwelyd, o bosibl, i Faes Awyr Caerdydd yn cael ei groesawu, rwy'n siŵr, gan bob un ohonon ni, er mai penderfyniad masnachol ydyw—rwy'n cytuno â chi yn hynny o beth. Gyda mwy o hediadau, dylai nifer y teithwyr, mewn theori, gynyddu, er y bydd yn rhaid i ni aros i weld a yw hynny'n digwydd mewn gwirionedd yn y maes awyr.
Fel y gwyddoch mae'n siŵr, Prif Weinidog, nid yn rhy bell yn ôl, cyhoeddodd Llywodraeth y DU y bydd rheolau diogelwch meysydd awyr yn cael eu hailwampio'n sylweddol, gyda'r rheol 100 mililitr ar hylifau a'r gofyniad i dynnu eitemau trydan mawr o fagiau yn dod i ben. Bydd y newid mawr hwn, a allai fod wedi digwydd oherwydd technoleg newydd, yn lleihau ciwiau ac yn gwella profiadau teithwyr. Nawr, bydd y newid hwn yn cael ei gyflwyno'n raddol, gyda meysydd awyr yn gorfod gosod y dechneg newydd hon a gwella cyfarpar sgrinio erbyn y terfyn amser, sef mis Mehefin 2024. Yn amlwg, bydd gwneud y gwelliannau hyn ym Maes Awyr Caerdydd yn golygu y bydd yn rhaid i rywun rhoi ei law yn ei boced. Yn ddiweddar, ymwelais i â Maes Awyr Heathrow, lle rhoddodd staff esboniad i mi o'r heriau a'r symiau enfawr o arian sy'n gysylltiedig â chyflawni'r gwelliannau hyn. [Chwerthin.] Gallwch chi chwerthin, ond, ar ddiwedd y dydd, mae ennill gwybodaeth am rywbeth y mae angen i ni ei wella yma yn werthfawr.
Prif Weinidog, a ydych chi'n hyderus y bydd Maes Awyr Caerdydd yn cwrdd â'r terfyn amser yn 2024, ac a ydych chi wedi cyfrifo cyfanswm y bil ar gyfer y gwaith hwn, gan fy mod i'n siŵr y bydd trethdalwyr ledled Cymru yn awyddus i wybod beth fydd hynny'n ei gostio iddyn nhw?
Well, Llywydd, I am indeed aware of the changes in technologies, and I'm aware of the fact that it is the single most outstanding example of the unfairness of the UK Government's policies towards airports not just here in Wales, but across the United Kingdom, because, having imposed these new obligations on airports, they refuse to fund any regional airport to meet those new standards. And that means that while there are obligations on Cardiff Airport, there's no funding at all from those who imposed those obligations in the first place.
That is not true of big airports like Heathrow, to which Natasha Asghar referred, but it is true for small, regional airports that don't have the same level of resources. So, my message would be very clear indeed: that level of government that imposes requirements on airports should also be the level of government that takes responsibility for making sure that airports have the necessary funding to live up to the new obligations with which they are now faced. And that should be fair; it should be fair. That's the key point here. There shouldn't be help for some and no help for others, but that is the current policy of the UK Government.
Wel, Llywydd, ydw wir, rwy'n ymwybodol o'r newidiadau mewn technolegau, ac rwy'n ymwybodol o'r ffaith mai dyma'r enghraifft fwyaf eithriadol o annhegwch polisïau Llywodraeth y DU tuag at feysydd awyr nid yn unig yma yng Nghymru, ond ledled y Deyrnas Unedig, oherwydd, ar ôl gosod y rhwymedigaethau newydd hyn ar feysydd awyr, maen nhw'n gwrthod rhoi arian i unrhyw faes awyr rhanbarthol fodloni'r safonau newydd hynny. Ac mae hynny'n golygu, er bod rhwymedigaethau ar Faes Awyr Caerdydd, nad oes unrhyw gyllid o gwbl gan y rhai a osododd y rhwymedigaethau hynny yn y lle cyntaf.
Nid yw hynny'n wir am feysydd awyr mawr fel Heathrow, y cyfeiriodd Natasha Asghar atyn nhw, ond mae'n wir am feysydd awyr bach, rhanbarthol nad oes ganddyn nhw'r un lefel o adnoddau. Felly, byddai fy neges i yn glir iawn: dylai'r lefel honno o lywodraeth sy'n gosod gofynion ar feysydd awyr hefyd gymryd cyfrifoldeb am sicrhau bod gan feysydd awyr y cyllid angenrheidiol i gyflawni'r rhwymedigaethau newydd y maen nhw'n eu hwynebu nawr. A dylai hynny fod yn deg; dylai fod yn deg. Dyna'r pwynt allweddol yma. Ni ddylai fod cymorth i rai a dim cymorth i eraill, ond dyna bolisi presennol Llywodraeth y DU.
Diolch i'r Prif Weinidog.
Thank you, First Minister.
Symudwn ymlaen at y datganiad a chyhoeddiad busnes, a galwaf ar y Trefnydd, Lesley Griffiths.
We'll now move on to the business statement and announcement, and I call on the Trefnydd, Lesley Griffiths.
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. There are four changes to this week's business. Firstly, the Minister for Climate Change will make a statement on the Warm Homes programme. Secondly, the statement on sustainable drainage systems has been postponed. Thirdly, the Report Stage debate on the Agriculture (Wales) Bill 2022 has been reduced to 30 minutes, and, finally, Business Committee has agreed that tomorrow's debate on Adam Price's legislative proposal will be postponed. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.
Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. Mae pedwar newid i fusnes yr wythnos hon. Yn gyntaf, bydd y Gweinidog Newid Hinsawdd yn gwneud datganiad ar raglen Cartrefi Cynnes. Yn ail, mae'r datganiad ar systemau draenio cynaliadwy wedi'i ohirio. Yn drydydd, mae'r ddadl Cyfnod Adrodd ar Fil Amaethyddiaeth (Cymru) 2022 wedi'i chwtogi i 30 munud, ac yn olaf, mae'r Pwyllgor Busnes wedi cytuno y bydd y ddadl yfory ar gynnig deddfwriaethol Adam Price yn cael ei gohirio. Mae'r busnes drafft ar gyfer y tair wythnos nesaf wedi'i nodi ar y datganiad a chyhoeddiad busnes, sydd i'w weld ymhlith y papurau cyfarfod sydd ar gael i'r Aelodau yn electronig.
Can I call for an oral statement from the Deputy Minister for Climate Change in relation to the recent publication of the north Wales transport commission interim report? I read that report with interest, and we all know, in north Wales, that our transport infrastructure does need to improve, and there are concerns about things like bus transport. But one of the things that many people are alarmed about in north Wales is the prospect of potential road charging on some of our trunk road network. You will know, as well as I do, how important the A483, the A55 and other arterial routes are for people getting around, particularly those that connect rural parts of north Wales to the main transport network. It does suggest, in the report, that the recommendation of the commission is to continue to explore the introduction of road charging. I know no final decisions have obviously been made yet, but I do think we need a wide discussion on this amongst north Wales Members, and I think a statement would be helpful in helping to initiate that. Thank you.
A gaf i alw am ddatganiad llafar gan y Dirprwy Weinidog Newid Hinsawdd ar adroddiad interim Comisiwn Trafnidiaeth Gogledd Cymru, a gyhoeddwyd yn ddiweddar? Darllenais i'r adroddiad hwnnw gyda diddordeb, ac rydyn ni i gyd yn gwybod bod angen gwella ein seilwaith trafnidiaeth yn y gogledd, a bod pryderon ynghylch pethau fel trafnidiaeth bysiau. Ond un o'r pethau y mae llawer o bobl yn poeni amdano yn y gogledd yw'r posibilrwydd o godi tâl ar rannau o'n rhwydwaith cefnffyrdd. Byddwch chi'n gwybod, cystal â minnau, pa mor bwysig yw'r A483, yr A55 a llwybrau prifwythiennol eraill i bobl symud o gwmpas, yn enwedig y rhai sy'n cysylltu rhannau gwledig o'r gogledd â'r prif rwydwaith trafnidiaeth. Mae'n awgrymu, yn yr adroddiad, mai argymhelliad y Comisiwn yw parhau i ystyried codi tâl ar ddefnyddwyr ffyrdd. Rwy'n gwybod nad oes unrhyw benderfyniadau terfynol wedi'u gwneud eto, ond rwy'n credu bod angen trafodaeth eang ar hyn ymhlith Aelodau Gogledd Cymru, ac rwy'n credu y byddai datganiad yn ddefnyddiol wrth helpu i gychwyn hynny. Diolch.
Thank you. Well, the report to which you refer is an independent report, which obviously the Deputy Minister for Climate Change will consider. Obviously, it's just part of the wider policy that the Deputy Minister is currently considering around all aspects of transport, and obviously this one is focused on north Wales. I will certainly continue to have my regular meetings with the Deputy Minister, with my north Wales hat on, and at the most appropriate time—. Obviously, the Deputy Minister always keeps us updated on such issues.
Diolch. Wel, mae'r adroddiad yr ydych chi'n cyfeirio ato yn adroddiad annibynnol, ac yn amlwg bydd y Dirprwy Weinidog Newid Hinsawdd yn ei ystyried. Yn amlwg, mae ond yn rhan o'r polisi ehangach y mae'r Dirprwy Weinidog yn ei ystyried ar hyn o bryd ynghylch pob agwedd ar drafnidiaeth, ac yn amlwg mae hwn yn canolbwyntio ar y gogledd. Yn sicr, byddaf yn parhau i gael fy nghyfarfodydd rheolaidd gyda'r Dirprwy Weinidog, gan wisgo het gogledd Cymru, ac ar yr adeg fwyaf priodol—. Yn amlwg, mae'r Dirprwy Weinidog bob amser yn rhoi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf i ni am faterion o'r fath.
I'd like to request a statement, please, updating us on what pressure is being put on the UK Government and the ombudsman to bring justice to the Women Against State Pension Inequality women, who've been denied their state pensions. You will know that more than 200,000 women have already died without this injustice being put right. There is an absence of integrity and morality in what's been denied these women, which has been physically and emotionally exhausting for them and their brave campaigners who are fighting for what's right, including—and I declare the interest—my mother, who is a WASPI woman. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigation into the Department for Work and Pensions on this issue has not concluded. There is no timetable for when it will conclude, and women suffer in the meantime. So, will the Government please update the Senedd on what actions the Counsel General and the social justice Minister will take to tackle this moral impasse?
Hoffwn i ofyn am ddatganiad, os gwelwch yn dda, yn rhoi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf i ni ar y pwysau sy'n cael ei roi ar Lywodraeth y DU a'r ombwdsmon i ddod â chyfiawnder i fenywod Menywod yn Erbyn Anghydraddoldeb Pensiwn y Wladwriaeth, y mae pensiwn y wladwriaeth wedi'i wrthod iddyn nhw. Byddwch chi'n gwybod bod mwy na 200,000 o fenywod eisoes wedi marw heb i'r anghyfiawnder hwn gael ei unioni. Mae diffyg uniondeb a moesoldeb yn yr hyn sydd wedi'i wrthod i'r menywod hyn, sydd wedi bod yn flinedig yn gorfforol ac yn emosiynol iddyn nhw a'u hymgyrchwyr dewr sy'n ymladd dros yr hyn sy'n gyfiawn, gan gynnwys—ac rwy'n datgan diddordeb—fy mam, sy'n fenyw WASPI. Nid yw ymchwiliad yr Ombwdsmon Seneddol a Gwasanaeth Iechyd i'r Adran Gwaith a Phensiynau ar y mater hwn wedi dod i ben. Nid oes amserlen ar gyfer pryd y bydd yn dod i ben, ac mae menywod yn dioddef yn y cyfamser. Felly, a wnaiff y Llywodraeth roi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf i'r Senedd am y camau y bydd y Cwnsler Cyffredinol a'r Gweinidog Cyfiawnder Cymdeithasol yn eu cymryd i fynd i'r afael â'r impasse moesol hwn?
You're quite right, those changes to the state pension age—many women knew absolutely nothing about them and it's impacted millions of women not just in Wales, but obviously right across the UK. And it's not just the financial impact, it's also the impact on their physical and mental health and their well-being. So, Welsh Government does continue to make representations to the UK Government. It's really important that these women have a fair and just outcome from something that was of no fault of their own, and women, such as your mother—. Women born in the 1950s did not have the life opportunities or the job opportunities that we enjoy today, so it is really important. The Counsel General did meet last week with a group of WASPI women, and has said that the Welsh Government is very supportive; we're limited in what we can do, but what we can do is obviously put pressure on the UK Government. I know, following the WASPI campaign's legal challenge against the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, the ombudsman has agreed to reconsider the Stage 2 report.
Rydych chi'n hollol gywir, y newidiadau hynny i oedran pensiwn y wladwriaeth—nid oedd llawer o fenywod yn gwybod dim byd amdanyn nhw ac mae wedi effeithio ar filiynau o fenywod nid yn unig yng Nghymru, ond yn amlwg ledled y DU. Ac nid dim ond yr effaith ariannol, ond hefyd yr effaith ar eu hiechyd corfforol a meddyliol a'u lles. Felly, mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn parhau i gyflwyno sylwadau i Lywodraeth y DU. Mae'n bwysig iawn bod y menywod hyn yn cael canlyniad teg a chyfiawn o rywbeth nad oedd unrhyw fai arnyn nhw amdano, a menywod, fel eich mam chi—. Nid oedd gan fenywod a gafodd eu geni yn y 1950au y cyfleoedd bywyd na'r cyfleoedd gwaith yr ydyn ni'n eu mwynhau heddiw, felly mae'n bwysig iawn. Gwnaeth y Cwnsler Cyffredinol gyfarfod yr wythnos diwethaf â grŵp o fenywod WASPI, ac mae ef wedi dweud bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn gefnogol iawn; dim ond hyn a hyn y gallwn ni ei wneud, ond yn amlwg, yr hyn y gallwn ni ei wneud yw rhoi pwysau ar Lywodraeth y DU. Yn dilyn her gyfreithiol ymgyrch WASPI yn erbyn yr Ombwdsmon Seneddol a Gwasanaeth Iechyd, rwy'n gwybod bod yr ombwdsmon wedi cytuno i ailystyried adroddiad Cyfnod 2.
I'm asking for a Government statement on the use of open-source software. Open-source software is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any use. Open-source software may be developed in a collaborative public manner, but, most importantly, it is shared at no cost. This includes Linux and its derivatives as operating systems. It's a way of saving money in the public sector. The Welsh Government have consistently used expensive commercial software. I'm not asking for a commitment to using it, just for a statement on it, and the reason why it is not routinely used. It saves paying millions of pounds to Microsoft.
Rwy'n gofyn am ddatganiad gan y Llywodraeth ar ddefnyddio meddalwedd ffynhonnell agored. Meddalwedd gyfrifiadurol yw meddalwedd ffynhonnell agored sy'n cael ei rhyddhau o dan drwydded lle mae deiliad yr hawlfraint yn rhoi hawliau i ddefnyddwyr ddefnyddio, astudio, newid a dosbarthu'r feddalwedd a'i chod ffynhonnell i unrhyw un ac ar gyfer unrhyw ddefnydd. Mae'n bosibl datblygu meddalwedd ffynhonnell agored mewn modd cyhoeddus cydweithredol, ond, yn bwysicaf oll, caiff ei rhannu heb unrhyw gost. Mae hyn yn cynnwys Linux a'i deilliadau fel systemau gweithredu. Mae'n ffordd o arbed arian yn y sector cyhoeddus. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi defnyddio meddalwedd fasnachol ddrud yn gyson. Nid wyf i'n gofyn am ymrwymiad i'w defnyddio, dim ond datganiad arno, a'r rheswm pam nad yw'n cael ei defnyddio fel mater o drefn. Mae'n arbed talu miliynau o bunnoedd i Microsoft.
Thank you. The Welsh Government's digital strategy does recognise how collaboration in digital innovation can help improve services and increase efficiency. And in certain circumstances, open-source software can be suitable, it can be relevant and it can be the right thing to use. But, as with all software, it does carry risks, such as malicious code insertion, and, taken alongside the potential for more limited formal support and documentation, that can, again, lead to heightened risk of data breaches and security compromises. So, I think it's really important that any organisations that do use it satisfy themselves that they have appropriate access to support and expertise if they are using open-source software for critical services. And it's really important that organisations get the balance right between licensed and unlicensed software, based on, obviously, their organisational needs and if they've got that appetite for risk.
Diolch. Mae strategaeth ddigidol Llywodraeth Cymru yn cydnabod sut y gall cydweithredu ym maes arloesi digidol helpu i wella gwasanaethau a chynyddu effeithlonrwydd. Ac mewn rhai amgylchiadau, gall meddalwedd ffynhonnell agored fod yn addas, gall fod yn berthnasol a gall fod y peth iawn i'w ddefnyddio. Ond, fel gyda phob meddalwedd, mae risgiau ynghlwm wrthi, megis mewnosod codau maleisus, ac, o ystyried hynny ochr yn ochr â'r potensial am ddogfennaeth a chefnogaeth ffurfiol mwy cyfyngedig, gall hynny, unwaith eto, arwain at fwy o risg o dorri rheolau diogelwch data a pheryglon diogelwch. Felly, rwy'n credu ei bod yn bwysig iawn bod unrhyw sefydliadau sydd yn ei defnyddio yn bodloni eu hunain bod ganddyn nhw fynediad priodol at gymorth ac arbenigedd os ydyn nhw'n defnyddio meddalwedd ffynhonnell agored ar gyfer gwasanaethau hanfodol. Ac mae'n bwysig iawn bod sefydliadau'n cael y cydbwysedd cywir rhwng meddalwedd drwyddedig ac annhrwyddedig, yn seiliedig, yn amlwg, ar anghenion y sefydliad ac a yw'n barod i dderbyn risg.
Can I ask for an urgent Government statement this afternoon on Llanerch bridge in the Vale of Clwyd, between Trefnant and Tremeirchion? I and many others attended a public meeting at the White House in Rhuallt last Thursday, and it was attended by many local people, from Trefnant and Tremeirchion, myself, the local MP Dr James Davies, council leaders and council officers. And there was strong emphasis from Denbighshire County Council officers—not councillors—that financial commitment from the Welsh Government is needed for the bridge replacement to, indeed, become a reality. So, can I ask for a statement from the Welsh Government, committing to how much capital the Welsh Government are willing to make towards the restoration of Llanerch bridge, as this has been going on for far too long, and the people of the Vale of Clwyd need answers?
A gaf i ofyn am ddatganiad brys gan y Llywodraeth y prynhawn yma ar bont Llanerch yn Nyffryn Clwyd, rhwng Trefnant a Thremeirchion? Fe wnes i a llawer o bobl eraill fynd i gyfarfod cyhoeddus yn y Tŷ Gwyn yn Rhuallt ddydd Iau diwethaf, ac roedd lawer o bobl leol, o Drefnant a Thremeirchion, fy hun, yr AS lleol Dr James Davies, arweinwyr y cyngor a swyddogion y cyngor yn bresennol. Ac roedd pwyslais cryf gan swyddogion Cyngor Sir Ddinbych—nid cynghorwyr—bod angen ymrwymiad ariannol gan Lywodraeth Cymru er mwyn gallu adeiladu pont newydd. Felly, a gaf i ofyn am ddatganiad gan Lywodraeth Cymru, sy'n nodi faint o gyfalaf y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn barod i'w gyfrannu tuag at adfer pont Llanerch, gan fod hyn wedi bod yn mynd rhagddo am lawer rhy hir, ac mae angen atebion ar bobl Dyffryn Clwyd?
As far as I'm aware, the Welsh Government is still waiting for the business case from the local authority. But I know that the Minister for Climate Change's officials are working with the council at the current time.
Hyd y gwn i, mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn dal i aros am yr achos busnes gan yr awdurdod lleol. Ond rwy'n gwybod bod swyddogion y Gweinidog Newid Hinsawdd yn gweithio gyda'r cyngor ar hyn o bryd.
I'd like to ask for a statement, written or oral, on the state of the Garw river. Like many constituents in Bridgend county, I often take my dog for a walk in Bryngarw Country Park, through which the Garw river runs. It's been reported that, just two miles up the river, on 325 out of the 365 days in a year, everything that households flush and tip down their toilets and sinks flows untreated for thousands of hours a year in the river. The combined sewer overflows at Pontyrhyl and Llangeinor poured out raw sewage for a total of 7,804 hours and 7,784 hours each respectively in 2022. A briefing from the Minister would also be greatly appreciated.
Hoffwn i ofyn am ddatganiad, ysgrifenedig neu lafar, ar gyflwr afon Garw. Fel llawer o etholwyr yn sir Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr, byddaf i'n aml yn mynd â fy nghi am dro ym Mharc Gwledig Bryngarw, lle mae afon Garw yn llifo. Yn ôl adroddiadau, dim ond dwy filltir i fyny'r afon, ar 325 allan o 365 o ddiwrnodau mewn blwyddyn, mae popeth y mae cartrefi yn ei fflysio ac yn ei arllwys i lawr eu toiledau a'u sinciau yn llifo heb ei drin am filoedd o oriau'r flwyddyn yn yr afon. Gwnaeth gorlifoedd carthffosydd cyfunol ym Mhontyrhyl a Llangeinor arllwys carthion heb eu trin am gyfanswm o 7,804 o oriau a 7,784 o oriau yr un yn y drefn honno yn 2022. Byddai briff gan y Gweinidog hefyd yn cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.
Thank you. The Minister for Climate Change has just heard your request. I think it would be better if you wrote to her directly, and then she'll be able to respond.
Diolch. Mae'r Gweinidog Newid Hinsawdd newydd glywed eich cais. Rwy'n credu y byddai'n well pe baech chi'n ysgrifennu ati'n uniongyrchol, ac yna bydd hi'n gallu ymateb.
I would like to request a statement from the Minister for Climate Change on the provision of social housing, or perhaps a joint statement with the Minister for Social Justice, as the reason for this request stems from a meeting I attended talking about the closure of the Neath Port Talbot welcome centre. Ukrainian refugee families are being told that, with the closure of the centre imminent, they may be moved to other parts of Wales. A number of large Ukrainian families remain housed at the welcome centres as there are no suitable properties to offer them permanent accommodation. Two thirds of children are attending local schools, and 10 of the adults are in local employment, and all now face having their lives uprooted once more, because we have failed to provide more permanent accommodation. But it's not just our Ukraine guests who are suffering because of a lack of homes. NPT council is also housing eight homeless families in a local hotel, and one had to be sent to a Bristol hotel, because of a severe accommodation shortage.
