Pwyllgor Diwylliant, y Gymraeg a Chyfathrebu - Y Bumed Senedd
Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee - Fifth Senedd
18/03/2021Aelodau'r Pwyllgor a oedd yn bresennol
Committee Members in Attendance
| Bethan Sayed | Cadeirydd y Pwyllgor |
| Committee Chair | |
| Carwyn Jones | |
| David Melding | |
| Helen Mary Jones | |
| John Griffiths | |
| Mick Antoniw | |
Swyddogion y Senedd a oedd yn bresennol
Senedd Officials in Attendance
| Angharad Roche | Dirprwy Glerc |
| Deputy Clerk | |
| Manon Huws | Cynghorydd Cyfreithiol |
| Legal Adviser | |
| Martha Da Gama Howells | Ail Glerc |
| Second Clerk | |
| Osian Bowyer | Ymchwilydd |
| Researcher | |
| Robin Wilkinson | Ymchwilydd |
| Researcher | |
| Rhys Morgan | Clerc |
| Clerk |
Cynnwys
Contents
Cofnodir y trafodion yn yr iaith y llefarwyd hwy ynddi yn y pwyllgor. Yn ogystal, cynhwysir trawsgrifiad o’r cyfieithu ar y pryd. Lle mae cyfranwyr wedi darparu cywiriadau i’w tystiolaeth, nodir y rheini yn y trawsgrifiad.
The proceedings are reported in the language in which they were spoken in the committee. In addition, a transcription of the simultaneous interpretation is included. Where contributors have supplied corrections to their evidence, these are noted in the transcript.
Cyfarfu'r pwyllgor drwy gynhadledd fideo.
Dechreuodd y cyfarfod am 09:30.
The committee met by video-conference.
The meeting began at 09:30.
Helo a chroeso i Bwyllgor Diwylliant, y Gymraeg a Chyfathrebu, a dyma'r pwyllgor olaf o'r Senedd yma, ac i rai ohonom ni y pwyllgor olaf erioed. Felly, mae hwn yn gyfnod sydd efallai'n anodd ond efallai'n gyffrous i nifer ohonom. Eitem 1 ar yr agenda yw cyflwyniad, ymddiheuriadau, dirprwyon a datgan buddiannau. Yn unol â Rheol Sefydlog 34.19, dwi wedi penderfynu gwahardd y cyhoedd rhag bod yn bresennol yn y cyfarfod mewn person er mwyn amddiffyn iechyd y cyhoedd. Oes gan rywun rhywbeth i'w ddatgan yma heddiw? Na, dim byd.
Felly, yn y sesiwn byr yma'n gyhoeddus, dwi eisiau dweud yn y lle cyntaf diolch yn fawr iawn i'r cyhoedd ac i'r mudiadau oll sydd wedi ymwneud â'r pwyllgor yma. Dwi'n credu ei fod e'n bwysig iawn i ddiolch ichi am ddod atom, am gymryd rhan yn ein hadroddiadau lu, am droi lan i ymgynghoriadau, am fod yn barod i rannu eich syniadau am yr hyn sydd yn bwysig ichi os ydy e'n ymwneud â chyfathrebu, yr iaith Gymraeg, treftadaeth neu'r celfyddydau. Diolch yn fawr iawn ichi.
Ac wedyn hoffwn i ddiolch yn fawr iawn i bob un ohonoch chi sy'n aelodau o'r pwyllgor yma, sydd yn aelodau nawr neu sydd wedi bod yn aelodau yn y gorffennol. Dwi'n gwybod pa mor brysur ydych chi fel Aelodau, dŷch chi wedi bod yn ddiwyd yn eich gwaith, nid yn unig yn y pwyllgor yma, ond wrth baratoi ar gyfer y pwyllgorau, wrth ymrwymo eich hunain i'r hyn sydd yn digwydd yn rhan o'r pwyllgor yma. Mae digwyddiadau gyda'r nos gyda chi ac mae yna lot o sesiynau briffio, felly diolch yn fawr iawn ichi am bopeth, ac yn enwedig i'r rhai ohonoch chi, fel fi, sydd yn sefyll lawr. Dŷn ni wedi cyflawni cymaint fel pwyllgor a byddwn ni'n trafod cyn hir yn ein sesiwn etifeddiaeth yr hyn dŷn ni wedi ei wneud o ran sgriwtineiddio'r wasg, cerddoriaeth mewn addysg, treftadaeth, celfyddydau a'r iaith Gymraeg.
