Y Cyfarfod Llawn - Y Bumed Senedd
Plenary - Fifth Senedd
19/06/2019Cynnwys
Contents
Cyfarfu’r Cynulliad am 13:30 gyda’r Llywydd (Elin Jones) yn y Gadair.
The Assembly met at 13:30 with the Llywydd (Elin Jones) in the Chair.
Galw'r Aelodau i drefn.
I call Members to order.
Yr eitem gyntaf ar ein hagenda ni'r prynhawn yma yw'r cwestiynau i Weinidog yr Amgylchedd, Ynni a Materion Gwledig, ac mae'r cwestiwn cyntaf gan Nick Ramsay.
The first item on our agenda this afternoon is questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, and the first question is from Nick Ramsay.
1. Pa gamau y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn eu cymryd i ddatgarboneiddio? OAQ54045
1. What measures is the Welsh Government taking to decarbonise? OAQ54045
In March, we launched our first Government-wide statutory decarbonisation plan, 'Prosperity for All: A Low Carbon Wales'. It sets out 100 policies and proposals, across all sectors of our economy, to meet our current carbon budget and set a longer term decarbonisation trajectory for Wales.
Ym mis Mawrth, lansiwyd ein cynllun datgarboneiddio statudol cyntaf ar gyfer y Llywodraeth gyfan, 'Ffyniant i Bawb: Cymru Carbon Isel'. Mae'n nodi 100 o bolisïau a chynigion, ar draws pob sector o'n heconomi, er mwyn cyflawni ein cyllideb garbon gyfredol, a phennu trywydd datgarboneiddio mwy hirdymor i Gymru.
Thank you, Minister. I was pleased to hear recently that the UK Government had set some very strict targets in terms of decarbonising by the middle of this century. And I think we all agree that drastic action is needed. So, it would be interesting to hear how your Government plans to dovetail with that. Secondly, I recently asked the First Minister, in questions, about some interesting work on climate repair that was going on in Cambridge University. And that work involves repairing the climate through not just cutting emissions, but using carbon sinks—trees to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. He responded that there's work ongoing into a new Welsh forest project in, I think, central Wales, but you would have more details on that. Could you update us on what form that work is taking? I think it's an excellent idea. I think that Wales is perfectly suited as a landscape, and as a destination for tourists, to have a lot more tree planting and new forestry, and I think that the people of Wales would be very interested to hear more about your plans for decarbonising the climate in this way.
Diolch, Weinidog. Roeddwn yn falch o glywed yn ddiweddar fod Llywodraeth y DU wedi gosod rhai targedau llym iawn ar gyfer datgarboneiddio erbyn canol y ganrif hon. Ac rwy'n credu ein bod i gyd yn cytuno bod angen gweithredu eithafol. Felly byddai'n ddiddorol clywed sut y mae eich Llywodraeth yn bwriadu gweithredu'n unol â hynny. Yn ail, yn ddiweddar, gofynnais i'r Prif Weinidog mewn sesiwn gwestiynau ynglŷn â gwaith diddorol ar adfer yr hinsawdd a oedd yn digwydd ym Mhrifysgol Caergrawnt. Ac mae'r gwaith hwnnw'n cynnwys adfer yr hinsawdd nid yn unig trwy dorri allyriadau, ond trwy ddalfeydd carbon—coed i gael gwared ar garbon deuocsid o'r atmosffer. Atebodd fod gwaith yn mynd rhagddo ar brosiect coedwigoedd newydd yng Nghymru, yng nghanolbarth Cymru, rwy’n credu, ond byddai gennych chi fwy o fanylion ar hynny. A allech roi’r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf inni ynglŷn â natur y gwaith hwnnw? Rwy'n credu ei fod yn syniad ardderchog. Rwy’n credu bod Cymru yn dirwedd berffaith, ac fel cyrchfan i dwristiaid, ar gyfer cael llawer mwy o blannu coed a choedwigoedd newydd, ac rwy'n credu y byddai gan bobl Cymru ddiddordeb mawr mewn clywed mwy am eich cynlluniau ar gyfer datgarboneiddio'r hinsawdd fel hyn.
In response to the first part of your question, the UK Government, I and my Scottish counterpart asked the UK Committee on Climate Change for some advice around the targets. And you'll be aware that, just last week, I accepted the UK CCC's advice that we should look to reduce our carbon emissions by 95 per cent by 2050. I have accepted that advice. However, I've said our ambition is to be net zero, so I'm certainly going to work very closely with stakeholders to ensure that we are able to do that.
The second part of your question, around the answer given to you by the First Minister, one of the First Minister's manifesto commitments, when he became First Minister in December, was to have a national forest. So, officials are working up options now, but we've had a lot of discussions over the past four or five months in relation to this. So, I don't think the plan is to have a forest in the middle of Wales; it's to look at having different sites so that the national forest is truly pan-Wales. And we'll look at how we form that policy, going forward. I think I'm due some options by the end of this month, so hopefully I'll be in a position to make some decisions and, obviously, working closely with the First Minister, to be able to update the Assembly, probably in the autumn.
Mewn ymateb i ran gyntaf eich cwestiwn, gofynnodd Llywodraeth y DU, fy aelod cyfatebol yn yr Alban a minnau i Bwyllgor y DU ar Newid Hinsawdd am gyngor ynglŷn â’r targedau. Ac fe fyddwch yn gwybod, yr wythnos diwethaf, fy mod wedi cael cyngor y pwyllgor hwnnw y dylem geisio lleihau ein hallyriadau carbon 95 y cant erbyn 2050. Rwyf wedi derbyn y cyngor hwnnw. Fodd bynnag, rwyf wedi dweud mai ein huchelgais yw cyrraedd sero net, felly rwy'n sicr yn mynd i weithio'n agos iawn gyda rhanddeiliaid i sicrhau ein bod yn gallu gwneud hynny.
Mewn perthynas ag ail ran eich cwestiwn, ynglŷn â’r ateb a roddwyd i chi gan y Prif Weinidog, un o ymrwymiadau maniffesto'r Prif Weinidog pan ddaeth yn Brif Weinidog ym mis Rhagfyr oedd cael coedwig genedlaethol. Felly, mae swyddogion yn gweithio ar opsiynau yn awr, ond rydym wedi cael llawer o drafodaethau dros y pedwar neu bum mis diwethaf mewn perthynas â hyn. Felly nid wyf yn credu mai'r cynllun yw cael coedwig yng nghanol Cymru; y cynllun yw ystyried cael gwahanol safleoedd fel bod y goedwig genedlaethol o ddifrif yn rhywbeth ar gyfer Cymru gyfan. A byddwn yn edrych ar sut y ffurfiwn y polisi hwnnw wrth symud ymlaen. Rwy'n credu fy mod am gael rhai opsiynau erbyn diwedd y mis hwn, felly gobeithio y byddaf mewn sefyllfa i wneud rhai penderfyniadau, ac yn amlwg, gan weithio'n agos gyda'r Prif Weinidog, rwy’n gobeithio gallu rhoi’r newyddion diweddaraf i'r Cynulliad, yn yr hydref mae'n debyg.
I think that it's very important to get to net zero, but I think that we need to be more ambitious than that—I think actually start taking more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere than we are putting in. So, net zero is a good way, but we need to go past that, and we can go past that by planting more trees and more plants. Through photosynthesis, they turn carbon dioxide into oxygen—it takes it out of the atmosphere. I think that's really important. I very much welcome this idea of planting trees. but can we have some targets? Can we say how many trees we're going to plant in each area each year? And that's not a stick to beat the Government—you say you're going to plant 1,000 but you only planted 900—but it's to actually let everybody know what is being attempted to be achieved. And I certainly wouldn't criticise you for planting 900 when it was meant to be 1,000, but it really is important we get these trees planted, to get the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Rwy'n credu ei bod yn bwysig iawn cyrraedd sero net, ond credaf fod angen i ni fod yn fwy uchelgeisiol na hynny—a dechrau tynnu mwy o garbon deuocsid o'r atmosffer na’r hyn rydym yn ei roi i mewn mewn gwirionedd. Felly mae sero net yn ffordd dda, ond mae angen inni ragori ar hynny. Ac rydym yn rhagori ar hynny drwy blannu mwy o goed a mwy o blanhigion. Trwy ffotosynthesis, maent yn troi carbon deuocsid yn ocsigen—mae'n ei dynnu allan o'r atmosffer. Rwy'n credu bod hynny'n bwysig iawn. Rwy'n croesawu'r syniad o blannu coed yn fawr iawn ond a gawn ni dargedau? A gawn ni ddweud faint o goed y bwriadwn eu plannu ym mhob ardal bob blwyddyn? Ac nid ffon i daro'r Llywodraeth â hi yw hynny—rydych chi'n dweud eich bod chi'n mynd i blannu 1,000 ond dim ond 900 a blannoch chi—ond ffordd o roi gwybod i bawb beth y ceisir ei gyflawni. Ac yn sicr ni fuaswn i yn eich beirniadu am blannu 900 pan oedd i fod yn 1,000, ond mae'n bwysig iawn ein bod yn plannu'r coed hyn, i gael y carbon deuocsid allan o'r atmosffer.
I absolutely agree with you that we need to plant more trees. We are not planting enough trees—nowhere near the number of trees that I want to see. And I've made it very clear that we need to certainly be looking at increasing the number. We had a target. We did not reach that target. I've been advised that we should be planting at least 2,000 hectares a year. Again, I don't think that's enough. And, certainly, if we're going to mitigate climate change, we need to look at carbon sequestration, which obviously is a critical element of the low-carbon delivery plan that I referred to in my opening answer to Nick Ramsay. So, we need to increase that forest cover right across Wales. I mentioned the national forest. Again, I think the plans that we're bringing forward for that will accelerate reforestation and will also unlock some major economic and environmental benefits. We've also got the Glastir woodland creation scheme, which the Member will be aware of. The last window closed in May, and there was a huge amount of interest, so I'm certainly looking to have a further round in the autumn, which will have a budget of about £1 million.
Rwy'n cytuno'n llwyr â chi fod angen i ni blannu mwy o goed. Nid ydym yn plannu digon o goed—heb fod yn agos at y nifer o goed rwyf am eu gweld. A dywedais yn glir iawn fod angen i ni ystyried cynyddu'r nifer. Roedd gennym darged. Ni chyraeddasom y targed hwnnw. Fe'm cynghorwyd y dylem fod yn plannu o leiaf 2,000 hectar y flwyddyn. Unwaith eto, nid wyf yn meddwl bod hynny'n ddigon. Ac yn sicr, os ydym am liniaru newid hinsawdd, mae angen inni ystyried dal a storio carbon, sy’n amlwg yn elfen hanfodol o'r cynllun cyflawni carbon isel y cyfeiriais ato yn fy ateb agoriadol i Nick Ramsay. Felly mae angen i ni gynyddu coedwigoedd ledled Cymru. Soniais am y goedwig genedlaethol. Unwaith eto, credaf y bydd y cynlluniau rydym yn eu cyflwyno ar gyfer hynny yn cyflymu ailgoedwigo, a bydd hefyd yn sicrhau manteision economaidd ac amgylcheddol mawr. Hefyd, mae gennym gynllun creu coetiroedd Glastir, y bydd yr Aelod yn ymwybodol ohono. Daeth y cyfnod ymgeisio olaf i ben ym mis Mai, ac roedd llawer iawn o ddiddordeb, felly rwy'n sicr yn awyddus i gael rownd bellach yn yr hydref, ac mae'n debyg y bydd ganddi gyllideb o tua £1 filiwn.
2. A wnaiff y Gweinidog roi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf am flaenoriaethau Llywodraeth Cymru ar gyfer bioamrywiaeth ym Merthyr Tudful a Rhymni? OAQ54053
2. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's priorities for biodiversity in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? OAQ54053
Thank you. The nature recovery action plan and our natural resources policy set out our priorities for biodiversity. I have recently announced funding to support several enabling natural resources and well-being projects in Merthyr and the surrounding area to deliver these priorities and to help tackle the biodiversity crisis facing us all.
Diolch. Mae'r cynllun gweithredu ar adfer natur a'n polisi adnoddau naturiol yn nodi ein blaenoriaethau ar gyfer bioamrywiaeth. Yn ddiweddar cyhoeddais gyllid i gefnogi nifer o brosiectau galluogi adnoddau naturiol a llesiant ym Merthyr Tudful a'r ardal gyfagos er mwyn cyflawni'r blaenoriaethau hyn ac i helpu i fynd i'r afael â'r argyfwng bioamrywiaeth sy'n wynebu pawb ohonom.
Thank you, Minister. Clearly, all the expert advice received points to the decline of much of our biodiversity, so I believe it is vital to continue strengthening the connections between people, the local communities and their wider environment, and there's much to applaud in those local communities. In Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, for example, we've seen the local angling association managing both the waterways and the river banks, the Royal Crescent Allotment Society developing bug zones for schoolchildren, and the kids have now become little beekeepers as well, and groups like Actif Woods Wales providing well-being opportunities in the local environment, which is a great opportunity for social prescribing, and there are lots of other similar initiatives. But some of those groups tell me about the big problems that they face with invasive weeds, such as knotweed and Himalayan balsam, which endangers much of the work that they do. So, what more can the Welsh Government do to help tackle the problem of invasive species to improve biodiversity?
Diolch, Weinidog. Yn amlwg, mae'r holl gyngor arbenigol a dderbyniwyd yn dynodi dirywiad llawer o'n bioamrywiaeth, felly credaf ei bod yn hanfodol parhau i gryfhau'r cysylltiadau rhwng pobl, y cymunedau lleol a'u hamgylchedd ehangach, ac mae llawer i'w gymeradwyo yn y cymunedau lleol hynny. Ym Merthyr Tudful a Rhymni, er enghraifft, rydym wedi gweld y gymdeithas bysgota leol yn rheoli dyfrffyrdd a glannau afonydd, grŵp rhandiroedd Royal Crescent yn datblygu parthau pryfed ar gyfer plant ysgol, ac mae'r plant bellach wedi dod yn wenynwyr bach hefyd, a grwpiau fel Coed Actif Cymru yn darparu cyfleoedd lles yn yr amgylchedd lleol, sy'n gyfle gwych ar gyfer presgripsiynu cymdeithasol, a cheir llawer o fentrau tebyg eraill. Ond mae rhai o'r grwpiau hynny’n dweud wrthyf am y problemau mawr y maent yn eu hwynebu gyda chwyn ymledol, fel clymog Japan a jac y neidiwr, sy'n peryglu llawer o'r gwaith a wnânt. Felly, beth arall y gall Llywodraeth Cymru ei wneud i helpu i fynd i'r afael â phroblem rhywogaethau goresgynnol er mwyn gwella bioamrywiaeth?
Thank you. Invasive non-native species challenge the survival of some our rarest species and damage some of our most sensitive ecosystems, and the impacts of them on our domestic and global biodiversity are increasing, and they're also increasing in their severity, I think. They are estimated to cost the Great Britain economy more than £1.7 billion per year, so you can see just how severe they are. We've been working with our partners, and that includes Natural Resources Wales, the Welsh Local Government Association, third sector, industry, and there's also a GB non-native species secretariat, to have a look at what priority actions we need to take to control and eradicate invasive non-native species in Wales. You may be aware that, in March, I introduced the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. That Order comes into force on 1 October, and it will provide the offences, defences and penalties for the restrictions that are set out in EU regulation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of those invasive alien species, and the Order will ensure that EU regulation can be effectively enforced.
Diolch. Mae rhywogaethau estron goresgynnol yn herio goroesiad rhai o'n rhywogaethau mwyaf prin ac yn niweidio rhai o'n hecosystemau mwyaf sensitif, ac mae eu heffaith ar ein bioamrywiaeth ddomestig a byd-eang yn cynyddu, ac rwy'n credu eu bod hefyd yn cynyddu o ran eu difrifoldeb. Amcangyfrifir eu bod yn costio dros £1.7 biliwn y flwyddyn i economi Prydain, felly gallwch weld pa mor ddifrifol ydynt. Rydym wedi bod yn gweithio gyda'n partneriaid, ac mae hynny'n cynnwys Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru, Cymdeithas Llywodraeth Leol Cymru, diwydiant y trydydd sector, a cheir ysgrifenyddiaeth rhywogaethau estron Prydain, i edrych ar ba gamau blaenoriaethol y mae angen i ni eu cymryd i reoli a dileu rhywogaethau estron goresgynnol yng Nghymru. Efallai y byddwch yn ymwybodol, ym mis Mawrth, fy mod wedi cyflwyno Gorchymyn Rhywogaethau Goresgynnol Estron (Gorfodi a Thrwyddedu) 2019. Daw'r Gorchymyn hwnnw i rym ar 1 Hydref, a bydd yn darparu'r troseddau, yr amddiffyniadau a'r cosbau ar gyfer y cyfyngiadau a nodir yn rheoliadau'r UE ar atal a rheoli cyflwyno a lledaenu'r rhywogaethau estron goresgynnol hynny, a bydd y Gorchymyn yn sicrhau y gellir gorfodi rheoliadau’r UE yn effeithiol.
Minister, Welsh farmers play an integral role in protecting and enhancing the countryside. Many of the valued habitats and species found on Welsh farmland are reliant on active management by farmers. RSPB Cymru claim that current levels of support aren't protecting the environment and fail to keep farm businesses viable or farmers on the land. I'm sure, Minister, that you recognise that food production and positive environmental benefits for many species are intrinsically linked. Minister, I'm pretty sure what you are doing to ensure active management by farmers is fairly rewarded in Wales.
Weinidog, mae ffermwyr Cymru’n chwarae rhan hanfodol yn diogelu a gwella cefn gwlad. Mae llawer o'r cynefinoedd a'r rhywogaethau gwerthfawr a geir ar dir ffermio Cymru’n dibynnu ar reolaeth weithredol gan ffermwyr. Mae RSPB Cymru yn honni nad yw'r lefelau cymorth presennol yn diogelu'r amgylchedd ac maent yn methu cadw busnesau fferm yn hyfyw na ffermwyr ar y tir. Rwy'n siŵr, Weinidog, eich bod yn cydnabod bod cynhyrchu bwyd a manteision amgylcheddol cadarnhaol i lawer o rywogaethau wedi'u cysylltu'n sylfaenol. Weinidog, rwy'n eithaf sicr fod yr hyn a wnewch i sicrhau rheolaeth weithredol gan ffermwyr yn cael ei wobrwyo'n deg yng Nghymru.
I can't disagree with anything that you're saying there, and you'll be aware of the announcement and the statement I brought forward in the Chamber last week around 'Brexit and our land' 2, for want of a better word at the moment, which will be the second part of the consultation around the post-Brexit agricultural policy. I always maintained that food production was very, very important. I think we were the only part of the UK that actually had food in the consultation. I certainly don't think 'Health and Harmony' did, because I absolutely recognise the importance of food production and our agricultural sector.
Also, environmental outcomes are very important, and we made it very clear that, going forward, post Brexit, our agricultural payment system will reward environmental outcomes, and I would urge everyone to participate in that consultation once I launch it at the beginning of July.
Ni allaf anghytuno ag unrhyw beth a ddywedwch, ac fe fyddwch yn ymwybodol o'r cyhoeddiad a'r datganiad a gyflwynais i’r Siambr yr wythnos diwethaf ynghylch 'Brexit a’n tir' 2, fel y’i gelwir ar hyn o bryd, a fydd yn ail ran yr ymgynghoriad ar y polisi amaethyddol ar ôl Brexit. Rwyf bob amser wedi bod o’r farn fod cynhyrchu bwyd yn bwysig tu hwnt. Rwy'n credu mai ni oedd yr unig ran o'r DU a oedd yn cynnwys bwyd yn yr ymgynghoriad. Yn sicr nid wyf yn credu bod ‘Iechyd a Harmoni’ wedi gwneud hynny, oherwydd rwy'n cydnabod pwysigrwydd cynhyrchu bwyd a'n sector amaethyddol yn llwyr.
Hefyd, mae canlyniadau amgylcheddol yn bwysig iawn, a gwnaethom yn glir iawn y bydd ein system taliadau amaethyddol yn y dyfodol, ar ôl Brexit, yn gwobrwyo canlyniadau amgylcheddol, a buaswn yn annog pawb i gymryd rhan yn yr ymgynghoriad hwnnw pan fyddaf yn ei lansio ddechrau mis Gorffennaf.
Cwestiynau nawr gan lefarwyr y pleidiau. Llefarydd Plaid Cymru, Llyr Gruffydd.
Questions now from the party spokespeople. The Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Llyr Gruffydd.
Diolch, Llywydd. Weinidog, byddwch chi'n gwybod bod Plaid Cymru wedi bod yn ymgyrchu yn ddiwyd yn erbyn llwybr du yr M4, ac mi roeddem ni, wrth gwrs, yn croesawu'r penderfyniad, pan ddaeth e, i beidio bwrw ymlaen â'r cynllun penodol hwnnw. Roeddem ni'n teimlo y byddai gwario £1.5 biliwn o leiaf o gyllid cyfalaf ar greu mwy o draffig yn annoeth. Ond gan nad yw'r arian yna nawr yn mynd i gael ei wario i'r union ddiben hwnnw, gaf i ofyn pa achos rŷch chi yn ei wneud yn y Cabinet i'r pres gael ei ddefnyddio i gryfhau is-adeiledd gwyrdd yng Nghymru, i leihau allyriadau ac i daclo newid hinsawdd? Oherwydd mi fyddai £1.5 biliwn o bunnoedd, wrth gwrs, yn gallu, er enghraifft, trawsnewid y sector ynni adnewyddadwy yng Nghymru, ac mi fyddai gan hynny hefyd botensial i gynhyrchu incwm i’r pwrs cyhoeddus mewn blynyddoedd i ddod. Felly, a allwch chi ddweud wrthym ni ba achos rydych chi wedi ei wneud dros ddefnyddio’r cyllid cyfalaf yma at bwrpas amgen?