Minister, there is clearly an urgent need for housing across Wales, and it needs action from the Welsh Government, particularly if we are to maintain our status as a nation of sanctuary. I would therefore ask for an urgent statement from the Welsh Government outlining how you will address the housing shortfalls for our refugees and Welsh domiciled families, ideally before the closure of the welcome centres in just a few short weeks. Diolch yn fawr.
Hoffwn i ofyn am ddatganiad gan y Gweinidog Newid Hinsawdd ar ddarparu tai cymdeithasol, neu ddatganiad ar y cyd efallai gyda'r Gweinidog Cyfiawnder Cymdeithasol, gan fod y rheswm dros y cais hwn yn deillio o gyfarfod y gwnes i fynd iddo yn siarad am gau canolfan groeso Castell-nedd Port Talbot. Mae teuluoedd sy'n ffoaduriaid o Wcráin yn cael gwybod, gyda'r ganolfan ar fin cau, y gallan nhw gael eu symud i rannau eraill o Gymru. Mae nifer o deuluoedd mawr o Wcráin yn parhau i gael eu cartrefu yn y canolfannau croeso gan nad oes unrhyw eiddo addas i gynnig llety parhaol iddyn nhw. Mae dwy ran o dair o blant yn mynd i ysgolion lleol, ac mae 10 o'r oedolion mewn cyflogaeth leol, ac mae pob un nawr yn wynebu cael eu dadwreiddio unwaith eto, oherwydd ein bod ni wedi methu â darparu llety mwy parhaol. Ond nid ein gwesteion o Wcráin yn unig sy'n dioddef oherwydd diffyg cartrefi. Mae cyngor Castell-Nedd Port Talbot hefyd yn cartrefu wyth teulu digartref mewn gwesty lleol, a bu'n rhaid anfon un i westy yn Mryste, oherwydd prinder difrifol o lety.
Gweinidog, mae'n amlwg bod angen brys am dai ledled Cymru, ac mae angen i Lywodraeth Cymru weithredu, yn enwedig os ydyn ni eisiau cynnal ein statws fel cenedl noddfa. Felly, rwy'n gofyn am ddatganiad brys gan Lywodraeth Cymru yn amlinellu sut y byddwch chi'n ymdrin â'r diffygion tai ar gyfer ein ffoaduriaid a'n teuluoedd sy'n byw yng Nghymru, yn ddelfrydol cyn i'r canolfannau croeso gau mewn ychydig wythnosau. Diolch yn fawr.
Thank you. Well, as you say, many people opened their homes to people fleeing the war in Ukraine, and the Minister for Social Justice continues to work very closely with people who did settle in Wales. And, as you say, some of them will have been here over a year, their children are settled in school, and it is really important that we do all we can. As you'll be aware, we had no additional funding from the UK Government; we did this at our own cost, because it absolutely was the right thing to do, and we are indeed a nation of sanctuary. But I know the Minister for Social Justice still has those ongoing complications and, obviously, works very closely with not just the Minister for Climate Change in relation to housing, but also the Minister for Finance and Local Government, to see what more we can do to help house the families who, as you say, have settled here.
Diolch i chi. Wel, fel rydych chi'n dweud, fe agorodd llawer o bobl ddrysau eu cartrefi i bobl sy'n ffoi rhag y rhyfel yn Wcráin, ac mae'r Gweinidog Cyfiawnder Cymdeithasol yn parhau i weithio yn agos iawn gyda phobl a ymgartrefodd yng Nghymru. Ac, fel rydych chi'n dweud, fe fydd rhai ohonyn nhw wedi bod yma am fwy na blwyddyn, mae eu plant nhw wedi setlo yn yr ysgol, ac mae hi'n bwysig iawn ein bod ni'n gwneud pob peth a allwn ni. Fel gwyddoch chi, ni chawsom ni unrhyw gyllid ychwanegol gan Lywodraeth y DU; fe wnaethom ni hyn ar ein traul ein hunain, oherwydd dyna oedd y peth cyfiawn i'w wneud, ac, yn wir, rydyn ni'n genedl noddfa. Ond rwy'n gwybod bod y Gweinidog Cyfiawnder Cymdeithasol yn parhau i weld y cymhlethdodau hynny o hyd ac, yn amlwg, mae hi'n gweithio yn agos iawn nid yn unig gyda'r Gweinidog Newid Hinsawdd o ran tai, ond gyda'r Gweinidog Cyllid a Llywodraeth Leol hefyd, i weld beth arall y gallwn ni ei wneud i helpu i roi cartref i'r teuluoedd hyn sydd, fel rydych chi'n dweud, wedi ymgartrefu yma.
The business statement contains a commitment to a 30-minute statement on the NHS at 75. It hardly seems an adequate way to mark this anniversary, with a statement for 30 minutes. I would like to ask the Government to table a motion and a debate on the future of the NHS.
It's three quarters of a century, of course, since Aneurin Bevan said he was going to 'Tredegarise' the rest of the United Kingdom, and perhaps the best way we can pay tribute to the memory of Nye and to the reality of a national health service is to have a serious debate on its future—how we see the next 75 years, how we want to see the NHS developing to serve future generations. My parents were both born under the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, prior to the establishment of the NHS, but I'm sure that my children want to see what this place thinks about the future of their NHS. And the people who are working in the NHS today will expect us to chart a future that takes care of its institution, but also ensures that the institution that was born three quarters of a century ago is fit for the next three quarters of a century.
Mae'r datganiad busnes yn cynnwys ymrwymiad i ddatganiad o 30 munud ynglŷn â 75 mlynedd y GIG. Go brin y caiff honno ei hystyried yn ffordd ddigonol o nodi'r pen-blwydd hwn, gyda datganiad o 30 munud. Fe hoffwn i ofyn i'r Llywodraeth gyflwyno cynnig a dadl ar ddyfodol y GIG.
Mae tri chwarter canrif wedi bod, wrth gwrs, ers i Aneurin Bevan ddweud ei fod am 'Dredegareiddio' gweddill y Deyrnas Unedig, ac efallai mai'r ffordd orau y gallwn ni roi coffâd i Aneurin a sefyllfa wirioneddol gwasanaeth iechyd gwladol yw cynnal dadl ddifrifol ar ei ddyfodol—sut rydym ni'n gweld y 75 mlynedd nesaf, sut rydym eisiau gweld y GIG yn datblygu i wasanaethu cenedlaethau'r dyfodol. Fe gafodd fy rhieni eu geni dan oruchwyliaeth Cymdeithas Cymorth Meddygol Tredegar, cyn sylfaenu'r GIG, ond rwy'n siŵr y bydd fy mhlant i'n dymuno gwybod barn y lle hwn am ddyfodol eu GIG nhw. Ac fe fydd y bobl sy'n gweithio yn y GIG heddiw yn disgwyl i ni lunio dyfodol sy'n gofalu am ei sefydliad, ond gan sicrhau hefyd y bydd y sefydliad yr esgorwyd arno dri chwarter canrif yn ôl yn addas ar gyfer y tri chwarter canrif nesaf.
I'll consider the request.
Fe wnaf i ystyried y cais.
Yn olaf, James Evans.
Finally, James Evans.
Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. Trefnydd, as you are well aware, the consultation on the release and control of game birds in Wales is coming to an end. Thousands of people have responded to that consultation as they see that as an attack on their jobs, on their livelihoods and their businesses. What I'd like to request is a debate, in Government time, on these regulations, if they come forward, to ensure that those thousands of people who have responded to that consultation can get their views known in this Chamber, and the views of the people that they represent are aired in this Chamber.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Trefnydd, fel gwyddoch chi'n iawn, mae'r ymgynghoriad ynglŷn â rhyddhau a rheoli adar hela yng Nghymru ar fin dod i ben. Mae miloedd o bobl wedi ymateb i'r ymgynghoriad hwn am eu bod nhw'n ei ystyried yn ymosodiad ar eu swyddi, ar eu bywoliaethau a'u busnesau. Yr hyn yr hoffwn i ofyn amdano yw dadl, yn amser y Llywodraeth, ar y rheoliadau hyn, pe cânt eu cyflwyno, i sicrhau y bydd y miloedd o bobl hyn sydd wedi ymateb i'r ymgynghoriad hwnnw yn gallu hysbysu'r Siambr hon o'u barn, a bod barn y bobl sy'n cael eu cynrychioli yn cael eu gwyntyllu yn y Siambr hon.
The consultation actually closes today. Obviously, we will then consider the responses.
Mae'r ymgynghoriad yn dod i ben heddiw, mewn gwirionedd. Yn amlwg, fe fyddwn ni'n ystyried yr ymatebion wedyn.
Diolch, Trefnydd.
I thank the Trefnydd.
Eitem 3 yw'r datganiad gan y Gweinidog Newid Hinsawdd: y rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd. Galwaf ar y Gweinidog Newid Hinsawdd, Julie James.
Item 3 is a statement by the Minister for Climate Change on the Warm Homes programme. I call on the Minister for Climate Change, Julie James.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. We published our lessons learned and Government response documents last Wednesday, but, due to technical issues, the policy statement for the new Warm Homes programme was not available at the same time. So, firstly, Dirprwy Lywydd, let me apologise for the delay in publication, but today I will set out the detail that that statement provides.
Our new programme must and will balance the dual objectives of tackling fuel poverty and reducing the climate impacts of our housing stock. We will build on our approach of improving the energy efficiency of Welsh homes, ensuring we only use the energy we need to keep homes comfortably warm at an affordable cost. Families should not have to make impossible choices, such as between buying food and keeping warm. The current energy crisis has underlined the urgent need to make heating our homes more affordable. Whilst I and my colleagues continue to demand systemic change from the UK Government to generate a fairer system for all, our new Warm Homes programme will continue to be the Welsh Government's primary mechanism to tackle fuel poverty.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Fe wnaethom ni gyhoeddi'r gwersi a ddysgwyd yn ogystal â dogfennau ymateb y Llywodraeth ddydd Mercher diwethaf, ond, oherwydd materion technegol, nid oedd y datganiad polisi ar gyfer rhaglen newydd Cartrefi Clyd ar gael ar yr un pryd. Felly, yn gyntaf, Dirprwy Lywydd, gadewch i mi ymddiheuro am yr oedi gyda'r cyhoeddi, ond rwyf i am nodi'r manylion heddiw y mae'r datganiad hwnnw'n eu rhoi.
Mae'n rhaid i'n rhaglen newydd ni, ac fe fydd hi'n gwneud hynny, gydbwyso'r amcanion deublyg o fynd i'r afael â thlodi tanwydd a lleihau effeithiau hinsawdd ein stoc dai. Fe fyddwn ni'n adeiladu ar ein dull ni o wella effeithlonrwydd ynni cartrefi Cymru, gan sicrhau ein bod ni'n defnyddio dim ond yr ynni sydd ei angen arnom ni i gadw ein cartrefi ni'n gysurus gynnes am gost sy'n fforddiadwy. Ni ddylai teuluoedd orfod gwneud dewisiadau amhosibl, fel rhwng prynu bwyd a chadw yn ddiddos. Mae'r argyfwng ynni presennol wedi tanlinellu'r angen mawr i wneud gwresogi ein cartrefi ni'n fwy fforddiadwy. Er bod fy nghydweithwyr a minnau'n parhau i fynnu bod newid systemig yn digwydd yn Llywodraeth y DU i lunio system sy'n decach i bawb, bydd ein rhaglen newydd ni, Cartrefi Clyd, yn parhau i fod yn brif fecanwaith i Lywodraeth Cymru o ran mynd i'r afael â thlodi tanwydd.
As we go about addressing the immediate need to support households with their fuel bills, we also cannot lose sight of the climate emergency and our longer term pathway to net zero. We are continuing a 'fabric, worst and low-carbon first' approach, improving the performance of the least thermally efficient low-income households in Wales. In our new programme, however, we are going further in choosing low-carbon solutions and avoiding fossil fuel replacement systems wherever possible.
All households in Wales will have access to the Warm Homes programme for advice and support on how best to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, and how measures can be funded. In relation to the installation of measures, I believe we should focus our attention on households who are least able to pay for improvements themselves in the owner-occupier, private rented and housing co-operative sectors. The optimised retrofit programme and the Welsh housing quality standard already drive up energy efficiency in social housing and I am proud of the impact they are having.
We have listened to our stakeholders and carefully considered eligibility criteria for the new scheme to ensure it delivers our objectives. We will set a low-income threshold, rather than basing eligibility solely on means-tested benefits, to ensure we target the poorest in society. In terms of eligible homes, we will treat dwellings with an EPC rating of E and below. This will be extended to EPC D for households including individuals with a recognised health condition, such as chronic respiratory, circulatory or mental health conditions. Our aim is to offer lower income households with an EPC of D but no health condition a place on a reserve list, with periodic reviews to ensure the pipeline for works is operating at capacity. I want to make sure every penny of the fund allocated to this programme is put to good use.
We will make provision for buildings that contain more than one dwelling, such as blocks of flats, which are often more effectively treated as a collective. There will be flexibility in the eligibility criteria so as not to disadvantage fuel-poor households who share buildings with non-eligible households. We will work with local authorities and energy companies to maximise other funding steams, such as the energy company obligation, to target households in most need and those who can benefit from these schemes.
In terms of the measures offered to these households, we are adopting a fabric-first approach, improving thermal efficiency to a satisfactory standard before deploying heating and ventilation measures. Our actions will be guided by a whole-house assessment, completed by independent assessors. Low-carbon technologies will be prioritised where it makes sense to do so. We will no longer fit replacement gas boilers as a preferred solution. Where it is cost-effective, we will replace end-of-life boilers with low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps. Where moving to an electric heating system would cause significant increases in running costs, the priority could be to repair energy-efficient gas boilers to extend their lives. Innovative technologies such as hybrid heat pumps or communal systems may be considered where repair is not a cost-effective or a viable option.
We've heard and responded to feedback on the inclusion of windows and doors, and small-scale enabling works within a pre-agreed financial limit. It is important we do not allow, for example, the minor replacement of roof tiles to prevent solar PV being installed, providing potentially life-changing free energy to a disadvantaged household.
Finally, households will no longer be limited to single applications. If a household supported by a previous Warm Homes scheme remains in fuel poverty and meets the eligibility criteria, they may now apply for additional support.
Focusing resource on deeper retrofit for the worst-off in society underlines our commitment to a just transition and will help us learn lessons to inform and enable wider and deeper retrofit in the future. We also recognise the need to stimulate skills and supply chain development in this sector. While we cannot commit beyond the current spending review period, I can confirm around £30 million has been put aside for the programme for its first year of delivery.
Learning lessons from the past, I am committed to ensuring consumers are protected against low standards of delivery and the installation of unsuitable measures. The new service will require works are to PAS standards, lowering the likelihood of unsatisfactory outcomes, offering legal recourse where required, and opening up other funding streams such as the energy company obligation. We are further encouraging quality by ensuring there is independence between the energy advice, the organisation installing the measures, and the quality assurance and audit suppliers.
Dirprwy Lywydd, I have described the service as it will be delivered from day one. However, we also need to be flexible to changing circumstances. Therefore, while this will initially be the demand-led service, it will not preclude area-based initiatives. We will work with the delivery agents and our wider partners to scope this element, giving consideration to other initiatives such as ECO.
This new programme is part of our work to develop a joined-up approach across all tenures and income levels to drive decarbonisation. As a first step, we aim to publish our heat strategy this year, which will set out the vision and priority areas for action. Our approach delivers on our values and makes pragmatic choices to ensure we target our resources appropriately. It will deliver an integrated approach: responding to the current cost-of-living crisis, promoting sustainable Welsh materials; providing trusted energy efficiency and decarbonisation advice; supporting Welsh skills and jobs; and learning from the lessons and experience gained from the Welsh Government's optimised retrofit programme. Diolch.
Wrth i ni fwrw ymlaen â'r gwaith o fynd i'r afael â'r angen i gefnogi aelwydydd gyda'u biliau tanwydd nawr, nid ydym ni'n gallu colli golwg ar yr argyfwng hinsawdd a'n llwybr tymor hwy at sero net. Rydym ni'n parhau â'r ymagwedd 'adeiladwaith, y gwaethaf a charbon isel yn gyntaf', gan wella perfformiad yr aelwydydd incwm isel lleiaf effeithlon yn thermol yng Nghymru. Yn ein rhaglen newydd ni, serch hynny, rydym ni'n mynd ymhellach i ddewis datrysiadau carbon isel ac osgoi systemau amnewid tanwydd ffosil lle bynnag y bo modd.
Bydd pob cartref yng Nghymru yn gallu mynd at y rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd i gael cyngor a chymorth ynglŷn â'r dull gorau o wella effeithlonrwydd ynni'r cartref, a sut y gellir ariannu'r mesurau hynny. O ran mewnosod y mesurau, rwyf i o'r farn y dylem ni ganolbwyntio ein sylw ar yr aelwydydd sydd leiaf abl i dalu am y gwelliannau eu hunain yn sectorau'r perchen-feddianwyr, rhent preifat a chwmnïau cydweithredol tai. Mae'r rhaglen ôl-osod er mwyn optimeiddio a safon ansawdd tai Cymru eisoes yn cynyddu effeithlonrwydd ynni mewn tai cymdeithasol ac rwy'n falch o'r effaith y maen nhw'n ei chael.
Rydym ni wedi gwrando ar ein rhanddeiliaid ac wedi ystyried meini prawf cymhwysedd yn ofalus ar gyfer y cynllun newydd i sicrhau ei fod yn cyflawni ein hamcanion ni. Fe fyddwn ni'n pennu trothwy incwm isel, yn hytrach na seilio cymhwysedd ar fudd-daliadau prawf modd yn unig, i sicrhau ein bod ni'n anelu at y rhai tlotaf yn y gymdeithas. O ran y cartrefi a fydd yn gymwys, fe fyddwn ni'n ymdrin ag anheddau gyda gradd Tystysgrif Perfformiad Ynni E ac is. Fe gaiff hynny ei ymestyn hyd at radd Tystysgrif Perfformiad Ynni D i aelwydydd sy'n gartref i unigolion â chyflwr iechyd cydnabyddedig, megis anadlol cronig, cyflyrau cylchrediad gwaed neu o ran iechyd meddwl. Ein nod ni yw cynnig lle ar restr wrth gefn i aelwydydd incwm is gyda Thystysgrif Perfformiad Ynni D ond heb gyflwr iechyd, gydag adolygiadau o bryd i'w gilydd i sicrhau bod y llif gwaith yn gweithredu i'r eithaf fel dylai. Rwy'n awyddus i sicrhau y bydd pob ceiniog o'r gronfa a ddyrennir i'r rhaglen hon yn cael ei defnyddio er lles.
Fe fyddwn ni'n gwneud darpariaeth ar gyfer adeiladau sy'n cynnwys mwy nag un annedd, megis blociau o fflatiau, sy'n cael eu trin yn fwy effeithiol yn gyfunol, yn aml iawn. Fe fydd yna hyblygrwydd gyda meini prawf cymhwysedd ar gyfer peidio â rhoi aelwydydd sydd â thlodi tanwydd dan anfantais am eu bod yn rhannu adeiladau ag aelwydydd eraill nad ydyn nhw'n gymwys. Fe fyddwn ni'n gweithio gydag awdurdodau lleol a chwmnïau ynni i wneud y gorau o ffynonellau eraill o gyllido, fel rhwymedigaeth y cwmni ynni, i anelu at aelwydydd sydd â'r angen mwyaf a'r rhai a all elwa ar y cynlluniau hyn.
O ran y mesurau a gynigir i'r aelwydydd hyn, fe fyddwn ni'n mabwysiadu dull adeiladwaith yn gyntaf, gan wella effeithlonrwydd thermol hyd at safon foddhaol cyn defnyddio mesurau o ran gwresogi ac awyru. Fe fydd ein camau ni'n cael eu harwain gan asesiad o'r tŷ cyfan, a gwblheir gan aseswyr annibynnol. Fe fydd technolegau carbon isel yn cael eu blaenoriaethu lle bo hi'n gwneud synnwyr i wneud hynny. Nid ydym ni am osod boeleri nwy newydd fel datrysiad dewisol mwyach. Lle bo hynny'n gost-effeithiol, rydym ni am osod datrysiadau amgen carbon isel fel pympiau gwres yn lle boeleri sydd wedi cyrraedd diwedd eu hoes. Lle byddai symud at system wresogi trydan yn achosi cynnydd sylweddol yn y costau rhedeg, y flaenoriaeth fyddai atgyweirio boeleri nwy ynni-effeithlon i ymestyn eu bywydau nhw. Gellir ystyried technolegau arloesol fel pympiau gwres hybrid neu systemau cymunedol pryd nad yw atgyweirio yn ddewis cost-effeithiol neu ymarferol.
Rydym ni wedi clywed ac ymateb i adborth ar gynnwys ffenestri a drysau, a gwaith galluogi ar raddfa fach o fewn terfyn ariannol y cytunwyd arno ymlaen llaw. Mae'n bwysig nad ydym ni'n caniatáu, er enghraifft, i newid teils ar raddfa fechan rwystro gosod paneli solar ffotofoltaig ar do, sy'n darparu ynni rhad am ddim a allai fod yn dro ar fyd i aelwyd dan anfantais.
Yn olaf, ni fydd cartrefi yn gyfyngedig i geisiadau sengl erbyn hyn. Os yw aelwyd a gefnogwyd gan gynllun Cartrefi Clyd blaenorol yn parhau i fod mewn tlodi tanwydd ac yn bodloni'r meini prawf o ran cymhwysedd, cânt wneud cais am gymorth ychwanegol nawr.
Mae canolbwyntio adnoddau ar ôl-osod dwysach i'r tlotaf yn y gymdeithas yn tanlinellu ein hymrwymiad ni i bontio teg ac fe fydd hynny'n ein helpu ni i ddysgu gwersi i lywio a galluogi ôl-osod ehangach a dwysach yn y dyfodol. Rydym ni'n cydnabod yr angen i ysgogi sgiliau a datblygu'r gadwyn gyflenwi yn y sector hwn hefyd. Er na allwn ni ymrwymo y tu hwnt i'r cyfnod adolygu gwariant presennol, fe allaf i gadarnhau bod tua £30 miliwn wedi cael ei neilltuo ar gyfer y rhaglen yn ystod blwyddyn gyntaf ei chyflwyno.
Gan ddysgu gwersi o'r gorffennol, rwyf i wedi ymrwymo i sicrhau y bydd defnyddwyr yn cael eu hamddiffyn rhag safonau gwael o ran cyflawni a rhoi mesurau amhriodol yn eu lle. Fe fydd y gwasanaeth newydd yn gofyn am waith i gyrraedd safonau PAS, gan leihau'r tebygolrwydd o ganlyniadau anfoddhaol, cynnig atebolrwydd cyfreithiol lle bo angen, ac agor ffrydiau eraill o gyllido fel rhwymedigaeth ar y cwmni ynni. Rydym ni'n annog ansawdd ymhellach drwy sicrhau annibyniaeth rhwng y cyngor ynni, y sefydliad sy'n gosod y mesurau, a'r cyflenwyr sicrhau ansawdd ac archwilio.