A ni oedd y pwyllgor cyntaf i ofyn i'r cyhoedd beth oedden nhw eisiau inni edrych i mewn iddo fel pwyllgor yn y tymor cyntaf, a dŷn ni wedi mynd ati i wneud hynny droeon ar ôl hynny. Dwi'n credu bod hynny wedi bod yn bwysig er mwyn inni ymgysylltu yn well â chyhoedd Cymru ac i ofyn iddyn nhw beth rili sydd ar yr agenda o ran y pwyllgor yma.
Dyma'r pwyllgor cyntaf o'i natur yn y Senedd yma sydd yn edrych ar gyfathrebu, sydd wedi rhoi'r iaith Gymraeg ar flaen yr agenda gwleidyddol ac sydd wedi edrych ar faterion lu. A dŷn ni wedi cael y cyfle i fynd i Wlad y Basg, sydd wedi bod yn bwnc testun llosg inni fel Aelodau, gan nad ydyn ni wedi bod yn gallu mynd unrhyw le yn ystod y pandemig.
Cyn i fi orffen, hoffwn i ddweud diolch mawr iawn i'r tîm clercio, technoleg gwybodaeth, cyfathrebu a chyfieithu. Mae'r ffaith eich bod chi wedi bod yn ein helpu ni i ysgrifennu adroddiadau, ein briffio ni, yn cael trafodaethau gyda ni, ateb e-byst ar oriau answyddogol gen i fel Cadeirydd—diolch yn fawr iawn ichi. Diolch i'r clerc, Rhys, ond hefyd hoffwn i ddweud diolch yn fawr i Steve George oedd yn glerc cynt, sydd wedi ymddeol. Rwyf i'n credu yn byddai fe'n hapus i gael mensh. Ond diolch yn fawr iawn i'r tîm clercio sydd yma gyda ni heddiw. Dŷn ni wedi cael lot fawr o wahanol aelodau o staff, ond diolch yn fawr iawn ichi.
Dwi yn teimlo bach yn emosiynol gan mai hwn yw'r pwyllgor olaf i ni, a dwi eisiau diolch i'r Llywydd hefyd, achos roedd hon yn ffordd newydd o fod wedi ethol Cadeiryddion i'n rôl ni am y tro cyntaf erioed. Fel arfer, mae arweinyddion pleidiau yn penderfynu pwy sydd yn cadeirio pwyllgorau, ac roedd hwn wedi rhoi cyfle i fi fel Aelod mainc cefn i ddod â rhywbeth newydd i'r swydd a chwrdd â chymaint o bobl newydd ar hyd ac ar led Cymru o ganlyniad i allu bod yn Gadeirydd ar bwyllgor a cheisio gwneud gwahaniaeth. Dwi'n gobeithio y bydd y bobl sy'n gwylio hwn yn meddwl ein bod ni fel pwyllgor wedi gwneud gwahaniaeth, wedi creu adroddiadau cadarn sydd wedi dwyn y Llywodraeth i gyfrif, wedi sgrwtineiddio yn gryf. Felly, diolch yn fawr iawn i bawb.
Nawr, byddwn ni'n symud ymlaen at drafod ein hadroddiad etifeddiaeth mewn sesiwn breifat, a byddwn ni'n edrych ar bob maes gwahanol dŷn ni wedi bod yn edrych arnynt ac yn gobeithio bydd pwyllgor olynol, pwyllgor fel hwn, yn gallu dwyn y Llywodraeth i gyfrif hefyd.
Good morning and welcome to this meeting of the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee. It's the final meeting of this Senedd term, and, for some of us, the very last meeting. So, it may be a difficult time, but it's certainly an exciting time for many of us. Item 1 on our agenda is introduction, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest. In accordance with Standing Order 34.19, I have determined that the public are excluded from attending the meeting in person in order to protect public health. Are there any declarations of interest this morning? None.
So, in this brief public session, I want to first of all thank the public and all of the organisations that have been involved with this committee's work. I think it's very important to thank you for joining us and for participating in our various reports, for turning up to consultations, and for being willing to share your ideas on what's most important to you, whether it relates to communications, the Welsh language, heritage or the arts. I'd like to thank you all.
And then I'd also like to thank each and every member of this committee, current members and past members. I know how busy you are as Members, but you have been hard-working, not only in this committee, but in preparing for committees and committing yourselves to what's happening as part of the committee's work. You have evening events and so on and there are all sorts of briefing sessions that you have to attend, so thank you for everything, particularly to those of you like me who are standing down. We have achieved so much as a committee and we will soon be discussing our legacy report in terms of our scrutiny of the press, music in education, heritage, the arts and the Welsh language.