Thank you, Llywydd. Minister, you will be aware that Plaid Cymru has been campaigning diligently against the M4 black route and, of course, we welcomed the decision when it came not to proceed with that specific proposal. We believe that spending at least £1.5 billion of capital on generating more traffic would be unwise. But, as that money is now not going to be spent for that purpose, can I ask you what case you are making within Cabinet for that funding to be used to strengthen green infrastructure in Wales, to reduce emissions and to tackle climate change? Because £1.5 billion, of course, could, for example, transform the renewable energy sector in Wales, which would have potential to generate income for the public purse in years to come. So, can you tell us what case you have made for using that capital funding for an alternative purpose?
So, those discussions will be taking place. I have had discussions around climate change and more funding for climate change across Government. I've had that conversation with the Minister for Finance directly. The specific funding that you refer to—the £1.5 billion in relation to the black route—obviously, you'll be aware that the Minister for Economy and Transport made an announcement around the group that he's setting up to look at alternatives. So, clearly, some of that funding—the majority of that funding; I don't know what will be the outcome of that review—will need to be used for those alternative plans. But I think all my ministerial colleagues, and many of them sit on the decarbonisation ministerial task and finish group, accept that if we are to mitigate climate change—and the whole point of declaring a climate emergency was not just to galvanise others into action—clearly, as a Government, we need to look at our plans and policies. So, those will be ongoing discussions.
Felly, bydd y trafodaethau hynny'n digwydd. Rwyf wedi cael trafodaethau ynghylch newid hinsawdd a mwy o arian ar gyfer newid hinsawdd ar draws y Llywodraeth. Rwyf wedi cael y sgwrs honno gyda'r Gweinidog Cyllid yn uniongyrchol. Y cyllid penodol y cyfeiriwch ato—yr £1.5 biliwn mewn perthynas â'r llwybr du—yn amlwg, fe fyddwch yn ymwybodol fod Gweinidog yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth wedi gwneud cyhoeddiad ynglŷn â'r grŵp y mae'n ei sefydlu i edrych ar ddewisiadau amgen. Felly, yn amlwg, bydd angen defnyddio rhywfaint o'r cyllid hwnnw—y rhan fwyaf o'r cyllid hwnnw; nid wyf yn gwybod beth fydd canlyniad yr adolygiad hwnnw—ar gyfer y cynlluniau amgen hynny. Ond rwy'n credu bod fy nghyd-Weinidogion i gyd, ac mae llawer ohonynt yn aelodau o grŵp gorchwyl a gorffen y Gweinidog ar ddatgarboneiddio, yn derbyn, os ydym am liniaru newid hinsawdd—ac nid ysgogi eraill i weithredu'n unig oedd diben datgan argyfwng hinsawdd—yn amlwg, fel Llywodraeth, mae angen inni edrych ar ein cynlluniau a'n polisïau. Felly, bydd y rheini'n drafodaethau sy'n mynd rhagddynt.
Iawn, ac rŷch chi’n berffaith iawn i ddweud mai holl bwrpas datgan argyfwng hinsawdd yw i weld newid trawsnewidiol, a dweud y gwir. Ac mae yna gryn amser ers ichi wneud y datganiad hwnnw fel Llywodraeth—nifer o wythnosau erbyn hyn. Rŷch chi wedi gwneud ambell i ddatganiad ysgrifenedig a chwpwl o gyfeiriadau ar lafar i’r datganiad hwnnw ond, wrth gwrs, dŷn ni ddim wedi gweld unrhyw beth trawsnewidiol eto o safbwynt eich gwaith chi a’ch cyfrifoldebau chi fel Gweinidog. Nawr, dwi’n siŵr y byddech chi’n cytuno, wrth gwrs, nad dim ond eich rôl chi yw hynny; mae’n rôl i bob aelod Cabinet, ac mi fyddwn i, fel y mae nifer eraill wedi sôn cyn nawr, yn dymuno gweld pob Gweinidog yn gwneud datganiad fan hyn yn y Siambr yn esbonio yn union sut mae eu gwaith nhw yn mynd i newid a’u blaenoriaethau nhw o fewn eu portffolios nhw yn newid yn sgil datgan argyfwng hinsawdd.
Ond, jest i ddod nôl at eich cyfrifoldeb chi, ac mae hwn yn rhywbeth rwyf wedi ei godi chi yn flaenorol—a dwi’n gobeithio efallai, ers i fi ei godi e'n flaenorol, eich bod chi wedi cael cyfle i bwyso a mesur—dwi eisiau gwybod pa gyfarwyddyd newydd rŷch chi wedi ei roi yn dilyn datgan argyfwng hinsawdd i’r adrannau a’r cyrff sy’n dod o dan eich adain chi. Dwi’n meddwl am Gyfoeth Naturiol Cymru, Hybu Cig Cymru—mae yna ystod o gyrff rŷch chi yn eu hariannu ac yn gyfrifol amdanyn nhw. A ydych chi’n bwriadu diwygio llythyrau cylch gorchwyl y cyrff yma, oherwydd, fel rŷch chi wedi dweud eich hunain, holl bwrpas datgan argyfwng newid hinsawdd neu argyfwng hinsawdd, yw er mwyn cael yr effaith drawsnewidiol yna? Os na wnewch chi hynny, yna mi fydd pobl yn tybio bod dim byd wedi newid a'i bod hi’n fusnes fel arfer i’r Llywodraeth yma.
Fine, and you're quite right to say that the whole purpose of declaring a climate emergency is to see transformational change, if truth be told. And it is quite some time since you made that declaration as a Government—it's been some weeks now. You've made some written statements and a few oral references to that declaration, but we haven't seen anything transformational as of yet in terms of your work and your responsibilities as a Minister. Now, I'm sure you would agree that that's not just your role; it's a role for every Cabinet member. And I, as others have mentioned before now, would want to see every Minister making a statement here in this Chamber explaining exactly how their work will change and how their priorities within their portfolios will change as a result of the declaration of a climate emergency.
But just to return to your responsibilities, and this is something that I've raised with you previously—and I hope that, since I've raised it with you previously, you've had an opportunity to give it some consideration, but I want to know what new direction you have given, following the declaration of a climate emergency, to the bodies within your remit. I'm thinking of Natural Resources Wales, Hybu Cig Cymru—there's a range of bodies that you fund and are responsible for. So, do you intend to amend their remit letters, because, as you said yourself, the whole purpose of the declaration of a climate emergency is to have that transformational change? If you don't do that, then people will feel that nothing has changed and that it's business as usual for this Government.
Well, it's certainly not business as usual. You will have heard me say that the low-carbon delivery plan, which was launched just in March, which contains a 100 policies and proposals, is the foundation for us reaching our carbon emissions target and our carbon budget, but I have asked officials to review those 100 policies and proposals in light of (1) the advice that we received from the UK Committee on Climate Change, which I think was a couple of weeks after we declared the emergency. A you're quite right—I think that, across Government, everybody is having to look at their policies and proposals and the schemes that they're bringing forward to see if they fit in and what needs to change in relation to the climate emergency.
I think we have seen others galvanised into action. I think it's been very encouraging to see the number of local authorities and town and community councils that have decided themselves to declare a climate emergency, so I think we are seeing that galvanising the action that we hoped we would see.
In relation to your specific questions about whether I'll be changing the remit letters, that is something, again, I'm looking at. I meet with NRW on a monthly basis, so we've certainly discussed the climate emergency and what they're looking at doing. So, I know, for instance, that NRW are looking at what extra land they have for planting trees. I think they've got some land that they've banked that can be reforested, and we need to look at, obviously, money for that. HCC I'm due to meet in the near future and, again, it will be on the agenda.
Wel, yn sicr nid yw'n fusnes fel arfer. Byddwch wedi fy nghlywed yn dweud mai'r cynllun cyflawni carbon isel a lansiwyd ym mis Mawrth, ac sy'n cynnwys 100 o bolisïau ac argymhellion, yw'r sylfaen inni allu cyrraedd ein targed ar gyfer allyriadau carbon a'n cyllideb garbon, ond rwyf wedi gofyn i swyddogion adolygu'r 100 o bolisïau ac argymhellion gan ystyried (1) y cyngor a gawsom gan Bwyllgor y DU ar Newid Hinsawdd, a gynhaliwyd ychydig wythnosau ar ôl i ni ddatgan yr argyfwng, rwy'n credu. Ac rydych yn llygad eich lle—credaf fod pawb, ar draws y Llywodraeth, yn gorfod edrych ar eu polisïau a'u hargymhellion a'r cynlluniau y maent yn eu cyflwyno i weld a ydynt yn cyd-fynd â'r hyn sydd angen ei newid mewn perthynas â'r argyfwng hinsawdd.
Rwy'n credu ein bod wedi gweld eraill yn cael eu symbylu i weithredu. Rwy'n credu ei bod yn galonogol iawn gweld nifer yr awdurdodau lleol a'r cynghorau tref a chymuned sydd wedi penderfynu drostynt eu hunain eu bod yn datgan argyfwng hinsawdd, felly rwy'n credu ein bod yn gweld hynny'n ysgogi'r gweithredu roeddem yn gobeithio ei weld.
Mewn perthynas â'ch cwestiynau penodol ynglŷn ag a fyddaf yn newid y llythyrau cylch gwaith, mae hynny, unwaith eto, yn rhywbeth rwy'n ei ystyried. Rwy'n cyfarfod â Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru bob mis, felly rydym yn sicr wedi trafod yr argyfwng hinsawdd a'r hyn y maent yn ystyried ei wneud. Felly, gwn er enghraifft fod Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru'n edrych ar ba dir ychwanegol sydd ganddynt ar gyfer plannu coed. Credaf fod ganddynt dir y maent wedi'i fancio y gellir ei ailgoedwigo, ac mae angen inni edrych ar arian ar gyfer hynny wrth gwrs. Rwyf i fod i gyfarfod â Hybu Cig Cymru yn y dyfodol agos ac unwaith eto, bydd y mater hwn ar yr agenda.
Iawn. Wel, mi arhoswn ni eto i glywed unrhyw newidiadau penodol. Fe wnaf i awgrymu un peth ichi, efallai. Dwi’n cofio pan oedd y Llywodraeth ddiwethaf yn awyddus i wrthwynebu ffracio yng Nghymru. Doedd gan y Llywodraeth bryd hynny, wrth gwrs, ddim pwerau dros yr hawl i wrthod yn benodol, ond mi ddefnyddiwyd y system gynllunio, os cofiwch chi, fel ffordd i drio creu rhyw fath o foratoriwm. Nawr, roedd rhai ohonom ni'n anghytuno ei fod e'n foratoriwm mewn gwirionedd, ond awn ni ddim ar ôl yr sgwarnog yna. Ond yn sicr mi oedd yna ewyllys gan y Llywodraeth ddiwethaf, er nad oedd ganddi'r pwerau, i drio defnyddio'r hyn oedd ganddi i atal cynlluniau ffracio.
Nawr, byddwch chi'n ymwybodol o gais diweddar am brofion seismig ym mae Ceredigion, sy'n cael ei ddefnyddio, wrth gwrs, gan gwmnïoedd olew a nwy i ddod o hyd i'r lleoliadau gorau i ddrilio. Dyw hwnna ddim wedi ei ddatganoli; mae hwnna'n dal i fod yn gyfrifoldeb Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig, ond, wrth gwrs, gall trwyddedau ddim ond cael eu rhoi os yw Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru wedi cael eu boddhau. Felly, oni ddylai Llywodraeth Cymru ddatgan, yn yr un modd ag y gwnaethpwyd gyda ffracio a'r system gynllunio, na fyddai Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru, er enghraifft, yn bodloni i drwyddedu unrhyw gynlluniau tebyg yn y dyfodol fel neges glir i'r sector nad oes croeso iddyn nhw, oherwydd, wrth gwrs, y byddai hynny'n anghydnaws â'r argyfwng hinsawdd sydd gennym ni yng Nghymru, ac, wrth gwrs, dylem ni fod yn cadw tanwydd ffosil yn y ddaear?
Okay. Well, we'll await any specific changes. I will suggest one thing to you. I remember when the previous Government was eager to oppose fracking in Wales. The Government at that time had no powers in rejecting it specifically, but the planning system was used, you may recall, as a means of creating some sort of moratorium. Now, some of us disagreed as to whether it was really a moratorium, but we won’t follow that up at the moment. But, certainly, there was a desire in the previous Government, although it didn’t have the powers, to try and use the levers it had to prevent fracking.
Now, you’ll be aware of the recent application for seismic testing in Cardigan bay, which is being used by gas and oil companies to find the best locations for drilling. That is non-devolved; that is still the responsibility of the UK Government, but, of course, licences can only be given if NRW are satisfied. So, shouldn’t the Welsh Government state, exactly as they did with fracking and the planning system, that NRW, for example, wouldn’t be satisfied in licensing any similar plans in the future as a clear message to the sector that they are not welcome, because, of course, that would not be in keeping with the climate emergency that we have in Wales and, of course, we should be keeping fossil fuels in the ground?
Yes, absolutely, and you'll be aware that that particular licence that you referred to has been suspended, but I certainly made my views very clear to the UK Government. I've had a lot of correspondence—and I'm sure there are some Members in the Chamber, including the Presiding Officer, who I've also written to regarding that, setting out that very stance that you've just described. So, we need to do—. We certainly need to look at how we can strengthen that so people are very aware of our view. But you're quite right: it would have to come to us at some point along the chain, even though it's a reserved matter, and I think I've made it very clear in my correspondence that that's the case.
Yn bendant, a byddwch yn gwybod bod y drwydded benodol y cyfeirioch chi ati wedi cael ei hatal, ond yn sicr, gwneuthum fy marn yn glir iawn i Lywodraeth y DU. Rwyf wedi cael llawer o ohebiaeth—ac rwy'n siŵr fy mod wedi ysgrifennu at Aelodau yn y Siambr, gan gynnwys y Llywydd, ynglŷn â hynny, i amlinellu'r union safbwynt rydych newydd ei ddisgrifio. Felly, mae angen inni—. Yn sicr, mae angen inni edrych ar sut y gallwn gryfhau hynny fel bod pobl yn ymwybodol iawn o'n barn. Ond rydych chi'n llygad eich lle: byddai'n rhaid iddo ddod atom ar ryw bwynt yn y gadwyn, er ei fod yn fater a gadwyd yn ôl, ac rwy'n credu fy mod wedi dweud hynny'n glir iawn yn fy llythyr.
Llefarydd y Ceidwadwyr, Andrew R.T. Davies.
Conservative spokesperson, Andrew R.T. Davies.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Minister, I've raised with you on several occasions, and indeed I raised it with the First Minister yesterday, that, in your statement attached to the announcement around going for net zero by 2050, you said that that journey will be the biggest planned economic transition of modern times, and you've also made, obviously, a climate change emergency declaration. But when I go to the Cabinet minutes of that Cabinet meeting on 29 April, the declaration was informed to the Cabinet under 'any other business', and it says:
'The Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs informed Cabinet that she had declared the climate change emergency...that day.'
That hardly shows much planning or planning into the scheme of things that you're going to need to do to change the economy and to protect jobs and create quality jobs. Do you think that's an appropriate way for Cabinet to work?
Diolch, Lywydd. Weinidog, rwyf wedi gofyn i chi ynglŷn â hyn sawl gwaith, ac yn wir holais y Prif Weinidog yn ei gylch ddoe, sef eich bod wedi dweud yn eich datganiad a oedd ynghlwm wrth y cyhoeddiad ynghylch anelu i fod yn sero net erbyn 2050, mai'r daith honno fydd y newid economaidd mwyaf a gynlluniwyd erioed yn yr oes fodern, ac rydych hefyd wrth gwrs wedi gwneud datganiad ar argyfwng hinsawdd. Ond pan edrychaf ar gofnodion y cyfarfod Cabinet hwnnw ar 29 Ebrill, rhoddwyd gwybod i'r Cabinet am y datganiad o dan 'unrhyw fater arall', ac mae'n dweud:
Hysbysodd Gweinidog yr Amgylchedd, Ynni a Materion Gwledig y Cabinet ei bod wedi datgan argyfwng newid hinsawdd... y diwrnod hwnnw.
Go brin fod hynny'n dangos llawer o gynllunio neu gynllunio pethau y bydd angen ichi eu gwneud er mwyn newid yr economi a diogelu swyddi a chreu swyddi o safon. A ydych chi'n credu bod honno'n ffordd briodol i'r Cabinet weithio?
Well, you're reading the minutes from the Cabinet; you won't be aware of all the discussions that went on ahead of the declaration of a climate emergency. The decarbonisation ministerial task and finish group, which I chair, meets every six weeks/two months. Discussions are ongoing through that task and finish group. The Minister for Economy and Transport sits on that committee.
The low carbon delivery plan, which I've referred to a couple of times already in this session, was where we set out our 100 policies and proposals. Again, there have been many discussions across Cabinet to bring that forward, and this is all part—. As I said yesterday, all these parts: decarbonisation, climate change mitigation, air quality, all are very integral—they're separate things, but they are integral. So, those discussions—. It wasn't just an announcement I made; people were very aware that that announcement was coming.
Wel, rydych chi'n darllen cofnodion y Cabinet; ni fyddwch yn ymwybodol o'r holl drafodaethau a ddigwyddodd cyn datgan argyfwng hinsawdd. Mae grŵp gorchwyl a gorffen y Gweinidog ar ddatgarboneiddio a gadeirir gennyf yn cyfarfod bob chwe wythnos/dau fis. Mae trafodaethau'n mynd rhagddynt drwy'r grŵp gorchwyl a gorffen hwnnw. Mae Gweinidog yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth yn aelod o'r pwyllgor hwnnw.
Y cynllun cyflawni carbon isel y cyfeiriais ato unwaith neu ddwy eisoes yn y sesiwn hon oedd lle y gwnaethom nodi ein 100 o bolisïau ac argymhellion. Unwaith eto, bu llawer o drafodaethau ar draws y Cabinet ar gyflwyno hynny, ac mae hyn i gyd yn rhan—. Fel y dywedais ddoe, mae'r holl rannau hyn: datgarboneiddio, lliniaru newid hinsawdd, ansawdd aer, i gyd yn hollbwysig—maent yn bethau ar wahân, ond maent yn hollbwysig. Felly, mae'r trafodaethau hynny—. Nid dim ond cyhoeddiad a wnaed gennyf fi ydoedd; roedd pobl yn ymwybodol iawn fod y cyhoeddiad hwnnw'n dod.
Thank you for that. I'm not knocking the decisions that you've taken; actually I've been supportive of them, but what concerns me is the action behind some of these announcements. I have to say that I thought that the minutes of Cabinet were meant to reflect the discussion that went on in Cabinet. And I agree that this is a whole Government response. We've heard since those declarations that Government obviously is having to deal with all these issues around their policy portfolio issues, but that minute doesn't clearly indicate to me that there has been that discussion. So, obviously, you're telling us there has. For example, can you tell me how many jobs will be lost in the Welsh economy because of the transition and how many jobs might be created in the green revolution we hope to see? That's a pretty straightforward question and, if Ken Skates has been on your committee, let's have an understanding of this transition that you've talked about and what we might and might not expect as we go forward.
Diolch am hynny. Nid wyf yn beirniadu'r penderfyniadau a wnaethoch; mewn gwirionedd, rwyf wedi eu cefnogi, ond yr hyn sy'n fy mhoeni yw'r gweithredu y tu ôl i rai o'r cyhoeddiadau hyn. Rhaid imi ddweud fy mod yn credu bod cofnodion y Cabinet i fod i adlewyrchu'r drafodaeth a ddigwyddodd yn y Cabinet. Ac rwy'n cytuno bod hwn yn ymateb gan y Llywodraeth gyfan. Rydym wedi clywed ers y datganiadau hynny fod y Llywodraeth yn amlwg yn gorfod ymdrin â'r holl faterion sy'n ymwneud â'u portffolio polisïau, ond nid yw'r cofnodion hynny'n dangos yn glir i mi fod y drafodaeth honno wedi digwydd. Felly, yn amlwg, rydych chi'n dweud wrthym ei bod wedi digwydd. Er enghraifft, a allwch ddweud wrthyf faint o swyddi a gollir yn economi Cymru oherwydd y trawsnewid a faint o swyddi a allai gael eu creu yn y chwyldro gwyrdd y gobeithiwn ei weld? Mae hwnnw'n gwestiwn eithaf syml, ac os yw Ken Skates wedi bod yn aelod o'ch pwyllgor, gadewch i ni ddeall y newid hwn rydych wedi'i drafod a'r hyn y gallem ei ddisgwyl neu fel arall wrth inni symud ymlaen.