Dirprwy Lywydd, rwyf i wedi disgrifio'r gwasanaeth fel caiff ei ddarparu o'i ddiwrnod cyntaf. Eto i gyd, mae angen i ni fod yn hyblyg o ran amgylchiadau newidiol hefyd. Felly, er mai gwasanaeth fydd hwn a arweinir gan y galw ar y dechrau, ni fydd hynny'n rhwystro mentrau sy'n seiliedig ar ardaloedd. Fe fyddwn ni'n gweithio gyda'r asiantau cyflenwi a'n partneriaid ehangach i gwmpasu'r elfen hon, gan roi ystyriaeth i fentrau eraill fel rhwymedigaeth cwmni ynni (ECO).
Mae'r rhaglen newydd hon yn rhan o'n gwaith ni o ddatblygu dull cydgysylltiedig ar draws pob deiliadaeth a chyfradd o incwm i ysgogi datgarboneiddio. Yn gam dechreuol, ein nod ni yw cyhoeddi ein strategaeth wres eleni, a fydd yn nodi'r weledigaeth a'r meysydd o flaenoriaeth ar gyfer camau. Mae ein dull ni o weithredu yn cyflawni ein gwerthoedd ac yn gwneud dewisiadau ymarferol iawn i sicrhau ein bod ni'n anelu ein hadnoddau ni'n gywir. Fe fydd yn cynnig dull sy'n integredig: gan ymateb i'r argyfwng costau byw presennol, hyrwyddo deunyddiau cynaliadwy o Gymru; darparu cyngor dibynadwy ar effeithlonrwydd ynni a datgarboneiddio; cefnogi sgiliau a swyddi yng Nghymru; a dysgu o'r gwersi a'r profiad a gafwyd o raglen ôl-osod er mwyn optimeiddio Llywodraeth Cymru. Diolch.
Thank you, Minister. I actually think this is a really interesting and quite comprehensive statement that you've brought forward, and it's fair to say we share, basically, the same ambitions. We've got to improve the energy efficiency of Welsh homes, and we've got to eradicate fuel poverty. Now, you will recall that your first ambition was to look—I declare an interest as a property owner—at social housing, but evidence that we took in the climate change committee proved to us all that, for this work, to get us where we need to be in terms of net zero, all types of housing should be addressed. Now, the Chartered Institute of Housing stated to our climate change committee that privately owned accommodation is the elephant in the room that must be addressed if housing it to play its role. We also know that Wales's old housing stock is not the easiest to retrofit. Now, previous schemes that you've basically referred to in the Warm Homes programme have actually contributed to damp, condensation, and, it is fair to say, in a lot of cases, it was a failure.
Now, I would like to know what monitoring—and I have a good reason for asking you this question in a minute—you have in place for works that are carried out that are, technically, meant to be supporting residents. Now, I know that the new programme will have a low-income threshold rather than means-tested benefits, so I just wouldn't mind you defining 'low income'.
Concerns have been raised with me that the scheme could potentially be used for new fossil-fuel heating systems, and this might undermine the net-zero work. Just a comment on that.
Our climate change committee has previously been clear that you have an important role to play in changing consumer behaviour and to drive energy efficiency retrofit. So, we know that, unless we get this innovation right, Welsh homes will simply not achieve net zero by 2050. We know that the climate change report states that emissions increased by 2 per cent in 2020, gas demand in residential buildings has remained broadly similar over the last decade, and electricity demand in residential buildings rose by 5 per cent.
Now, your statement is excellent, Minister. [Interruption.] Anyway, what I would like to ask you—. Out of the blue, at one of my surgeries two weeks ago, a lady came to me and, I have to say, she was distraught. She's had one of these low-carbon technologies. Somebody knocked on her door and said, 'You can have this all-singing, all-dancing heat pump'. So, she allowed them to go ahead and, it's fair to say, she's distraught. The scheme cost £18,000. She had a three-bedroomed house, and I've seen all the evidential photographs. She's had one room completely taken over now, that has this big thing in there with pipework going everywhere. She's been left with holes in her ceilings, flooring ripped up and badly put back. She's ended up with the boiler taken out of the kitchen and really bad work. Outside, the garden's been messed about with, and, I have to say, the quality of the work is shoddy, to say the least. She's had no certification guarantees, and she's had electricity works carried out, gas works carried out, taken out, and I'm really shocked. So, I've written to the company who did this, Minister. I cannot find who has funded this scheme. All I get told is, 'It's the Warm Homes programme.' 'Oh, okay, so it's the Welsh Government.' 'No, no, no. I don't know who funds us because we're doing it on behalf of another company who's doing it on behalf of someone else.' And, suddenly, the building safety and all the problems that we've had with cladding sprung to mind. She tells me now that she's got other friends who live in the same area who will be coming to see me because they have now got into a situation themselves where they simply have taken on this new thing. She didn't even sign any paperwork until the very end. She wasn't asked to sign anything. So, basically, what I'm asking, Minister, is how you can monitor these works. What we don't want to do—. We don't want another Arbed disaster. We want to make sure, if chunks of taxpayers' money are going into these schemes, that the works are fitted to a high quality and a safe standard. Diolch.
Diolch yn fawr, Gweinidog. Rwyf i o'r farn fod y datganiad a wnaethoch chi ei roi yn un diddorol a chynhwysfawr iawn mewn gwirionedd, ac mae hi'n deg dweud ein bod ni'n rhannu'r un uchelgeisiau, yn y bôn. Mae'n rhaid i ni wella effeithlonrwydd ynni cartrefi Cymru, ac mae'n rhaid i ni ddiddymu tlodi tanwydd. Nawr, rydych chi siŵr o fod yn cofio mai eich uchelgais gyntaf chi oedd edrych—rwy'n datgan buddiant fel perchennog eiddo—ar dai cymdeithasol, ond roedd y dystiolaeth a gafwyd gennym ni yn y pwyllgor newid hinsawdd yn dangos i bawb, er mwyn cyflawni'r gwaith hwn, a'n nodau angenrheidiol o ran sero net, fe ddylid mynd i'r afael â thai o bob math. Nawr, dywedodd y Sefydliad Tai Siartredig wrth ein pwyllgor newid hinsawdd ni mai llety preifat yw'r mater amlycaf y mae'n rhaid mynd i'r afael ag ef os yw tai am chwarae eu rhan. Fe wyddom ni hefyd nad yw hen stoc dai Cymru mor rhwydd â hynny i'w hôl-osod. Nawr, mae'r cynlluniau blaenorol yr ydych chi wedi cyfeirio atyn nhw yn y rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd wedi cyfrannu at leithder, anwedd, ac mae hi'n deg dweud, mewn llawer o achosion, iddyn nhw fod yn fethiant.
Nawr, fe hoffwn i wybod pa fonitro—ac mae gen i reswm da am ofyn y cwestiwn hwn i chi mewn munud—sydd gennych chi ar unrhyw waith sy'n cael ei wneud sydd, yn dechnegol, â'r bwriad o gefnogi preswylwyr. Nawr, rwy'n gwybod y bydd gan y rhaglen newydd drothwy o ran incwm isel yn hytrach nag o ran budd-daliadau prawf modd, felly nid drwg o beth yn fy marn i fyddai i chi roi diffiniad o 'incwm isel'.
Mae pryderon wedi cael eu codi gyda mi y gallai'r cynllun gael ei ddefnyddio ar gyfer systemau gwresogi tanwydd ffosil newydd o bosibl, ac fe allai hynny danseilio'r gwaith o ran sero net. Dim ond gair bach ynglŷn â hynny.
Mae ein pwyllgor newid hinsawdd wedi bod yn eglur yn flaenorol fod gennych swyddogaeth bwysig o ran newid ymddygiad defnyddwyr ac ysgogi ôl-osod i gynorthwyo effeithlonrwydd ynni. Felly, fe wyddom ni na fydd cartrefi Cymru, oni bai ein bod ni'n cyflawni'r arloesedd hwn mewn modd priodol, yn cyrraedd sero net erbyn 2050. Fe wyddom ni fod yr adroddiad ar newid hinsawdd yn nodi bod allyriadau wedi cynyddu 2% yn 2020, mae'r galw am nwy mewn adeiladau preswyl wedi parhau i fod yn weddol gyson dros y degawd diwethaf, ac fe gynyddodd y galw am drydan mewn adeiladau preswyl 5 y cant.
Nawr, mae eich datganiad chi'n ardderchog, Gweinidog. [Torri ar draws.] Beth bynnag am hynny, yr hyn yr hoffwn ei ofyn i chi—. Yn ddirybudd, yn un o fy nghymorthfeydd bythefnos yn ôl, fe ddaeth menyw ataf i ac, mae'n rhaid i mi ddweud, roedd hi mewn trallod. Mae hi wedi cael un o'r technolegau carbon isel hyn. Daeth rhywun a churo ar ei drws hi a dweud, 'Fe allwch chi gael y pwmp gwres hwn ac fe wnaiff hwnnw bob un dim i chi'. Felly, fe wnaeth hi ganiatáu iddyn nhw fynd yn eu blaenau ac, mae hi'n deg dweud, mae hi mewn trallod. Cost y cynllun oedd £18,000. Roedd ganddi hi dŷ â thair ystafell wely, ac rwyf i wedi gweld yr holl ffotograffau i roi tystiolaeth. Mae hi wedi gweld un o'i hystafelloedd hi'n llawn dop erbyn hyn, mae'r teclyn mawr hwn yno a phibellau yn mynd i bobman. Mae ei nenfydau'n llawn tyllau, mae lloriau wedi eu codi a'u rhoi yn eu holau'n flêr iawn. Tynnwyd ei boeler o'i chegin drwy waith diofal iawn. Y tu allan, mae'r ardd wedi cael ei difetha, ac, mae'n rhaid i mi ddweud, mae ansawdd y gwaith yn dila iawn, a dweud y lleiaf. Nid yw hi wedi cael unrhyw warantau ardystio, ac mae gwaith wedi'i wneud gyda'r trydan, gwaith gyda'r nwy, tynnu pethau allan, ac rwyf i'n gresynu. Felly, rwyf i wedi ysgrifennu at y cwmni a oedd yn gyfrifol am y gwaith hwn, Gweinidog. Nid wyf i'n gallu canfod pwy sydd wedi ariannu'r cynllun hwn. Y cyfan sy'n cael ei ddweud wrthyf i yw, 'Y rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd yw hon.' 'O, iawn, Llywodraeth Cymru felly.' 'Nage ddim. Nid wyf i'n gwybod pwy sy'n ein hariannu ni am ein bod ni'n gweithredu ar ran cwmni arall sy'n gwneud hyn ar ran rhywun arall.' Ac, yn sydyn, mae diogelwch adeiladau a'r holl broblemau a gawsom ni gyda chladin yn dod i'r meddwl. Fe ddywedodd hi wrthyf i wedyn fod ffrindiau eraill ganddi hi sy'n byw yn yr un ardal sydd am ddod i fy ngweld i oherwydd eu bod nhw wedi mynd i sefyllfa eu hunain o fod wedi ymgymryd â'r teclyn newydd hwn. Ni wnaeth hi arwyddo unrhyw waith papur tan y diwedd un, hyd yn oed. Ni ofynnwyd iddi hi arwyddo unrhyw beth. Felly, yn y bôn, yr hyn yr wyf i'n ei ofyn, Gweinidog, yw sut y gallwch chi fonitro'r gwaith hwn. Yr hyn nad ydym ni'n dymuno ei wneud—. Nid ydym ni'n dymuno gweld trychineb arall fel Arbed. Rydym ni'n awyddus i sicrhau, os yw symiau o arian trethdalwyr yn mynd i mewn i'r cynlluniau hyn, y bydd y gwaith yn cael ei gwblhau hyd at safon dda a safon ddiogel. Diolch.
Thank you, Janet. On your constituent's dilemma, that sounds like a scam to me, but I can't possibly know. If you write to me and let me know the address, I can certainly check that it isn't one of our programmes, but it can't be, because there's no way that a programme that hasn't got documentation and so on in it is one of ours. But write and tell me the address, and I will just do one check. That doesn't sound like any government-funded programme that I've ever come across, so personally I'd be directing your constituent to Citizens Advice or a lawyer, because that really does just sound like a very bad situation.
What I was setting out in my statement, though, was that we are learning the lessons of some of the schemes we've had in the past, and where we've had very successful schemes in the past, we've nevertheless had some homes that really haven't been well treated. We've put some of those right where possible. Some of them from the UK Government schemes have also fallen into that category. So, we're learning the lessons of this. Part of what I'm announcing today is an advisory service that will allow people to take advice about what should happen in their homes, so your constituent would have been able to access that advice service, which would tell her whether her home was suitable for an air-source heat pump or whatever it is, and help her understand what can be done with the sort of house she's got. That's coming straight out of the optimised retrofit programme, where we deliberately tech-trialled a series of different solutions to different sorts of house—six archetype houses—to make sure that the solution we were proposing actually works. I've mentioned that many times. We're now able to roll that advice out because we've got enough data coming out of it to be able to give people reliable advice.
Then, we're targeting those in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is very difficult because you can actually have quite a high income and be an owner-occupier buying a house on a mortgage and still be in fuel poverty. So, trying to target it at the right level for the households who are very unlikely to be able to manage but where it will significantly decrease their energy bill as well as their net-zero contribution is where we're at. And it is a compromise—there's no doubt about that. It's one of the things we'll have to do on the path because we have a cost-of-living crisis as well as a climate crisis. So, as part of our just transition plans, we're trying to help as many people as possible. But what this programme does is, for the first time, really, it looks holistically at the whole property. It puts insulating the entire home first, and then, where a gas boiler can be repaired, with the embodied carbon in that, we will repair it; if it can't be repaired, then different systems will come into play. But, yes, if you write to me about your constituent, Janet. I very much doubt it, but I'll check.
Diolch yn fawr i chi, Janet. O ran cyfyng-gyngor eich etholwraig chi, mae hynny'n swnio fel twyll i mi, ond ni allaf i wybod i sicrwydd. Pe byddech chi'n ysgrifennu ataf i a rhoi gwybod i mi am y cyfeiriad, yn sicr fe allaf i wirio nad yw hi'n un o'n rhaglenni ni, am na all hi fod, oherwydd nid oes unrhyw bosibilrwydd y gallai rhaglen heb ddogfennaeth ac ati fod yn un o rai ni. Ond ysgrifennwch a rhowch y cyfeiriad i mi, ac fe wnaf i wirio hwnnw i chi. Nid yw hwn yn swnio fel unrhyw raglen a ariennir gan y llywodraeth a glywais amdani erioed, felly fe fyddwn i fy hunan yn cyfeirio'r etholwraig at Gyngor ar Bopeth neu gyfreithiwr, oherwydd mae honno'n swnio fel sefyllfa ddifrifol iawn wir.
Yr hyn a nodais yn fy natganiad i, serch hynny, oedd ein bod ni'n dysgu'r gwersi o rai o'r cynlluniau a gawsom ni yn y gorffennol, a lle rydym ni wedi gweld cynlluniau llwyddiannus iawn yn y gorffennol, fe welsom ni, serch hynny, rai cartrefi heb gael eu trin yn dda. Rydym ni wedi cywiro rhai o'r rhain lle bo hynny'n bosibl. Mae rhai ohonyn nhw wedi cwympo i'r categori hwnnw oherwydd cynlluniau gan Lywodraeth y DU hefyd. Felly, rydyn ni'n dysgu gwersi o hyn. Rhan o'r hyn yr wyf i'n ei gyhoeddi heddiw yw gwasanaeth cynghori a fydd yn caniatáu i bobl gymryd cyngor ynghylch yr hyn a ddylai ddigwydd yn eu cartrefi nhw, felly fe fyddai eich etholwraig chi wedi gallu cael mynd at y gwasanaeth cynghori hwnnw, a fyddai'n dweud wrthi hi a oedd ei chartref yn addas ar gyfer pwmp gwres ffynhonnell aer neu beth bynnag allai fod, a'i helpu hi i ddeall beth ellir ei wneud gyda'r math o dŷ sydd ganddi. Mae hynny'n dod yn syth o'r rhaglen ôl-osod er mwyn optimeiddio, lle gwnaethom ni dreialu cyfres o wahanol atebion yn fwriadol i wahanol fathau o dŷ—chwech enghraifft glasurol o dŷ—er mwyn sicrhau bod yr ateb yr oeddem ni'n ei gynnig yn gweithio mewn gwirionedd. Rwyf i wedi sôn am hyn sawl gwaith. Rydym ni'n gallu cyflwyno'r cyngor hwnnw erbyn hyn oherwydd mae gennym ni ddigon o ddata yn dod allan i allu rhoi cyngor dibynadwy i bobl.
Yna, rydym ni'n anelu at rai sydd mewn tlodi tanwydd. Mae tlodi tanwydd yn anodd iawn oherwydd fe allech chi fod ag incwm eithaf uchel mewn gwirionedd a bod yn berchen-feddiannydd yn prynu tŷ ar forgais ac yn dal i fod mewn tlodi tanwydd. Felly, yr hyn a wnawn ni yw ceisio anelu hyn yn briodol ar gyfer aelwydydd sy'n annhebygol iawn o allu rheoli'r sefyllfa ond lle bydd yn lleihau eu bil ynni yn sylweddol yn ogystal â'u cyfraniad o ran sero net. A chyfaddawdu yw hynny—nid oes unrhyw amheuaeth am hynny. Dyma un o'r pethau y bydd yn rhaid i ni ei wneud ar y llwybr oherwydd mae gennym argyfwng costau byw yn ogystal ag argyfwng hinsawdd. Felly, yn rhan o'n cynlluniau pontio teg, rydym ni'n ceisio helpu cymaint o bobl â phosibl. Ond yr hyn y mae'r rhaglen hon yn ei wneud, am y tro cyntaf, mewn gwirionedd, yw edrych yn gyfannol ar yr eiddo cyfan. Mae'n rhoi insiwleiddio'r cartref cyfan yn gyntaf, ac yna, lle gellir trwsio boeler nwy, gyda'r carbon sy'n gorfforedig yn hwnnw, fe fyddwn ni'n ei atgyweirio; os na ellir ei atgyweirio, yna fe fydd systemau gwahanol yn dod i rym. Ond, ie, pe byddech chi'n ysgrifennu ataf i am eich etholwraig, Janet. Rwy'n amau hynny'n fawr iawn, ond fe wnaf i wirio hynny.
The Warm Homes programme set out some highly commendable targets, and there's no doubt that the outcomes are making a real difference for many people. Making homes warmer and more comfortable whilst also significantly contributing to decarbonisation shows that we are serious as a nation about tackling both climate change and the cost-of-living crises, supporting vulnerable people while also improving their well-being and resilience to avoidable ill health.
However, as we evaluate the previous programme, we must accept that there are serious lessons to be learnt. As far as the new iteration of the Warm Homes programme is concerned, I'm perplexed as to why it's taken so long to reach this announcement today. Considering the real urgency around this issue, and the fact that the Equality and Social Justice Committee's report into fuel poverty and the Warm Homes programme was debated in the Siambr over a year ago, why has it taken so long for this announcement to be made, with it being a last-minute announcement at that?
Looking at the previous iteration, we all know the calamity in Bridgend, and I know from personal experience in Tanygrisiau in my own constituency that things didn't work out as planned. So, what lessons has the Minister learnt from these mistakes, and what bearing will it have on the new programme?
Many people in constituencies across Wales, including my own, live in listed buildings, where remedial works are nearly impossible or, indeed, unlawful. But these homes, in many cases, are energy inefficient and house vulnerable people. In brief, could the Minister provide some further insight into how listed properties fit into this programme?
In terms of data, we need to understand the scale of impact the Warm Homes programme has had so far. So, will the Minister provide data on the number of households that have benefited from the programme to date? Additionally, an analysis of the programme's impact on the health and well-being of individuals and families would be invaluable in comprehending its overall success. Such information will enable us to assess whether the Warm Homes programme is truly reaching those who need it most, and making a meaningful difference in their lives. So, will the Minister share the data of the impact of the programme on the health of participants?
A key component in addressing the energy efficiency of Welsh housing stock is the Welsh Government's ambition to provide 20,000 new low-carbon affordable homes by the end of this Senedd term. So, what progress has the Welsh Government made towards achieving this target? Are we on track to meet that goal by 2026?
In a similar vein, aside from building new energy-efficient social affordable homes, another key imperative is to make existing homes more energy efficient, given that Wales has the least energy-efficient housing stock in Europe. In part, achieving this will require home owners to be aware of the measures they can take to make their homes more energy efficient, and have access to necessary products and services. This would, of course, require a skilled workforce capable of delivering such measures. Municipal authorities across Europe, such as Valencia, have developed one-stop shops where home owners can access house decarbonisation and efficiency guidance, products and services, making it faster, simpler and more convenient for people to contribute to decarbonisation whilst improving their homes. I'd be interested to hear the Minister's perspective on this approach, and whether she'd consider adopting such a policy in Wales.
Technological advancements in energy efficiency present us with new opportunities and solutions. I'd appreciate hearing the Minister's thoughts on how the Welsh Government's plans to incorporate these emerging technologies into the Warm Homes programme will be impacted. Are there any research and development initiatives under way to explore innovative approaches that can enhance energy efficiency in our homes?
The Warm Homes programme must cater to the needs of disadvantaged communities both in urban and rural areas. So, I implore the Minister to elaborate on how the programme specifically targets these communities and ensures equitable access to its benefits. By proactively addressing this issue, we can bridge the gap and create a more inclusive and just society.
Finally, my colleagues Peredur Owen Griffiths and Hefin David attended a meeting at Caerphilly Miners Centre for the Community recently, where local residents raised a number of pertinent questions, which I'd like to convey, at least some of them, here. They were asking if the Minister had thought of interest-free loans to carry out retrofitting, with repayments not due to start until after reduced heating bills can be expected, or had the Minister thought of free training for builders and craftspeople in modern techniques and materials for retrofitting.
Finally, just to respond to Janet Finch-Saunders's story in her constituency, I have a similar case study in my constituency in Blaenau Ffestiniog, so it does seem that some people are at least trying to jump on the bandwagon of the Warm Homes programme and claiming it as something that they can make money off themselves. So, it would be good to look into that. Diolch.