And we were the first committee to reach out to the public and to ask them what they wanted us as a committee to look at in the first term, and we have done that a number of times subsequently. I think that's been important in terms of us engaging more effectively with the Welsh public and asking them what's on their agenda in terms of this committee's work.
This was the first committee of its kind in this Senedd, looking at communications, and it has placed the Welsh language on top of the political agenda and has looked at all sorts of other issues. And we've had an opportunity to visit the Basque Country, which was a hot topic for us as Members, because we haven't been able to travel during the pandemic, of course.
Before I conclude, I would like to say thank you very much to the clerking team, ICT, communications and translation. The fact that you've been able to help us to draft reports, briefed us, had discussions with us, responded to all of our e-mails, out of office hours, particularly from me as Chair, so thank you all very much. Thank you to the clerk, Rhys, but also, I'd like to say thank you very much to Steve George who was the previous clerk and has retired. I think he'd be delighted to be mentioned. But thank you very much to the clerking team here today. We've had many members of staff working with us, but I'd like to thank you all.
I do feel slightly emotional as this is our final meeting as a committee, and I'd like to thank the Llywydd too, because this has been a new way of having elected Chairs to our roles. It's the first time that's happened. Usually, party leaders decide who chairs committees, and this provided me as a backbench Member with an opportunity to bring something new to the role and to meet with so many new people the length and breadth of Wales as a result of having been a committee Chair, and I've sought to make a difference. I hope that people viewing this will think that we as a committee have made a difference, have produced robust reports that have held Government to account, and have strongly scrutinised. So, thank you very much to you all.
We'll now move on to discussing our legacy report in a private session, and we will be looking at all the different areas that we have been covering, in the hope that a successor committee, a committee such as this one, will be able to hold the Government to account too.
David Melding, did you want to add something?
Diolch yn fawr, Cadeirydd. Before we move on to that part of our agenda, can I, on behalf of the Welsh Conservative Party, add our thanks to the secretariat who have served us most professionally? I think it's been really outstanding, the quality, the depth and the thought that has gone into the work. No committee, obviously, can function at all effectively without those that serve us.
I'm also very grateful to all the stakeholders and others that have engaged with this committee. And finally, I'm very grateful to you, Bethan, for the way you have chaired the committee, set its strategic direction. I think we've had a really interesting range of work. We are quite a diverse committee, there are many differing viewpoints, but I think we've nearly always formed a consensus, and that's made our reports particularly powerful. I would also say how grateful I am to Helen Mary Jones, who helped you during the period of your maternity leave. But I really do think you can look back with a great sense of achievement for the leadership you've shown in chairing this committee. Diolch yn fawr.
Diolch yn fawr, David Melding, and I should add thank you to Helen for chairing while I was on maternity leave, and thank you for all your strong comments and interventions on the committee. As you say, we are diverse, we will have conflicting opinions sometimes, that has come through, but I think it's been very positive to get to the end of a session and be able to agree on what we can agree on and potentially then use that to our credit when we're looking to develop new ideas for the future. So, thank you very much, David Melding, and I wish you all the best with your retirement, and the same goes to Carwyn Jones for your retirement, also. Good luck for that. Did you want to say something, Carwyn?
Diolch, Bethan. Gaf i hefyd ategu beth mae David wedi ei ddweud a hefyd chithau fel Cadeirydd? Fel rhywun a ddaeth i'r pwyllgor hwn ar ôl blynyddoedd mawr heb fod wedi bod yn aelod o bwyllgor, roedd e'n addysg i fi i weld fel oedd pwyllgorau wedi newid, achos rwyf i'n cofio pan oedd Gweinidogion yn aelodau o bwyllgorau a doedd hwnna ddim yn sefyllfa oedd yn dderbyniol iawn. [Chwerthin.]
Ond na, mae'n rhaid i fi ddweud mae'r gwaith mae'r tîm clercio wedi ei wneud wedi bod yn anhygoel o dda. Mae'r dyfnder yn yr ymchwil maen nhw wedi ei wneud, mae ansawdd y drafftio wedi bod yn rhywbeth sydd wedi gwneud argraff mawr arnaf fi. Hefyd, mae'n rhaid i fi ddweud dwi'n credu bod y pwyllgor hwn wedi gweithio mewn ffordd bositif iawn. Rŷn ni i gyd â gwahanol farn, wrth gwrs, ond rŷn ni wedi gweithio gyda'n gilydd er mwyn dod i gasgliadau lle mae pawb yn weddol o gyffyrddus â'r casgliadau hynny. Dwi'n credu bod hwnna'n dangos bod y cyfeiriad wedi bod yn iawn a hefyd mae hwnna'n dangos cryfder eich cadeirio chi hefyd, Bethan, fel Cadeirydd, a hefyd Helen Mary pan oedd hi, wrth gwrs, yn y rôl, a dwi'n ddiolchgar iawn am y gwaith mae pawb wedi ei wneud, so felly gaf i—dwi ddim yn gwybod os dylwn i siarad ar ran y Blaid Lafur—[Chwerthin.]—achos mae yna gymdogion gyda fi yma hefyd, ond gallaf i ddweud o'm sefyllfa i fel unigolyn, diolch yn fawr iawn ichi fel Cadeirydd a hefyd i'r tîm. Mae e wedi bod yn bleser. Gallaf i ddim gofyn am fwy na hwnna.