So, the minute that you referred to wasn't a minute of a discussion. You said yourself it was 'any other business', so it wasn't a minute of a discussion in Cabinet. Those discussions take place in other places across the Government.
In relation to your question about the number of jobs, I can't give you a figure. What I've discussed with Ken Skates is the opportunity for more jobs if we transition to a low-carbon economy and I think, in other parts of the world that are ahead of us, you will see that that's the case.
Nid cofnod o drafodaeth oedd y cofnod y cyfeirioch chi ato. Fe ddywedoch eich hun mai 'unrhyw fater arall' ydoedd, felly nid oedd yn gofnod o drafodaeth yn y Cabinet. Mae'r trafodaethau hynny'n digwydd mewn mannau eraill ar draws y Llywodraeth.
O ran eich cwestiwn am nifer y swyddi, ni allaf roi ffigur i chi. Yr hyn a drafodais gyda Ken Skates yw'r cyfle i gael mwy o swyddi os byddwn yn newid i economi carbon isel a chredaf y byddwch yn gweld bod hynny'n wir mewn rhannau eraill o'r byd sydd o'n blaenau.
I appreciate that you might not be able to give me an exact figure today, but, surely, amongst your discussions with Cabinet colleagues, you would have some understanding of the job implications here—the ones that might be lost from what we might call the old carbon economy and what might be created in the green economy. So, I'd hoped that maybe you'd be able to inform Members of that. One of the things that is happening in Westminster, for example, around their declaration, is that the Treasury there have provided hard and fast financials around some of the commitments the Government might have to take if it is to hit its net zero by 2050, and the figure of £1 trillion has been talked of, and about £70 billion a year. What economic modelling has the Welsh Government undertaken and has been made available to you when you've been making your decisions—and other members of the Government—so that you can make informed decisions that obviously put us in the best possible place? And, if that modelling has been made available to you, will you commit to make that available to Assembly Members so that we can have sight of it and understand exactly how the decisions have been taken?
Sylweddolaf na allwch roi ffigur union i mi heddiw, ond yn sicr, ymysg eich trafodaethau gyda'ch cyd-Weinidogion Cabinet, byddai gennych rywfaint o ddealltwriaeth o'r goblygiadau o ran swyddi yma—y rhai a allai gael eu colli o'r hyn y gallem ei alw'n hen economi garbon a'r hyn y gellid ei greu yn yr economi werdd. Felly, roeddwn i'n gobeithio efallai y byddech yn gallu rhoi gwybod i'r Aelodau am hynny. Un o'r pethau sy'n digwydd yn San Steffan, er enghraifft, mewn perthynas â'u datganiad, yw bod y Trysorlys yno wedi darparu manylion ariannol cadarn rhai o'r ymrwymiadau y gallai'r Llywodraeth orfod eu gwneud os yw'n mynd i gyrraedd sero net erbyn 2050, a soniwyd am ffigur o £1 triliwn, a thua £70 biliwn y flwyddyn. Pa fodelu economaidd y mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi'i wneud ac sydd wedi'i ddarparu i chi pan fyddwch wedi bod yn gwneud eich penderfyniadau—ac aelodau eraill o'r Llywodraeth—fel y gallwch wneud penderfyniadau hyddysg sy'n amlwg yn ein rhoi yn y lle gorau posibl? Ac os yw'r modelu hwnnw ar gael i chi, a wnewch chi ymrwymo i sicrhau ei fod ar gael i Aelodau'r Cynulliad fel y gallwn ei weld a deall sut yn union y cafodd y penderfyniadau eu gwneud?
So, I go back to what I said in my second answer to you, that I think there are more opportunities in the low-carbon economy sector—or sectors, really. So, the balance—. I can't give you figures. Certainly, the chief economist who advises all members of the Government will have given us advice that we will have considered. I don't know if it's commercially sensitive or if there's any other reasons why I can't publish it, but I will look into that and let the Member know.
Dychwelaf at yr hyn a ddywedais yn fy ail ateb i chi, sef fy mod yn meddwl bod mwy o gyfleoedd yn y sector economi carbon isel—neu sectorau, mewn gwirionedd. Felly, mae'r cydbwysedd—. Ni allaf roi ffigurau i chi. Yn sicr, bydd y prif economegydd sy'n cynghori holl Aelodau'r Llywodraeth wedi rhoi cyngor i ni y byddwn wedi'i ystyried. Nid wyf yn gwybod os yw'n sensitif yn fasnachol neu os oes unrhyw resymau eraill pam na chaf ei gyhoeddi, ond fe ymchwiliaf i hynny a rhoi gwybod i'r Aelod.
Tynnwyd cwestiwn 3 [OAQ54055] yn ôl. Cwestiwn 4—David Rees.
Question 3 [OAQ54055] is withdrawn. Question 4—David Rees.
4. Pa drafodaethau y mae'r Gweinidog wedi'u cael gyda Gweinidog y Gymraeg a Chysylltiadau Rhyngwladol ynghylch sut y gall Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru weithio gyda chymunedau lleol i hybu twristiaeth? OAQ54078
4. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for International Relations and the Welsh Language on how Natural Resources Wales can work with local communities to promote tourism? OAQ54078
Thank you. I regularly meet with the Minister for International Relations and the Welsh Language to discuss various issues, including tourism. I've recently written to the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism about the breadth of support my portfolio provides to the tourism industry.
Diolch. Byddaf yn cyfarfod yn rheolaidd â Gweinidog y Gymraeg a Chysylltiadau Rhyngwladol i drafod materion amrywiol, gan gynnwys twristiaeth. Rwyf wedi ysgrifennu at y Dirprwy Weinidog Diwylliant, Chwaraeon a Thwristiaeth yn ddiweddar ynghylch ehangder y cymorth y mae fy mhortffolio yn ei roi i'r diwydiant twristiaeth.
Well, thank you for that answer, Minister. Many Valleys communities, including those in the Afan Valley, have developed tourism as a means of growing the economy following the demise of the mining industry in those valleys. Much of the land surrounding those communities is actually owned by the Welsh Government and managed on their behalf by NRW. This land offers outdoor experiences to those visitors who come to those areas. For example, in my valley, mountain biking is a big issue and it uses the NRW land, very much so, to give an experience to visitors, and some of those trails are renowned worldwide, with many visitors coming from outside of the UK to experience them.
Now, it's important, therefore, that NRW works with the communities to ensure that no unnecessary barriers exist that would damage the opportunities for tourism in these valleys. Minister, therefore, will you ensure that tourism is high on the agenda of NRW and will you seek support from your Cabinet colleagues, because I understand the funding challenges you will face, because this will need funding, because, for mountain biking, for example, you need to maintain the trails and sometimes those trails are vandalised by people using bikes as well? So, will you have those discussions to ensure that that agenda is high on their list?
Diolch am yr ateb hwnnw, Weinidog. Mae llawer o gymunedau'r Cymoedd, gan gynnwys y rheini yng Nghwm Afan, wedi datblygu twristiaeth fel modd o dyfu'r economi ar ôl tranc y diwydiant glo yn y cymoedd hynny. Mae llawer o'r tir o amgylch y cymunedau hynny'n eiddo i Lywodraeth Cymru mewn gwirionedd ac yn cael ei reoli ar eu rhan gan Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru. Mae'r tir hwn yn cynnig profiadau awyr agored i'r ymwelwyr sy'n dod i'r ardaloedd hynny. Er enghraifft, yn fy nghwm i, mae beicio mynydd yn fater pwysig ac mae'n sicr yn defnyddio tir CNC i roi profiad i ymwelwyr, ac mae rhai o'r llwybrau hynny'n enwog ledled y byd, gyda llawer o ymwelwyr yn dod o'r tu allan i'r DU i'w profi.
Nawr, mae'n bwysig, felly, fod CNC yn gweithio gyda'r cymunedau i sicrhau nad oes unrhyw rwystrau diangen yn bodoli a fyddai'n niweidio'r cyfleoedd ar gyfer twristiaeth yn y cymoedd hyn. Felly, Weinidog, a wnewch chi sicrhau bod twristiaeth yn uchel ar agenda CNC ac a wnewch chi ofyn am gefnogaeth eich cyd-Weinidogion yn y Cabinet, gan fy mod yn deall yr heriau ariannol y byddwch yn eu hwynebu, oherwydd bydd angen cyllid ar gyfer hyn, oherwydd, ar gyfer beicio mynydd, er enghraifft, mae angen i chi gynnal a chadw'r llwybrau ac weithiau caiff y llwybrau hynny eu fandaleiddio gan bobl sy'n defnyddio eu beiciau hefyd? Felly, a fyddwch yn cael y trafodaethau hynny i sicrhau bod yr agenda honno'n uchel ar eu rhestr?
Thank you. I think you're absolutely right to flag that Natural Resources Wales, amongst others, have a very important part to play in protecting our natural environment and supporting our tourism industry. If my memory serves me right, the letter I did write to my colleague Dafydd Elis-Thomas—the word 'NRW' probably appeared more than any other word. So, I know, for instance, they're a consultee in the planning process around the current developments in the Afan Valley in your constituency. I know there's the proposed Afan adventure resort development. But I think it's really important that we do work together. You're right about communities. We need to work with our future generations within the guidelines of the future generations Act so that everyone can benefit from our natural resources.
Diolch. Rwy'n credu eich bod yn hollol gywir i dynnu sylw at y ffaith bod gan Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru, ymhlith eraill, ran bwysig iawn i'w chwarae yn diogelu ein hamgylchedd naturiol a chefnogi ein diwydiant twristiaeth. Os cofiaf yn iawn, mae'r llythyr a ysgrifennais at fy nghyd-Aelod, Dafydd Elis-Thomas—mae'n debyg fod 'CNC' wedi ymddangos mwy nag unrhyw air arall. Felly rwy'n gwybod, er enghraifft, eu bod yn ymgynghorai yn y broses gynllunio ynglŷn â'r datblygiadau presennol yng Nghwm Afan yn eich etholaeth. Gwn fod bwriad i ddatblygu canolfan antur Afan. Ond rwy'n meddwl ei bod yn bwysig iawn ein bod yn gweithio gyda'n gilydd. Rydych chi'n iawn ynglŷn â chymunedau. Mae angen inni weithio gyda chenedlaethau'r dyfodol o fewn canllawiau Deddf cenedlaethau'r dyfodol fel y gall pawb elwa o'n hadnoddau naturiol.
Thank you for your answer to David Rees then. I'm just thinking about how you can work with NRW with other portfolios within Government as well as tourism and where these possibilities can intersect with each other. In January, I asked you whether you thought there was an opportunity for Natural Resources Wales to work with schools so that children and young people could play a part in replanting trees in their local areas, and I think it cropped up in the context of the Afan Valley, actually, because not only does that help the well-being of communities and tourists and actually tourism business as well, it goes back to Mike Hedges's question about learning about science and carbon capture as well as the history of that valley.
At the time, you said you thought it was a good idea and that you'd be speaking to your colleague Kirsty Williams about that. I hear that you've spoken to the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism. I'm wondering whether it might be worth an addendum to that letter to raise this as a possibility. Thank you.
Diolch am eich ateb i David Rees yn y fan honno. Rwy'n meddwl sut y gallwch weithio gyda CNC gyda phortffolios eraill o fewn y Llywodraeth yn ogystal â thwristiaeth a lle gall y posibiliadau hyn gydblethu â'i gilydd. Ym mis Ionawr, gofynnais a oeddech yn meddwl bod cyfle i Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru weithio gydag ysgolion fel y gallai plant a phobl ifanc chwarae rhan yn ailblannu coed yn eu hardaloedd lleol, a chredaf ei fod wedi codi yng nghyd-destun Cwm Afan, a dweud y gwir, oherwydd nid yn unig fod hynny'n helpu lles cymunedau a thwristiaid, a busnesau twristiaeth hefyd yn wir, mae'n mynd yn ôl at gwestiwn Mike Hedges am ddysgu am wyddoniaeth a dal carbon yn ogystal â hanes y cwm hwnnw.
Ar y pryd, fe ddywedoch eich bod yn meddwl ei fod yn syniad da ac y byddech yn siarad â'ch cyd-Aelod Kirsty Williams ynglŷn â hynny. Clywaf eich bod wedi siarad â'r Dirprwy Weinidog Diwylliant, Chwaraeon a Thwristiaeth. Rwy'n meddwl tybed a allai fod yn werth rhoi atodiad i'r llythyr hwnnw er mwyn codi hyn fel posibilrwydd. Diolch.
Yes, certainly. You raise some very important points, and I've had in-depth conversations with both the chair and chief exec and other members of NRW around planting trees, because—I answered in my earlier answer to Mike Hedges that we're not planting enough trees, and, certainly, if we are going to mitigate climate change in the way we would want to, we need to ensure that happens. So, I know NRW are working with schools, from the last conversation I had with them. I don't know if it's specifically around planting trees, but it's certainly an opportunity, I think, that they can take forward. NRW manage 7 per cent of Wales's land area, and that obviously includes many reserves and picnic areas and woodland, so it's a very good opportunity to get out there in the fresh air and improve well-being.
Yn sicr. Rydych yn gwneud pwyntiau pwysig iawn, ac rwyf wedi cael sgyrsiau manwl gyda chadeirydd a phrif weithredwr ac aelodau eraill CNC ynghylch plannu coed, oherwydd—atebais yn fy ateb cynharach i Mike Hedges nad ydym yn plannu digon o goed, ac yn sicr, os ydym yn mynd i liniaru newid hinsawdd yn y ffordd y byddem yn dymuno ei wneud, mae angen i ni sicrhau bod hynny'n digwydd. Felly, rwy'n gwybod bod CNC yn gweithio gydag ysgolion o'r sgwrs ddiwethaf a gefais gyda hwy. Nid wyf yn gwybod a yw'n ymwneud yn benodol â phlannu coed, ond rwy'n credu ei fod yn sicr yn gyfle y gallant ei ddatblygu. Mae CNC yn rheoli 7 y cant o arwynebedd tir Cymru, ac mae'n amlwg fod hynny'n cynnwys llawer o warchodfeydd ac ardaloedd picnic a choetiroedd, felly mae'n gyfle da iawn i fynd allan i'r awyr iach a gwella lles.
Minister, I'd like to echo David's comments. My region is home to many natural wonders, including the Crymlyn bog national nature reserve. As the species champion for the fen raft spider, which has its home at Crymlyn bog, can I ask what discussions you've had with the Minister for international relations about how our biodiversity can play a part in our international tourism offer? I am sure that there are entomologists across the globe who will come to our area to see our amazing fen raft spider. Thank you.
Weinidog, hoffwn adleisio sylwadau David. Mae fy rhanbarth yn gartref i lawer o ryfeddodau naturiol, gan gynnwys gwarchodfa natur genedlaethol cors Crymlyn. Fel yr hyrwyddwr rhywogaethau ar gyfer corryn rafft y ffen, sydd â'i gartref yng nghors Crymlyn, a gaf fi ofyn pa drafodaethau a gawsoch gyda'r Gweinidog cysylltiadau rhyngwladol ynglŷn â sut y gall ein bioamrywiaeth chwarae rhan yn ein cynnig twristiaeth rhyngwladol? Rwy'n siŵr fod yna entomolegwyr ar draws y byd a ddaw i'n hardal i weld ein corryn rafft y ffen gwych. Diolch.
I haven't had a discussion about that particular spider with my colleague Eluned Morgan—I think I would remember if I had—but it's certainly something that I'm very happy to look at, and, if there is research and data that will help us, I'd be very interested to see it.
Nid wyf wedi cael trafodaeth am y corryn arbennig hwnnw gyda fy nghyd-Aelod, Eluned Morgan—rwy'n meddwl y buaswn yn cofio pe bawn i wedi cael—ond mae'n sicr yn rhywbeth rwy'n hapus iawn i edrych arno, ac os oes yna ymchwil a data a fydd yn ein helpu, buaswn yn falch iawn o'u gweld.
5. Pa drafodaethau y mae'r Gweinidog wedi'u cael gyda Hybu Cig Cymru mewn perthynas â'r ardoll cig coch? OAQ54033
5. What discussions has the Minister had with Meat Promotion Wales in relation to the red meat levy? OAQ54033
Thank you. I have regular discussions with Hybu Cig Cymru and also Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministers to resolve the long-standing issue of repatriation of red meat levy. As a result of this, primary powers are now included within the UK Agriculture Bill and the levy bodies have developed initial proposals for the scheme's introduction.
Diolch. Rwy'n cael trafodaethau rheolaidd gyda Hybu Cig Cymru a hefyd Adran yr Amgylchedd, Bwyd a Materion Gwledig er mwyn datrys problem hirsefydlog ailwladoli'r ardoll cig coch. O ganlyniad i hyn, mae pwerau sylfaenol bellach wedi'u cynnwys ym Mil Amaethyddiaeth y DU ac mae'r cyrff ardollau wedi datblygu cynigion cychwynnol ar gyfer cyflwyno'r cynllun.
Thank you, Minister, for that, and I'm very pleased to see a successful outcome of those negotiations and the passage of the Agriculture Bill at Westminster, obviously, with the transfer of these responsibilities coming here to Cardiff.
Will the Minister confirm that she won't use any uplift in levy income to make up any shortfall in Welsh Government funding that might occur in the future, and, actually, any additional money that goes to Meat Promotion Wales will be new money that's available to the promotion body to promote red meat sales either here in Wales, the UK, or across the world?
Diolch, Weinidog, ac rwy'n falch iawn o weld canlyniad llwyddiannus i'r trafodaethau hynny ac i hynt y Bil Amaethyddiaeth yn San Steffan wrth gwrs, wrth i'r cyfrifoldebau hyn gael eu trosglwyddo yma i Gaerdydd.
A wnaiff y Gweinidog gadarnhau na fydd yn defnyddio unrhyw godiad yn yr incwm o'r ardoll i wneud iawn am unrhyw ddiffyg yng nghyllid Llywodraeth Cymru a allai ddigwydd yn y dyfodol, ac mewn gwirionedd, y bydd unrhyw arian ychwanegol sy'n mynd i Hybu Cig Cymru yn arian newydd sydd ar gael i'r corff hyrwyddo ar gyfer hybu gwerthiant cig coch naill ai yma yng Nghymru, y DU, neu ar draws y byd?
Well, the UK agri Bill is a little bit stuck at the moment in London. I do understand the reasons why—they're awaiting a date for debate. I too was very pleased with the outcome of my discussions with the Secretary of State. I thought it was very important it had a Government amendment, so I am very pleased at that.
Obviously we need to look at what funding comes; I certainly don't think that HCC and others would allow that to happen, but, clearly, we need to get those powers in the first place. My officials have been having initial discussions with DEFRA officials about how we implement—well, how we draft the scheme first of all. We need to get the scheme right and then implement it. I'll be very happy to keep Members updated on this because this has been dragging on for far too many years.
Wel, mae Bil amaeth y DU wedi dod i stop braidd yn Llundain ar hyn o bryd. Rwy'n deall y rhesymau pam—maent yn aros am ddyddiad ar gyfer dadl. Roeddwn innau hefyd yn falch iawn ynglŷn â chanlyniad fy nhrafodaethau â'r Ysgrifennydd Gwladol. Roeddwn yn meddwl ei bod yn bwysig iawn cael gwelliant gan y Llywodraeth, felly rwy'n falch iawn o hynny.
Yn amlwg, mae angen inni edrych ar ba arian a fydd yn dod; yn sicr, nid wyf yn credu y byddai HCC ac eraill yn caniatáu i hynny ddigwydd, ond yn amlwg, mae angen inni gael y pwerau hynny yn y lle cyntaf. Mae fy swyddogion wedi bod yn cael trafodaethau cychwynnol gyda swyddogion DEFRA ynglŷn â sut y gweithredwn—wel, sut y drafftiwn y cynllun yn gyntaf oll. Mae angen inni gael y cynllun yn iawn ac yna ei weithredu. Byddaf yn hapus iawn i roi'r newyddion diweddaraf i'r Aelodau am hyn oherwydd mae wedi bod yn llusgo yn ei flaen ers llawer gormod o flynyddoedd.
Carrying on with that scheme, Minister, I can see from the headlines yesterday about the Vice-Premier visiting Wales, and there is scope to open up our beef market to China, as Andrew R.T. has just stated. Can you give an indication as to the nature of any conversations previously that you've had with him, and also how will you assist the Welsh beef sector in preparing to take advantage of these opportunities?
I barhau gyda'r cynllun hwnnw, Weinidog, gallaf weld o'r penawdau ddoe am yr Is-Bennaeth yn ymweld â Chymru, ac mae lle i agor ein marchnad gig eidion i Tsieina, fel y mae Andrew R.T. newydd ei ddweud. A allwch roi syniad inni o natur unrhyw sgyrsiau a gawsoch gydag ef o'r blaen, a sut y byddwch yn helpu sector cig eidion Cymru i baratoi i fanteisio ar y cyfleoedd hyn?
Well, certainly, the Vice-Premier from China made the announcement around the opening up of the beef imports into China. I had a discussion with him about lamb as well, because I think it's very important that we have both of those going into China. I hadn't had any discussions directly with him before yesterday or today; I've met with him again this morning. I think it's very important, certainly, that, the two farms that we took the delegation to visit, the farmers were very keen that these conversations are ongoing and that we build on the relationship that we've already started now.