Mae rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd yn pennu rhai nodau sy'n glodwiw iawn, ac nid oes amheuaeth fod y canlyniadau yn gwneud gwahaniaeth gwirioneddol i lawer o bobl. Mae gwneud cartrefi yn fwy clyd a chysurus gan gyfrannu yn sylweddol at ddatgarboneiddio hefyd yn dangos ein bod ni o ddifrif yng Nghymru ynglŷn â mynd i'r afael â newid hinsawdd a'r argyfyngau costau byw, gan gefnogi pobl sy'n agored i niwed wrth wella eu llesiant a'u cydnerthedd rhag salwch y gellir ei osgoi hefyd.
Fodd bynnag, wrth i ni werthuso'r rhaglen flaenorol, mae'n rhaid i ni dderbyn bod gwersi difrifol i'w dysgu. O ran yr ailadroddiad newydd o raglen Cartrefi Clyd, mae'r ffaith ei bod hi wedi cymryd cymaint o amser i gael y cyhoeddiad hwn heddiw yn peri dryswch i mi. O ystyried y brys gwirioneddol ynghylch y mater hwn, a'r ffaith fod adroddiad y Pwyllgor Cydraddoldeb a Chyfiawnder Cymdeithasol ar dlodi tanwydd a'r rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd wedi cael eu trafod yn y Siambr dros flwyddyn yn ôl, pam mae hi wedi cymryd cymaint o amser i'r cyhoeddiad hwn gael ei wneud, gyda chyhoeddiad ar y funud olaf hefyd?
O edrych ar yr ailadroddiad blaenorol, fe wyddom ni i gyd am yr aflwydd ym Mhen-y-bont ar Ogwr, ac rwy'n gwybod o brofiad personol yn Nhanygrisiau yn fy etholaeth fy hun na wnaeth pethau weithio allan fel y cynlluniwyd. Felly, pa wersi a ddysgodd y Gweinidog o'r camgymeriadau hyn, a pha ddylanwad a fydd hynny'n ei gael ar y rhaglen newydd?
Mae llawer o bobl mewn etholaethau ledled Cymru, gan gynnwys fy un i, yn byw mewn adeiladau rhestredig, lle mae gwaith adfer bron yn amhosibl neu, yn wir, yn anghyfreithlon. Ond mae'r cartrefi hyn, mewn llawer o achosion, yn aneffeithlon o ran ynni ac yn gartref i bobl agored i niwed. Yn gryno, a wnaiff y Gweinidog roi mewnwelediad pellach o ran sut mae eiddo rhestredig yn cyd-fynd â'r rhaglen hon?
O ran data, mae angen i ni ddeall maint yr effaith a gafodd rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd hyd yn hyn. Felly, a wnaiff y Gweinidog ddarparu data ar nifer yr aelwydydd sydd wedi elwa ar y rhaglen hyd yma? Yn ogystal â hynny, fe fyddai dadansoddiad o effaith y rhaglen ar iechyd a llesiant unigolion a theuluoedd yn amhrisiadwy wrth ddeall ei llwyddiant yn gyffredinol. Fe fyddai gwybodaeth o'r fath yn ein galluogi ni i asesu a yw rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd yn cynorthwyo'r rhai sydd â'r angen mwyaf amdani, ac yn gwneud gwahaniaeth ystyrlon yn eu bywydau nhw. Felly, a wnaiff y Gweinidog rannu data effaith y rhaglen ynglŷn ag iechyd y cyfranogwyr?
Un elfen allweddol wrth fynd i'r afael ag effeithlonrwydd ynni stoc dai Cymru yw uchelgais Llywodraeth Cymru i ddarparu 20,000 o gartrefi fforddiadwy carbon isel newydd erbyn diwedd tymor y Senedd hon. Felly, pa gynnydd a wnaeth Llywodraeth Cymru yn ôl cyflawniad y nod hwn? A ydym ni ar y trywydd iawn i gyrraedd y nod hwn erbyn 2026?
Yn yr un modd, ar wahân i adeiladu cartrefi fforddiadwy cymdeithasol newydd sy'n effeithlon o ran ynni, un o'r prif flaenoriaethau eraill yw gwneud cartrefi presennol yn fwy effeithlon o ran ynni, o ystyried mai gan Gymru y mae'r stoc dai sydd leiaf effeithlon o ran ynni yn Ewrop. Yn rhannol, fe fydd cyflawni hyn yn ei gwneud hi'n ofynnol i berchnogion tai fod yn ymwybodol o'r mesurau y gallan nhw eu cymryd i wneud eu cartrefi yn fwy effeithlon o ran ynni, a chael gafael ar gynhyrchion a gwasanaethau angenrheidiol. Fe fyddai hyn, wrth gwrs, yn gofyn am weithlu medrus sy'n gallu cynnig mesurau o'r fath. Mae awdurdodau trefol ledled Ewrop, fel yn Valencia, wedi datblygu siopau un stop lle gall perchnogion cartrefi gael gafael ar ganllawiau, cynhyrchion a gwasanaethau datgarboneiddio ac effeithlonrwydd tai, gan ei gwneud hi'n gynt, yn symlach ac yn fwy cyfleus i bobl gyfrannu at ddatgarboneiddio wrth wella eu cartrefi. Fe fyddai hi'n dda gennyf i gael clywed safbwynt y Gweinidog am y dull hwn, ac a fyddai hi'n ystyried mabwysiadu polisi o'r fath yng Nghymru.
Mae datblygiadau technolegol o ran effeithlonrwydd ynni yn cynnig cyfleoedd ac atebion newydd i ni. Fe fyddwn i'n gwerthfawrogi clywed barn y Gweinidog ynglŷn â sut yr effeithir ar gynlluniau Llywodraeth Cymru i ymgorffori'r technolegau newydd hyn yn y rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd. A oes unrhyw fentrau ymchwil a datblygu ar y gweill i archwilio dulliau arloesol a all wella effeithlonrwydd ynni yn ein cartrefi ni?
Mae'n rhaid i raglen Cartrefi Clyd ddarparu ar gyfer anghenion cymunedau difreintiedig mewn ardaloedd trefol a gwledig. Felly, rwy'n erfyn ar y Gweinidog i ymhelaethu ar sut mae'r rhaglen am anelu at y cymunedau hyn yn benodol a sicrhau bod modd teg o gael gafael ar ei manteision. Trwy fynd i'r afael â'r mater hwn yn rhagweithiol, fe allwn ni bontio'r bwlch a llunio cymdeithas fwy cynhwysol a chyfiawn.
Yn olaf, bu fy nghyd-Aelodau Peredur Owen Griffiths a Hefin David mewn cyfarfod yng Nghanolfan Gymdeithasol y Glowyr yng Nghaerffili yn ddiweddar, lle cododd trigolion lleol nifer o gwestiynau perthnasol, yr hoffwn eu mynegi yn y fan hon, rhai ohonyn nhw o leiaf. Roedden nhw'n gofyn a oedd y Gweinidog wedi ystyried benthyciadau di-log ar gyfer ôl-osod, heb gychwyn yr ad-daliadau cyn y daw biliau gwresogi i lawr, neu a oedd y Gweinidog wedi ystyried hyfforddiant rhad ac am ddim i adeiladwyr a chrefftwyr mewn technegau a deunyddiau modern ar gyfer ôl-osod.
Yn olaf, dim ond i ymateb i stori Janet Finch-Saunders yn ei hetholaeth hi, mae gennyf i astudiaeth achos debyg yn fy etholaeth innau ym Mlaenau Ffestiniog, felly mae hi'n ymddangos bod rhai pobl o leiaf yn ceisio dilyn y llif o ran y rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd a'i hawlio hi'n rhywbeth ar gyfer gwneud arian iddyn nhw eu hunain. Felly, fe fyddai'n dda o beth inni edrych i mewn i hynny. Diolch.
Diolch, Mabon. That was quite a long list of questions, to be fair. If you have somebody who's got a specific issue like that, then do please write in. I think the likelihood is it isn't a Government-sponsored programme; it's somebody who's preying on people who don't have the right advice. But it's worth checking and I'm very happy to do so.
Just in terms of why so long, one of the things that we've been very keen to do is to make sure that the data coming out of the optimised retrofit programme is fit for purpose and can be spread out, in exactly the way a number of your questions point to. So, we wanted very much to be able to have the advice, set up the advice. One of the lessons learned is that the advice on what the home needs should be separate from the people doing the installation, so that there's no—and I don't mean to disrespect many of our very good installers—incentive to up the level of work that the house needs; the advice would be provided separately. That is one of the things we've learned. And then I said in my statement that we'll be very careful to make sure that all of the right protections are in place, so if the workmanship isn't done to standard, there is a legal route to remedy, but there is also a better auditing process and a spot inspection process to go with it.
I just want to emphasise that the vast majority of people who've benefited from the Welsh Warm Homes programmes in the past—and, indeed, from the UK Government programmes in the past—were satisfied, but there's a body of people who did have work that was not to standard, and we want to make sure that that is absolutely minimised or eradicated. So, I agree with all of that. But the reason it's coming forward now is because we wanted the data to be available so that we properly advise people with each of the types of houses that we're mostly dealing with in Wales.
On listed buildings, I'm afraid I'll have to write to you about that, Mabon, because one of the problems with listed buildings is they tend to be very unique, and if you have an older property—I have an older property myself—it’s very difficult to get the right advice for that. So, I’ll write to you separately about that. There’s a very complicated set of things we’re doing to try and cover off people with unusual houses that require specialist help.
On the old programmes, I’m just announcing the new programme today, but eventually, Deputy Llywydd, we will bring the response to the old programmes, the evaluation and monitoring reports. I’ll certainly be doing that in the foreseeable future, but today I’m just announcing the new programmes. Obviously, we don’t have that information at the moment.
In terms of things like interest-free loans and so on, we’ve been doing, Vaughan Gething and myself, a lot of work with the Development Bank of Wales about products that might be available to people. There’s a piece of work going on at the moment about other mechanisms to allow people to decarbonise their homes while they live in them, and perhaps pay the cost of the decarbonisation on sale or on inheritance—so, land charging the property for the cost of the actual installation rather than the accrued benefit to the house, for example. So we are actively looking at ways we can encourage people who might have an asset, but are cash poor, to invest. We absolutely do want to do that, so we’re actively considering methodologies for that.
And then in terms of commercial properties—and for those of you who have swimming pools in your constituencies, you might want to consider this—we do have the Welsh Government energy service, which does have a circulating interest-free loan, and it works in exactly the way you described. So, basically, the loan is given to install whatever the renewable technology is—often solar panels for a swimming pool, for example—and then the repayment is calibrated for the saving of the energy that comes back, over a period of time, and then that money’s recycled to another project. So, that’s in existence, but it’s currently only available for commercial properties, due to a variety of legal complications I won’t go into.
And then I just wanted to say as well that we really do want people to have confidence in the advice that they’re given. I did say in my statement that we’re very technology neutral here, so the advice will encompass new technologies as they emerge, and also other innovative solutions. I am very keen on area-based solutions, and what we’ve done is we’ve worked very hard so that an area that has some people who could afford to do it themselves, and other people who couldn’t afford to do it themselves, are not disadvantaged if there’s an area solution to be had, so the area solution can still go ahead under the programme. There are a number of pilot projects around Wales that Members might want to go and have a look at—one in Mike Hedges’s constituency in Swansea, where solar installations have been put on those homes that are capable of having them efficiently. The battery storage is shared and then the energy is shared out amongst the whole community. So there are quite innovative solutions under way as part of this programme.
Diolch, Mabon. Roedd honna'n rhestr eithaf hir o gwestiynau, a bod yn deg. Os oes gennych chi rywun sydd â phroblem benodol o'r fath yna, ysgrifennwch chi ataf i. Rwy'n credu mai'r tebygolrwydd yw nad yw honno'n rhaglen a noddir gan y Llywodraeth; rhywun sy'n cymryd mantais ar bobl sydd heb gael cyngor iawn. Ond mae hi'n werth gwirio hynny ac rwy'n hapus iawn i wneud felly.
Ynglŷn â'r amser a gymerodd hi, un o'r pethau y buom ni'n awyddus iawn i'w gwneud yw sicrhau bod y data sy'n dod o'r rhaglen ôl-osod er mwyn optimeiddio yn addas i'r diben ac y gellir eu lledaenu, yn yr union ffordd y mae nifer o'ch cwestiynau chi'n cyfeirio ati. Felly, roeddem ni'n awyddus iawn i gael y cyngor, sefydlu'r cyngor. Un o'r gwersi a ddysgwyd yw y dylai'r cyngor ynglŷn â'r hyn sydd ei angen ar gartref fod ar wahân i'r bobl sy'n gwneud y gwaith, fel nad oes unrhyw—ac nid wyf i'n ceisio difrïo llawer o'r gosodwyr da iawn sydd gennym ni—gymhelliant i gynyddu cyfradd y gwaith sydd ei angen ar y tŷ; fe fyddai'r cyngor yn cael ei ddarparu ar wahân. Dyma un o'r pethau y gwnaethom ni ei ddysgu. Ac yna fe ddywedais i yn fy natganiad y byddwn ni'n ofalus iawn i sicrhau bod yr amddiffyniadau cywir i gyd ar waith, felly os na wneir y gwaith hyd at safon dderbyniol, mae yna lwybr cyfreithiol i unioni hynny, ond fe fydd yna broses archwilio fwy cadarn a phroses hapwirio hefyd i gyd-fynd â honno.
Fe hoffwn i ond pwysleisio bod y mwyafrif helaeth o bobl sydd wedi elwa ar raglenni Cartrefi Clyd Cymru yn y gorffennol—ac, yn wir, ar raglenni Llywodraeth y DU yn y gorffennol—yn fodlon ar hynny, ond fe brofodd nifer o bobl waith nad oedd yn bodloni'r safon, ac rydym ni'n awyddus i sicrhau bod hynny'n cael ei gyfyngu neu ei ddileu yn gyfan gwbl. Felly, rwy'n cytuno â hynny i gyd. Ond y rheswm pam mae hyn yn cael ei gyflwyno nawr yw oherwydd ein bod ni'n dymuno i'r data fod ar gael er mwyn i ni allu rhoi cyngor priodol i bobl gyda phob un o'r mathau o dai yr ydym ni'n ymdrin â nhw yn bennaf yng Nghymru.
Ynglŷn ag adeiladau rhestredig, mae arnaf i ofn y bydd yn rhaid i mi ysgrifennu atoch chi ynglŷn â hynny, Mabon, oherwydd un o'r problemau gydag adeiladau rhestredig yw eu bod nhw'n tueddu i fod yn unigryw, ac os oes gennych chi eiddo sy'n hŷn—mae gennyf innau eiddo sy'n hŷn—mae hi'n anodd iawn cael y cyngor priodol ar gyfer hwnnw. Felly, rwyf i am ysgrifennu atoch chi ar wahân ynglŷn â hynny. Mae yna gyfres gymhleth iawn o bethau yr ydym ni'n eu gwneud i geisio cwmpasu pobl sydd â thai anarferol sydd ag angen cymorth arbenigol.
O ran y rhaglenni blaenorol, rwy'n cyhoeddi'r rhaglen newydd heddiw, ond yn y pen draw, Dirprwy Lywydd, fe fyddwn ni'n cyflwyno'r ymateb i'r hen raglenni, yr adroddiadau gwerthuso a monitro. Yn sicr, fe fyddaf i'n gwneud hynny yn y dyfodol rhagweladwy, ond dim ond cyhoeddi'r rhaglenni newydd yr wyf i heddiw. Yn amlwg, nid yw'r wybodaeth honno gennym ni ar hyn o bryd.
O ran pethau fel benthyciadau di-log ac yn y blaen, fe wnaeth Vaughan Gething a minnau lawer o waith gyda Banc Datblygu Cymru ynglŷn â'r cynnyrch a allai fod ar gael i bobl. Mae darn o waith yn mynd rhagddo ar hyn o bryd ynglŷn â mecanweithiau eraill i ganiatáu i bobl ddatgarboneiddio eu cartrefi wrth iddyn nhw fyw ynddyn nhw, ac efallai dalu cost y datgarboneiddio sydd ar werth neu ar etifeddiaeth—felly, codi'r pris ar sail y tir am gost wirioneddol y gosod yn hytrach na'r budd cronedig i'r tŷ, er enghraifft. Felly, rydym ni'n edrych ar hyn o bryd ar ffyrdd y gallwn ni annog pobl a allai fod ag ased, ond sy'n dlawd o ran arian, i fuddsoddi. Rydym ni am wneud hynny'n hollol, felly rydym ni'n mynd ati i ystyried methodolegau ar gyfer hynny.
Ac yna o ran eiddo masnachol—ac i'r rhai ohonoch sydd â phyllau nofio yn eich etholaethau chi, efallai yr hoffech chi ystyried hyn—mae gennym ni wasanaeth ynni Llywodraeth Cymru, sydd â benthyciad di-log cylchredol, ac mae hwnnw'n gweithio yn union fel yr oeddech chi'n ei ddisgrifio. Felly, yn waelodol, mae'r benthyciad yn cael ei roi i osod beth bynnag fyddo'r dechnoleg adnewyddadwy—paneli solar, yn aml, ar gyfer pwll nofio, er enghraifft—ac yna mae'r ad-daliad yn cael ei raddnodi yn ôl yr arbedion ynni yn ei sgil, dros gyfnod o amser, a'r arian hwnnw'n cael ei ailgylchu wedyn ar gyfer prosiect arall. Felly, mae hynny'n bodoli, ond ar hyn o bryd dim ond ar gyfer eiddo masnachol y mae hynny ar gael, oherwydd ystod o gymhlethdodau cyfreithiol nad wyf i am ymhelaethu arnyn nhw.
Ac yna roeddwn i'n dymuno dweud hefyd ein bod ni'n wirioneddol awyddus i bobl fod â ffydd yn y cyngor y maen nhw'n ei gael. Fe ddywedais i yn fy natganiad ein bod yn niwtral iawn o ran y dechnoleg yn hyn o beth, felly fe fydd y cyngor yn cwmpasu technolegau newydd wrth iddyn nhw ddod i'r amlwg, ac atebion arloesol eraill hefyd. Rwy'n awyddus iawn i fod â datrysiadau sy'n seiliedig ar ardal, a'r hyn a wnaethom ni yw gweithio yn galed iawn fel nad oes ardal sydd â rhai pobl a allai fforddio gwneud hyn eu hunain, a phobl eraill na allen nhw fforddio i'w wneud eu hunain, dan anfantais pe byddai datrysiad i'w gael i'r ardal i gyd, er mwyn i'r datrysiad aros o fewn y rhaglen. Mae nifer o brosiectau treialu o gwmpas Cymru y gallai'r Aelodau fod yn dymuno mynd i gael golwg arnynt—mae un yn etholaeth Mike Hedges yn Abertawe, lle mae cyfarpar solar wedi ei osod ar y cartrefi hynny sy'n gallu eu cael yn effeithlon. Mae'r batri storio yn cael ei rannu wedyn ac mae'r ynni yn cael ei rannu rhwng y gymuned gyfan. Felly mae atebion arloesol iawn yn yr arfaeth fel rhan o'r rhaglen hon.
This really is a good news day. Thank you very much, indeed, Minister for your statement. I very much welcome the free, impartial advice that anybody can get on how to decarbonise the building they happen to be living in, or that they own and rent out. Because I have to assume that most people are not doing the logical thing. If they own it outright, they can certainly pay for the retrofitting work that gets them out of the grip of the Tory energy policy that forces them to pay through the nose for something that's pegged to the spot price of gas. So, I assume that either they are just ignorant of what is available or they are nervous about getting involved in the sort of scams we've just been talking about, or they are just uncertain about what is the best thing for them. So, I think this is a really, really important development, because presumably there will be a massive increase in demand as a result, and I just wondered what assessment the Government has made on how it will stimulate the market for training by all the army of plumbers, electricians and roofers who have yet to understand how to do this. Because I'm astonished by people who put slate tiles on their roofs rather than solar panels when the roof needs repairing. It seems to me completely illogical and it has to be based on ignorance on the part of the householder and, indeed, the people who are sticking the new roof on.
Mae heddiw yn ddiwrnod ar gyfer newyddion gwirioneddol dda. Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi, Gweinidog, am eich datganiad. Rwy'n croesawu'n fawr y cyngor rhad ac am ddim, diduedd y gall unrhyw un ei gael ynglŷn â sut i ddatgarboneiddio'r adeilad y mae'n byw ynddo, neu y mae'n berchen arno ac yn ei roi ar rent. Oherwydd mae'n rhaid i mi dybio nad yw'r rhan fwyaf o bobl yn gwneud y peth rhesymegol. Os ydyn nhw'n berchen ar dŷ yn gyfan gwbl, yn sicr fe allan nhw dalu am y gwaith ôl-osod a fydd yn caniatáu iddyn nhw ddianc o grafangau polisi ynni'r Torïaid sy'n eu gorfodi nhw i dalu drwy eu trwynau am rywbeth a bennir yn unol â'r pris sy'n digwydd bod ar nwy. Felly, rwy'n cymryd naill ai nad ydyn nhw'n gwybod am yr hyn sydd ar gael neu eu bod nhw'n petruso rhag hyn oherwydd twyll o'r fath yr ydym ni newydd fod yn siarad amdano, neu eu bod nhw'n ansicr ynghylch yr hyn a fyddai orau iddyn nhw. Felly, rwy'n credu bod hwn yn ddatblygiad pwysig iawn, iawn, oherwydd mae hi'n debyg y bydd cynnydd enfawr yn y galw o ganlyniad iddo, ac roeddwn i'n meddwl tybed pa asesiad a wnaeth y Llywodraeth ynglŷn â sut y bydd hyn yn ysgogi'r farchnad ar gyfer hyfforddiant gan y dorf o blymwyr, trydanwyr a thowyr nad ydyn nhw'n deall sut i wneud hyn eto. Oherwydd rwy'n cael fy synnu yn fawr gan bobl yn rhoi llechi ar eu toeau yn hytrach na phaneli solar pan fydd angen atgyweirio'r to. Mae hi'n ymddangos i mi yn gwbl afresymol ac mae'n rhaid i hynny fod yn seiliedig ar anwybodaeth ar ran deiliad y tŷ ac, yn wir, y bobl sy'n gosod y to newydd.
Thank you, Jenny—
Diolch, Jenny—
So, my question—
Felly, fy nghwestiwn i—
No, you've asked the question. You wandered, and we're well over time. Thank you.
Na, rydych chi wedi gofyn y cwestiwn. Fe aethoch chi ar grwydr, ac rydym ni ymhell dros amser. Diolch i chi.
Jenny, there are several things to say there. First of all, the advice service will give advice on how best to invest in decarbonisation of your home with a view to bringing your energy costs down. Some of the energy efficiency measures that people talk about actually aren't particularly cost saving in particular circumstances, and so getting that right is really important. There are other issues around solar panel installation and so on, about the capacity of your house to have a water supply that's sufficient to hold the energy and so on, so it is very important to get the right advice for the type of home that you have.