Yes, thank you, Bethan. May I also endorse David's comments and your comments as Chair? As someone who came to this committee after many years having not been a committee member, it was an education for me in how committees had changed, because I remember when Ministers were members of committees, and that wasn't a particularly acceptable scenario. [Laughter.]
But I have to say that the work that the clerking team has done has been exceptional. The depth of the research carried out and the quality of the drafting has been something that's made a great impression on me. And also, I have to say that this committee has worked very positively. We all have differing views, of course, but we have worked together in order to come to conclusions that everyone could be relatively comfortable with, and I think that shows the direction has been right and it shows the strength of your chairing too, Bethan, and also Helen Mary, when she stepped into the role. I'm extremely grateful for the work that everyone has done. I don't know if I should speak on behalf of the Labour Party—[Laughter.]—because I have colleagues here too this morning, but can I also say, from my situation as an individual, I'd like to thank you as Chair and to thank the team? It's been a pleasure and I couldn't have asked for more than that.
Diolch yn fawr iawn, a geiriau gwych i orffen y sesiwn yma. A dwi'n credu, jest ar y record, mae e braidd yn anffodus ein bod ni ddim yn gallu cwrdd â phobl i ddweud diolch, ond hoffwn i allu cael y cyfle i gwrdd â'r tîm clercio a gyda chi os ydych chi eisiau, i ddiolch iddyn nhw, achos hebddyn nhw, fel oedd Carwyn Jones wedi ei ddweud, a David Melding, byddem ni ddim yn gallu gweithredu fel tîm, ac maen nhw wedi bod yn asgwrn cefn i fi fel Cadeirydd i helpu ac i sicrhau bod y safon mor, mor uchel, ac maen nhw'n driw i'r swydd. Rwyf i'n credu eu bod nhw eisiau cael codiad cyflog. Efallai bod y Llywydd yn gwylio, dydw i ddim yn siŵr. [Chwerthin.] Efallai bydd Aelodau o'r Senedd yn gallu codi hynny gyda'r Comisiwn nesaf.
Thank you very much. Those are wonderful words to close this session. And just to put on the record, it is unfortunate that we can't meet with people to thank them, but I would like to have the opportunity to meet with the clerking team and with yourselves if you would like, to thank them, because without them, as Carwyn Jones and David Melding have said, we couldn't operate as a committee, and they have been the backbone for me as Chair in ensuring that the quality has been so consistently high, and they are very committed to their roles. And I think they're looking for a pay rise, perhaps the Llywydd might be watching, I'm not sure. [Laughter.] Perhaps Members of the Senedd could raise that with the next Commission.
Felly, dwi'n symud ymlaen nawr at eitem 2, papurau i'w nodi. Ydy pawb yn hapus i nodi'r papurau ychwanegol dŷn ni wedi eu cael? Dwi'n credu bod rhai yna gan Dafydd Elis-Thomas ar chwaraeon. Ydy pawb yn hapus gyda hynny? Grêt.
So, I move on to item 2, papers to note. Are you happy to note those papers? I think there are some on sport from Dafydd Elis-Thomas. Everyone content? Excellent.
Cynnig:
bod y pwyllgor yn penderfynu gwahardd y cyhoedd o weddill y cyfarfod yn unol â Rheol Sefydlog 17.42(vi).
Motion:
that the committee resolves to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 17.42(vi).
Cynigiwyd y cynnig.
Motion moved.
Felly, eitem 3. Am y tro olaf—over and out—cynnig o dan Reol Sefydlog 17.42 i benderfynu gwahardd y cyhoedd o weddill y cyfarfod.
Okay, we'll move to item 3. For the very last time, over and out, it's a motion under Standing Order 17.42 to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting.
Derbyniwyd y cynnig.
Daeth rhan gyhoeddus y cyfarfod i ben am 09:40.
Motion agreed.
The public part of the meeting ended at 09:40.