Wel, yn sicr, gwnaeth yr Is-Bennaeth o Tsieina y cyhoeddiad ynghylch agor y mewnforion cig eidion i Tsieina. Cefais drafodaeth gydag ef am gig oen hefyd, oherwydd credaf ei bod yn bwysig iawn fod gennym y ddau'n mynd i mewn i Tsieina. Nid oeddwn wedi cael unrhyw drafodaethau'n uniongyrchol ag ef cyn ddoe neu heddiw; cyfarfûm ag ef eto y bore yma. Rwy'n credu ei bod yn bwysig iawn, yn sicr, fod y ddwy fferm yr aethom â'r ddirprwyaeth i ymweld â hwy yn frwd iawn fod y sgyrsiau hyn yn parhau a'n bod yn adeiladu yn awr ar y berthynas rydym eisoes wedi'i dechrau.
6. A wnaiff y Gweinidog amlinellu'r camau a gymerir i gwblhau gweddill taliadau Cynllun y Taliad Sylfaenol? OAQ54056
6. Will the Minister outline the actions taken to complete outstanding Basic Payment Scheme payments? OAQ54056
Thank you. Over 99 per cent of Welsh farmers have received their BPS payments, well in excess of the 95 per cent requirement set in EU rules. One hundred and fifty-three farms are still to complete necessary checks before final payment can be made, and 112 of these have already received loan payments.
Diolch. Mae dros 99 y cant o ffermwyr Cymru wedi derbyn eu taliadau cynllun y taliad sylfaenol, sydd ymhell uwchlaw'r gofyniad o 95 y cant a nodir yn rheolau'r UE. Mae 153 o ffermydd yn dal i fod heb gwblhau'r gwiriadau angenrheidiol cyn y gellir gwneud y taliad terfynol, ac mae 112 o'r rhain eisoes wedi derbyn taliadau benthyciad.
Thank you, Minister. That's actually quite a heartening response because, when I last put WAQs in very recently about this, there were 229 claims that had been awaiting completion since December. So, as you'll be aware, National Farmers Union Cymru have been active in promoting the fact that for every £1 spent in promoting the fact—sorry, for every £1 invested in farm support in the UK, farming delivers £7.40 back to the local economy. So, clearly, the—. How many did you say, sorry, again? One hundred and fifty—?
Diolch yn fawr, Weinidog. Mae hwnnw'n ymateb eithaf calonogol mewn gwirionedd, oherwydd pan gyflwynais gwestiwn Cynulliad ar hyn yn ddiweddar iawn, roedd 229 o hawliadau wedi bod yn aros i'w cwblhau ers mis Rhagfyr. Felly, fel y gwyddoch, mae Undeb Cenedlaethol Amaethwyr Cymru wedi bod yn weithgar yn hyrwyddo'r ffaith, am bob £1 a werir ar hyrwyddo'r ffaith—mae'n ddrwg gennyf, am bob £1 a fuddsoddir mewn cymorth i ffermydd yn y DU, mae ffermio'n rhoi £7.40 yn ôl i'r economi leol. Felly, mae'n amlwg fod—. Faint a ddywedoch chi eto, mae'n ddrwg gennyf? Cant pum deg—?
One hundred and fifty-three farms are still to complete.
Mae 153 o ffermydd yn dal heb gwblhau.
Yes. So, the wider agricultural sector and rural communities will be losing out also, as well as the farmers themselves. We know that land changes discovered at inspections and alterations to customer details are actually causing delays, and that has been explained to us, but really, all I would ask—. Because I do have farmers in my constituency, who, frankly, struggle. So, there is no excuse, really, for unnecessary payment delays. So, will you set a target for addressing these so that farmers across Wales receive the money that they are, in fact, duly owed?
Iawn. Felly, bydd y sector amaethyddol ehangach a chymunedau gwledig ar eu colled hefyd, yn ogystal â'r ffermwyr eu hunain. Gwyddom fod newidiadau i dir a ddarganfuwyd mewn arolygiadau a newidiadau i fanylion cwsmeriaid yn achosi oedi, ac eglurwyd hynny i ni, ond mewn gwirionedd, yr unig beth y buaswn yn ei ofyn—. Oherwydd mae gennyf ffermwyr yn fy etholaeth sy'n ei chael hi’n anodd a dweud y gwir. Felly, nid oes esgus, mewn gwirionedd, am oedi diangen wrth dalu. Felly, a wnewch chi osod targed ar gyfer mynd i'r afael â'r rhain fel bod ffermwyr ledled Cymru yn cael yr arian sy’n ddyledus iddynt?
Well, I don't think it's 'quite heartening'; I think it's very heartening—99 per cent of Welsh farm businesses have received a full 2018 BPS payment. Nothing is late; we have until 30 June. And I really want to pay tribute to my officials who work within Rural Payments Wales that they've achieved that. It's the best in the UK. If you look at other parts of the UK, we've exceeded every other country and, as I say, we've exceeded the EC target. It would be great if everybody could be paid by 30 June and then nobody will be late. I mentioned that there were 153 farms still to complete. Some of the ones that are outstanding are very complex, and that's the reason why they haven't been paid. Some of the issues that do prevent the final claims being paid are, for instance, land changes, and they're often discovered at inspections. Sometimes, there are just changes to customer details that we weren't aware of, and there are ongoing land queries and disputes. My officials are making every effort to process the outstanding claims as soon as possible.
Wel, ni chredaf fod hyn yn ‘eithaf calonogol'; credaf fod hyn yn galonogol iawn—mae 99 y cant o fusnesau fferm Cymru wedi cael taliad Cynllun y Taliad Sylfaenol llawn ar gyfer 2018. Nid oes unrhyw beth yn hwyr; mae gennym tan 30 Mehefin. A hoffwn dalu teyrnged i fy swyddogion sy'n gweithio yn Taliadau Gwledig Cymru am gyflawni hynny. Dyma'r gorau yn y DU. Os edrychwch ar rannau eraill o'r DU, rydym wedi rhagori ar bob gwlad arall ac fel y dywedaf, rydym wedi rhagori ar darged y CE. Byddai'n wych pe gellid talu pawb erbyn 30 Mehefin ac yna ni fydd unrhyw un yn hwyr. Soniais fod 153 o ffermydd yn dal heb gwblhau. Mae rhai o'r rhai sydd heb gwblhau yn gymhleth iawn, a dyna'r rheswm pam nad ydynt wedi cael eu talu. Mae rhai o'r materion sy'n atal yr hawliadau terfynol rhag cael eu talu, er enghraifft, yn cynnwys newidiadau i'r tir, ac fe'u darganfyddir yn aml mewn arolygiadau. Weithiau, gwnaed newidiadau i fanylion cwsmeriaid nad oeddem yn ymwybodol ohonynt, ac mae ymholiadau tir ac anghydfodau tir ar y gweill. Felly, mae fy swyddogion yn gwneud pob ymdrech i brosesu'r hawliadau sydd heb eu cwblhau cyn gynted â phosibl.
7. A wnaiff y Gweinidog ddatganiad am reoleiddio sefydliadau ailgartrefu anifeiliaid yng Nghymru? OAQ54059
7. Will the Minister make a statement on the regulation of animal rehoming organisations in Wales? OAQ54059
We are working with the Animal Welfare Network for Wales and other key stakeholders on voluntary guidance for sanctuaries, to be published later this year. We will seek to better regulate sanctuaries and work with our counterparts in other administrations to ensure a cohesive approach.
Rydym yn gweithio gyda Rhwydwaith Lles Anifeiliaid Cymru a rhanddeiliaid allweddol eraill ar ganllawiau gwirfoddol ar gyfer llochesau, i'w cyhoeddi yn ddiweddarach eleni. Byddwn yn ceisio rheoleiddio llochesau yn well ac yn gweithio gyda'n swyddogion cyfatebol mewn gweinyddiaethau eraill i sicrhau dull cydlynus.
I thank you for your answer. I do welcome that the Welsh Government are intending to run a pilot scheme to explore how a voluntary code of practice for the rescue and rehoming centres and sanctuaries could be introduced. It's certainly a step in the right direction. But currently, as things stand, anyone can set up an animal sanctuary or a rehoming centre. There's no legislation in place to prevent that happening. Whilst I'm sure that most of those will have high standards of animal welfare, it is concerning to know that there is equally, therefore, no obligation on local authorities to inspect premises or to ensure the needs of the animals are being met. And we all know that people can and do get overwhelmed by good intentions. So, that, I find concerning. My question is fairly obvious, then: when can we expect the Welsh Government to consider introducing statutory regulations of rehoming organisations and animal sanctuaries to improve the welfare of the animals and also the working conditions that people might find themselves under?
Diolch am eich ateb. Croesawaf y ffaith bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn bwriadu cynnal cynllun peilot i archwilio sut y gellid cyflwyno cod ymarfer gwirfoddol ar gyfer y canolfannau achub ac ailgartrefu a llochesau. Mae'n sicr yn gam i'r cyfeiriad cywir. Ond ar hyn o bryd, fel y mae pethau, gall unrhyw un sefydlu lloches anifeiliaid neu ganolfan ailgartrefu. Nid oes unrhyw ddeddfwriaeth ar waith i atal hynny rhag digwydd. Er fy mod yn siŵr y bydd gan y rhan fwyaf ohonynt safonau uchel o ran lles anifeiliaid, mae'n achos pryder nad oes, felly, ar y llaw arall, unrhyw rwymedigaeth ar awdurdodau lleol i archwilio adeiladau neu i sicrhau bod anghenion yr anifeiliaid yn cael eu diwallu. A gŵyr pob un ohonom fod pobl yn gallu cael, ac yn cael eu gorlethu gan fwriadau da. Felly, mae hynny'n peri pryder i mi. Mae fy nghwestiwn yn eithaf amlwg, felly: pryd y gallwn ddisgwyl i Lywodraeth Cymru ystyried cyflwyno rheoliadau statudol ar gyfer sefydliadau ailgartrefu a llochesau anifeiliaid i wella lles yr anifeiliaid yn ogystal â’r amodau gwaith y gall pobl eu hwynebu?
Thank you, Joyce. You certainly raise a very important point, and I definitely want to better regulate sanctuaries. I mentioned that we've been working with other administrations. You might be aware that the Scottish Government went out to consultation and they've been very helpful to us in sharing the responses to that consultation. And also, you'll be aware of the third-party sales of puppies and kittens. We've just been out to consultation and I'm going to produce the responses to that consultation probably in early August. I think that could also have an effect on what changes we do make to sanctuaries.
In relation to the code of practice, I have been working very closely with the Animal Welfare Network Wales group on the development of that voluntary code of practice that you referred to, and that will be produced later this year. I think we need to look at all the different pieces of legislation. You'll be aware that I'm bringing in a licensing scheme on mobile animal exhibits, for instance. So, I think we need to look at all the different schemes that we're bringing together, improving the codes of practice on specific animals, and decide then on what we further need to do.
Diolch yn fawr, Joyce. Yn sicr, rydych yn codi pwynt pwysig iawn, ac yn bendant, rwy’n awyddus i reoleiddio llochesau'n well. Soniais ein bod wedi bod yn gweithio gyda gweinyddiaethau eraill. Efallai eich bod yn ymwybodol fod Llywodraeth yr Alban wedi cynnal ymgynghoriad a’u bod wedi bod o gymorth i ni drwy rannu'r ymatebion i'r ymgynghoriad hwnnw. A hefyd, fe fyddwch yn ymwybodol o werthiannau cŵn a chathod bach gan drydydd partïon. Rydym newydd gynnal ymgynghoriad, a byddaf yn cynhyrchu'r ymatebion i’r ymgynghoriad hwnnw yn gynnar ym mis Awst, yn ôl pob tebyg, a chredaf y gallai hynny hefyd gael effaith ar ba newidiadau a wnawn i lochesau.
O ran y cod ymarfer, rwyf wedi bod yn gweithio'n agos iawn gyda grŵp Rhwydwaith Lles Anifeiliaid Cymru ar ddatblygu'r cod ymarfer gwirfoddol hwnnw y cyfeirioch chi ato, a bydd hwnnw’n cael ei gynhyrchu yn ddiweddarach eleni. Credaf fod angen inni edrych ar bob deddf wahanol. Byddwch yn ymwybodol fy mod yn cyflwyno cynllun trwyddedu ar gyfer arddangosfeydd teithiol anifeiliaid, er enghraifft. Felly, credaf fod angen i ni edrych ar yr holl gynlluniau gwahanol rydym yn eu dwyn ynghyd, gan wella'r cod ymarfer ar gyfer anifeiliaid penodol, a phenderfynu wedyn beth arall fydd angen inni ei wneud.
In March last year, the Welsh Government announced its intention to develop a voluntary code of conduct for animal welfare sanctuaries and it's quite welcoming that you're going to bring that in towards the end of this year. But I'd like to echo the call from my colleague Joyce Watson AM: I think we need to go stronger than that. RSPCA Cymru has itself called for urgent regulation to stop the commonplace welfare issues presented by agencies operating without appropriate skills and resources. Currently, there are around 90 animal sanctuaries doing invaluable work to improve animal welfare across Wales. However, we do know of some registered sanctuaries operating under the radar where animal care standards fall short of desirable standards. Minister, can you explain what steps you are taking to move beyond guidance to introduce some robust regulation that will ensure animal welfare standards meet a suitable baseline criteria in all instances?
Ym mis Mawrth y llynedd, cyhoeddodd Llywodraeth Cymru ei bwriad i ddatblygu cod ymarfer gwirfoddol ar gyfer llochesau lles anifeiliaid ac mae'n eithaf calonogol y byddwch yn ei roi ar waith tua diwedd eleni. Ond hoffwn adleisio galwad gan fy nghydweithiwr, Joyce Watson AC: credaf fod angen inni wneud mwy na hynny. Mae RSPCA Cymru eu hunain wedi galw am reoleiddio brys i atal y problemau lles cyffredin sy'n deillio o asiantaethau sy'n gweithredu heb sgiliau ac adnoddau priodol. Ar hyn o bryd, mae oddeutu 90 o lochesau anifeiliaid yn gwneud gwaith hanfodol i wella lles anifeiliaid ledled Cymru. Fodd bynnag, gwyddom am rai llochesau cofrestredig sy'n gweithredu o dan y radar lle nad yw safonau gofal anifeiliaid yn cyrraedd y safonau dymunol. Weinidog, a allwch egluro pa gamau rydych yn eu cymryd i fynd ymhellach na chanllawiau er mwyn cyflwyno rheoliadau cadarn a fydd yn sicrhau bod safonau lles anifeiliaid yn bodloni meini prawf sylfaenol addas ym mhob achos?
I think I've set out what work we are doing at this current time in my answer to Joyce Watson. I was very interested to see the consultation responses from the Scottish Government in relation to whether we should go further. So, obviously, officials are considering the advice we've had from there, and I will be bringing forward the code of practice later on this year.
Credaf fy mod wedi nodi pa waith rydym yn ei wneud ar hyn o bryd yn fy ateb i Joyce Watson. Roedd gennyf gryn ddiddordeb mewn gweld yr ymatebion i'r ymgynghoriad gan Lywodraeth yr Alban i weld a ddylem fynd ymhellach. Felly, yn amlwg, mae swyddogion yn ystyried y cyngor rydym wedi'i gael oddi yno, a byddaf yn cyflwyno'r cod ymarfer yn ddiweddarach eleni.
8. A wnaiff y Gweinidog ddatganiad am y grant busnes i ffermydd? OAQ54071
8. Will the Minister make a statement on the farm business grant? OAQ54071
Diolch. The farm business grant is one of the Welsh Government’s 'Taking Wales Forward' commitments. To date, 2,970 farmers have had applications to the farm business grant approved, worth £20.6 million of support. This on-farm investment supports the improvement of the technical and financial performance of farm businesses in Wales.
Diolch. Mae'r grant busnes i ffermydd yn un o ymrwymiadau 'Symud Cymru Ymlaen' Llywodraeth Cymru. Hyd yma, mae ceisiadau 2,970 o ffermwyr am y grant busnes i ffermydd wedi cael eu derbyn, sy'n werth £20.6 miliwn o gymorth. Mae'r buddsoddiad ar y fferm hwn yn cefnogi'r broses o wella perfformiad technegol ac ariannol busnesau fferm yng Nghymru.
Diolch. Mi fu Undeb Amaethwyr Cymru mewn cyswllt efo fi ar ran un o'i aelodau ychydig fisoedd yn ôl, am fod cais etholwr am grant wedi methu oherwydd ei fod o wedi peidio â darparu llythyr gan ei gyfrifydd i gadarnhau bod trosiant ei fusnes o dan £1 miliwn. Mi ddylwn i ddweud bod ei drosiant o ymhell dan £1 miliwn ac mi ddylwn i ychwanegu bod bron pob ffermwr yng Nghymru â throsiant o dan £1 miliwn. Ond mi oedd y penderfyniad yma'n golygu ei fod o wedi colli £5,000 er ei fod o wedi darparu llythyr unwaith y daeth yn hysbys bod angen iddo fo wneud hynny. Mi apeliais i'n uniongyrchol atoch chi—diolch am eich ymateb chi—ac mae swyddogion erbyn hyn wedi addasu blaen y llythyr yn y pecyn cais er mwyn amlygu'r angen am y dystiolaeth yma. Dwi'n croesawu hynny, ond, wrth gwrs, mae hynny'n awgrymu i fi, fel dwi'n gwybod sy'n wir, nad oedd o'n ddigon clir bod angen cynnwys y llythyr cyfrifydd yna. Dwi'n deall bod sawl achos tebyg arall dros Gymru wedi dod i'r amlwg erbyn hyn, efo cyfartaledd o golled o thua £5,500, sydd yn swm sylweddol i fferm fach. Yn ôl eich ffigurau chi, dim ond un ym mhob 100 o ffermydd Cymru sydd â throsiant dros £1 miliwn. Oni ddylech chi felly edrych eto ar y mater yma, gan ei fod o'n amlwg yn broblem mwy cyffredin na dim ond fy etholwr i? Dwi am ichi edrych eto ar y ceisiadau sydd wedi cael eu gwrthod am y rheswm yma, ac mi fyddwn i'n gwerthfawrogi pe gallech chi ddweud wrthym ni faint o geisiadau sydd wedi eu colli am y rheswm yma.
Thank you. The Farmers Union of Wales contacted me on behalf of one of their members a few weeks ago because an application from a constituent for a grant had failed because he'd failed to provide a letter from his accountant to confirm that the turnover of his business was below £1 million. Now, I should say that his turnover is way below £1 million, and I should add that virtually every farmer in Wales has a turnover of less than £1 million. But the decision meant that he had lost out on £5,000, despite having provided a letter once it became known that that was a requirement. I appealed directly to you—thank you for your response—and officials have now changed the letter in the application pack to highlight the need for this evidence. I welcome that, but that does suggest to me, as I know is the case, that it wasn't sufficiently clear that this accountant’s letter needed to be included in the first place. I do understand that there are many similar cases across Wales that have now emerged, with an average loss around £5,500, which is a significant sum for small farms. According to your own figures, only one in 100 farms in Wales has a turnover of over £1 million. Shouldn't you therefore review this issue, as it is clearly a more general problem than just affecting my constituent? I want you to look again at the applications that have been rejected for this reason and I would appreciate it if you could tell us how many applications have lost out because of this reason.
Thank you. Obviously, I am aware of your constituent. As you say, you and I corresponded, and also the FUW and I corresponded. You'll be aware I'm unable to comment on that specific one due to the appeals process. I think the farm business grant was very well received. The idea was that we made it as simple and easy as possible to use for ourselves and also for applicants. There is a small number of people whose applications were unsuccessful, and I will certainly—. I thought I had the figure here, actually, but I can't find it at the current time. But I think it is—. Oh, sorry; 688 businesses were written to retrospectively to request an accountant's letter, and fewer than 1 per cent of beneficiaries had payments recovered as they failed to provide an accountant's letter before the deadline. But I think you're right; it needs to be very much upfront, and we certainly have reviewed that, and, as you say, we have changed that. I'm very happy to look, if we can review the applications—I don't know if it's too late. But you will appreciate we obviously are audited and we have to make sure it is effective use of public money and we have to have some criteria. But we have tried to make it as simple as possible.
Diolch. Yn amlwg, rwy'n gwybod am eich etholwr. Fel y dywedwch, rydych chi a minnau wedi gohebu, ac mae'r FUW a minnau wedi gohebu. Fe fyddwch yn ymwybodol na allaf roi sylwadau ar yr achos penodol hwnnw oherwydd y broses apelio. Credaf fod y grant busnes i ffermydd wedi cael croeso mawr. Y syniad oedd ein bod wedi ei wneud mor syml a hawdd â phosibl i'w ddefnyddio ar ein cyfer ni ein hunain ac ar gyfer ymgeiswyr. Bu ceisiadau nifer fach o bobl yn aflwyddiannus, ac yn sicr, byddaf—. Roeddwn yn credu bod y ffigur yma gennyf, ond ni allaf ddod o hyd iddo ar hyn o bryd. Ond credaf ei fod—. O, mae'n ddrwg gennyf; ysgrifennwyd at 688 o fusnesau ar ôl iddynt wneud ceisiadau i ofyn am lythyr cyfrifydd, a chymerwyd taliadau llai nag 1 y cant o fuddiolwyr yn ôl am eu bod wedi methu â darparu llythyr cyfrifydd cyn y dyddiad cau. Ond credaf eich bod yn llygad eich lle; mae angen i hyn fod yn amlwg iawn, ac yn sicr, rydym wedi adolygu hynny, ac fel y dywedwch, rydym wedi newid hynny. Rwy'n fwy na pharod i edrych, os gallwn adolygu'r ceisiadau—nid wyf yn gwybod a yw'n rhy hwyr. Ond fe fyddwch yn deall wrth gwrs ein bod yn cael ein harchwilio ac mae'n rhaid i ni sicrhau bod hyn yn ddefnydd effeithiol o arian cyhoeddus ac mae'n rhaid inni gael rhai meini prawf. Ond rydym wedi ceisio sicrhau ei fod mor syml â phosibl.