And then the other thing to say is that it's just the way that the housing market has been working, particularly over the last 14 years of a Conservative Government, that it does tend to be people who are retired and had the benefit of an earlier Labour administrations who have enough money to do it, and they tend to be very wary about investing in something with a payback period of over 10 years. So, making sure that you have the right advice for how to invest that in your home is really important. Also, one of the only good sides about the cost of energy is, actually, the payback period is considerably less, of course, because you can get yourself off grid. But quite a lot of people just don't understand how that works and they don't understand how the tariff works.
We do have grid problems in some parts of Wales—not everywhere, of course, but in some parts of Wales there are actual grid problems with connecting to the grid for a two-way feed. So, it is a bit complicated and it is important to get the right advice. However, as I said to Mabon, we are working very actively with the Development Bank of Wales and, actually, with other lenders to see if we can get schemes under way that will allow people to take out equity release-type money, for example, or to see whether we could install as part of a Welsh Government scheme and then land charge the house for the cost of the installation so that it's repaid on inheritance or sale, for example. So, there are things that we're working on.
But we do know that, actually, a very large part of the people who need to retrofit their homes are actually in the lower income bracket, and so this will work for that. We've been doing a lot of work with local councils right across Wales as part of our energy service to map energy maps of Wales so that we actually know where communities with high energy and low thermal efficiency are, and we can target, in an area-based solution, some of those communities as well. I'm very keen to work with people in constituencies like yours. With a row of terraced houses, for example, it may well be that there's an area solution for that that might work very well. What we'll be doing is funding—as part of our co-operation agreement, with Ynni Cymru, we'll be funding workers who will go out to help communities come together in the kind of scheme that we want them to. My colleague Jane Hutt, for example, announced some of the schemes for helping people to buy bulk oil, because if you come together you can get a much better price. That doesn't decarbonise your home, but it certainly helps with your fuel poverty issues. So, there are a number of complexities there.
The last piece is: on the skills point, we've had conversations with my colleague here Jeremy Miles and with Vaughan Gething. Much of what we did in the optimised retrofit programme was a skills-based exercise to figure out, actually, what are the skills necessary: is it just retooling your plumber or, actually, are you looking at a different kind of tradesperson, who needs both electricity and plumbing capability? That's quite common for some of these systems. We've been working with the further education colleges and with our construction forum. Vaughan Gething, Lee Waters and I run a—I think it's once a quarter—construction forum, where we talk to the small and medium-sized enterprises and companies around Wales about how to get a training plan together for their existing workforce, because about 60 per cent of the existing workforce will require to be retrained at some point over the next 10 years. So, we do look very carefully at the skills plan as well.
Lastly, looping right back to the advice, part of the reason we want to put the advice in place is because, actually, finding the right craftsperson and avoiding people who are giving you duff advice is one of the biggest reasons that people don't go ahead.
Jenny, mae sawl peth ynglŷn â hyn. Yn gyntaf oll, fe fydd y gwasanaeth cynghori yn rhoi cyngor ynglŷn â'r ffordd orau o fuddsoddi mewn datgarboneiddio eich cartref gyda'r bwriad o leihau eich costau ynni. Nid yw rhai o'r mesurau effeithlonrwydd ynni y mae pobl yn siarad amdanyn nhw yn arbed costau mewn gwirionedd dan amgylchiadau arbennig, ac felly mae gwneud hynny'n iawn yn bwysig ofnadwy. Fe geir materion eraill yn ymwneud â gosod paneli solar ac yn y blaen, ynghylch gallu eich tŷ i fod â chyflenwad dŵr sy'n ddigonol i ddal yr ynni ac yn y blaen, felly mae hi'n bwysig iawn cael y cyngor priodol ar gyfer y math o gartref sydd gennych chi.
Ac yna'r peth arall i'w ddweud yw mai'r ffordd y mae'r farchnad dai wedi bod yn gweithio yw hon yn unig, yn arbennig dros 14 mlynedd diwethaf o Lywodraeth Geidwadol, y duedd yw mai pobl sydd wedi ymddeol ac sydd wedi cael budd o lywodraethau Llafur cynharach sydd â digon o arian i wneud hyn, ac maen nhw'n tueddu i fod yn wyliadwrus iawn ynglŷn â buddsoddi mewn rhywbeth gyda chyfnod ad-dalu o dros 10 mlynedd. Felly, mae sicrhau eich bod chi'n cael cyngor priodol ynglŷn â sut i fuddsoddi yn eich cartref yn bwysig iawn. Hefyd, un o'r pethau da prin ynghylch cost ynni yw, mewn gwirionedd, bod y cyfnod ad-dalu yn sylweddol is, wrth gwrs, oherwydd fe allwch chi dynnu eich hunan oddi ar y grid. Ond nid yw llawer o bobl yn deall sut mae hynny'n gweithio ac nid ydyn nhw'n deall sut mae'r tariff yn gweithio.
Mae gennym broblemau gyda'r grid mewn rhai rhannau o Gymru—nid ym mhobman, wrth gwrs, ond mewn rhai rhannau o Gymru mae problemau grid gwirioneddol o ran cysylltu â'r grid ar gyfer llif dwy ffordd. Felly, mae hynny ychydig yn gymhleth ac mae hi'n bwysig cael cyngor priodol. Er hynny, fel dywedais i wrth Mabon, rydym ni'n gweithio yn brysur iawn gyda Banc Datblygu Cymru ac, mewn gwirionedd, gyda benthycwyr eraill i weld a allwn roi cynlluniau ar y gweill a fydd yn caniatáu i bobl gael arian drwy ryddhau ecwiti, er enghraifft, neu i weld a allem ni osod fel rhan o gynllun Llywodraeth Cymru ac yna defnyddio system pridiant tir ar gyfer y gost o osod fel y caiff ei had-dalu ar etifeddiaeth neu ar werthiant, er enghraifft. Felly, mae yna bethau yr ydym ni'n gweithio arnyn nhw.
Ond fe wyddom ni, mewn gwirionedd, fod cyfran fawr iawn o bobl sydd ag angen gwaith ôl-osod ar eu cartrefi yn y dosbarth incwm is mewn gwirionedd, ac felly fydd hyn yn gweithio ar gyfer hynny. Rydyn ni wedi bod yn gwneud llawer o waith gyda chynghorau lleol ledled Cymru yn rhan o'n gwasanaeth ynni i lunio mapiau o ynni yng Nghymru fel ein bod ni mewn gwirionedd yn gwybod ble mae cymunedau ag ynni uchel ac effeithlonrwydd thermol isel, ac fe allwn ni anelu, mewn datrysiad ar sail ardal, at rai o'r cymunedau hynny hefyd. Rwy'n awyddus iawn i weithio gyda phobl mewn etholaethau fel eich un chi. Gyda rhes o dai teras, er enghraifft, mae hi'n ddigon posibl fod yna ateb ardal ar gyfer hynny a allai weithio yn dda iawn. Yr hyn y byddwn ni'n ei wneud yw cyllido—yn rhan o'n cytundeb cydweithio, gydag Ynni Cymru, fe fyddwn ni'n ariannu gweithwyr a fydd yn mynd allan i helpu cymunedau i ddod at ei gilydd gyda'r math o gynllun yr ydym ni'n dymuno iddyn nhw ei gyflawni. Fe gyhoeddodd fy nghyd-Weinidog, Jane Hutt, er enghraifft, rai o'r cynlluniau ar gyfer helpu pobl i brynu olew mewn llwyth mawr, oherwydd os dewch at eich gilydd fe gewch chi bris llawer gwell. Nid yw hynny'n golygu y byddwch chi'n datgarboneiddio eich cartref, ond yn sicr fe fydd hynny'n helpu gyda'ch problemau chi o ran tlodi tanwydd. Felly, mae yma nifer o gymhlethdodau.
Y tamaid olaf yw: o ran y pwynt am sgiliau, rydyn ni wedi cael sgyrsiau gyda fy nghyd-Weinidog i yma Jeremy Miles a gyda Vaughan Gething. Roedd llawer o'r hyn a wnaethom ni yn y rhaglen ôl-osod er mwyn optimeiddio yn ymarferiad ar sail sgiliau i ganfod, mewn gwirionedd, pa sgiliau sydd eu hangen: ai dim ond arfogi eich plymwr o'r newydd neu, mewn gwirionedd, a ydych chi'n edrych ar fath gwahanol o grefftwr, y mae angen iddo allu ymdrin â thrydan a phlymio? Mae hyn yn gyffredin iawn i rai o'r systemau hyn. Rydym ni wedi bod yn gweithio gyda'r colegau addysg bellach a gyda'n fforwm adeiladu. Mae Vaughan Gething, Lee Waters a minnau'n rhedeg—rwy'n credu mai unwaith bob chwarter—fforwm adeiladu, pryd rydyn ni'n siarad â'r mentrau bach a chanolig a chwmnïau ledled Cymru ynglŷn â sut i ddwyn cynllun hyfforddi at ei gilydd ar gyfer eu gweithlu presennol, oherwydd fe fydd angen ailhyfforddi tua 60 y cant o'r gweithlu presennol rywbryd dros y 10 mlynedd nesaf. Felly, rydym ni'n edrych yn ofalus iawn ar gynllun sgiliau hefyd.
Yn olaf, gan ddolennu yn ôl at y cyngor, rhan o'r rheswm pam rydym ni'n awyddus i roi'r cyngor ar waith yw oherwydd, mewn gwirionedd, mae'n rhaid dod o hyd i'r crefftwr priodol ac osgoi pobl sy'n rhoi cyngor gwael i chi a dyna un o'r rhesymau mwyaf pam nad yw pobl yn mynd amdani.
Good afternoon, Minister, and I too give a very warm welcome to this statement; there's so much in here and it's really brilliant to see it. I just really wanted to raise the issue of timescales. In your statement, you say that there'll be a heat strategy this year, and I just wondered if you could just tell us a little bit more about when that will happen, but also, fundamentally, when we will see a roll-out of the programme—that is, when households can actually see the opportunity to have these schemes delivered.
We know that it will take 134 years under the current Nest scheme to insulate every house in Wales and that almost 200 people in Wales have died, according to Climate Cymru, as a result of living in cold, damp and really badly heated homes. This is very urgent, so I'd be interested to hear timescales, if I may, from you, Minister. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Prynhawn da, Gweinidog, fe hoffwn innau hefyd roi croeso cynnes iawn i'r datganiad hwn; mae cymaint ynddo ac mae hi'n wirioneddol wych gweld hyn. Fe hoffwn i ddim ond crybwyll mater amserlenni. Yn eich datganiad chi, rydych chi'n dweud y bydd strategaeth gwres eleni, ac roeddwn i'n meddwl tybed a fyddech chi'n dweud ychydig bach mwy wrthym ni ynglŷn â phryd y bydd hynny'n digwydd, ond hefyd, yn sylfaenol, pryd y byddwn ni'n gweld cyflwyno'r rhaglen—hynny yw, pan fydd cartrefi mewn gwirionedd â chyfle i gyflawni'r cynlluniau hyn.
Fe wyddom ni y bydd hi'n cymryd 134 o flynyddoedd dan gynllun cyfredol Nyth i inswleiddio pob tŷ yng Nghymru a bod bron i 200 o bobl yng Nghymru wedi marw, yn ôl Climate Cymru, o ganlyniad i fyw mewn cartrefi oer, llaith ac wedi eu gwresogi yn wael iawn. Mae hwn yn achos brys mawr, felly fe fyddai hi'n dda iawn gennyf i glywed am yr amserlenni, os caf i, oddi wrthych chi, Gweinidog. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Yes, diolch, Jane. I absolutely understand the need for the urgency, but we also have to get it right. As many people have said, it's important to get the right solution for the right house as well. We've extended the Nest programme through next winter, just to make sure there's no gap, but I am very much hopeful that we will get this programme up and running towards the beginning of next winter. That's what we're currently aiming for, but we have made sure that the Nest programme continues, just to make sure there isn't a gap.
Just to say—with apologies to Mabon, because I have obviously not turned the right page in my brief here—the Warm Homes programme, from 2010 to the end of March 2022, we spent £420 million and improved homes for 73,000 lower income households. So, it's quite substantial already, but, you're absolutely right, a lot more needs to be done.
This is a different approach, as you've heard me saying to others, so it's a much more holistic approach. We're also encouraging people to come together with neighbours to make the best use of south-facing rooms and ground-source heat pump type arrangements where not every single house would be able to support that, but the energy produced is sufficient for a number and, if you combine together, you can get the investment. So, we're very keen to help people come together in that way to have community solutions. We're very good at community solutions in Wales, and we've been working with a number of local authorities—Cardiff, in particular, comes to mind—on finding energy solutions for a number of homes. Mike will be very well aware of the one in his constituency that I've visited on a number of occasions. So, this is pretty innovative stuff.
One of the big issues for us will be to make sure that we get that initial assessment of the home right, and then we get the thermal insulation right as well as the heating system. As I say, for some homes, actually, just making sure that their current gas boiler is as efficient as possible while insulating their home will be a meanwhile solution, and, for others, it will require a complete retrofit.
Ie, diolch, Jane. Rwy'n deall yn llwyr yr angen am frys, ond mae'n rhaid i ni wneud hyn yn iawn hefyd. Fel dywedodd llawer o bobl, mae hi'n bwysig bod â'r datrysiad iawn i'r tŷ iawn hefyd. Rydym ni wedi ymestyn rhaglen Nyth drwy'r gaeaf nesaf, dim ond ar gyfer sicrhau nad oes bwlch, ond rwy'n obeithiol iawn y byddwn ni'n rhoi'r rhaglen hon ar waith tua dechrau'r gaeaf nesaf. Dyna'r hyn yr ydym ni'n ei fwriadu ar hyn o bryd, ond fe wnaethom ni'n siŵr y bydd rhaglen Nyth yn parhau, dim ond er mwyn sicrhau nad oes yna fwlch.
Dim ond dweud—gydag ymddiheuriadau i Mabon, oherwydd yn amlwg nid wyf wedi troi at y dudalen gywir yn fy mriff yma—rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd, o 2010 hyd at ddiwedd Mawrth 2022, fe wnaethom wario £420 miliwn a gwella cartrefi ar gyfer 73,000 o aelwydydd ar incwm is. Felly, mae hyn yn sylweddol iawn eisoes, ond, rydych chi'n hollol iawn, mae angen gwneud llawer mwy.
Mae hwn yn ddull gwahanol, fel clywsoch chi fi'n dweud wrth eraill, felly mae hwn yn ddull llawer mwy cyfannol. Rydym ni'n annog pobl i ddod ynghyd â chymdogion hefyd i wneud y defnydd gorau o ystafelloedd sy'n wynebu'r de a threfniadau gyda phympiau gwres o'r ddaear lle na fyddai pob tŷ unigol yn gallu rhedeg hynny, ond mae'r ynni a gynhyrchir yn ddigonol ar gyfer nifer o dai a, phe byddech chi'n cyfuno gyda'ch gilydd, fe allech chi gael y buddsoddiad. Felly, rydyn ni'n awyddus iawn i helpu pobl i ddod at ei gilydd yn y ffordd honno i sicrhau datrysiadau cymunedol. Rydym ni'n rhai da iawn am ddatrysiadau cymunedol yng Nghymru, ac rydym ni wedi bod yn gweithio gyda nifer o awdurdodau lleol—Caerdydd, yn arbennig, yn dod i'r meddwl—ynglŷn â dod o hyd i ddatrysiadau ynni ar gyfer nifer o gartrefi. Mae Mike yn ymwybodol iawn o'r un yn ei etholaeth ef yr wyf i wedi ymweld ag ef sawl gwaith. Felly, mae hwn yn beth arloesol iawn.
Un o'r materion mawr i ni fydd sicrhau ein bod ni'n gwneud yr asesiad cychwynnol hwnnw o'r cartref mewn ffordd briodol, a'n bod ni'n gosod yr inswleiddio thermol mewn ffordd briodol wedyn yn ogystal â'r system wresogi. Fel dywedais i, i rai cartrefi, mewn gwirionedd, dim ond sicrhau bod eu boeler nwy presennol mor effeithlon â phosibl wrth inswleiddio eu cartref fydd y datrysiad yn y cyfamser, ac, i eraill, fe fydd angen ôl-osod y cwbl.
Fel fy nghyd-Aelodau, dwi wedi bod yn disgwyl yn eiddgar ac yn aros yn llawer rhy hir am y datganiad hwn am raglen Cartref Clyd nesaf y Llywodraeth. Felly, rwy'n ddiolchgar i gael y cyfle byr yma—trueni ein bod ni ddim yn gallu cael mwy o amser i drafod y rhaglen bwysig yma, a'n bod ni jest yn cael munud yr un i holi rhai o'r cwestiynau sydd yn dal angen atebion. Mae llawer i'w groesawu yma, yn sicr, gan gynnwys ffocws ar gefnogi'r rhai sydd lleiaf abl i dalu a bod y mesurau hynny'n mynd i fynd yn ddyfnach ar eu cyfer nhw. Ond, o ran y cymhwysedd, beth yw'r diffiniad o'r trothwy lefel incwm? A fydd yna ffactorau eraill ar wahân i incwm yn cael eu hystyried yn rhan o'r darlun yma o'r cymhwysedd—nifer ar yr aelwyd, ffactorau lleol, cyflyrau iechyd, anableddau ac yn y blaen?
Mae'n dda clywed bod y gyllideb yr eiddo yn mynd i gael ei chynyddu, felly beth fydd lefel y cap cyllido ar bob eiddo? A'r cwestiwn mawr yma rydym ni wedi eich clywed chi'n sôn tipyn amdano fe nawr, eto, mewn termau sydd ddim yn benodol iawn, yw pryd. Mae pennaeth Cymru National Energy Action, Ben Saltmarsh, wedi dweud ei bod hi'n gwbl angenrheidiol bod y cynllun yn weithredol y gaeaf hwn, felly yr amserlen yna—ydy dechrau y gaeaf, fel dŷch chi newydd sôn, yn meddwl Tachwedd 2023?
Like fellow Members, I've been waiting eagerly and waiting far too long for this statement on the Government's next Warm Homes programme. So, I'm grateful to have this brief opportunity—it's a shame that we don't have more time to discuss this important programme; we have a minute each, but we do have questions that still need answering. There is much to be welcomed here, certainly, including a focus on supporting those least able to pay and that those measures will go deeper for them. But, in terms of qualification for this, what is the definition of the income level threshold? Will there be factors other than income considered as part of this picture—the number of people living in the property, local factors, disabilities, health conditions and so on?
It's good to hear that the property budget is to be increased, but what will be the level of the cap on every property? And the big question, and we've heard you talk a fair bit about it today, again, in unspecific terms, generally, is when. The head of Wales National Energy Action, Ben Saltmarsh, has said that it's crucial that the programme is in place for this winter, so is that timetable—the beginning of winter, does that mean November 2023?
Thanks, Sioned. I don't disagree with much of what you've said there. I can't honestly tell you whether it will be November, because we're in the process of doing the procurement at the moment, and, I'm afraid, 'It depends,' turns out to be the answer for much of that. So, if the procurement goes smoothly, there will be no problem for the beginning of winter; if there are hitches along the way, it might well be into December. That's why we've extended the Nest programme to make sure there's no gap in provision.
This is a different kind of programme. It's very difficult to answer the question, 'What does "low income" mean?', because it also depends on how the fuel poverty calculator works. Basically, it's not means tested, so you'll be in a house that's EPC E, unless you've got health conditions, in which case Ds will be included. We will include people in D as gap fillers, if you like, because we want the programme to run seamlessly, so they'll be put on a waiting or a reserved list, and then, frankly, we're going to see how that works, because it's really difficult to gauge how many people are in fuel poverty. It's not an absolute measure, is it? It's about whether you spend more than 45 per cent of your income on fuel, and people with quite high incomes do that in some circumstances. So, we'll be working on that with all of that with all of you and looking at communities that we know have those kinds of issues in them. So, I'm not trying to dodge the question—it's a very good one—but I think I'll have to come back to the Senedd when we're through the procurement, at the other end, just to tell you exactly what the calibration is, because we've asked our partners that we're procuring it through to give us an indication of how they would do it, because we want it to be as wide a procurement as possible.
I want it to benefit as many households as we can in that holistic way, as well, and that's a hard judgment, isn't it, because we've been putting, under the Nest programme, efficient gas boilers in. That makes quite a big difference to people's homes. But, of course, it doesn't particularly make them energy efficient unless you do the other actions as well, and that's why we've opened this programme to people who've already had something done for them. So, if you did have an energy-efficient gas boiler put in under a previous programme, but, actually, what you really need is proper insulation, then you'll be able to reapply, because that will get you perhaps out of the same thing. So, if you're still in fuel poverty, and you've had that intervention already, you'll be able to reapply, because we know that not everybody got out of fuel poverty as a result of that first intervention, although it will have made them lower down on the scale.
So, I'm afraid it's really difficult to answer the very good questions you've asked me until we're bit further into the programme, but, Dirprwy Lywydd, I'm more than happy to come back in early autumn and give an answer to some of those when we've been through the experience.
Diolch, Sioned. Nid wyf i'n anghytuno â llawer o'r hyn a wnaethoch chi ei ddweud nawr. Ni allaf i ddweud wrthych chi'n onest ai mis Tachwedd fydd hi, oherwydd rydym ni ar ganol y broses gaffael ar hyn o bryd, ac, mae arnaf i ofn, 'Mae hynny'n ddibynnol,' yw'r ateb ar gyfer llawer o hynny, fel mae hi'n digwydd. Felly, os bydd y broses gaffael yn mynd yn ddidrafferth, ni fydd yna broblem o ran dechrau'r gaeaf; pe byddai anawsterau ar y ffordd, mae hi'n ddigon posibl mai ymhellach ymlaen ym mis Rhagfyr fydd hi. Dyna pam rydym ni wedi ymestyn rhaglen Nyth i sicrhau na fydd bwlch yn y ddarpariaeth.
Mae hon yn rhaglen o fath gwahanol. Mae hi'n anodd iawn ateb y cwestiwn, 'Beth mae "incwm isel" yn ei olygu?', oherwydd mae hyn yn dibynnu hefyd ar sut mae'r gyfrifiannell tlodi tanwydd yn gweithio. Yn y bôn, nid yw'n destun prawf modd, felly fe fyddwch mewn tŷ sydd â Thystysgrif Perfformiad Ynni E, oni bai bod gennych chi gyflyrau iechyd, ac os felly fe fydd Tystysgrif Perfformiad Ynni D yn cael ei gynnwys. Fe fyddwn ni'n cynnwys pobl yn D yn rhai i lenwi bwlch, os mynnwch chi, oherwydd rydym ni'n awyddus i'r rhaglen hon redeg yn ddi-dor, felly fe fyddan nhw'n cael eu rhoi ar restr aros neu restr wrth gefn, ac wedyn, a dweud y gwir, fe welwn ni sut bydd hynny'n gweithio, oherwydd mae hi'n anodd iawn mesur faint o bobl sydd mewn tlodi tanwydd. Nid yw'n fesur absoliwt, nac ydyw? Mae'n ymwneud â pha un a ydych chi'n gwario mwy na 45% o'ch incwm ar danwydd, ac mae pobl sydd ag incwm eithaf uchel yn gwneud hynny mewn rhai amgylchiadau. Felly, fe fyddwn ni'n gweithio ar hynny gyda phob un ohonoch chi ac yn ystyried cymunedau y gwyddom ni fod y mathau hynny o faterion yn bodoli ynddyn nhw. Felly, nid wyf i'n ceisio osgoi'r cwestiwn—mae'n un da iawn—ond rwy'n credu y bydd hi'n rhaid i mi ddod yn ôl i'r Senedd pan fyddwn ni wedi bod drwy'r cam caffael, dim ond ar gyfer dweud wrthych chi beth yw'r graddnodiad yn union, oherwydd rydyn ni wedi gofyn i'r partneriaid yr ydym ni'n caffael hyn gyda nhw i roi syniad i ni o ran sut y bydden nhw'n gwneud hynny, oherwydd rydyn ni'n dymuno iddo fod yn gaffaeliad mor eang â phosibl.
Rwy'n awyddus i hyn fod o fudd i gynifer o aelwydydd â phosib yn y ffordd gyfannol honno, hefyd, ac mae hwnnw'n benderfyniad anodd, onid ydyw, oherwydd rydym ni wedi bod yn rhoi boeleri nwy effeithlon i mewn dan raglen Nyth. Mae hyn yn gwneud gwahaniaeth mawr i gartrefi pobl. Ond, wrth gwrs, nid yw'n eu gwneud nhw'n effeithlon o ran ynni yn arbennig felly oni bai eich bod yn cwblhau'r camau eraill hefyd, a dyna pam rydym ni wedi agor y rhaglen hon i bobl y mae rhywbeth wedi cael ei wneud ar eu cyfer nhw eisoes. Felly, pe byddai boeler nwy effeithlon o ran ynni gennych chi eisoes a roddwyd i chi dan raglen flaenorol, ond, mewn gwirionedd, yr hyn sydd ei angen arnoch chi yw inswleiddio priodol, yna fe gewch chi ymgeisio unwaith eto, oherwydd fe fyddai hynny'n caniatáu i chi gael rhywbeth arall o'r un peth efallai. Felly, os ydych chi'n dal i fod mewn tlodi tanwydd, a'ch bod chi wedi cael yr ymyrraeth honno eisoes, fe gewch chi wneud cais newydd, oherwydd fe wyddom ni nad aeth pawb o dlodi tanwydd o ganlyniad i'r ymyrraeth gyntaf honno, er y bydd hi wedi eu rhoi nhw'n is i lawr ar y raddfa.
Felly, mae arnaf i ofn ei bod hi'n anodd iawn ateb y cwestiynau da iawn yr ydych chi wedi eu gofyn i mi nes ein bod ni ychydig ymhellach ymlaen yn y rhaglen, ond, Dirprwy Lywydd, rwy'n fwy na pharod i ddod yn ôl ar ddechrau'r hydref a rhoi ateb i rai o'r rhain pan fyddwn ni wedi bod trwy'r profiad.
Hefin David can now ask his question.
Fe gaiff Hefin David ofyn ei gwestiwn ef nawr.
Thank you. In the debate last week, we asked for more detail, and, goodness me, we got more detail, which is really important and very welcome, but it does make it harder to choose a question.
Mabon mentioned the fact that Pred and I went to Friends of the Earth with Councillor Shayne Cook, the council member for housing from Caerphilly council last week, and it was a very good meeting, with lots of questions, which, actually, you've answered partly in your statement and partly in responses in the Chamber. Pred and I did a bit of a double act. It was actually quite good fun, wasn't it, Pred?
So, the issue that I would like to follow up on is: the exemplar in my constituency is Lansbury Park, where, under Arbed, there were a number of houses that were completed, but a number of them that weren't, and my concern—. You've mentioned flats that will be done as a collective; what about those housing estates that are now mixed economy, with some council housing, some housing association, some privately owned—how do you ensure that there isn't a degree of inequality that happens across those kinds of housing estates?
Diolch i chi. Yn y ddadl yr wythnos diwethaf, fe wnaethom ni ofyn am ragor o fanylion, a mawredd mawr, fe gawsom ni ragor o fanylion, sy'n bwysig iawn ac i'w croesawu yn fawr, ond mae hynny'n gwneud dewis cwestiwn yn fwy anodd.
Roedd Mabon yn sôn am y ffaith bod Pred a minnau wedi mynd i gyfarfod Cyfeillion y Ddaear wythnos diwethaf gyda'r Cynghorydd Shayne Cook, yr aelod o Gyngor Caerffili sydd â chyfrifoldeb am dai, ac roedd hwnnw'n gyfarfod da iawn, gyda llawer o gwestiynau, yr ydych chi, mewn gwirionedd, wedi eu hateb nhw'n rhannol yn eich datganiad ac yn rhannol yn eich ymatebion yn y Siambr. Roedd Pred a minnau'n perfformio fel deuawd o fath. Roedd hynny'n llawer o sbort mewn gwirionedd, onid oedd, Pred?
Felly, y mater yr hoffwn i ei godi yw hwn: yr esiampl yn fy etholaeth i yw Parc Lansbury, lle, o dan gynllun Arbed, roedd nifer o dai wedi eu gorffen, ond roedd nifer ohonyn nhw heb eu gorffen, a fy mhryder i—. Rydych chi wedi sôn am fflatiau a fydd yn cael eu cwblhau ar y cyd; beth am yr ystadau tai hynny sydd yn yr economi gymysg ar hyn o bryd, gyda rhai ohonyn nhw'n dai cyngor, rhai ohonyn nhw'n perthyn i gymdeithas dai, rhai yn dai preifat—sut fyddwch chi'n sicrhau nad oes rhywfaint o anghydraddoldeb yn digwydd ar draws ystadau tai o'r fath?
So, this programme will be deliberately aimed at that kind of community solution. So, assuming that we can help the community to come together in a mutually agreed solution—I mean, that's easy to say, but it can be hard to do, but assuming that—. And we would not be exempting a community because some of the people in the community don't meet the eligibility criteria because their income is higher and they're not strictly in fuel poverty. As long as a number of the people in that community would benefit and there's a good low-carbon energy efficiency solution that could be rolled out across the community—. And we're very keen on that part of it, and the example in Penderi in Mike's patch is a really good one, and, actually, Hefin, it would be worth you going down to visit it, because you'll be able to see how that works in action. So, that's an old social housing estate, with lots of private ownership in it now, through the right-to-buy scheme and so on, and a new housing estate right beside it coming together for an energy solution. So, it kind of comes off what you're asking.
Felly, fe gaiff y rhaglen hon ei hanelu yn fwriadol tuag at ddatrysiad cymunedol o'r math hwn. Felly, gan dybio y gallwn ni helpu'r gymuned i ddod at ei gilydd gyda datrysiad y cytunwyd arno rhwng pawb—hynny yw, mae hi'n hawdd iawn dweud hynny, ond fe all fod yn anodd ei wneud, ond gan dybio bod—. Ac ni fyddem ni'n eithrio cymuned oherwydd nad yw rhai o bobl y gymuned yn bodloni'r meini prawf cymhwysedd am fod eu hincwm nhw'n uwch ac nad ydyn nhw mewn tlodi tanwydd a bod yn fanwl gywir. Cyn belled â bod nifer o'r bobl yn y gymuned honno yn cael mantais ac y gellid cyflwyno datrysiad da o ran effeithlonrwydd ynni carbon isel ar draws y gymuned—. Ac rydym ni'n awyddus iawn i weithio ar y rhan honno o'r peth, ac mae'r enghraifft ym Mhenderi yn ardal Mike yn un dda iawn, ac, mewn gwirionedd, Hefin, fe fyddai hi'n werth i chi fynd i lawr i ymweld ag ef, oherwydd welwch chi sut mae hynny'n gweithio ar lawr gwlad. Felly, hen ystad o dai cymdeithasol yw honno, gyda llawer o berchnogaeth breifat ynddi hi nawr, drwy gynllun Hawl i Brynu ac yn y blaen, ac ystad newydd o dai gerllaw yn dod at ei gilydd i gyflwyno datrysiad ynni. Felly, mae hynny'n deillio o'r hyn yr ydych chi'n ei ofyn i ryw raddau.
Ac yn olaf, Mike Hedges.
And finally, Mike Hedges.
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I very much welcome the statement from the Minister. Everyone needs and deserves a warm home. A cold home has a serious effect on health and, for children, can cause underperformance in school. I welcome that all households in Wales have access to the Warm Homes programme for advice and support on how best to improve the energy efficiency of their home. Does the Minister agree that, for a lot of people, all they need is advice? It is important that a low-income threshold is set, rather than basing eligibility solely on means-tested benefits, which excludes those with income just above the benefits threshold, and some of those can be in greater need.
Something that will benefit many in my constituency is that households will no longer be limited to single applications. Will it able to fund rectifying problems from previous work done, such as the inappropriate cavity wall insulation that has affected the constituents of many Members here? Is there a limit on the number of times a household can apply? How would it work for privately rented housing? And finally, it's Pobl in Swansea that did the work.
Diolch i chi, Dirprwy Lywydd. Rwy'n croesawu'r datganiad gan y Gweinidog yn fawr iawn. Mae angen cartref clyd ar bawb ac mae pawb yn haeddu un. Mae cartref oer yn effeithio ar iechyd yn ddifrifol ac, i blant, fe all hynny achosi tanberfformio yn yr ysgol. Rwy'n croesawu'r ffaith fod bob cartref yng Nghymru yn gallu troi at y rhaglen Cartrefi Cynnes i gael cyngor a chymorth ynglŷn â'r ffordd orau o wella effeithlonrwydd ynni eu cartref. A yw'r Gweinidog yn cytuno, i lawer o bobl, mai'r unig beth sydd ei angen arnyn nhw yw cyngor? Mae hi'n bwysig gosod trothwy incwm isel, yn hytrach na seilio cymhwysedd ar fudd-daliadau prawf modd yn unig, sy'n eithrio'r rhai sydd ag incwm ychydig yn uwch na'r trothwy budd-daliadau, ac fe allai'r rhai o'r rhain fod mewn mwy o angen.
Rhywbeth sydd am fod o fudd i lawer yn fy etholaeth i yw na fydd aelwydydd yn cael eu cyfyngu i geisiadau sengl erbyn hyn. A fydd yn gallu ariannu atgyweirio problemau oherwydd gwaith a wnaethpwyd yn flaenorol, fel yr inswleiddio wal geudod amhriodol sydd wedi effeithio ar etholwyr llawer o Aelodau yn y fan hon? A oes cyfyngiad ar nifer y ceisiadau y gall aelwyd eu cyflwyno? Sut fyddai hynny'n gweithio ar gyfer tai ar rent preifat? Ac yn olaf, grŵp Pobl yn Abertawe a wnaeth y gwaith.
Yes, thank you, Mike. I knew it was Pobl. It's a very good scheme and, actually, they're very proud of it, so, if Members do want to visit, it is actually worth visiting. It does give you some real big ideas about what is possible; they've really worked hard with the community there.
So, yes, Mike, I think the answer is 'yes' to pretty much every one of your questions there. So, we are definitely not means-testing it; it is definitely for people who are just above the benefits threshold, and actually others who might be a little way above it, because they're in fuel poverty and in a very inefficient home. We definitely have a community solution and you can definitely apply more than once. So, I'm very pleased to say that I think it's a positive response to all of your questions. Diolch.
Ie, diolch i chi, Mike. Roeddwn i'n gwybod mai Pobl a wnaeth hyn. Mae hwn yn gynllun da iawn ac, mewn gwirionedd, maen nhw'n falch iawn ohono, felly, pe byddai Aelodau yn dymuno mynd yno, mae hi'n werth ymweld â'r lle mewn gwirionedd. Mae'n rhoi syniadau gwirioneddol eang i chi o ran yr hyn sy'n bosibl; maen nhw wedi gweithio yn galed iawn gyda'r gymuned yno.
Felly, ie, Mike, rwy'n credu mai ateb cadarnhaol sydd i bob un o'ch cwestiynau chi nawr. Felly, yn bendant ni fyddwn ni'n profi modd; yn bendant, mae hyn ar gyfer pobl sydd â modd ychydig dros y trothwy ar gyfer budd-daliadau, a phobl eraill hefyd a allai fod ychydig dros hwnnw, oherwydd eu bod nhw mewn tlodi tanwydd ac mewn cartref aneffeithlon iawn. Yn bendant mae gennym ni ddatrysiad i'r gymuned ac, yn sicr, fe allwch chi wneud cais fwy nag unwaith. Felly, rwy'n falch iawn o ddweud fy mod i'n credu mai ymateb cadarnhaol sydd yna i'ch cwestiynau chi i gyd. Diolch.
Diolch i'r Gweinidog.
Thank you, Minister.
Eitem 4 y prynhawn yma yw'r datganiad gan Weinidog y Gymraeg ac Addysg, sefydlu’r Comisiwn Addysg Drydyddol ac Ymchwil, a galwaf ar y Gweinidog i wneud y datganiad—Jeremy Miles.
Item 4 this afternoon is a statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, the establishment of the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, and I call on the Minister to make the statement—Jeremy Miles.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Dwi’n falch o gadarnhau y bydd y Comisiwn Addysg Drydyddol ac Ymchwil yn cael ei sefydlu ym mis Medi, cyn dod yn weithredol fis Ebrill nesaf. Y prif nod wrth sefydlu’r comisiwn yw creu corff annibynnol sy'n gallu delio â chynllunio strategol a chyllid ar draws y sectorau addysg drydyddol ac ymchwil yng Nghymru, gyda ffocws allweddol ar lwybrau dysgwyr a llwybrau gyrfa.
Mae'r Llywodraeth hon wedi ymrwymo i ddatblygu ein rhaglen ar gyfer diwygio addysg, a gwneud popeth o fewn ein gallu i sicrhau bod anghydraddoldebau addysgol yn lleihau a bod safonau'n codi. Mae cael pob agwedd ar addysg drydyddol ac ymchwil o dan un corff yn gam hanfodol i'r cyfeiriad yma.
Bydd gan y comisiwn rôl flaenllaw o ran gwella pob agwedd ar lesiant ar gyfer cenedlaethau'r presennol a'r dyfodol, a bydd yn cael ei rymuso i sicrhau bod y sector addysg drydyddol wedi’i drefnu mewn ffordd sy’n diwallu anghenion dysgwyr, yr economi, cyflogwyr a'r genedl gyfan. Mae’r dyletswyddau strategol yn allweddol wrth nodi ein gweledigaeth ar gyfer y sector, yn ogystal â'n datganiad o flaenoriaethau yr wyf yn bwriadu ei gyhoeddi ar ddiwedd y flwyddyn. Bydd y gwaith o ddatblygu'r datganiad yn parhau dros y misoedd nesaf, a byddaf yn ystyried barn rhanddeiliaid, y sector, y comisiwn ac, wrth gwrs, fy nghydweithwyr yn y Cabinet ac Aelodau'r Senedd.
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I am pleased to confirm that the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research will be established this September, before becoming operational next April. The principal aim of establishing the commission is to create an independent body able to deal with strategic planning and funding across the whole of the tertiary education and research sectors in Wales, with a key focus on learner and career pathways.
This Government is committed to progressing our programme of education reform, and doing all that we can to ensure that educational inequalities narrow and that standards rise. Having all aspects of tertiary education and research under one body is a vital step in that direction.
The commission will have a leading role in improving all aspects of well-being for current and future generations, and it will be empowered to ensure that the tertiary education sector is organised in a way that meet the needs of learners, the economy, employers and the entire nation. The strategic duties are vital in setting out our vision for the sector, as well as our statement of priorities, which I intend to publish towards the end of this year. The work on developing the statement will continue over the coming months, and I will give consideration to the views of stakeholders, the sector, the commission, and, of course, my Cabinet colleagues and Members of the Senedd.
As Members will be aware, I have appointed Simon Pirotte as the first chief executive officer of the commission. Simon’s appointment has been warmly welcomed across the sector and endorsed by the Children, Young People and Education Committee. Simon will take up his post this September for a term of two years. Simon is currently principal and chief executive of Bridgend College, and has worked in the education sector for over 30 years, with experience in higher education, further education and school sectors in Wales, England and the USA. I am confident that the combination of Professor Dame Julie Lydon as chair, Professor David Sweeney as deputy chair, and Simon Pirotte as CEO, provides a team with wide-ranging leadership experience and knowledge, who can lead the new commission in delivering our innovative and ambitious vision for Wales’s tertiary education and research sector.
Turning to the appointment of the ordinary board members of the commission, who will take up their posts in September, we received a total of 108 applications for these roles, which I consider highlights the support and enthusiasm from across the sector for the commission. These applications included a number of Welsh speakers, or individuals with experience of providing or promoting education or training through the medium of Welsh. Promoting Welsh-medium tertiary education is one of the commission’s strategic duties, and I have formally designated the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol to advise the commission on the discharge of that duty. This will enable the commission to benefit from the coleg’s existing networks and wealth of experience in developing and supporting Welsh-medium tertiary education.
Tomorrow, I will launch a consultation seeking stakeholders' views on the list of trade unions and learner representation bodies that may nominate individuals for the purpose of appointing the associate members of the commission. I intend to appoint the associate members by April 2024, so as to input to the commission as soon as it is operational. These members will play a key role, ensuring democratic input into the commission’s decision-making through a social partnership arrangement, and helping ensure that the learner voice is heard at the board level and guides those decisions.
The Act includes a number of reforms that will directly deliver improvements for learners. These include the learner engagement code, and provisions in respect of staff and student welfare, thereby placing learners at the heart of the reforms we are seeking to deliver through the commission.
Fel y gŵyr yr Aelodau, rwyf wedi penodi Simon Pirotte yn brif swyddog gweithredol cyntaf y comisiwn. Mae penodiad Simon wedi cael croeso cynnes ar draws y sector ac wedi'i gymeradwyo gan y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg. Bydd Simon yn dechrau yn ei swydd fis Medi eleni am gyfnod o ddwy flynedd. Ar hyn o bryd, mae Simon yn bennaeth ac yn brif weithredwr Coleg Penybont, ac mae wedi gweithio yn y sector addysg ers dros 30 mlynedd, gyda phrofiad yn y sectorau addysg uwch, addysg bellach ac ysgolion yng Nghymru, Lloegr ac UDA. Rwy'n hyderus bod cyfuniad yr Athro Fonesig Julie Lydon fel cadeirydd, yr Athro David Sweeney fel dirprwy gadeirydd, a Simon Pirotte fel Prif Swyddog Gweithredol, yn darparu profiad a gwybodaeth arweinyddiaeth eang i dîm a all arwain y comisiwn newydd wrth gyflawni ein gweledigaeth arloesol ac uchelgeisiol ar gyfer sector addysg drydyddol ac ymchwil Cymru.
Gan droi at benodi aelodau bwrdd cyffredin y comisiwn, a fydd yn dechrau yn eu swyddi ym mis Medi, cawsom gyfanswm o 108 o geisiadau ar gyfer y rolau hyn, sydd, yn fy marn i, yn dangos y gefnogaeth a'r brwdfrydedd o bob rhan o'r sector i'r comisiwn. Roedd y ceisiadau hyn yn cynnwys nifer o siaradwyr Cymraeg, neu unigolion â phrofiad o ddarparu neu hyrwyddo addysg neu hyfforddiant drwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg. Mae hyrwyddo addysg drydyddol cyfrwng Cymraeg yn un o ddyletswyddau strategol y comisiwn, ac rwyf wedi dynodi'r Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol yn ffurfiol i gynghori'r comisiwn ar gyflawni'r ddyletswydd honno. Bydd hyn yn galluogi'r comisiwn i gael budd o rwydweithiau presennol y coleg a'i gyfoeth o brofiad o ddatblygu a chefnogi addysg drydyddol cyfrwng Cymraeg.
Yfory, byddaf yn lansio ymgynghoriad sy'n ceisio barn rhanddeiliaid ar y rhestr o undebau llafur a chyrff cynrychiolaeth dysgwyr a all enwebu unigolion at ddiben penodi aelodau cyswllt y comisiwn. Rwy'n bwriadu penodi'r aelodau cyswllt erbyn mis Ebrill 2024, er mwyn cyfrannu at y comisiwn cyn gynted ag y bydd yn weithredol. Bydd yr aelodau hyn yn chwarae rhan allweddol, gan sicrhau mewnbwn democrataidd i benderfyniadau'r comisiwn drwy drefniant partneriaeth gymdeithasol, a helpu i sicrhau bod llais y dysgwr yn cael ei glywed ar lefel y bwrdd ac yn llywio'r penderfyniadau hynny.
Mae'r Ddeddf yn cynnwys nifer o ddiwygiadau a fydd yn cyflawni gwelliannau uniongyrchol i ddysgwyr. Mae'r rhain yn cynnwys y cod ymgysylltu â dysgwyr, a darpariaethau mewn perthynas â lles staff a myfyrwyr, a thrwy hynny yn rhoi dysgwyr wrth wraidd y diwygiadau rydym yn ceisio eu cyflawni drwy'r comisiwn.
O ran gweithredu'r Ddeddf yn ehangach, bydd hefyd cyfres o ymgynghoriadau eraill dros y misoedd nesaf a fydd yn cael eu rheoli'n ofalus er mwyn osgoi baich gormodol ar y sector. Dwi’n ysgrifennu at y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg, a'r Pwyllgor Deddfwriaeth, Cyfiawnder a’r Cyfansoddiad yr wythnos hon, yn nodi rhagor o fanylion am y rheoliadau a'r ymgynghoriadau arfaethedig a fydd yn cefnogi gweithredu'r Ddeddf hon.
Yn yr hydref, byddwn ni’n ymgynghori ar reoliadau drafft sy'n angenrheidiol i gefnogi'r broses o weithredu'r gofrestr o ddarparwyr addysg drydyddol. Byddaf hefyd yn gwneud Gorchymyn cychwyn dros yr haf, a fydd yn cynnwys darpariaeth i ddod â swyddogaethau penodol o’r Ddeddf i rym yn rhannol, er mwyn galluogi'r comisiwn i ymgymryd â gweithgareddau paratoi dros yr hydref a'r gaeaf, i gefnogi gweithredu swyddogaethau allweddol.