I declare an interest, obviously, being a partner in a farming business. Minister, one of the things that is so frustrating, very often, is the complexity around, in particular, the woodland grant schemes that have been made available. Given that there's been much conversation in this Chamber tonight—this afternoon, I should say—about increasing woodland uptake, can you commit the department to look at how that scheme could be simplified to make it far quicker in its turnaround of applications so that it does encourage greater participation rates? I know you opened a new window back in April for this, and I appreciate it's public money and the auditing and the accountability have to be robust, but when businesses have small windows to, obviously, plant up trees, they need to have confidence that the grants they're applying for can be turned around in a timely manner. Certainly, I've had constituents coming to me saying it's very cumbersome, it's very bureaucratic, and it puts them off actually applying.
Rwy'n datgan buddiant, yn amlwg, gan fy mod yn bartner mewn busnes ffermio. Weinidog, un o'r pethau sydd mor rhwystredig, yn aml iawn, yw'r cymhlethdod, yn benodol, ynghylch y cynlluniau grantiau coetir sydd ar gael. O ystyried bod llawer o drafod wedi bod yn y Siambr hon heno—y prynhawn yma, dylwn ddweud—ynglŷn â chynyddu'r defnydd o goetiroedd, a allwch ymrwymo'r adran i edrych ar sut y gellid symleiddio'r cynllun hwnnw er mwyn ei wneud yn llawer cyflymach o ran prosesu ceisiadau fel ei fod yn annog mwy o gyfranogiad? Gwn eich bod wedi agor cyfnod newydd yn ôl ym mis Ebrill ar gyfer hyn, ac rwy'n deall ei fod yn arian cyhoeddus a bod yn rhaid i'r archwilio a'r atebolrwydd fod yn gadarn, ond pan fydd gan fusnesau gyfnodau bach o amser, yn amlwg, ar gyfer plannu coed, mae angen iddynt fod yn hyderus y gellir prosesu'r grantiau y maent yn ymgeisio amdanynt yn brydlon. Yn sicr, mae etholwyr wedi dweud wrthyf fod y broses hon yn lletchwith iawn, yn fiwrocrataidd iawn, ac yn eu hatal rhag gwneud ceisiadau mewn gwirionedd.
You make a very good point. Obviously, this question was specifically about the farm business grant, and as I said in my answer to Rhun ap Iorwerth, the whole point of this scheme was that we made it as easy and simple as possible. I thought we really had succeeded with that. Clearly, the issue that Rhun raised shows that it wasn't quite as simple and easy as I would have hoped for. Certainly, other grants, now—we need to look at making them as easy and simple as possible. And if Brexit provides any opportunities, obviously as we have our own agricultural policy and we're revising the payments system, I think it's certainly something that we can look at. Because as you say, if it's a very small window at a particularly busy time of year, we need to ensure that everybody can apply for it as simply as possible. I'm glad that you echoed the point I made around the most effective use of public money.
Rydych yn gwneud pwynt da iawn. Yn amlwg, roedd y cwestiwn hwn yn ymwneud yn benodol â'r grant busnes i ffermydd, ac fel y dywedais yn fy ateb i Rhun ap Iorwerth, holl bwynt y cynllun hwn oedd ein bod wedi sicrhau ei fod mor hawdd a syml â phosibl. Roeddwn o'r farn ein bod wedi llwyddo i wneud hynny. Yn amlwg, mae'r mater a godwyd gan Rhun yn dangos nad oedd mor syml a hawdd ag y buaswn wedi gobeithio. Yn sicr, o ran grantiau eraill, bellach—mae angen i ni edrych ar sicrhau eu bod mor hawdd a syml â phosibl. Ac os yw Brexit yn darparu unrhyw gyfleoedd, yn amlwg, gan fod gennym ein polisi amaethyddol ein hunain ac rydym yn diwygio'r system daliadau, credaf fod hynny'n sicr yn rhywbeth y gallwn edrych arno. Oherwydd fel y dywedwch, os yw'n gyfnod bach iawn ar adeg brysur iawn o'r flwyddyn, mae angen i ni sicrhau y gall pawb ymgeisio amdano mor syml â phosibl. Rwy'n falch eich bod wedi adleisio'r pwynt a wneuthum o ran y defnydd mwyaf effeithiol o arian cyhoeddus.
9. Pa gamau y mae Llywodraeth Cymru'n eu cymryd i leihau llygredd aer? OAQ54068
9. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to reduce air pollution? OAQ54068
Thank you. Tackling air pollution across Wales remains a top priority for Welsh Government. In my statement on clear air yesterday, I highlighted actions across Government and a range of sectors to improve air quality. These will be set out in our clean air plan, which I intend to consult on this autumn.
Diolch. Mae mynd i'r afael â llygredd aer ledled Cymru yn parhau i fod yn brif flaenoriaeth i Lywodraeth Cymru. Yn fy natganiad ar aer glân ddoe, tynnais sylw at gamau gweithredu ar draws y Llywodraeth ac ystod o sectorau i wella ansawdd aer. Bydd y rhain yn cael eu nodi yn y cynllun aer glân y bwriadaf ymgynghori yn eu gylch yn yr hydref.
Thank you, Minister. I welcome your statement on clean air yesterday and Welsh Government's commitment to bring forward a clean air Act. Caerleon is one of 11 designated air quality management areas within Newport. The high volume of traffic that pours out onto the narrow streets is regularly forced to a halt due to constrictions and congestion in the road system. Sites of archaeological importance mean that there is very little scope to alter the layout of the local road network, and many HGVs use the road in Caerleon as a throughway. Caerleon Civic Society is looking to work with the local authority to take action on improving air quality in the area. Can the Minister outline whether the clean air Act will make provision for engagement with communities looking to improve air quality?
Diolch, Weinidog. Rwy'n croesawu eich datganiad ar aer glân ddoe ac ymrwymiad Llywodraeth Cymru i gyflwyno Deddf aer glân. Mae Caerllion yn un o 11 ardal ddynodedig ar gyfer rheoli ansawdd aer yng Nghasnewydd. Mae'r holl draffig sy'n llifo allan ar y strydoedd cul yn aml yn cael ei orfodi i stopio oherwydd cyfyngiadau a thagfeydd yn y system ffyrdd. Mae safleoedd o bwysigrwydd archeolegol yn golygu nad oes fawr o gyfle i newid cynllun y rhwydwaith ffyrdd lleol, ac mae llawer o gerbydau nwyddau trwm yn defnyddio'r ffordd yng Nghaerllion fel ffordd drwodd. Mae Cymdeithas Ddinesig Caerllion yn bwriadu gweithio gyda'r awdurdod lleol i roi camau gweithredu ar waith ar wella ansawdd aer yn yr ardal. A all y Gweinidog ddweud a fydd y Ddeddf aer glân yn darparu ar gyfer ymgysylltu â chymunedau sy'n ceisio gwella ansawdd aer?
Well, I certainly think it would have to. As I mentioned in the statement yesterday, we'll use the clean air plan to then see what proposals we think we need to bring forward for the clean air Act. But certainly, I think working with communities is absolutely vital in any areas that we're trying to improve, and I do hope Newport City Council certainly work with them when they're looking at their local air quality management and where they've got their site monitors, for instance. So, I do hope they'll work together.
Wel, yn sicr, credaf y byddai'n rhaid iddi wneud hynny. Fel y soniais yn y datganiad ddoe, byddwn yn defnyddio'r cynllun aer glân i weld pa gynigion y credwn fod angen i ni eu cyflwyno ar gyfer y Ddeddf aer glân. Ond yn sicr, credaf fod gweithio gyda chymunedau yn gwbl hanfodol mewn unrhyw ardaloedd rydym yn ceisio'u gwella, a gobeithio y bydd Cyngor Dinas Casnewydd, yn sicr, yn gweithio gyda hwy pan fyddant yn edrych ar eu dull o reoli ansawdd aer lleol a lle maent yn monitro'r safleoedd, er enghraifft. Felly, rwy'n gobeithio y byddant yn cydweithio.
Minister, it's Love Your Lungs Week, and I know you will wish to—[Interruption.] Here it is. I know we all wish to commend the British Lung Foundation's work. Indeed, we had our photograph taken outside the Senedd earlier when we were chatting about the need for a clean air Act. But can I tell you that it's also official that the quickest way to travel in Cardiff during the rush hour is by bike? A group of Cardiff councillors, volunteers and other campaigners raced by the various modes of transport to Cardiff castle. Actually, 'race' is perhaps an exaggeration for some of those modes. The bikes averaged nearly 12 mph, buses just over 6 mph, and bottom of all, cars—barely 5 mph. It's quite clear that active travel is one of the greatest ways to promote not only efficiency in terms of commuter travel but also clean air, and I commend all those activities that promote these modes of transport.
Weinidog, mae'n Wythnos Carwch Eich Ysgyfaint, a gwn y byddwch yn dymuno—[Torri ar draws.] Dyma ni. Gwn fod pob un ohonom yn dymuno canmol gwaith Sefydliad Prydeinig yr Ysgyfaint. Yn wir, cawsom dynnu ein llun y tu allan i'r Senedd yn gynharach pan oeddem yn sgwrsio am yr angen am Ddeddf aer glân. Ond a gaf fi ddweud wrthych ei bod hefyd yn swyddogol mai'r ffordd gyflymaf o deithio yng Nghaerdydd yn ystod oriau brig yw ar feic? Cafodd grŵp o gynghorwyr Caerdydd, gwirfoddolwyr ac ymgyrchwyr eraill ras drwy ddefnyddio'r gwahanol ddulliau o deithio i gastell Caerdydd. Mewn gwirionedd, efallai bod 'ras' yn or-ddweud ar gyfer rhai o'r dulliau hynny. Roedd y beiciau yn teithio ar gyfartaledd o bron i 12 mya, bysiau ychydig dros 6 mya, ac ar y gwaelod, ceir—prin 5 mya. Mae'n amlwg iawn mai teithio llesol yw un o'r ffyrdd gorau o hyrwyddo nid yn unig effeithlonrwydd o ran teithiau cymudo ond hefyd aer glân, ac rwy'n cymeradwyo'r holl weithgareddau sy'n hyrwyddo'r dulliau hyn o deithio.
Thank you. Certainly, I'm very happy that the British Lung Foundation have brought forward their week. It's also—I'm going to give a plug—Clean Air Day tomorrow; I think we should all think about something that we can do to promote that. The Welsh Government has given £30 million to local authorities in relation to active travel, and I certainly commend Cardiff council. I think they're bringing forward really good schemes around cycling, and I've certainly seen said councillors whizzing around on bikes many times.
Diolch. Yn sicr, rwy'n hapus iawn fod Sefydliad Prydeinig yr Ysgyfaint wedi cynnal eu hwythnos. Mae hi hefyd—rwyf am roi hys-bys i hyn—yn Ddiwrnod Aer Glân yfory; credaf y dylai pob un feddwl am rywbeth y gallwn ei wneud i'w hyrwyddo. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi rhoi £30 miliwn i awdurdodau lleol mewn perthynas â theithio llesol, ac yn sicr, rwy'n cymeradwyo cyngor Caerdydd. Credaf eu bod yn cyflwyno cynlluniau da iawn mewn perthynas â beicio, ac yn sicr, rwyf wedi gweld y cynghorwyr hynny'n gwibio o gwmpas y lle ar feiciau sawl tro.
Minister, one of the most congested and polluted areas is of course the A470, and of course there are measures in place there to try, as an interim measure, to control the degree of pollution there by restricting traffic speeds and so on. But of course there are a number of variable speeds along that area. There seems to be a considerable degree of breaching of those speeds. So, any monitoring that is taking place is going to be very adversely affected by, effectively, the breach of the measures that has taken place. I wonder what discussions you've had, or could have, with perhaps the Minister for Economy and Transport over ensuring that there was proper evaluation and monitoring of that process, and perhaps even a simplification of the rather complex changes of speed that take place along that particular area. I have written to the Minister for Economy and Transport. You will not have seen that, but it does seem to me that it's a matter that directly impacts on your responsibilities in terms of air pollution.
Weinidog, wrth gwrs, un o'r ardaloedd mwyaf prysur a llygredig yw'r A470, ac wrth gwrs, mae camau ar waith, fel mesur dros dro, i geisio rheoli faint o lygredd sydd yno drwy gyfyngu ar gyflymder traffig ac ati. Ond wrth gwrs, mae yna nifer o gyfyngiadau cyflymder amrywiol yn yr ardal honno. Ymddengys bod cryn dipyn o yrwyr yn torri'r cyfyngiadau cyflymder hynny. Felly, bydd unrhyw waith monitro sy'n mynd rhagddo'n cael ei effeithio'n andwyol iawn i bob pwrpas, wrth i'r cyfyngiadau a roddwyd ar waith gael eu torri. Tybed pa drafodaethau rydych wedi'u cael, neu y gallech fod eu cael, gyda Gweinidog yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth, efallai, ynglŷn â sicrhau bod y broses honno'n cael ei gwerthuso a'i monitro'n iawn, ac efallai hyd yn oed symleiddio'r newidiadau cyflymder eithaf cymhleth yn yr ardal benodol honno. Rwyf wedi ysgrifennu at Weinidog yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth. Ni fyddwch wedi gweld hynny, ond ymddengys i mi ei fod yn fater sy'n effeithio'n uniongyrchol ar eich cyfrifoldebau o ran llygredd aer.
Thank you. As I made clear yesterday in the oral statement, road transport certainly contributes to the quality of our air, more than probably any other sector. I have had many discussions and meetings with my colleague the Minister for Economy and Transport, and I think that my officials and transport officials probably meet at least weekly, if not more often, to discuss this.
Again, yesterday, I talked about the need for better signage at the pilot sites—the five sites that we've had with the 50 mph—across Wales, because people clearly don't understand why those variable speeds have been brought in. They don't realise that it's for carbon emission reduction. They think that it is perhaps for speed calming.
Clearly, we are having mixed responses to those sites, and officials are going to report on the effectiveness of them, probably late summer or early autumn, to me. But, I mentioned yesterday that I have made the sites—or the Minister for Economy and Transport will be making the sites—permanent from the middle of July. We are having a look also—. We will have a full 12 months' worth of data by the end of this month to look at, and I think that that will then better advise us going forward.
Diolch. Fel y dywedais yn glir ddoe yn y datganiad llafar, mae trafnidiaeth ffyrdd yn sicr yn cyfrannu at ansawdd ein haer, yn fwy nag unrhyw sector arall yn ôl pob tebyg. Rwyf wedi cael llawer o drafodaethau a chyfarfodydd gyda fy nghyd-Aelod, Gweinidog yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth, a chredaf fod fy swyddogion a'r swyddogion trafnidiaeth yn cyfarfod o leiaf yn wythnosol, mae'n debyg, os nad yn amlach, i drafod hyn.
Unwaith eto, ddoe, soniais am yr angen am well arwyddion yn y safleoedd peilot—y pum safle rydym wedi'u cael gyda'r cyfyngiad 50 mya—ledled Cymru, oherwydd mae'n amlwg nad yw pobl yn deall pam fod y cyflymderau amrywiol wedi'u cyflwyno. Nid ydynt yn sylweddoli eu bod ar gyfer lleihau allyriadau carbon. Maent yn credu eu bod ar gyfer gostwng cyflymder o bosibl.
Yn amlwg, rydym yn cael ymatebion cymysg i'r safleoedd hynny, a bydd swyddogion yn adrodd ar eu heffeithiolrwydd, ddiwedd yr haf neu ddechrau'r hydref, mae'n debyg. Ond soniais ddoe fy mod wedi gwneud y safleoedd—neu bydd Gweinidog yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth yn gwneud y safleoedd—yn barhaol o ganol mis Gorffennaf. Rydym yn edrych hefyd—. Bydd gennym werth 12 mis llawn o ddata erbyn diwedd y mis hwn i edrych arno, a chredaf y bydd hynny wedyn yn ein cynghori'n well yn y dyfodol.
Diolch i'r Gweinidog.
Thank you, Minister.
Yr eitem nesaf, felly, yw'r cwestiynau i'r Gweinidog Tai a Llywodraeth Leol. Mae'r cwestiwn cyntaf gan Helen Mary Jones.
The next item is questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government. The first question is from Helen Mary Jones.
1. A wnaiff y Gweinidog ddatganiad am gyllid a ddarparwyd gan Lywodraeth Cymru i wella ansawdd tai yng Nghymru? OAQ54050
1. Will the Minister make a statement on funding provided by the Welsh Government to improve the quality of housing in Wales? OAQ54050
Welsh Government provides £108 million each year to social landlords in the form of the major repairs allowance to councils and dowry gap funding to large-scale voluntary transfer housing associations. This is to ensure that everyone living in our 225,000 social homes in Wales will live in good-quality homes by December 2020.
Mae Llywodraeth Cymru'n darparu £108 miliwn y flwyddyn i landlordiaid cymdeithasol ar ffurf y lwfans atgyweiriadau mawr i gynghorau a chyllid gwaddoli llenwi bwlch i gymdeithasau tai trosglwyddo gwirfoddol ar raddfa fawr. Mae hyn er mwyn sicrhau y bydd pawb sy'n byw yn ein 225,000 o gartrefi cymdeithasol yng Nghymru yn byw mewn cartrefi o ansawdd da erbyn Rhagfyr 2020.
I'm very grateful to the Minister for her answer. I'm sure that she would agree with me that it would be extremely unfortunate if Welsh Government funding from other sources inadvertently had a negative effect on housing quality in Wales. I have a number of constituents who have been having real difficulties with inappropriately sold or inappropriately installed cavity wall insulation. I know that this is a matter that has been raised on a number of occasions, recently by David Rees.
Obviously, this matter isn't directly in your portfolio, Minister, but it is having a real impact on the quality of the housing of some of my constituents, and I know of many others. What is unfortunate is that the evidence that is being sent to me is that the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency, which is supposed to put this right, is in fact being profoundly unhelpful. There is one particular case that I am going to write to the Minister for environment about because they are really just not responding and, when they are responding, they are offering to partly put the work right.
The particular family that prompted this question are not well-off people. They have worked very hard to be able to afford their own home. So, can I ask the Minister if you will, with your housing quality hat on, have a further conversation with the Minister for environment to see if there's any more that the Government can do to ensure that the guarantee agency is fit for purpose and that it responds in an appropriate, but also in a compassionate way to people who are dealing with really difficult damp problems in homes that they really had to struggle to purchase?
Rwy'n ddiolchgar iawn i'r Gweinidog am ei hateb. Rwy'n siŵr y byddai'n cytuno â mi y byddai'n anffodus iawn pe bai cyllid Llywodraeth Cymru o ffynonellau eraill yn cael effaith negyddol anfwriadol ar ansawdd tai yng Nghymru. Mae gennyf nifer o etholwyr sydd wedi bod yn cael anawsterau go iawn gyda deunydd inswleiddio waliau ceudod wedi'i werthu'n amhriodol neu wedi'i osod yn amhriodol. Gwn fod hwn yn fater sydd wedi cael ei godi droeon, a gan David Rees yn ddiweddar.
Yn amlwg, nid yw'r mater hwn yn rhan uniongyrchol o'ch portffolio, Weinidog, ond mae'n cael effaith wirioneddol ar ansawdd tai rhai o fy etholwyr, a gwn am lawer o rai eraill. Yr hyn sy'n anffodus yw mai'r dystiolaeth sy'n cael ei hanfon ataf yw bod yr Asiantaeth Gwarantau Inswleiddio Waliau Dwbl, sydd i fod i fynd i'r afael â hyn, yn fawr o gymorth mewn gwirionedd. Mae un achos penodol rwyf am ysgrifennu at Weinidog yr amgylchedd yn ei gylch gan nad ydynt yn ymateb, a phan fyddant yn ymateb, maent yn cynnig unioni'r gwaith yn rhannol yn unig.
Nid yw'r teulu penodol a ysgogodd y cwestiwn hwn yn bobl gefnog. Maent wedi gweithio'n galed iawn i allu fforddio eu cartref eu hunain. Felly, a gaf fi ofyn i'r Gweinidog a wnewch chi, gan wisgo'ch het ansawdd tai, gael sgwrs bellach gyda Gweinidog yr amgylchedd i weld a oes mwy y gall y Llywodraeth ei wneud i sicrhau bod yr asiantaeth warantu yn addas i'r diben, a'u bod yn ymateb mewn ffordd briodol, ond hefyd mewn modd tosturiol tuag at bobl sy'n wynebu problemau lleithder anodd iawn mewn cartrefi y bu'n rhaid iddynt ymdrechu'n galed iawn i'w prynu?