Dirprwy Lywydd, mae hon yn Ddeddf uchelgeisiol sy'n cyflwyno diwygiadau eang, gan roi lle canolog i ddysgwyr mewn sector addysg drydyddol sy'n diwallu anghenion pobl o bob oed a chyda gwahanol ddiddordebau, cymwyseddau, anghenion a dyheadau. Dwi’n falch o'r cynnydd rŷn ni wedi ei wneud i weithredu'r Ddeddf a sefydlu'r comisiwn, ac rwy'n ddiolchgar am y gefnogaeth a'r ymgysylltiad rydw i a'm swyddogion wedi’u cael o bob rhan o'r sector a'r Senedd.
In relation to implementing the Act more widely, there will also be a series of other consultations over the coming months, which will be managed carefully so as to avoid undue burden on the sector. I am writing to the Children, Young People and Education Committee and the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee this week, setting out further details of the planned regulations and consultations that will support the implementation of this Act.
In the autumn, we will consult on the draft regulations that are necessary to support the process of implementing the register of tertiary education providers. I will also be making a commencement Order over the summer, which will include provisions bringing certain functions within the Act partially into force, so as to enable the commission to undertake preparatory activities over the autumn and winter, to support the implementation of key functions.
Dirprwy Lywydd, this is an ambitious Act that delivers wide-ranging reforms, putting learners at the centre of a tertiary education sector that serves the needs of people of all ages and with different interests, competencies, needs and aspirations. I am proud of the progress we have made in implementing the Act and establishing the commission, and I am grateful for the support and engagement that I and my officials have had from across the sector and the Senedd.
Thank you for your statement, Minister. Throughout the scrutiny of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill, the Welsh Conservatives argued and attempted to pass amendments on the real need for the commission and the Welsh Government to be, of course, at arm's length from each other. I also said I'd be keeping an eye on how much influence Ministers exercise over the commission in order to make certain that its independence and autonomy are not compromised as it discharges its duties. Yet here we are, unfortunately, with question marks looming over just how the chairman was selected, leading to obvious questions, which were from across the political spectrum within my children and young people's committee, about how close the Minister was to the appointment of the new chair, after the panel, of course, failed to appoint a candidate as part of the recruitment process from November 2022 to February 2023.
The new chair, although very personable and very talented in many ways, admitted to not having the experience of handling a budget as sizeable as what the tertiary education commission will have access to, which is an estimated £800 million per year—greater than any other Welsh public body outside the Welsh NHS. I stressed during the scrutiny of this Bill that proper financial responsibility surely must be demonstrated. So, Minister, my first question is: what assurances are there that the budgets will have proper oversight with experienced hands?
The CYPE committee noted, at the appointment of the chair and deputy chair, their disappointment that the mix of backgrounds of the two appointments does not give effect to the breadth of the sector. I was disappointed with the process that was followed for these appointments. This is an incredibly important commission, which will be responsible for ensuring the bold ambitions set out to be delivered on, and it's crucial that all parts of the commission don't miss out on funding, like, perhaps, sixth-form colleges, due to the lack of experience of the appointments in this regard. So, Minister, with the chair and deputy chair not having enough experience covering the whole breadth of the people that will be in the commission, what assurances can you give the sector that the commission contains the needed experience and does not affect the breadth of that sector?
And, finally, on our research and development, research and innovation in Wales, which is in need of some serious support, funding and strategy, it is something that has been severely lacking in Wales, and something that Welsh institutions have been crying out for. During the Committee Stage, the new chairman said:
'I think, probably, the area that is more of a blind spot for me would be around research'.
So, how can we be sure that the commission will give the proper attention, funding and leadership needed to drive that R&D sector to make sure it thrives? And don't you agree that it's absolutely essential that R&D forms a heavy and significant part of the commission's work going forward, for the benefits to Wales that it would, of course, bring?
And, finally, may I just wish the commission every success going forward, because what lies before them is an incredibly important task?
Diolch am eich datganiad, Gweinidog. Drwy gydol y gwaith craffu ar y Bil Addysg Drydyddol ac Ymchwil (Cymru), mae'r Ceidwadwyr Cymreig wedi dadlau a cheisio pasio gwelliannau ar yr angen gwirioneddol i'r comisiwn a Llywodraeth Cymru fod, wrth gwrs, hyd braich oddi wrth ei gilydd. Dywedais hefyd y byddwn yn cadw llygad ar faint o ddylanwad mae Gweinidogion yn ei gael dros y comisiwn er mwyn gwneud yn siŵr nad yw ei annibyniaeth a'i ymreolaeth yn cael eu peryglu wrth iddo gyflawni ei ddyletswyddau. Eto dyma ni, yn anffodus, gydag amheuon ar y gorwel ynghylch sut y dewiswyd y cadeirydd, gan arwain at gwestiynau amlwg o ar draws y sbectrwm gwleidyddol yn fy mhwyllgor plant a phobl ifanc, ynghylch pa mor agos oedd y Gweinidog i benodi'r cadeirydd newydd, ar ôl i'r panel, wrth gwrs, fethu â phenodi ymgeisydd fel rhan o'r broses recriwtio rhwng mis Tachwedd 2022 a mis Chwefror 2023.
Cyfaddefodd y cadeirydd newydd, er ei bod yn ddymunol iawn ac yn dalentog iawn mewn sawl ffordd, nad oedd ganddi'r profiad o ymdrin â chyllideb mor sylweddol â'r hyn y bydd gan y comisiwn addysg drydyddol fynediad ato, sef amcangyfrif o £800 miliwn y flwyddyn—mwy nag unrhyw gorff cyhoeddus arall yng Nghymru y tu allan i GIG Cymru. Pwysleisiais wrth graffu ar y Bil hwn fod yn rhaid dangos cyfrifoldeb ariannol priodol. Felly, Gweinidog, fy nghwestiwn cyntaf yw: pa sicrwydd sydd y bydd y cyllidebau'n cael eu goruchwylio'n briodol gan ddwylo profiadol?
Nododd y pwyllgor plant, pobl ifanc ac addysg, wrth benodi'r cadeirydd a'r dirprwy gadeirydd, eu siom nad yw'r cymysgedd o gefndiroedd y ddau benodiad yn rhoi effaith i bob rhan o'r sector. Cefais fy siomi gyda'r broses a ddilynwyd ar gyfer yr apwyntiadau hyn. Mae hwn yn gomisiwn pwysig dros ben, a fydd yn gyfrifol am sicrhau bod yr uchelgeisiau beiddgar a nodir yn cael eu cyflawni, ac mae'n hanfodol nad yw pob rhan o'r comisiwn yn colli allan ar gyllid, fel, colegau chweched dosbarth o bosibl, oherwydd diffyg profiad yr apwyntiadau yn hyn o beth. Felly, Gweinidog, o ystyried nad yw'r cadeirydd a'r dirprwy gadeirydd yn meddu ar ddigon o brofiad yn cwmpasu ehangder y bobl a fydd yn y comisiwn i gyd, pa sicrwydd allwch chi ei roi i'r sector bod y comisiwn yn cynnwys y profiad angenrheidiol ac nad yw'n effeithio ar ehangder y sector hwnnw?
Ac, yn olaf, ar ein hymchwil a'n datblygiad, ymchwil ac arloesi yng Nghymru, y mae angen cefnogaeth, cyllid a strategaeth sylweddol arnyn nhw, bu diffyg mawr o ran hynny yng Nghymru, ac mae sefydliadau yng Nghymru wedi bod yn galw'n daer amdano. Yn ystod Cyfnod y Pwyllgor, dywedodd y Cadeirydd newydd:
'Rwy'n credu, mae'n debyg, mai'r maes sy'n fwy o ddallbwynt i mi fyddai hwnnw yn ymwneud ag ymchwil'.
Felly, sut allwn ni fod yn sicr y bydd y comisiwn yn rhoi'r sylw, y cyllid a'r arweinyddiaeth briodol sydd eu hangen i ysgogi'r sector ymchwil a datblygu hwnnw er mwyn sicrhau ei fod yn ffynnu? Ac onid ydych chi'n cytuno ei bod yn gwbl hanfodol bod ymchwil a datblygu yn rhan fawr a sylweddol o waith y comisiwn wrth symud ymlaen, ar gyfer y manteision i Gymru y byddai'n eu cyflwyno, wrth gwrs?
Ac, yn olaf, a gaf i ddymuno pob llwyddiant i'r comisiwn wrth symud ymlaen, gan fod yr hyn sydd o'i flaen yn dasg bwysig iawn?
I thank the Member for those questions, and I'm sure the commission will welcome that closing sentiment from the education spokesperson for the Conservatives.
I'm not sure I fully followed the argument in the question. The Member referred to the appointment of the chair on several occasions. I wasn't sure whether she meant the chief executive officer or the chair. In any event, the committee itself was keen to make sure that there was a good mix of experience covering higher education, further education and research amongst the leadership team at the commission. And I am absolutely confident that the experience of the deputy chair, with a particular focus on research, which was the point that she emphasised was absolutely crucial, and with which I agree—his experience in the research community is unparalleled. And the experience of further education is absolutely front and centre in the appointment of the chief executive officer, who has a substantial track record of success in the further education sector in Wales, as a leader who is creative and collaborative, which is exactly the kind of person that we need to be the chief executive officer of the new organisation.
She's right to say that there are significant budgetary responsibilities that the commission will discharge. That's at the very heart of why we are setting it up at arm's length in the way that we are, and she will know that, during the course of the passage of the Act, I have answered a number of questions in relation to this. But I'm fully confident that, with the leadership team that we have in place, together with the real interest that we have received from right across the sector for positions on the board, we can be fully confident that matters in relation to audit, financial management, and so on, will be fully discharged by the leadership of the new organisation.
Diolch i'r Aelod am y cwestiynau hynny, ac rwy'n siŵr y bydd y comisiwn yn croesawu'r farn honno wrth gloi gan lefarydd addysg y Ceidwadwyr.
Dydw i ddim yn siŵr fy mod wedi dilyn y ddadl yn llawn yn y cwestiwn. Cyfeiriodd yr Aelod at benodiad y cadeirydd droeon. Doeddwn i ddim yn siŵr a oedd hi'n golygu'r prif swyddog gweithredol ynteu'r cadeirydd. Beth bynnag, roedd y pwyllgor ei hun yn awyddus i sicrhau bod cymysgedd da o brofiad yn cwmpasu addysg uwch, addysg bellach ac ymchwil ymhlith y tîm arweinyddiaeth yn y comisiwn. Ac rwy'n gwbl hyderus bod profiad y dirprwy gadeirydd, gyda phwyslais penodol ar ymchwil, sef y pwynt y pwysleisiodd hi ei fod yn gwbl hanfodol, ac rwy'n cytuno â'r pwynt hwnnw—mae ei brofiad yn y gymuned ymchwil yn ddigyffelyb. Ac mae'r profiad o addysg bellach yn gwbl flaenllaw ac yn ganolog wrth benodi'r prif swyddog gweithredol, sydd â hanes sylweddol o lwyddiant yn y sector addysg bellach yng Nghymru, fel arweinydd sy'n greadigol ac yn gydweithredol, sef yr union fath o berson sydd ei angen arnom ni i fod yn brif swyddog gweithredol y sefydliad newydd.
Mae hi'n iawn i ddweud bod cyfrifoldebau cyllidebol sylweddol y bydd y comisiwn yn eu cyflawni. Dyna sydd wrth wraidd y rheswm pam ein bod yn ei sefydlu ar hyd braich fel yr ydym ni, a bydd hi'n gwybod fy mod wedi ateb nifer o gwestiynau am hyn tra'r oedd y Ddeddf ar ei hynt. Ond rwy'n gwbl hyderus, gyda'r tîm arweinyddiaeth sydd gennym ar waith, ynghyd â'r gwir ddiddordeb rydym wedi'i dderbyn gan bob rhan o'r sector ar gyfer swyddi ar y bwrdd, y gallwn ni fod yn gwbl hyderus y bydd materion mewn perthynas ag archwilio, rheoli ariannol, ac ati, yn cael eu cyflawni'n llawn gan arweinyddiaeth y sefydliad newydd.
Hoffwn i ddatgan budd bod fy ngŵr yn gyflogedig gan Brifysgol Abertawe.
Diolch am y datganiad, Weinidog. Mae'n destun llawenydd; mae wedi bod yn daith hir nes cyrraedd y pwynt yma, o feddwl y gofynnwyd i'r Athro Hazelkorn gynnal adolygiad o addysg a hyfforddiant ôl-statudol nôl yn 2016. Ac roeddem ni ym Mhlaid Cymru yn falch bod y camau i sefydlu'r comisiwn drwy ddeddfwriaeth yn rhan o'n cytundeb cydweithio ni gyda'r Llywodraeth. Rŷm ni'n edrych ymlaen at weld y comisiwn yn dechrau ar ei waith, a bod y weledigaeth yna o ddatblygu a chefnogi darpariaeth o safon fyd-eang, sy'n cwrdd ag anghenion pob dysgwr mewn modd integredig a blaengar, yn mynd rhagddi.
Fel Laura Anne Jones, rwy hefyd yn aelod o'r Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg, ac felly wedi cael cyfle i fod yn rhan o'r gwrandawiad cyn penodi ar gyfer y cadeirydd, yr is-gadeirydd a, ddiwedd y mis diwethaf, ar gyfer y prif weithredwr. Rŷm ni wedi codi cwestiynau yn ein hadroddiad ar y broses o benodi'r prif weithredwr ar gyfer y corff Cymreig hynod bwysig hwn, a fydd yn ail yn unig i'r gwasanaeth iechyd gwladol o ran maint ei gyllid; cwestiynau sydd ddim mewn unrhyw ffordd yn sylw ar briodoldeb y prif weithredwr newydd ar gyfer y rôl, nac ar ei allu, ond, yn hytrach, yn ystyried y broses ar gyfer y penodiad allweddol yma. Rŷm ni'n mynegi ein siom â'r broses a ddyluniwyd na ailagorwyd y broses recriwtio agored, ac na chafodd yr ymgeisydd a benodwyd gyfweliad ffurfiol na'r elfennau eraill a fu'n rhan o'r broses agored, fel asesiad seicolegol, profion seicometreg, digwyddiad ymgysylltu â rhanddeiliaid, a gofyniad i baratoi cyflwyniad. Yn eich ymateb i'r pwyllgor, rydych chi'n tynnu sylw at y ffaith nad penodiad cyhoeddus mo hwn, ac at yr amserlen heriol o ran sefydlu'r comisiwn. Ond hoffwn i ofyn, Weinidog, a ydych chi'n cytuno yn yr achos hwn bod y broses benodi wedi bod yn ddiffygiol i raddau, ac a ydych chi'n cytuno y dylai penodiadau gweinidogol, fel penodiadau cyhoeddus, ddilyn prosesau cadarn, teg a thryloyw?
I droi nawr at swyddogaethau'r comisiwn, hoffwn gael ychydig mwy o eglurder gan y Gweinidog o ran y weledigaeth ar gyfer y sector addysg uwch, a datblygu strategaeth o ran hynny, wrth i'r comisiwn ddechrau ar y gwaith. Hynny yw, beth yw'ch gweledigaeth chi o ran y cydweithredu a phartneriaeth rhwng y comisiwn a'r cyrff addysg uwch yng Nghymru sydd ei angen, er mwyn llunio'r strategaeth honno a'i gweithredu?
Hoffwn i hefyd sôn am y ffocws ar ymchwil o fewn y comisiwn. Heblaw ei fod e yn nheitl y corff, a'i fod e'n un o ddyletswyddau statudol y corff, mae ymchwil yn amlwg yn mynd i fod yn faes llai efallai o ran ffocws a chyllid o'i gymharu â'r holl sectorau addysg a dyletswyddau eraill a fydd o dan reolaeth y comisiwn. Ond mae'n hollbwysig, onid yw hi, os yw Cymru o ddifrif o ran bod yn gymdeithas ac yn genedl sy'n gwneud penderfyniadau ac yn gweithredu ar sail ymchwil Cymreig. A gyda'r diffyg o ran cronfeydd strwythurol yr Undeb Ewropeaidd, mae ymchwil o fewn addysg uwch yng Nghymru yn profi toriadau enbyd a pheryglus, ar adeg pan fo angen i'r sector fod mor gystadleuol ac mor ystwyth â phosibl i sicrhau cyllid drwy UK Research and Innovation. Felly, mae dirfawr angen eglurder a chyfeiriad ar gyfer y blynyddoedd nesaf, ac mae angen i'r sector addysg uwch yng Nghymru fod yn lle da hefyd i fod yn ymchwilydd. Felly, beth yw'ch gweledigaeth chi o ran sut y dylai'r comisiwn gyflawni hynny?
Ac yn olaf, mae Plaid Cymru'n croesawu'n fawr eich cadarnhad y prynhawn yma o ddynodiad y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol i gynghori'r comisiwn ar ei ddyletswydd i hyrwyddo addysg trydyddol cyfrwng Cymraeg, gan gydnabod rôl greiddiol y coleg yn strategaeth Gymraeg y Llywodraeth. Mae'n allweddol nawr fod y comisiwn yn ymroi i'r berthynas hollbwysig hon, er mwyn cwrdd â'i dyletswyddau statudol o ran yr iaith Gymraeg, gan hybu ac annog y galw ar gyfer addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg ôl 16, nid ei gwrdd yn unig. Ydych chi'n cytuno, Weinidog, fod angen i'r cyfle hwn gan y comisiwn i ymestyn darpariaeth cyfrwng Cymraeg a dwyieithog gael ei ddefnyddio i'r graddau llawnaf posib? Beth yw'ch barn chi o ran y cyfleon i wneud hyn, ac a fyddwch chi'n sicrhau bod yna benodi aelodau sy'n medru'r Gymraeg, sydd â phrofiad o addysg cyfrwng Cymraeg a dwyieithog, i fwrdd y comisiwn? Mae'n dda clywed bod nifer wedi gwneud cais am hynny, achos dyn ni'n teimlo bod hynny'n hollol angenrheidiol er mwyn cyflawni hyn.
I’d like to declare an interest that my husband is employed by Swansea University.
Thank you for the statement, Minister. It is a cause of joy; it’s been a long journey to get us to this point, given that Professor Hazelkorn was asked to conduct a review of post-statutory education and training back in 2016. And we in Plaid Cymru were proud that the steps to establish the commission through legislation were part of the co-operation agreement with the Government. We look forward to seeing the commission beginning its work, and that that vision of developing and supporting provision of a global standard, which meets the needs of all learners in an integrated and bold way, is progressing.
Like Laura Anne Jones, I’m also a member of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, and therefore had an opportunity to be part of the pre-appointment hearings for the chair, the vice-chair and, at the end of last month, the chief executive. We have raised some questions in our report on the process for the appointment of the chief executive for this very important Welsh body, which will be second only to the Welsh NHS in terms of the scale of its budget. These questions in no way impute the appropriateness of the new chief executive, or his ability, but consider the process for this key appointment. We expressed our disappointment with the process that the open recruitment process wasn’t reopened, and that the candidate who was appointed didn't have a formal interview or the other elements that were part of the open process, such as a psychological assessment, psychometric testing, an engagement event with stakeholders, and a requirement to prepare a presentation. In your response to the committee, you draw attention to the fact that this wasn’t a public appointment and to the challenging timetable in terms of the establishment of the commission. But I would like to ask you, Minister, whether you agree, in this case, that the process for appointment was sub-optimal, and do you agree that ministerial appointments, like public appointments, should follow robust, fair and transparent processes?
To turn now to the functions of the commission, I would like a little more clarity from the Minister in terms of the vision for the higher education sector and the development of a strategy for that, as the commission starts its work. What is your vision in terms of the collaboration and partnership between the commission and HE organisations in Wales that’s required, in order to draw up that strategy and to implement it?
I’d also like to mention the focus on research within the commission. Apart from appearing in the title of the body and that it’s one of the statutory duties of the body, research clearly will be not as much of an area of focus and funding as compared to all the other functions that the commission will be responsible for. But it’s crucially important, isn't it, if Wales is serious in terms of being a nation that makes decisions and operates on the basis of Welsh research. And with the lack of European Union structural funds, research within HE in Wales is experiencing huge and dangerous cuts at the moment, at a time when the sector needs to be so competitive and as agile as possible in order to secure funding through UK Research and Innovation. So, there is a great need for clarity and direction for the next few years, and the HE sector in Wales needs to be a good place to be a researcher. So, what is your vision in terms of how the commission should deliver that?
And finally, Plaid Cymru warmly welcomes your confirmation this afternoon of the designation of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol to advise the commission on its duty to promote Welsh-medium tertiary education, acknowledging the crucial role of the coleg in the Welsh Government’s Welsh language strategy. It's crucial now that the commission does commit to this crucial relationship in order to meet its statutory duties in terms of the Welsh language, to promote and encourage demand for Welsh-medium education in the post-16 setting, and not just meet that demand. Do you agree, Minister, that this opportunity to extend Welsh-medium education provision and bilingual provision should be taken forward to its fullest extent? What is your view in terms of the opportunities to do this, and will you ensure that Welsh-speaking members, who have experience of Welsh and bilingual education, will be appointed to the board? It's good to know that many have applied for those roles, because we believe that that is crucially important in order to deliver this.
Diolch i'r Aelod am yr amryw gwestiynau hynny. Gwnaf i geisio fy ngorau i'w hateb nhw mor llawn ag y gallaf i. O ran apwyntiad y prif weithredwr, jest i fod yn glir, o ran proses, ychwanegwyd cam i'r broses y tro yma er mwyn sicrhau y tegwch a'r tryloywder mae'r Aelod yn dweud sydd mor bwysig—ac rwy'n cytuno gyda hi bod yr egwyddorion hynny yn bwysig ac rwy'n sicr yn fy meddwl eu bod nhw wedi cael eu cyflawni yn yr achos hwn. Ond ychwanegwyd cam y tro yma fel bod gan y pwyllgor gyfle i gael y drafodaeth fyddai ddim wedi bod ganddyn nhw fel arall. Felly, dyma i chi enghraifft o gymryd cam penodol i sicrhau bod y broses honno yn gallu bod yn gyhoeddus ac yn dryloyw. Gwnes i ddarllen adroddiad y pwyllgor, a gyda phob parch, rwy'n anghytuno gyda'r casgliad yn hyn o beth, ond yn falch o weld bod y pwyllgor yn cadarnhau bod y prif weithredwr â'r sgiliau a phrofiad priodol iawn ar gyfer y gwaith.
Mae'r pwyllgor wedi fy annog i sicrhau ein bod ni'n edrych ar y farchnad dalent, os hoffwch chi, yn ehangach. Gwnaethpwyd hynny. Mae'r pwyllgor wedi gofyn i sicrhau bod apwyntiad yn adlewyrchu ystod o sgiliau, yn cynnwys sgiliau yn y sector addysg bellach. Gwnaethpwyd hynny. Gwnaeth y pwyllgor ofyn inni sicrhau ein bod ni'n bwrw ati gyda'r broses o sefydlu'r comisiwn, fel bod hynny'n digwydd mewn ffordd oedd yn amserol ac yn gallu sicrhau bod buddiannau'r Ddeddf yn cael eu gweithredu cyn gynted â phosibl. Gwnaethpwyd hynny. Ac mae'r pwyllgor yn gyson wedi gofyn i fi sicrhau fy mod i'n adlewyrchu y consyrn a blaenoriaethau'r sector a'r rhanddeiliaid wrth fynd ati i sefydlu'r comisiwn, ac mae'r ymateb wrth y sector o groeso cyffredinol i'r apwyntiad yn dangos yn glir hefyd. Gwnaethpwyd hynny. Felly, rwy'n hapus ddigon bod y broses wedi bod yn ddigonol ac yn deg ac yn dryloyw, a bod yr apwyntiad yn un teilwng iawn.
O ran y cwestiynau eraill, mae sefydlu'r comisiwn yn sicrhau, wrth gwrs, fod gennym ni gorff hyd braich wrth y Llywodraeth sydd yn mynd ati i wneud ei waith. Byddaf yn gwneud datganiad ar ddiwedd y flwyddyn ar y blaenoriaethau sydd gen i fel Gweinidog i'r comisiwn, fel bod y comisiwn yn gallu cymryd ystyriaeth lawn o hynny wrth eu bod nhw'n bwrw at eu gwaith.
Gwnaeth yr Aelod ofyn i fi sut fyddwn i'n hoffi gweld y comisiwn yn gweithredu gyda'r sector, ac mae'n bwynt da. Mae'r drafodaeth yn ystod pasio'r Ddeddf wedi bod yn aml ynglŷn â sut rŷn ni'n gobeithio gweld y sector yn gweithio gyda'i gilydd. Byddwn i'n hoffi gweld yr un gwerthoedd ar waith rhwng y comisiwn a'r sector ei hun—hynny yw, gweithio mewn ffordd greadigol, mewn ffordd sydd yn gydweithredol, sydd yn sicrhau bod cyd-gynhyrchu'n digwydd, pan fo hynny yn bosib. Materion yn y pen draw i'r comisiwn yw'r rhain, ond byddwn i'n credu bod rheini'n ffyrdd da o sicrhau ein bod ni'n cael sector sydd yn gallu ymateb yn gyflym i ddatblygiadau a sicrhau buddiannau dysgwyr a'r economi yn ehangach.
Mae hi'n iawn i ddweud bod ymchwil yn bwysig. Gwnaeth hi ddweud oni bai bod hwn yn enw'r corff ac oni bai bod strwythur yn delio â hyn—. Wel, byddwn i'n awgrymu bod rheini'n arwydd clir o ba mor ganolog yw cefnogi gwaith ymchwil yn remit y comisiwn, a dyna pam rwy'n falch iawn o'r apwyntiad o ddirprwy gadeirydd sydd â track record cryf iawn yn y maes hwnnw, ac rwy'n sicr iawn bydd e'n gallu gwneud beth rwy'n credu rŷn ni i gyd eisiau ei weld, hynny yw, cefnogi'r prifysgolion i fod yn gystadleuol, a hefyd sicrhau bod y sail sydd ganddyn nhw i gystadlu o fewn y Deyrnas Gyfunol, ond yn rhyngwladol hefyd, mor gryf ag y gall e fod.
Ar y pwynt diwethaf gwnaeth yr Aelod ei ofyn ynglŷn â'r Gymraeg, rwy'n cytuno'n llwyr â hi fod amryw o gyfleoedd fan hyn nawr i ymestyn darpariaeth ôl 16. Mae gwaith y coleg, wrth gwrs, yn hwn, yn rhywbeth rŷn ni i gyd yn adnabod fel rhywbeth sydd yn arwain ac ar y blaen yn hyn o beth. Mae dyletswydd statudol benodol wrth gwrs gyda'r comisiwn yn hyn o beth, a byddaf i eisiau sicrhau bod y bwrdd hefyd yn dod â'r profiad â'r talent hwnnw i'r blaen, fel bod gennym ni gyfle da i sicrhau bod y Gymraeg yn mynd i gael ei phrif-ffrydio yng ngwaith y comisiwn.
I thank the Member for those questions. I will try my best to answer them as fully as possible. In terms of the appointment of the CEO, just to be clear, in terms of process, a stage was added to the process this time in order to ensure the fairness and transparency that the Member says is so important—and I do agree with her that those principles are important, and certainly, I think that they were delivered in this case. But a stage was added this time, so that the committee did have an opportunity to have that discussion that they wouldn't have had otherwise. So, this is an example of taking a specific step to ensure that that process can be public and transparent. I read the committee's report and, with all due respect, I disagree with the findings, or the conclusion in that sense, but I am pleased to see that the committee does confirm that the CEO has very appropriate skills and experience for this post.
The committee has encouraged me to look at the broader talent market, if you like. That was done. And the committee has asked to ensure that the appointment does reflect a range of skills, including skills in the FE sector. That was done. And the committee asked us to ensure that we did press ahead with the process of establishing the commission, so that that happened in a way that was timely and could ensure that the benefits of the Act could be delivered as soon as possible. That was done. And the committee has consistently asked me to ensure that I reflect the concerns and the priorities of the sector and stakeholders in establishing the commission, and the response from the sector in terms of giving the appointment a general welcome shows clearly that that was done as well. So, I'm very happy that the process was appropriate and fair and transparent, and that the appointment is very worthy.
In terms of the other questions, the establishment of a commission ensures that we do have an arm's-length body from the Government that is going to do its work. I will make a statement at the end of the year in terms of the priorities that I have, as a Minister, for the commission, so that the commission can take full consideration of those as it presses ahead with its work.
The Member asked me how I would like to see the commission operating with the sector, and it's a good point. The discussion during the passage of the Act has often focused on how we want to see the sector working together. I'd like to see the same values in place between the commission and the sector itself—that is, working in a creative way, that is co-operative and that ensures that co-production happens when that's possible. These are issues for the commission ultimately, but I do think that those are good ways of ensuring that we do have a sector that can respond quickly to developments and ensure the interests of the students and the economy.
She's right to say that research is important. She said that other than it being in the name of the organisation and other than the structure dealing with this—. Well, I would suggest that those are very strong indications of how central support for research is within the remit of the commission, and that's why I am very pleased with the appointment of the vice-chair, who has a very strong track record in this area, and I'm sure that he will be able to do what we all want to see, namely support the universities to be competitive, and to ensure that the basis they have for competing within the UK, but internationally as well, is as robust as it can be.
The final point that the Member raised was about the Welsh language, and I do entirely agree with her that there will be great opportunities to extend post-16 provision. The work of the coleg is something that we all recognise leads and is in the vanguard on this. There is a statutory duty for the commission in this regard, and I'll want to ensure that the board will also bring that talent and experience to the vanguard so that we have a good opportunity to ensure that the Welsh language is mainstreamed in the work of the commission.
Can I just begin my brief comments by welcoming strongly the appointment of Simon Pirotte as CEO? Although, I've got to say that Sarah Murphy, my neighbouring MS, and I will miss his contribution very deeply to Bridgend College, because as a leader, he's not only been dynamic and vigorous and driven, but—unusual adjectives, perhaps, to apply to the leader of a college—he's been compassionate and value driven in what he's tried to do with that institution as well. But I think he'll be excellent within the role. We are blessed; we've got deputy principal, Viv Buckley, stepping in as interim leader for a while, and she is herself a force of nature as well, so we are doubly blessed.
Could I ask, though, for an update on the progress towards the commission's strategic duty on lifelong learning, which, as many people have said, should be right at the heart of the commission's work? It's crucial that, right across life's long trajectory, we make sure that access to education—quality education—is available for everybody. So, what progress are we making on that, on discharging that duty and delivering outcomes that can be measured tangibly?
A gaf i ddechrau fy sylwadau byr drwy groesawu'n gryf benodiad Simon Pirotte yn Brif Swyddog Gweithredol? Er, mae'n rhaid i mi ddweud y bydd Sarah Murphy, fy Aelod Seneddol cyfagos, a minnau yn colli ei gyfraniad i Goleg Penybont yn arw, oherwydd fel arweinydd, nid yn unig y mae wedi bod yn ddeinamig, yn egnïol ac yn llawn cymhelliant, ond—ansoddeiriau anarferol, efallai, i'w defnyddio i ddisgrifio arweinydd coleg—mae e' wedi bod yn dosturiol ac wedi'i lywio gan werthoedd yn yr hyn y mae wedi ceisio'i wneud gyda'r sefydliad hwnnw hefyd. Ond rwy'n credu y bydd e'n wych yn y rôl. Rydyn ni'n ffodus; mae gennym y dirprwy brifathro, Viv Buckley, yn camu i'r adwy fel arweinydd dros dro am gyfnod, ac mae hi ei hun yn llawn egni a brwdfrydedd hefyd, felly rydyn ni'n ffodus iawn unwaith eto.
A gaf i ofyn, serch hynny, am y wybodaeth ddiweddaraf am y cynnydd tuag at ddyletswydd strategol y comisiwn ar ddysgu gydol oes, a ddylai, fel y mae llawer o bobl wedi'i ddweud, fod wrth wraidd gwaith y comisiwn? Mae'n hanfodol, yr holl ffordd ar hyd y llwybr gydol oes, ein bod yn sicrhau bod addysg—addysg o safon—ar gael i bawb. Felly, pa gynnydd ydym ni'n ei wneud ar hynny, o ran cyflawni'r ddyletswydd honno a chyflawni canlyniadau y gellir eu mesur go iawn?
I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for that question. Just to say, I think the qualities that Huw set out in the start of his question are exactly why Simon's appointment has been so widely welcomed. The duty in relation to lifelong learning is, of course, essential. We all want Wales to be the nation of second chances, where it's never too late to learn, and so the first statutory duty on the face of the Act for the commission is the duty to promote lifelong learning. This builds on a lot of work that, obviously, we've been doing outside the legislation in relation to extra funding for adult community learning, extra funding for the personal learning accounts, and a range of other initiatives. But I think the next stage in that development now is what the commission will be needing to take forward.
From our point of view, he will remember that the legislation contains a regulation-making power so that Ministers can stipulate how wide the duty to fund extends, effectively, and that is the mechanism, which he will recall, for expanding the provision of lifelong learning on a statutory basis, which we've never done before. This is new statutory ground for us in Wales. We're working at the moment with stakeholders to explore how we can best shape that duty, and there are choices. There's a depth question and there's a breadth question, and they're obviously trade-offs, to some extent, aren't they? I'm really keen to make sure that we engage stakeholders and get the full range of voices before I make the decision around that mix, if you like. But my intention is that by the start of next year, we'll be consulting on the regulations that will set out the scope of that duty in law, which will really then put the meat on the bones, which is in legislation, but it's a really important next step for us.
Diolch i Huw Irranca-Davies am y cwestiwn hwnnw. Gair sydyn i ddweud, rwy'n credu mai'r rhinweddau a amlinellodd Huw ar ddechrau ei gwestiwn yw'r union reswm pam mae penodiad Simon wedi ei groesawu gan gynifer o bobl. Mae'r ddyletswydd mewn perthynas â dysgu gydol oes, wrth gwrs, yn hanfodol. Mae pob un ohonom ni'n awyddus i Gymru fod yn genedl ail gyfle, lle nad yw hi byth yn rhy hwyr i ddysgu, ac felly y ddyletswydd statudol gyntaf ar wyneb y Ddeddf i'r comisiwn yw'r ddyletswydd i hyrwyddo dysgu gydol oes. Mae hyn yn ategu llawer o'r gwaith yr ydym, yn amlwg, wedi bod yn ei wneud y tu allan i'r ddeddfwriaeth mewn perthynas â chyllid ychwanegol ar gyfer dysgu cymunedol i oedolion, cyllid ychwanegol ar gyfer y cyfrifon dysgu personol, ac ystod o fentrau eraill. Ond rwy'n credu mai'r cam nesaf yn y datblygiad hwnnw nawr yw'r hyn y bydd angen i'r comisiwn ei ddatblygu.
O'n safbwynt ni, bydd yn cofio bod y ddeddfwriaeth yn cynnwys pŵer i wneud rheoliadau fel y gall Gweinidogion nodi pa mor eang y mae'r ddyletswydd i ariannu yn ymestyn, i bob pwrpas, a dyna'r mecanwaith, y bydd yn ei gofio, ar gyfer ehangu'r ddarpariaeth dysgu gydol oes ar sail statudol, nad ydym erioed wedi'i wneud o'r blaen. Mae hyn yn sail statudol newydd i ni yng Nghymru. Rydym wrthi'n gweithio gyda rhanddeiliaid i archwilio sut y gallwn lunio'r ddyletswydd honno orau, ac mae dewisiadau. Mae cwestiwn manwl ac mae cwestiwn eang, ac maent yn amlwg yn cyfaddawdu, i ryw raddau, onid ydyn nhw? Rwy'n awyddus iawn i sicrhau ein bod yn ymgysylltu â rhanddeiliaid ac yn cael yr ystod lawn o leisiau cyn i mi wneud y penderfyniad ynghylch y cymysgedd hwnnw, os mynnwch chi. Ond fy mwriad i yw y byddwn ni'n ymgynghori ar y rheoliadau erbyn dechrau'r flwyddyn nesaf a fydd yn nodi cwmpas y ddyletswydd honno yn y gyfraith, a fydd wedyn yn rhoi'r cnawd ar yr esgyrn, sydd mewn deddfwriaeth, ond mae'n gam nesaf pwysig iawn i ni.
Ac yn olaf, Hefin David.
And finally, Hefin David.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Yn union fel Sioned Williams, hoffwn hefyd groesawu rôl y Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol fel cynghorydd i CTER.
Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. Like Sioned Williams, I would also like to welcome the role of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol as an adviser to CTER.
Can I also ask—? If the body is going to be truly successful, then all of the stakeholders that lie beneath that, in secondary, tertiary and higher education and associated employers and trade unions need to work together to create that seamless transition, and if that is going to be successful, it might need a culture change in many parts of those sectors.
A gaf i ofyn hefyd—? Os yw'r corff am fod yn wirioneddol lwyddiannus, yna mae angen i'r holl randdeiliaid sydd oddi tano, ym maes addysg uwchradd, drydyddol ac uwch, a chyflogwyr ac undebau llafur cysylltiedig weithio gyda'i gilydd i greu'r cyfnod pontio di-dor hwnnw, ac os bydd hynny'n llwyddiannus, efallai y bydd angen newid diwylliant mewn sawl rhan o'r sectorau hynny.
I thank Hefin David for the point he's just made. He will recall that, during the passage of the Bill, not least because he, in his work as chair of the cross-party group on universities, chaired more than one session on this. One of them, I was able to attend myself, and I think he would agree with me that there is a high level of appetite for working together in collaboration across the sector in relation to this, but there are some barriers, which the legislation is intending to put right, not least the question of funding barriers. When you're funded by more than one separate entity—which has been the case, is still the case, and will be the case until the commission's work starts—that creates its own challenges to fully collaborative working. But I'm very encouraged, actually, that, even before the commission has started its work, I feel that the passage of this legislation and the sector-wide discussion and public debate that we've had in this Chamber has begun to create a context and a culture where people are keener to collaborate.
And, only this very lunchtime, I was able to speak at the launch here in the Neuadd of the University of Wales Technical Institute, which is an initiative jointly between the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, NPTC Group of Colleges, Coleg Ceredigion, Coleg Sir Gâr, Coleg Sir Benfro and Cardiff and the Vale College, focusing on delivering higher level technical skills to our young people. And there is a range of other models for collaboration that is being actively explored, and I think having different approaches will be good, because we can all learn from the things that work best from that. But my principle hope for the change that the Bill will bring into effect is to ensure that institutions collaborate fully in order to make real that commitment that we all have here to put learners at the very heart of all our post-16 provision.
Diolch i Hefin David am y pwynt y mae newydd ei wneud. Bydd yn cofio, tra roedd y Bil ar ei hynt, yn anad dim oherwydd ei fod, yn ei waith fel cadeirydd y grŵp trawsbleidiol ar brifysgolion, wedi cadeirio mwy nag un sesiwn ar hyn. Un ohonyn nhw, bu modd i mi fynd iddo fy hun, ac rwy'n credu y byddai'n cytuno â mi fod yna lefel uchel o awydd i gydweithio ar draws y sector mewn perthynas â hyn, ond mae rhai rhwystrau, y mae'r ddeddfwriaeth yn bwriadu eu cywiro, yn anad dim y cwestiwn o rwystrau cyllido. Pan fyddwch chi'n cael eich ariannu gan fwy nag un endid ar wahân—sydd wedi bod yn wir, sydd yn dal yn wir, ac fe fydd yn wir nes bydd gwaith y comisiwn yn dechrau—mae hynny'n creu ei heriau ei hun i gydweithio'n llawn. Ond rwyf wedi fy nghalonogi'n fawr, mewn gwirionedd, hyd yn oed cyn i'r comisiwn ddechrau ar ei waith, fy mod yn teimlo bod hynt y ddeddfwriaeth hon a'r drafodaeth gyhoeddus ar draws y sector a'r ddadl gyhoeddus a gawsom yn y Siambr hon wedi dechrau creu cyd-destun a diwylliant lle mae pobl yn awyddus i gydweithio.
A dim ond amser cinio heddiw, roeddwn i'n gallu siarad yn y lansiad yma yn Neuadd Athrofa Dechnegol Prifysgol Cymru, sy'n fenter ar y cyd rhwng Prifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant, Grŵp Colegau Castell-nedd Port Talbot, Coleg Ceredigion, Coleg Sir Gâr, Coleg Sir Benfro, a Choleg Caerdydd a'r Fro, gan ganolbwyntio ar ddarparu sgiliau technegol lefel uwch i'n pobl ifanc. Ac mae amrywiaeth o fodelau eraill ar gyfer cydweithredu sy'n cael eu harchwilio'n weithredol, ac rwy'n credu y bydd bod â dulliau gwahanol yn dda, oherwydd gall pob un ohonom ddysgu o'r pethau sy'n gweithio orau o hynny. Ond fy mhrif obaith ar gyfer y newid y bydd y Bil yn ei roi ar waith yw sicrhau bod sefydliadau'n cydweithio'n llawn er mwyn gwireddu'r ymrwymiad hwnnw sydd gennym ni i gyd yn y fan yma i roi dysgwyr wrth wraidd ein holl ddarpariaeth ôl-16.
Dioch i'r Gweinidog.
Thank you, Minister.
Eitem 5 sydd nesaf, datganiad gan y Dirprwy Weinidog Gwasanaethau Cymdeithasol ar fesurau cenedlaethol i gryfhau gofal cymdeithasol. Galwaf ar y Gweinidog, Julie Morgan.
Item 5 is next, a statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Services on national measures to strengthen social care. I call on the Deputy Minister, Julie Morgan.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Today, I'm giving an update on measures that will strengthen the provision of social care services in Wales. These include both immediate actions and longer term strategic initiatives. Members will recall that, last month, I launched a formal consultation on the rebalancing care and support programme. This consultation builds on outline proposals in the 2021 White Paper of the same name by setting out intended actions on a range of areas.
While officials have already carried out a range of engagements with partners on the specific proposals within the consultation, we will also engage broadly during the 12-week consultation period. Collectively, the proposals on the national framework and the national office, supported by the other initiatives within the consultation, will be amongst the first important building blocks of a national care service—a key commitment in the co-operation agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru. These proposals we are consulting on in rebalancing care and support complement the findings of the expert group established to make recommendations about the steps towards creating a national care service. Their report, entitled 'Towards a National Care and Support Service for Wales', is a comprehensive account of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector, addressing the terms of reference, and also demonstrating the depth and breadth of the discussions and deliberations of the group. So, on behalf of the Minister for Health and Social Services and the designated Member, Cefin Campbell MS, I'd once again like to express our thanks to the joint co-chairs and all the members of the expert group for their contributions to this crucial and challenging work, recognising that commitment went far beyond what was envisaged at the outset.
We were very pleased to read how a number of the expert group's recommendations align with our current programme for government commitment for the reform of the social care sector. This means that we can move forward confidently in developing stronger national support for the sector. Our proposed actions in the rebalancing care and support consultation include the development of a statutory national commissioning framework; the establishment of a national office for care and support; the social care fair work forum's development of a national pay and progression framework; close work with local authorities on a national performance and improvement data set; and strengthening of arrangements for regional partnership working across health and social care. These actions together constitute a significant strengthening of the national arrangements for care and support, and will therefore form a substantial part of the forthcoming implementation plan for a national care and support service.
Now, in a sector where approximately 90 per cent of the providers are in the independent sector, the development of a statutory national commissioning framework will guide a focus on quality supported by fair fees for the cost of care. There will be a shift from complexity of commissioning arrangements towards simplicity based on shared principles. It will encourage a move from task-based practice towards outcome-based practice. The commissioning framework will also be a dynamic tool, capable of being updated with evidence-based service model specifications.
The national office will enable a focus on the improvement and transformation of adult and children’s services and build on progress already made in improving social care data, developing a clearer picture of the delivery of services, and thus enabling benchmarking and service improvement. It will also support the chief social care officer as a stronger voice for the sector, and be the platform upon which other elements of the national care and support service are built through the successive stages of implementation planning.
Joint working with the NHS Executive will be essential to ensure consistent direction is given to a health and social care system that we are driving towards further integration.
The pay and progression framework further demonstrates our commitment to the social care workforce, whichever part of the sector they may be employed in. The Welsh Government has prioritised social care, and we have invested in it, including through ensuring that every social care worker is paid at least at the level of the real living wage. Whilst independent organisations are responsible for their own employment practice, the new framework, which was developed in social partnership by the social care fair work forum, begins to set expectations about how our skilled and committed workforce should be recognised nationally.
In response to the earlier White Paper consultation, we listened to statutory organisations who did not want the legal structure of regional partnership boards to change. Over the last two years, we've worked with partners to clarify and strengthen governance, accountability, planning and citizens' voice. In working closely with the sector to develop these measures, I look forward to the difference they will make in further integrating health and social care services.
All these developments are aligned to the recent statement made by the Minister for Health and Social Services on 'Building Capacity through Community Care—Further Faster'. Through this initiative, we aim to work with our local government and NHS partners to strengthen the capacity of health and social care services in the community. This work consists of a range of immediate