Yes, I'm happy to do that. If you send the details to the Minister for environment, we can, between us, look at the specific matter that you are dealing with. Actually, much more generally, we are about to receive the report of the decarbonisation of housing working group. They are looking at housing across the piece, not just social housing. So, we are expecting recommendations from them about a number of the things that you raised more generally in terms of the specific things there: so, the skills available to private home holders—sorry, private home owners; I got my tongue in a twist there—in Wales; the advice that they can receive about the best way to insulate their homes without causing some of the difficulties that you are talking about there; and whole issues around energy efficiency and condensation and such things. So, we're expecting that report imminently, and I am expecting to have a really good conversation across the Government and with the Assembly about how we can best implement some of the recommendations.
Rwy'n fwy na pharod i wneud hynny. Os anfonwch y manylion at Weinidog yr amgylchedd, rhwng y ddau ohonom, gallwn edrych ar y mater penodol rydych yn ymdrin ag ef. Mewn gwirionedd, yn llawer mwy cyffredinol, rydym ar fin derbyn adroddiad gan y gweithgor datgarboneiddio tai. Maent yn edrych ar dai yn gyffredinol, nid tai cymdeithasol yn unig. Felly, rydym yn disgwyl argymhellion ganddynt am nifer o'r pethau a godwyd gennych yn fwy cyffredinol o ran y pethau penodol yno: felly, y sgiliau sydd ar gael i ddeiliaid cartrefi preifat—mae'n ddrwg gennyf, perchnogion cartrefi preifat; baglais dros fy ngeiriau—yng Nghymru; y cyngor y gallant ei gael ynglŷn â'r ffordd orau o inswleiddio eu cartrefi heb achosi rhai o'r anawsterau y soniwch amdanynt; a materion ynghylch effeithlonrwydd ynni ac anwedd a phethau o'r fath. Felly, rydym yn disgwyl yr adroddiad hwnnw cyn bo hir, ac rwy'n disgwyl cael sgwrs dda iawn ar draws y Llywodraeth a chyda'r Cynulliad ynglŷn â'r ffordd orau o roi rhai o'r argymhellion ar waith.
Minister, earlier this year, my colleague here, David Melding, led a debate that recognised that the number of homes being built in Wales is inadequate to meet demand, and during the debate we all recognised that there was a shortage of social housing across Wales. But there is also a shortage of other types of homes that will attract younger, aspirational home owners to move to Wales. I understand that Shropshire, for example, the next county to my own constituency, has a more flexible planning policy that allows landowners to develop their land for executive level homes, therefore attracting younger professionals, including teachers, business people and doctors, which we desperately need, of course, in mid Wales, to move to Wales and set up home in Wales, to make a career and invest in the local economy. Can I ask what intentions you have to review planning guidance to give local authorities the flexibility to implement their planning policies in such a way that will ensure that the demand for these types of homes is met to encourage younger families and professionals into Powys and counties such as mine? Or, indeed, do you believe that local authorities don't need that flexibility because they've already got that flexibility, and no change to planning guidance is required?
Weinidog, yn gynharach eleni, arweiniodd fy nghyd-Aelod yma, David Melding, ddadl a oedd yn cydnabod bod nifer y cartrefi sy'n cael eu hadeiladu yng Nghymru yn annigonol i ateb y galw, ac yn ystod y ddadl, cydnabu pob un ohonom fod prinder tai cymdeithasol yng Nghymru. Ond mae prinder hefyd o ran mathau eraill o gartrefi a fydd yn denu perchnogion tai iau, uchelgeisiol i symud i Gymru. Deallaf fod gan swydd Amwythig, er enghraifft, y sir wrth ymyl fy etholaeth fy hun, bolisi cynllunio mwy hyblyg sy'n caniatáu i dirfeddianwyr ddatblygu eu tir ar gyfer cartrefi dethol, gan ddenu gweithwyr proffesiynol iau, gan gynnwys athrawon, pobl fusnes a meddygon, y mae eu taer hangen yng nghanolbarth Cymru wrth gwrs, i symud i Gymru ac i ymgartrefu yng Nghymru, i ddilyn gyrfa ac i fuddsoddi yn yr economi leol. A gaf fi ofyn pa fwriad sydd gennych i adolygu canllawiau cynllunio er mwyn rhoi hyblygrwydd i awdurdodau lleol weithredu eu polisïau cynllunio mewn modd a fydd yn sicrhau bod y galw am y mathau hyn o gartrefi yn cael ei ddiwallu er mwyn annog teuluoedd iau a gweithwyr proffesiynol i ddod i Bowys a siroedd fel fy un i? Neu yn wir, a ydych yn credu nad oes angen yr hyblygrwydd hwnnw ar awdurdodau lleol gan fod ganddynt yr hyblygrwydd hwnnw eisoes, ac nad oes angen unrhyw newid i ganllawiau cynllunio?
This is actually a question on the quality of the housing supply, and that's a question about the actual housing supply. But we've only just reissued 'Planning Policy Wales' just before Christmas. That emphasises a place-building approach, with an emphasis on sustainable place models. So what we're asking local authorities to do, within their LDPs, is to look at sustainable place making with mixed tenure developments there. Actually, all the market statistics show us that we build enough market homes; the things that we're desperately short of are homes for social rent. So, at the moment the market is providing more than adequate market homes, and our Help to Buy scheme has driven some of that, but what we actually need to build far more of—thousands more of—are homes for social rent, so, rather different to the picture you've just painted.
Mae hwn yn gwestiwn ynglŷn ag ansawdd y cyflenwad tai, mewn gwirionedd, ac mae hwnnw'n gwestiwn ynglŷn â'r cyflenwad tai ei hun. Ond fe ailgyhoeddasom 'Polisi Cynllunio Cymru' ychydig cyn y Nadolig. Mae hwnnw'n pwysleisio ymagwedd adeiladu'n seiliedig ar leoedd, gyda phwyslais ar fodelau cynaliadwy'n seiliedig ar leoedd. Felly, yr hyn rydym yn gofyn i awdurdodau lleol ei wneud, yn eu Cynlluniau Datblygu Lleol, yw edrych ar greu lleoedd cynaliadwy sy'n cynnwys datblygiadau deiliadaeth gymysg. A dweud y gwir, mae holl ystadegau'r farchnad yn dangos inni ein bod yn adeiladu digon o gartrefi ar gyfer y farchnad; y pethau rydym yn brin ohonynt yw cartrefi rhent cymdeithasol. Felly, ar hyn o bryd, mae'r farchnad yn darparu mwy na digon o gartrefi ar gyfer y farchnad, ac mae ein cynllun Cymorth i Brynu wedi sbarduno rhywfaint o hynny, ond mewn gwirionedd, yr hyn y mae angen i ni adeiladu llawer mwy ohonynt—miloedd yn fwy ohonynt—yw cartrefi rhent cymdeithasol, felly sefyllfa wahanol iawn i'r darlun rydych newydd ei ddisgrifio.
We have too many poor-quality houses in Wales, many with very poor energy efficiency, meaning those who are poorest end up either cold or paying more for heating their homes than you and I do. What is the Welsh Government doing to improve energy efficiency, especially in the private rented sector and the very low-cost part of the private rented sector?
Mae gennym ormod o dai o ansawdd gwael yng Nghymru, a llawer ohonynt yn gwneud defnydd aneffeithlon iawn o ynni, sy'n golygu bod y bobl dlotaf naill ai'n oer neu'n talu mwy am wresogi eu cartrefi na chi a fi. Beth y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn ei wneud i wella effeithlonrwydd ynni, yn enwedig yn y sector rhentu preifat a'r rhan gost isel iawn o'r sector rhentu preifat?
So, at the moment, we've concentrated on the Welsh housing quality standard for publicly provided housing. Mike Hedges knows very well that the Welsh housing quality standard asks social landlords to get to a standard assessment procedure rating of 65 or higher, or an energy performance certificate D rating equivalent. About 97 per cent of our stock so far is up at that standard and we've got a small amount more to do before we meet the entire Welsh housing quality standard. What we've been trying to do in the private rented sector is change the relationship between landlords and tenants and ensure that tenants have a better deal all round in terms of the way that properties are let, the sorts of property that are available and the regulation through Rent Smart Wales. We haven't at this point in time got any particular energy efficiency indications there, but as I just said in answer to Helen Mary Jones, we are expecting the decarbonisation working group report imminently, and they were asked to look across the piece in Wales, and I am expecting a set of recommendations around what we should do across every tenure in Wales to improve energy efficiency and indeed insulation and standards to go with it.
Ar hyn o bryd, rydym wedi canolbwyntio ar safon ansawdd tai Cymru ar gyfer tai a ddarperir yn gyhoeddus. Gŵyr Mike Hedges yn iawn fod safon ansawdd tai Cymru yn ei gwneud yn ofynnol i landlordiaid cymdeithasol gael sgôr o 65 neu uwch yn y weithdrefn asesu safonol, neu dystysgrif perfformiad ynni sy'n cyfateb i radd D. Mae oddeutu 97 y cant o'n stoc yn cyrraedd y safon honno ar hyn o bryd, ac mae gennym ychydig yn fwy i'w wneud cyn ein bod yn bodloni'r safon ansawdd tai ar gyfer Cymru gyfan. Yr hyn rydym wedi bod yn ceisio'i wneud yn y sector rhentu preifat yw newid y berthynas rhwng landlordiaid a thenantiaid a sicrhau bod tenantiaid yn cael bargen well yn gyffredinol o ran y ffordd y caiff eiddo ei osod, y mathau o eiddo sydd ar gael a'r rheoliadau drwy Rhentu Doeth Cymru. Ar hyn o bryd, nid ydym wedi cael unrhyw arwyddion penodol ynghylch effeithlonrwydd ynni, ond fel y dywedais wrth ateb Helen Mary Jones, rydym yn disgwyl i'r gweithgor datgarboneiddio adrodd cyn bo hir, a gofynnwyd iddynt ystyried Cymru gyfan, ac rwy'n disgwyl set o argymhellion ynghylch yr hyn y dylem ei wneud ar draws pob deiliadaeth yng Nghymru i wella effeithlonrwydd ynni, ac yn wir, insiwleiddio a safonau i fynd gyda hynny.
2. Pa asesiad y mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi'i wneud o adroddiad Pwyllgor Tai, Cymunedau a Llywodraeth Leol Tŷ'r Cyffredin ar ddiwygio cyfraith lesddaliad? OAQ54065
2. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the House of Commons' Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s report on leasehold reform? OAQ54065
I have read their report with interest. However, it is a devolved matter and our own independent task and finish group for leasehold reform is on schedule to deliver its report to me in July. I will be reviewing its recommendations and then deciding which actions to take forward for Wales.
Rwyf wedi darllen eu hadroddiad â chryn ddiddordeb. Fodd bynnag, mae'n fater datganoledig ac mae ein grŵp gorchwyl a gorffen annibynnol ein hunain ar gyfer diwygio cyfraith lesddaliad ar y trywydd iawn i gyflwyno eu hadroddiad i mi ym mis Gorffennaf. Byddaf yn adolygu eu hargymhellion ac yna'n penderfynu pa gamau i'w cymryd ar gyfer Cymru.
I do commend you for reading the report. England and Wales law is often common in this area, and I think there are lessons to be learnt, and I think the House of Commons committee's done a great service here.
Estate management fees as well as service charges have been criticised for their size, lack of transparency and the difficulty with which they can be challenged. Those are certainly problems that we have in Wales. And Which?, the consumer organisation, has pointed out that no new-build housing estate should have their roads as the responsibility of the leaseholder, yet this is happening more and more at the moment. Often, as the report indicates, developers blame the local council, the council blames the developers and it's an unholy mess.
I have met with residents on a new-build estate within my own region and they've informed me that they're in a conflict between the estate and the local council and the developer over the adoption of a main road through the estate, which is a bus route. And despite that road being a key bus route, it's not at the moment going to be adopted. This is just a crazy situation. The planners should never allow it and the developers should not be allowed to produce roads of inadequate quality when they're clearly marked as being required to be bus routes.
Fe'ch cymeradwyaf am ddarllen yr adroddiad. Mae cyfraith Cymru a Lloegr yn aml yn gyffredin yn y maes hwn, a chredaf fod gwersi i'w dysgu, a bod pwyllgor Tŷ'r Cyffredin wedi gwneud gwasanaeth gwych yma.
Mae ffioedd rheoli ystadau yn ogystal â ffioedd gwasanaeth wedi cael eu beirniadu am eu maint, eu diffyg tryloywder a pha mor anodd yw eu herio. Mae'r rheini'n sicr yn broblemau sydd gennym yng Nghymru. Ac mae Which?, y sefydliad defnyddwyr, wedi nodi na ddylai ffyrdd unrhyw ystâd o dai newydd fod yn gyfrifoldeb i'r lesddeiliad, ond mae hyn yn digwydd yn amlach ac yn amlach ar hyn o bryd. Yn aml, fel y dywed yr adroddiad, mae datblygwyr yn beio'r cyngor lleol, mae'r cyngor yn beio'r datblygwyr ac mae'n llanast anniben.
Rwyf wedi cyfarfod â phreswylwyr ar ystâd dai newydd yn fy rhanbarth i ac maent wedi dweud wrthyf eu bod yn gwrthdaro rhwng yr ystâd a'r cyngor lleol a'r datblygwr ynghylch mabwysiadu prif ffordd drwy'r ystâd, sy'n llwybr bysiau. Ac er bod y ffordd honno'n llwybr bysiau allweddol, ni fydd yn cael ei mabwysiadu ar hyn o bryd. Mae hon yn sefyllfa wallgof. Ni ddylai'r cynllunwyr ganiatáu hyn ac ni ddylid caniatáu i'r datblygwyr gynhyrchu ffyrdd o ansawdd annigonol pan fyddant wedi'u nodi'n glir fel rhai y mae'n ofynnol iddynt fod yn llwybrau bysiau.
I entirely agree with the Member's analysis of that. We do have a significant problem in some of the 106 agreements that have been negotiated between developers and councils throughout Wales. And one of the difficulties that has arisen as a result of that is the issue around the adoption of roads, the standard they have to be brought up to, the beneficial use of the estate in question prior to the adoption of the road and so on. So, we're attacking that on a number of fronts.
The most straightforward of that is that, alongside the leasehold reform group, we also have a task and finish group who are tasked with a review of unadopted roads. It's actually a joint task force between myself and the Minister for Economy and Transport, and they're due to give us their recommendations very shortly. We've specifically asked them to look at the introduction of a code of practice for estate and property management agents to enhance the professional and ethical standards that they operate to.
Simultaneously, Members will be aware that, yesterday, I did an oral statement on some of the suggestions that we're having for more regional working with local authorities. One of the areas that that was addressing was in economic development and land use. One of the specific drivers for that is to get the very valuable and unfortunately increasingly rare skill of being able to negotiate those agreements properly, so that the people who have those skills are available to all of Wales, rather than to those lucky local authorities who have managed to retain them. It's quite clearly an issue that we need to bottom.
So, we're looking at coming at it from both ends, if you like, but I think we're also looking at renewed guidance to local authorities, in terms of what they should be looking for when they're looking at a situation where a new development has largely been completed, but the roads are not at adoptable standards.
So, just to recap, we've got the leasehold reform group coming back, we've got the task and finish group coming back on unadopted roads, the UK Government's announcements are very interesting in terms of legislating to ensure that freeholders who pay charges for the maintenance of communal areas have access to the same rights as leaseholders in terms of the way that that's regulated. And we're very interested in looking at that as well.
Cytunaf yn llwyr â dadansoddiad yr Aelod o hynny. Mae gennym broblem sylweddol mewn rhai o'r cytundebau 106 a negodwyd rhwng datblygwyr a chynghorau ledled Cymru. Ac un o'r anawsterau sydd wedi codi o ganlyniad i hynny yw'r broblem ynghylch mabwysiadu ffyrdd, y safon y mae'n rhaid eu codi iddi, defnydd buddiol yr ystâd dan sylw cyn mabwysiadu'r ffordd ac ati. Felly, rydym yn mynd i'r afael â hynny mewn sawl ffordd.
Y ffordd symlaf yw fod gennym hefyd, ochr yn ochr â'r grŵp diwygio cyfraith lesddaliad, grŵp gorchwyl a gorffen sy'n gyfrifol am gynhyrchu adolygiad o ffyrdd sydd heb eu mabwysiadu. Mewn gwirionedd, mae'n dasglu ar y cyd rhwng Gweinidog yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth a minnau, ac maent i fod i roi eu hargymhellion i ni cyn bo hir. Rydym wedi gofyn yn benodol iddynt edrych ar y syniad o gyflwyno cod ymarfer ar gyfer asiantau rheoli ystadau ac eiddo i wella'r safonau proffesiynol a moesegol y maent yn gweithredu iddynt.
Ar yr un pryd, bydd yr Aelodau'n gwybod fy mod wedi gwneud datganiad llafar ddoe ar rai o'r awgrymiadau a gawn am fwy o weithio rhanbarthol gydag awdurdodau lleol. Un o'r meysydd roedd hwnnw'n ymdrin â hwy oedd datblygu economaidd a defnydd tir. Un o'r ffactorau penodol sy'n sbarduno hynny yw sicrhau y ceir y sgil gwerthfawr iawn a chynyddol brin yn anffodus o allu negodi'r cytundebau hynny'n briodol, fel bod y bobl sydd â'r sgiliau hynny ar gael i Gymru gyfan, yn hytrach nag i'r awdurdodau lleol lwcus sydd wedi llwyddo i'w cadw. Mae'n amlwg yn fater y mae angen i ni ei ddatrys.
Felly, rydym yn edrych ar fynd i'r afael â hyn o'r ddau ben, os mynnwch, ond credaf ein bod hefyd yn edrych ar ganllawiau newydd i awdurdodau lleol o ran yr hyn y dylent fod yn chwilio amdano wrth edrych ar sefyllfa lle mae datblygiad newydd wedi'i gwblhau i raddau helaeth, ond nid yw'r ffyrdd yn cyrraedd safonau lle gellir eu mabwysiadu.
Felly, i grynhoi, bydd y grŵp diwygio cyfraith lesddaliad yn adrodd yn ôl, bydd y grŵp gorchwyl a gorffen yn adrodd yn ôl ar ffyrdd sydd heb eu mabwysiadu, mae cyhoeddiadau Llywodraeth y DU yn ddiddorol iawn o ran deddfu i sicrhau bod gan rydd-ddeiliaid sy'n talu ffioedd am gynnal a chadw ardaloedd cymunedol fynediad at yr un hawliau â lesddeiliaid o ran y ffordd y caiff hynny ei reoleiddio. Ac mae gennym gryn ddiddordeb mewn edrych ar hynny hefyd.
Can I echo the comments from David Melding, because, clearly, leaseholders are facing some very serious challenges, particularly financially? And, when you come back to your working group, I hope that they recommend that you take action on putting regulation upon estate management companies—and if they don't, I hope you put it in anyway. Because, for example, I've got many constituents in my constituency who own properties on different estates—not just one, many estates—which are leasehold. And I've got one here in front of me that has actually given them the breakdown of the leasehold bill they've received for this year. They are required to pay £187 a month on top of everything—that's on top of council tax, on top of the utilities. And I'll include what they say: included in the list are out-of-hours fees; a management fee, twice; an accountancy fee; and banking charges. They're included in the list they're expected to pay.
Now, these are management companies that are looking after estates on behalf of these, and they are using it as a money machine. I hope you put in place, in those proposals afterwards, regulations to put upon these agencies to ensure that they deal with people fairly and that any funding they require is based upon actual need and not costs that they incur anyway.
A gaf fi adleisio'r sylwadau gan David Melding, oherwydd, yn amlwg, mae lesddeiliaid yn wynebu heriau difrifol iawn, yn enwedig yn ariannol? A phan fyddwch yn dychwelyd at eich gweithgor, rwy'n gobeithio y byddant yn argymell eich bod yn gweithredu i reoleiddio cwmnïau rheoli ystadau—ac os nad ydynt, rwy'n gobeithio y byddwch yn ei gynnwys beth bynnag. Oherwydd, er enghraifft, mae llawer o etholwyr yn fy etholaeth sy'n berchen ar eiddo ar wahanol ystadau—nid un yn unig, llawer o ystadau—sy'n eiddo lesddaliadol. Ac mae gennyf un yma o fy mlaen sydd wedi rhoi dadansoddiad iddynt o'r bil lesddaliad y maent wedi'i gael ar gyfer eleni. Mae'n ofynnol iddynt dalu £187 y mis ar ben popeth arall—ar ben y dreth gyngor, ar ben y cyfleustodau. Ac rwyf am gynnwys yr hyn a ddywedant: mae'r rhestr yn cynnwys ffioedd y tu allan i oriau; ffi reoli, ddwywaith; ffi gyfrifyddiaeth; a ffioedd bancio. Maent wedi eu cynnwys yn y rhestr y disgwylir iddynt ei thalu.
Nawr, mae'r rhain yn gwmnïau rheoli sy'n gofalu am ystadau ar ran y rhain, ac maent yn ei ddefnyddio fel peiriant arian. Rwy'n gobeithio y byddwch wedi rhoi rheoliadau ar waith, yn y cynigion hynny wedyn, ar gyfer yr asiantaethau hyn i sicrhau eu bod yn trin pobl yn deg a bod unrhyw gyllid y mae arnynt ei angen yn seiliedig ar angen gwirioneddol yn hytrach nag ar gostau y maent yn eu hwynebu beth bynnag.
Yes, again, I share the Member's disquiet at some of the practices that have arisen as a result of this. The fundamental issue is that when somebody buys a freehold house that they ought to be receiving the proper advice from their lawyers acting on their behalf about the other charges that are associated with that house, including whether there is an adopted road for which they will be required to provide maintenance. In response to David Melding, I rehearsed the things that we're doing to look at this. Certainly, in the short term, we're looking to see if there’s anything we can do about some of the specific charges.
The difficulty, though, is that there are protections in place for leaseholders, but those protections do not extend to freeholders who've entered into that kind of management agreement. So, the UK Government has seen that this a lacunae, so, with any luck, they'll step into that place, because we're on the boundary of the devolution settlement here as well.
So, we have asked the task and finish group to look specifically at some of the charges as well, but, actually, a much better solution would be to get the roads to an adoptable standard and get them adopted. So, it may be that we have to look at schemes in order to be able to facilitate that. And I will certainly be looking at our own Help to Buy scheme, to see if there's anything we can do in that scheme to make sure that we aren't promulgating practices that are unhelpful, to say the least.
Unwaith eto, rwy'n rhannu pryderon yr Aelod ynglŷn â rhai o'r arferion sydd wedi codi o ganlyniad i hyn. Y mater sylfaenol yma yw pan fydd rhywun yn prynu tŷ rhydd-ddaliadol, dylent fod yn derbyn y cyngor priodol gan eu cyfreithwyr sy'n gweithredu ar eu rhan ynglŷn â'r ffioedd eraill sy'n gysylltiedig â'r tŷ hwnnw, gan gynnwys p'un a oes ffordd fabwysiedig y bydd gofyn iddynt ddarparu gwaith cynnal a chadw ar ei chyfer. Mewn ymateb i David Melding, ailadroddais y pethau rydym yn eu gwneud i edrych ar hyn. Yn sicr, yn y tymor byr, rydym yn edrych i weld a oes unrhyw beth y gallwn ei wneud ynglŷn â rhai o'r ffioedd penodol.
Yr hyn sy'n anodd, fodd bynnag, yw bod amddiffyniadau ar waith ar gyfer lesddeiliaid, ond nid yw'r amddiffyniadau hynny'n gwarchod rhydd-ddeiliaid sydd wedi ymrwymo i gytundeb rheoli o'r fath. Felly, mae Llywodraeth y DU wedi gweld bod hyn yn fwlch, felly, gydag unrhyw lwc, byddant yn camu i'r bwlch hwnnw, gan ein bod ar ffin y setliad datganoli yma hefyd.
Felly, rydym wedi gofyn i'r grŵp gorchwyl a gorffen edrych yn benodol ar rai o'r ffioedd hefyd, ond mewn gwirionedd, ateb gwell o lawer fyddai sicrhau bod y ffyrdd yn cyrraedd safon lle gellir eu mabwysiadu, ac yna eu mabwysiadu. Felly, efallai y bydd yn rhaid inni edrych ar gynlluniau er mwyn gallu hwyluso hynny. Ac yn sicr, byddaf yn edrych ar ein cynllun Cymorth i Brynu ein hunain, i weld a oes unrhyw beth y gallwn ei wneud yn y cynllun hwnnw i sicrhau nad ydym yn lledaenu arferion nad ydynt o gymorth, a dweud y lleiaf.
Cwestiynau nawr gan lefarwyr y pleidiau. Llefarydd y Ceidwadwyr, David Melding.
Questions now from the party spokespeople. The Conservative spokesperson, David Melding.
Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Minister, I'm sure you'll join me in welcoming the excellent report that was launched yesterday by Tai Pawb, the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru and Shelter Cymru on the right to adequate housing in Wales. And I commend the report to all Members who have not had a chance to see it yet. The report makes a compelling case for the right to adequate housing to be enshrined in Welsh law, whilst also clearly setting out a route-map for how we should get there. Do you agree that the right to housing in Wales should be recognised in statute?
Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. Weinidog, rwy'n siŵr y byddwch yn ymuno â mi i groesawu'r adroddiad ardderchog a lansiwyd ddoe gan Tai Pawb, Sefydliad Tai Siartredig Cymru a Shelter Cymru ar yr hawl i dai digonol yng Nghymru. A chymeradwyaf yr adroddiad i'r holl Aelodau nad ydynt wedi cael cyfle i'w weld eto. Mae'r adroddiad yn gwneud achos cryf dros ymgorffori'r hawl i dai digonol yng nghyfraith Cymru, a hefyd yn nodi map clir ar gyfer sut y dylem gyrraedd y sefyllfa honno. A ydych yn cytuno y dylid cydnabod yr hawl i dai yng Nghymru mewn statud?
Yes, I absolutely do. I spoke at the event yesterday. Unfortunately, I had another event to go to, so I was sandwiched in between two parts of the author of the report's introduction of it. But I was very impressed by the clarity with which he set out some of the legislative issues that he'd researched, and I'm very much looking forward to going through with my officials what the route-map might be to achieving some of the recommendations in the report for Wales. But in my contribution to that event, I did say that it's not only important to make sure that people have housing as a fundamental human right, front and centre, but that, actually, we're in a position to deliver it. So, if, for example, an individual has a right to enforce that, we have to have an adequate housing supply, in order for them to be able to have the houses to get into. We also have to have the right support mechanisms in place to enable people who have a range of difficulties to stay in their accommodation and so on. So, whilst I absolutely fundamentally accept the purpose of the report, and concur with it, we do have a range of practical issues to consider as well.
Ydw, yn sicr. Bûm yn siarad yn y digwyddiad ddoe. Yn anffodus, bu'n rhaid imi fynychu digwyddiad arall, felly cefais fy ngwasgu i mewn rhwng dwy ran o gyflwyniad awdur yr adroddiad i'r adroddiad. Ond gwnaeth y modd eglur y nododd rai o'r materion deddfwriaethol y bu'n ymchwilio iddynt argraff fawr arnaf, ac edrychaf ymlaen yn fawr at drafod manylion y map gyda fy swyddogion o ran sut i gyflawni rhai o'r argymhellion yn yr adroddiad ar gyfer Cymru. Ond yn fy nghyfraniad i'r digwyddiad hwnnw, dywedais ei bod nid yn unig yn bwysig sicrhau yn anad dim fod gan bobl dai fel hawl ddynol, ond ein bod mewn sefyllfa i ddarparu hynny mewn gwirionedd. Felly, er enghraifft, os oes gan unigolyn hawl i orfodi hynny, mae'n rhaid bod gennym gyflenwad digonol o dai, er mwyn iddynt allu cael y tai i fynd iddynt. Mae'n rhaid i ni hefyd sicrhau bod y mecanweithiau cymorth cywir ar waith gennym i alluogi pobl sydd ag amrywiaeth o anawsterau i aros yn eu cartrefi ac yn y blaen. Felly, er fy mod yn llwyr dderbyn diben yr adroddiad yn ei hanfod, ac yn cytuno ag ef, mae gennym amrywiaeth o faterion ymarferol i'w hystyried hefyd.
Thank you, Minister, for that very encouraging answer, if I can say. And you quite rightly say you need a strategy to be able to ensure a right exists in practice. And, indeed, the report sketches out what needs to be done in terms of a rights-based national housing strategy. And it's indeed something I've already called for—and I think other parties share this aspiration. And can I just say, it would be a fantastic year for us to achieve a commitment to this development of a national housing strategy. After all, we are fast approaching the hundredth anniversary of the birth of council housing as we know it. The Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919—more commonly known as the Addison Act—received Royal Assent in July 1919. And I think, indeed, that it was referred to in the meeting, at the launch, yesterday.
Minister, will a national housing strategy emerge from the affordable housing review, with targets on increasing supply of housing at its heart, but also other issues addressed as well?
Diolch, Weinidog, am yr ateb calonogol iawn hwnnw, os caf ddweud. Ac rydych yn llygad eich lle pan ddywedwch fod angen strategaeth arnoch i allu sicrhau bod hawl yn bodoli yn ymarferol. Ac yn wir, mae'r adroddiad yn amlinellu'r hyn y mae angen ei wneud o ran strategaeth dai genedlaethol sy'n seiliedig ar hawliau. Ac yn wir, mae'n rhywbeth rwyf wedi galw amdano eisoes—a chredaf fod eraill yn rhannu'r dyhead hwn. Ac a gaf fi ddweud, byddai'n flwyddyn wych i ni pe gallem gyflawni ymrwymiad i ddatblygu'r strategaeth dai genedlaethol hon. Wedi'r cyfan, rydym yn prysur agosáu at ganmlwyddiant tai cyngor. Derbyniodd Ddeddf Tai a Chynllunio Trefol 1919—sy'n fwy adnabyddus fel Deddf Addison—Gydsyniad Brenhinol ym mis Gorffennaf 1919. Ac yn wir, rwy'n credu ei bod wedi cael sylw yn y cyfarfod, yn y lansiad ddoe.
Weinidog, a fydd yr adolygiad o dai fforddiadwy yn arwain at strategaeth dai genedlaethol, a fydd yn cynnwys targedau i gynyddu'r cyflenwad o dai yn ganolog iddi, ond a fydd yn mynd i'r afael â materion eraill hefyd?
I'm certainly very interested in looking at housing in the round. It's not just the affordable housing review that we've got to look at. You've heard me mentioning already in Plenary today the decarbonisation review. We have a rent policy review, we have a leasehold reform review, we have an ongoing priority need review—I think there are two more that I'm not currently thinking of. I've already put in train meeting together with the chairs of all of those reviews, and a number of officials, so that we can look in the round, across all of the advice we've got, so that we can come up with a coherent response to the series of reports. That may or may not turn into a strategy, but I am looking to have a coherent response across the piece. And I'm very keen to make sure that the report that was launched yesterday is part of that.
Yn sicr, mae diddordeb mawr gennyf mewn edrych ar dai yn gyffredinol. Nid yr adolygiad tai fforddiadwy yn unig sydd gennym i'w ystyried. Rydych wedi fy nghlywed yn sôn eisoes yn y Cyfarfod Llawn heddiw am yr adolygiad datgarboneiddio. Mae gennym adolygiad polisi rhent, mae gennym adolygiad diwygio cyfraith lesddaliad, mae gennym adolygiad parhaus o angen blaenoriaethol—credaf fod dau arall nad wyf yn eu cofio ar hyn o bryd. Rwyf eisoes wedi trefnu cyfarfodydd â chadeiryddion pob un o'r adolygiadau hynny, a nifer o swyddogion, fel y gallwn edrych ar y cyfan, ar draws yr holl gyngor a gawsom, i allu meddwl am ymateb cydlynol i'r gyfres o adroddiadau. Gall hynny droi'n strategaeth, neu gallai beidio, ond rwy'n bwriadu sicrhau ymateb cydlynol yn gyffredinol. Ac rwy'n awyddus iawn i sicrhau bod yr adroddiad a lansiwyd ddoe yn rhan o hynny.
I do think the strategy would be the way to look at all these things comprehensively. You're quite right—it's not just affordable housing, it's the totality of housing. But there are other key areas as well that we could mention here that should be part of a national housing strategy: the eradication of homelessness; increasing security of tenure for generation rent—nearly 20 per cent of those in housing at the moment; leasehold reform; and a strong tenant's voice. These are all major things that we should be pushing for. And, Minister, is it not time for us to forge a consensus on these issues—between all the parties in this Chamber, I think—that we could come together, and have a cross-party national housing strategy? What a wonderful achievement that would be, in the twentieth anniversary year of devolution. And will you invite the representatives of all parties to discuss this objective with the Welsh Government, because I think we could agree it?
Credaf mai'r strategaeth fyddai'r ffordd o edrych ar yr holl bethau hyn mewn ffordd gynhwysfawr. Rydych yn llygad eich lle—nid oes a wnelo hyn â thai fforddiadwy yn unig, mae'n ymwneud â'r maes tai yn ei gyfanrwydd. Ond mae meysydd allweddol eraill y gallem sôn amdanynt yma a ddylai fod yn rhan o strategaeth dai genedlaethol: dileu digartrefedd; cynyddu diogelwch deiliadaeth ar gyfer y genhedlaeth rhent—bron i 20 y cant o'r rheini mewn tai ar hyn o bryd; diwygio cyfraith lesddaliad; a llais cryf i'r tenant. Mae'r rhain oll yn bethau pwysig y dylem fod yn gwthio amdanynt. A Weinidog, onid yw'n bryd inni greu consensws ar y materion hyn—rhwng yr holl bleidiau yn y Siambr hon, rwy'n credu—y gallem ddod at ein gilydd, a chael strategaeth dai genedlaethol drawsbleidiol? Oni fyddai hynny'n gyflawniad gwych, yn ystod ugeinfed mlynedd datganoli? Ac a wnewch chi wahodd cynrychiolwyr o'r holl bleidiau i drafod yr amcan hwn gyda Llywodraeth Cymru, gan y credaf y gallem gytuno arno?
Yes, I'm very happy to say that I'd like to do that. In fact, I'm very happy to say now, Llywydd, on the floor of the Assembly, that I'd very much like to look at where the consensus across the parties is. We've had this discussion a number of times in Plenary, and you're absolutely right—a number of parties have put out housing documents, and there is much that we agree upon; there are nuances that we do not. I think David Melding is absolutely right in saying that it would be good to seek where the consensus is and see what can be done, once we've had all the reports in and we can look at them in the round.
Rwy'n fwy na pharod i ddweud y buaswn yn awyddus i wneud hynny. Yn wir, rwy'n fwy na pharod i ddweud nawr, Lywydd, ar lawr y Cynulliad, y buaswn yn awyddus iawn i edrych ar lle mae'r consensws ar draws y pleidiau. Rydym wedi cael y drafodaeth hon sawl gwaith yn y Cyfarfod Llawn, ac rydych yn llygad eich lle—mae nifer o bleidiau wedi cyhoeddi dogfennau tai, ac mae llawer rydym yn cytuno arno; mae pethau bychain nad ydym yn cytuno arnynt. Credaf fod David Melding yn llygad ei le yn dweud y byddai'n dda gweld lle mae'r consensws a gweld beth y gellir ei wneud, pan fydd yr holl adroddiadau wedi dod i law a gallwn edrych arnynt yn eu cyfanrwydd.
Llefarydd Plaid Cymru, Dai Lloyd.
Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Dai Lloyd.
Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, the importance of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 cannot be understated in the deliberations of local authorities. So, Minister, how does the Welsh Government track the implementation of the Act's principles by councils?
Diolch, Lywydd. Weinidog, ni ellir gorbwysleisio pwysigrwydd Deddf Llesiant Cenedlaethau’r Dyfodol (Cymru) 2015 yn nhrafodaethau awdurdodau lleol. Felly, Weinidog, sut y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn olrhain gweithrediad egwyddorion y Ddeddf gan gynghorau?
We work very closely with councils to ensure that they embed the seven ways of working of the Act, and that the principles of the Act are far-reaching. We're working currently with a working group in local government to make sure that, in everything we do with local authorities, we implement the Act and put it at the front and centre of everything that we do.
Rydym yn gweithio'n agos iawn gyda chynghorau i sicrhau eu bod yn ymgorffori'r saith ffordd o weithio yn y Ddeddf, a bod egwyddorion y Ddeddf yn bellgyrhaeddol. Rydym ar hyn o bryd yn gweithio gyda gweithgor mewn llywodraeth leol i sicrhau, ym mhob dim a wnawn gydag awdurdodau lleol, ein bod yn gweithredu'r Ddeddf a'i bod yn ganolog i bopeth a wnawn.
Thank you for that, Minister, but we still see councils failing in some areas to seriously consider the Act. Might I just point to an example in my own region, in Bridgend? Recently, there has been a bus consultation on removing services. A report to cabinet recommending the cuts quite simply failed to do either an equalities assessment or an assessment of the impact on future generations. They said they would do both after the consultation before a final sign-off on the decision. In other words, after a decision had been made. Another example, then, in the same authority, Bridgend—the selling of the only playing field serving a council estate for housing. Are these not examples of local authorities being unable to think differently?
Diolch, Weinidog, ond rydym yn dal i weld cynghorau'n methu ystyried y Ddeddf yn iawn mewn rhai ardaloedd. A gaf fi gyfeirio at enghraifft yn fy rhanbarth i, ym Mhen-y-bont ar Ogwr? Yn ddiweddar, cafwyd ymgynghoriad ar fysiau mewn perthynas â chael gwared ar wasanaethau. Roedd adroddiad i'r cabinet a oedd yn argymell y toriadau wedi methu cynnal asesiad cydraddoldeb nac asesiad o'r effaith ar genedlaethau'r dyfodol. Dywedasant y byddent yn gwneud y ddau beth ar ôl yr ymgynghoriad cyn i'r penderfyniad terfynol gael ei gymeradwyo. Hynny yw, ar ôl i benderfyniad gael ei wneud. Enghraifft arall, felly, yn yr un awdurdod, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr—gwerthu'r unig gae chwarae a oedd yn gwasanaethu ystâd o dai cyngor er mwyn codi tai. Onid yw'r rhain yn enghreifftiau o awdurdodau lleol yn methu meddwl yn wahanol?
I'm not aware of the detail of those. I was aware of the bus consultation; I'm not aware of the detail of the other one. If the Member has any more detail, I'm very happy to look at it. I very recently met with the leader of Bridgend, but it was unfortunately on the day of the announcement of the Ford closure, and so our meeting changed from the normal meeting that I was due to have with him obviously into a crisis meeting about Bridgend. But I am due to reconvene with him, so if the Member wants to give me the details, I'm more than happy to raise it with him.
Nid wyf yn ymwybodol o fanylion yr achosion hynny. Roeddwn yn ymwybodol o'r ymgynghoriad ar fysiau; nid wyf yn ymwybodol o fanylion yr achos arall. Os oes gan yr Aelod fwy o fanylion, rwy'n fwy na pharod i edrych arnynt. Yn ddiweddar, cyfarfûm ag arweinydd Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr, ond yn anffodus, roedd hynny ar y diwrnod y cyhoeddwyd y byddai safle Ford yn cau, ac yn amlwg felly, newidiodd ein cyfarfod o'r cyfarfod arferol roeddwn i fod i'w gael gydag ef i fod yn gyfarfod argyfwng am Ben-y-bont ar Ogwr. Ond rwyf i fod i'w gyfarfod eto gyda hyn, felly os caf y manylion gan yr Aelod, rwy'n fwy na pharod i drafod yr achos gydag ef.
But the fact is that it looks like there's either no teeth to the Act itself, or no will in Government to track implementation, because on the other side of the region, Swansea, Swansea Council is looking to sell off land on the foreshore to make a quick buck, as I'm sure you'll be aware, and not even the iconic Singleton park is safe from this wheeling and dealing attitude. Is this not in direct violation of the future generations Act, and is there enough capacity in Government to track the implementation of the future generations Act?
Ond y ffaith yw ei bod yn ymddangos naill ai nad oes unrhyw ddannedd i'r Ddeddf ei hun, neu nad oes unrhyw ewyllys yn y Llywodraeth i olrhain ei gweithrediad, oherwydd ar ochr draw'r rhanbarth, yn Abertawe, mae Cyngor Abertawe yn bwriadu gwerthu tir ar y blaendraeth er mwyn gwneud elw cyflym, fel y gwyddoch, rwy'n siŵr, ac nid yw parc eiconig Singleton hyd yn oed yn ddiogel rhag y sgemio a sgilio. Onid yw hyn yn gwbl groes i Ddeddf cenedlaethau'r dyfodol, ac a oes digon o gapasiti yn y Llywodraeth i olrhain gweithrediad Deddf cenedlaethau'r dyfodol?
I understand that the proposals in Swansea are out to consultation. I too have a large postbag on the subject, and I'm sure you do as well, and my colleague Rebecca Evans is the constituency Assembly Member for that area, and I know she has similar concerns. We will be talking to the council about the way that it's taking some of those things forward, but it's at the beginning of a very long process of planning, economic development and so on, so I think it's rather early to say that they're not taking that into account. My understanding is that these are preliminary proposals. Again, if the Member has any more detail than I am aware of, I'd be grateful to have it.
Deallaf fod y cynigion yn Abertawe yn destun ymgynghoriad. Mae gennyf innau fag post mawr ar y pwnc, ac rwy'n siŵr fod gennych chithau hefyd, a fy nghyd-Aelod Rebecca Evans yw'r Aelod Cynulliad etholaeth ar gyfer yr ardal honno, a gwn fod ganddi bryderon tebyg. Byddwn yn siarad â'r cyngor am y ffordd y mae'n bwrw ymlaen â rhai o'r pethau hynny, ond maent ar ddechrau proses hir iawn o gynllunio, datblygu economaidd ac yn y blaen, felly credaf ei bod yn gynnar iawn i ddweud nad ydynt yn ystyried hynny. Fy nealltwriaeth i yw mai cynigion rhagarweiniol yw'r rhain. Unwaith eto, os oes gan yr Aelod fwy o fanylion nag y gwn i amdanynt, buaswn yn ddiolchgar i'w cael.
3. Beth y mae Llywodraeth Cymru'n ei wneud i fynd i'r afael â thlodi plant? OAQ54069
3. What is the Welsh Government doing to tackle child poverty? OAQ54069
The Welsh Government is committed to working across Government to tackle child poverty. My colleague Julie James is leading a review of Welsh Government funding programmes to ensure they have maximum impact on the lives of children living in poverty. In addition, Lesley Griffiths will act as an advocate for poverty during budget preparations, to identify opportunities to increase the impact of collective investment.
Mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi ymrwymo i weithio ar draws y Llywodraeth i fynd i'r afael â thlodi plant. Mae fy nghyd-Aelod, Julie James, yn arwain adolygiad o raglenni cyllido Llywodraeth Cymru i sicrhau eu bod yn cael yr effaith fwyaf posibl ar fywydau plant sy'n byw mewn tlodi. Yn ogystal, bydd Lesley Griffiths yn eiriolwr dros dlodi yn ystod paratoadau'r gyllideb, i nodi cyfleoedd ar gyfer cynyddu effaith buddsoddi cyfunol.
Thank you, Deputy Minister. The discretionary assistance fund, which was introduced in April 2013, is a critical fund that supports the very poorest families in Wales. Children and families in the most pressurised circumstances and facing financial crisis have access to this fund. An evaluation was undertaken in 2015 to examine the effectiveness of the fund, which included suggestions on how the fund and its administration could be improved. Could the Minister outline if there has been any further evaluation on the discretionary assistance fund, or whether there has been any progress on addressing the suggestions for improvement in the 2015 evaluation?
Diolch, Ddirprwy Weinidog. Mae'r gronfa cymorth dewisol, a gyflwynwyd ym mis Ebrill 2013, yn gronfa hanfodol sy'n cefnogi'r teuluoedd tlotaf yng Nghymru. Mae gan blant a theuluoedd yn yr amgylchiadau anoddaf ac sy'n wynebu argyfwng ariannol fynediad at y gronfa hon. Cynhaliwyd gwerthusiad yn 2015 i archwilio effeithiolrwydd y gronfa, a oedd yn cynnwys awgrymiadau ar sut y gellid gwella'r gronfa a'r gwaith o'i gweinyddu. A allai'r Gweinidog amlinellu a fu unrhyw werthusiad pellach o'r gronfa cymorth dewisol, neu a fu unrhyw gynnydd o ran mynd i'r afael â'r awgrymiadau ar gyfer gwella yng ngwerthusiad 2015?
I'm going to start by saying that I absolutely agree with the Member with regard to the importance of the discretionary assistance fund, whether that be through individual assistance payments or emergency assistance payments. And I actually visited the Wrexham centre where it's facilitated not too long ago, and I sat and heard first-hand some of the distressing calls that are made by people who are really very vulnerable and struggling to make ends meet.
Like you say, an evaluation was undertaken and published in 2015, which made a number of recommendations for improvement, including making use of the DAF partner network to help support clients to apply successfully. They have all been implemented. A further survey was also carried out in 2016, but, in addition to this, an audit was carried out by Welsh Government in August 2017, which made a number of recommendations for improvement, which included things like simplifying the application process to assist vulnerable clients, making online applications for emergency support funding, without them needing to have that partner support that was needed beforehand, and I'm pleased that these have all been actioned.
Rwyf am yn dechrau drwy ddweud fy mod yn cytuno'n llwyr â'r Aelod ynghylch pwysigrwydd y gronfa cymorth dewisol, boed yn daliadau cymorth i unigolion neu daliadau cymorth mewn argyfwng. A bûm yn ymweld â chanolfan Wrecsam lle caiff ei gweithredu heb fod ymhell yn ôl, ac eisteddais a gwrando ar rai o'r galwadau torcalonnus sy'n cael eu gwneud gan bobl sy'n wirioneddol agored i niwed ac sy'n ei chael hi'n anodd cadw dau ben llinyn ynghyd.
Fel y dywedwch, cynhaliwyd a chyhoeddwyd gwerthusiad yn 2015 a wnaeth nifer o argymhellion ar gyfer gwella, gan gynnwys defnyddio rhwydwaith partneriaid y gronfa cymorth dewisol i roi cymorth i gleientiaid i wneud cais llwyddiannus. Mae pob un ohonynt wedi'u rhoi ar waith. Cynhaliwyd arolwg pellach hefyd yn 2016, ond yn ogystal â hyn, cynhaliwyd archwiliad gan Lywodraeth Cymru ym mis Awst 2017 a wnaeth nifer o argymhellion ar gyfer gwella, ac roedd yn cynnwys pethau fel symleiddio'r broses ymgeisio er mwyn cynorthwyo cleientiaid agored i niwed, gwneud ceisiadau ar-lein am gyllid cymorth brys heb fod angen iddynt gael y cymorth partner a oedd yn angenrheidiol cyn hynny, ac rwy'n falch fod pob un o'r rhain wedi cael eu rhoi ar waith.
Child poverty in Wales has been rising since 2004. It had already reached the highest level in the UK before the credit crunch, when more than one in four children in Wales were living in poverty, with 90,000 in severe poverty. We know that, last month, the End Child Poverty Network stated that Wales was the only UK nation to see a rise in child poverty last year and, although the Children's Commissioner for Wales said in March that the Welsh Government should write a new child poverty delivery plan focusing on concrete and measurable steps, the Welsh Government failed to support calls for any tackling poverty strategy during the individual Member's debate calling for this two weeks ago here. How, therefore, do you respond to the representations made to me after that debate by sector representatives regarding my emphasis on the need to focus on Welsh policy levers that the Welsh Government has within its power, that 'This is exactly the area in which we would like to focus our influencing as we agree there are powers the Welsh Government can and should be using to tackle the root causes of poverty', i.e. within a plan or strategy rather than a generic approach, which has left us at the bottom for more than 10 years?
Mae lefelau tlodi plant yng Nghymru wedi bod yn codi ers 2004. Roedd eisoes wedi cyrraedd y lefel uchaf yn y DU cyn y wasgfa gredyd, pan oedd mwy nag un o bob pedwar plentyn yng Nghymru yn byw mewn tlodi, gyda 90,000 mewn tlodi difrifol. Y mis diwethaf, gwyddom fod y Rhwydwaith Dileu Tlodi Plant wedi dweud mai Cymru oedd yr unig wlad yn y DU lle bu cynnydd mewn tlodi plant y llynedd, ac er i Gomisiynydd Plant Cymru ddweud ym mis Mawrth y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru ysgrifennu cynllun cyflawni newydd ar dlodi plant i ganolbwyntio ar gamau pendant a mesuradwy, methodd Llywodraeth Cymru gefnogi galwadau am unrhyw strategaeth drechu tlodi yn ystod dadl yr Aelod unigol yn galw am hyn yma bythefnos yn ôl. Sut felly rydych yn ymateb i'r sylwadau a wnaed i mi ar ôl y ddadl honno gan gynrychiolwyr sector ynglŷn â fy mhwyslais ar yr angen i ganolbwyntio ar yr ysgogiadau polisi Cymreig sydd gan Lywodraeth Cymru o fewn ei phwerau, mai 'Dyma'r union faes yr hoffem ganolbwyntio ein dylanwad arno gan ein bod yn cytuno bod yna bwerau y gallai ac y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru eu defnyddio i fynd i'r afael ag achosion sylfaenol tlodi', h.y. o fewn cynllun neu strategaeth yn hytrach nag ymagwedd generig, sydd wedi ein gadael ar y gwaelod am dros 10 mlynedd?
Llywydd, I do find a hint of irony in the question from the Member without actually talking about the impact of austerity on child poverty in Wales and across the UK and how that has been significantly amplified as a consequence not just of austerity but of the regressive welfare reforms as well.
We are committed to taking action to reduce and ultimately eliminate child poverty by not just using the levers at our disposal across Government, whether that be through housing, education, health, but also the First Minister is committed to and work is under way on the First Minister's commitment to reorganise Welsh Government funding programmes to ensure that we have maximum impact on the lives of children living in poverty in Wales.
Lywydd, rwy'n synhwyro awgrym o eironi yng nghwestiwn yr Aelod gan nad yw'n sôn mewn gwirionedd am effaith cyni ar dlodi plant yng Nghymru a ledled y DU a sut y mae hynny wedi cael ei chwyddo'n sylweddol nid yn unig o ganlyniad i gyni ond y diwygiadau lles atchweliadol hefyd.
Rydym wedi ymrwymo i gymryd camau i leihau, ac yn y pen draw, i ddileu tlodi plant nid yn unig drwy ddefnyddio'r dulliau sydd ar gael inni ar draws y Llywodraeth, boed hynny drwy dai, addysg, iechyd, ond hefyd mae'r Prif Weinidog wedi ymrwymo ac mae gwaith yn mynd rhagddo ar ymrwymiad y Prif Weinidog i ad-drefnu rhaglenni cyllido Llywodraeth Cymru er mwyn sicrhau ein bod yn cael yr effaith fwyaf sy'n bosibl ar fywydau plant sy'n byw mewn tlodi yng Nghymru.
We now have some communities where one in two children are living in poverty, and that is utterly disgraceful, but it is something that your Government can do something about. The Welsh Government could have an anti-poverty strategy—that would be a good start—a strategy that includes raising the threshold for free school meals to that of Northern Ireland, for example. Hunger, which is linked to poor attainment in school and is a consequence of poverty—I don't see much action from the Government on the question of hunger. And being a lot more proactive on the devolution of the administration of benefits to Wales would also make a difference, as the austerity consensus that has existed in Westminster has brought so much misery to our communities here in Wales. But do you agree with me, Minister, therefore, that it is neither enough nor acceptable to hide behind the pernicious policies of the Tories in Westminster while there is so much that could be done here in Wales to mitigate this child poverty?
Erbyn hyn mae gennym rai cymunedau lle mae un o bob dau blentyn yn byw mewn tlodi, ac mae hynny'n gwbl warthus, ond mae'n rhywbeth y gall eich Llywodraeth wneud rhywbeth yn ei gylch. Gallai Llywodraeth Cymru gael strategaeth yn erbyn tlodi—byddai hynny'n ddechrau da—strategaeth sy'n cynnwys codi'r trothwy ar gyfer prydau ysgol am ddim i'r un lefel â Gogledd Iwerddon, er enghraifft. Mae newyn, sy'n gysylltiedig â chyrhaeddiad gwael yn yr ysgol ac yn ganlyniad tlodi—nid wyf yn gweld llawer o weithredu gan y Llywodraeth mewn perthynas â newyn. A byddai bod yn llawer mwy rhagweithiol ar ddatganoli gweinyddu budd-daliadau i Gymru hefyd yn gwneud gwahaniaeth, gan fod y consensws cyni sydd wedi bodoli yn San Steffan wedi arwain at gymaint o drallod i'n cymunedau yma yng Nghymru. Ond a ydych yn cytuno â mi felly, Weinidog, nad yw'n ddigon nac yn dderbyniol cuddio y tu ôl i bolisïau niweidiol y Torïaid yn San Steffan tra bo cymaint y gellid ei wneud yma yng Nghymru i liniaru tlodi plant?
The Member's absolutely right that one child living in poverty is one child too many, particularly in 2019. That should not be the case, and I share the Member's passion for tackling this. On a Welsh Government level, we are committed to using all those levers at our disposal, as I just said to Mark Isherwood, whether that's through what we can do in terms of education, supporting childcare—. And that is a commitment that the Minister is taking forward—my colleague the Minister Julie James—in terms of actually how we maximise that funding and those things to actually bring it together across Government and really have the impact we want in terms of minimising and reducing and ultimately eliminating child poverty.
The Member refers to welfare reform and the potential devolution of the administration of welfare reform. This is something that I'm taking forward on behalf of the First Minister. We've tasked the Wales Centre for Public Policy to do a piece of work on that with us. I will be meeting them in the next couple of weeks to take that forward, and I'm more than happy to keep the Member updated, because I know you're so passionate and interested in this area, and to speak to you about this in the future.
Mae'r Aelod yn llygad ei lle fod un plentyn sy'n byw mewn tlodi yn un plentyn yn ormod, yn enwedig yn 2019. Ni ddylai hynny ddigwydd, ac rwy'n rhannu angerdd yr Aelod ynglŷn â mynd i'r afael â hyn. Ar lefel Llywodraeth Cymru, rydym wedi ymrwymo i ddefnyddio'r holl ddulliau sydd ar gael inni, fel y dywedais wrth Mark Isherwood yn awr, boed drwy'r hyn y gallwn ei wneud o ran addysg, cefnogi gofal plant—. Ac mae hwnnw'n ymrwymiad y mae'r Gweinidog yn bwrw ymlaen ag ef—fy nghyd-Aelod, y Gweinidog Julie James—o ran y ffordd rydym yn sicrhau cymaint â phosibl o'r cyllid hwnnw a'r pethau hynny er mwyn dod â hyn ynghyd ar draws y Llywodraeth ac i gael yr effaith rydym am ei chael mewn perthynas â lleihau, lliniaru, ac yn y pen draw, dileu tlodi plant.
Cyfeiria'r Aelod at ddiwygio lles a'r posibilrwydd o ddatganoli'r gwaith o weinyddu diwygio lles. Mae hyn yn rhywbeth rwy'n gweithio arno ar ran y Prif Weinidog. Rydym wedi gofyn i Ganolfan Polisi Cyhoeddus Cymru wneud gwaith ar hynny gyda ni. Byddaf yn cyfarfod â hwy yn yr ychydig wythnosau nesaf i fwrw ymlaen â hynny, ac rwy'n fwy na pharod i roi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf i'r Aelod, gan y gwn am eich angerdd a'ch diddordeb yn y maes hwn, ac i siarad â chi am hyn yn y dyfodol.
4. A wnaiff y Gweinidog ddatganiad am y cyllid sydd ar gael i adnewyddu tai ar gyfer pobl hŷn? OAQ54072
4. Will the Minister make a statement on the funding available to renovate houses for older people? OAQ54072
Yes. There is substantial Welsh Government support available to home owners and landlords, including older people, to renovate properties. Across Wales, £148 million has been made available to local authorities to invest in Welsh homes.
Gwnaf. Mae cefnogaeth sylweddol ar gael gan Lywodraeth Cymru i berchnogion cartrefi a landlordiaid, gan gynnwys pobl hŷn, ar gyfer adnewyddu eiddo. Ledled Cymru, mae £148 miliwn ar gael i awdurdodau lleol ei fuddsoddi mewn cartrefi yng Nghymru.
Diolch yn fawr iawn. Dŷn ni’n gwybod, yn Ynys Môn, o fewn y pump i 10 mlynedd nesaf, fod disgwyl cynnydd o ryw 30 y cant yn nifer y bobl hŷn—pobl dros 60 oed. Dŷn ni'n gwybod yn barod fod yna brinder tai addas ar gyfer pobl hŷn efo anghenion symudedd yn arbennig ac anghenion iechyd. Mae angen codi tai newydd, wrth gwrs, sydd yn addas, ac mae hefyd angen adnewyddu tai o fewn y stoc bresennol. Ac, wrth gwrs, mae angen buddsoddi hefyd mewn addasu tai ar gyfer pobl hŷn. Tra allwch chi, fel Llywodraeth bresennol, ddim rhoi ymrwymiad heibio’r etholiad nesaf wrth gwrs, ydych chi'n cytuno bod rhaid i lefelau grant gan Lywodraeth Cymru i awdurdodau lleol fel Ynys Môn ar gyfer addasiadau, yn sicr, gynyddu ar yr un raddfa ag y mae ein poblogaeth ni'n heneiddio?
Thank you very much. We know, on Anglesey, that, within the next five to 10 years, there's going to be an increase of around 30 per cent in the number of older people—that's people over the age of 60. We already know that there’s a shortage of appropriate housing for older people with mobility needs and other health needs. We need to build new houses, of course, which are appropriate, and we also need to renovate houses within the current stock, and of course we need to invest in adaptations for homes for older people. Whilst you, as the current Government, can’t give a commitment beyond the next election, of course, do you agree that grant levels from the Welsh Government to local authorities such as Ynys Môn for adaptations should increase at the same rate as our population is growing older?
Actually, only this lunchtime I was at the launch of the 'Adaptations without delay' report done by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, which my colleague Dawn Bowden had sponsored. We had a very good conversation about how we can accelerate the care and repair schemes in order to make sure that—. They have a number of functions, as the Member will be aware. They are preventative, obviously, and they help people stay in their own homes and not have to go into any kind of social care or NHS care, and also they are ameliorative in the sense that they get people back out of those settings into more independent living. My colleague Julie Morgan and I have had a couple of meetings very recently with various agencies delivering care and repair schemes, to see what data we can make the most use of to see what we need to do with it in the future, including actually looking to see whether we've got the demographic spread right, whether we've got the right kind of adaptations, and, frankly, whether we're building in our innovative housing programme the right kind of houses so that we build a 'house for life', as they call it, so that you don't have to have it adapted—they're built with stairs wide enough and all that sort of stuff.
I've been to some very good programmes. As it happens, only last week I was up in Ynys Môn and I went to see the new modular factory being built there for the passive house. The council leader was at the opening of that factory, and I know that they are commissioning bungalows especially with that in mind—with the increase in the older demographic in mind—with a view to having them being as flexible as possible so that people can stay in them for as long as possible. What we're doing is looking to see whether we can use the data coming back from our care and repair agencies to help us to decide which homes are worth adapting, which houses it's impossible to do it to economically, what the best options for people are, so that we can get them the right kind of accommodation in the right place, and what ameliorative programmes we can put in place to ensure that people stay as independent as possible for as long as possible. So, I think that's kind of a 'maybe' answer to your question, but I would be very interested in discussing it further.
A dweud y gwir, amser cinio, roeddwn yn lansiad yr adroddiad 'Addasiadau heb oedi' a gynhyrchwyd gan Goleg Brenhinol y Therapyddion Galwedigaethol, lansiad a noddwyd gan fy nghyd-Aelod Dawn Bowden. Cawsom sgwrs dda iawn ynglŷn â sut y gallwn gyflymu'r cynlluniau gofal a thrwsio er mwyn sicrhau—. Mae ganddynt nifer o swyddogaethau, fel y gŵyr yr Aelod. Maent yn ataliol, yn amlwg, ac maent yn helpu pobl i aros yn eu cartrefi eu hunain fel nad oes rhaid iddynt fynd i mewn i unrhyw fath o ofal cymdeithasol neu ofal GIG, ac maent hefyd yn wellhaol yn yr ystyr eu bod yn sicrhau bod pobl yn dychwelyd o'r lleoliadau hynny i fyw yn fwy annibynnol. Mae fy nghyd-Aelod Julie Morgan a minnau wedi cael un neu ddau o gyfarfodydd yn ddiweddar iawn gydag asiantaethau amrywiol sy'n darparu cynlluniau gofal a thrwsio, i weld pa ddata y gallwn wneud y defnydd mwyaf ohono i weld beth sydd angen i ni ei wneud ag ef yn y dyfodol, gan gynnwys edrych i weld a yw'r lledaeniad demograffig yn iawn gennym, a oes gennym y math cywir o addasiadau, ac a dweud y gwir, a ydym yn adeiladu'r math cywir o dai yn ein rhaglen dai arloesol fel ein bod yn adeiladu 'tŷ am oes', fel y'i gelwir, fel nad oes yn rhaid ichi ei addasu—maent wedi'u hadeiladu gyda grisiau digon llydan a phethau o'r fath.
Rwyf wedi ymweld â rhaglenni da iawn. Fel mae'n digwydd, roeddwn ar Ynys Môn yr wythnos diwethaf a bûm yn ymweld â'r ffatri fodiwlar newydd sy'n cael ei hadeiladu yno ar gyfer y tŷ ynni goddefol. Roedd arweinydd y cyngor yn bresennol yn agoriad y ffatri honno, a gwn eu bod yn comisiynu byngalos yn benodol gyda hynny mewn golwg—gan ystyried y cynnydd yn y ddemograffeg hŷn—gyda'r bwriad o sicrhau eu bod mor hyblyg â phosibl fel y gall pobl aros ynddynt am gyn hired â phosibl. Rydym yn edrych i weld a allwn ddefnyddio'r data a gawn gan ein hasiantaethau gofal a thrwsio i'n helpu i benderfynu pa gartrefi sy'n werth eu haddasu, pa dai y mae'n amhosibl gwneud hynny iddynt yn economaidd, beth yw'r opsiynau gorau i bobl fel y gallwn ddarparu'r math iawn o lety ar eu cyfer yn y lle iawn, a pha raglenni gwellhaol y gallwn eu rhoi ar waith i sicrhau bod pobl yn aros mor annibynnol â phosibl am gyn hired â phosibl. Felly, credaf fod hynny'n rhyw fath o ateb 'efallai' i'ch cwestiwn, ond byddai gennyf gryn ddiddordeb mewn trafod hyn ymhellach.
Many of the older people who come to me have been very grateful for the grants that they've had to adapt their homes or to renovate them, because as you and I and most of the Members here know, stability in your home is incredibly important as you get older because you are able then to stay connected to your community, things are more familiar, and it helps with mental health issues, loneliness, isolation and the raft of it—it's very important. However, the issue with the money is that, very often, the councils will give out that money, they've awarded the contract and then the contract itself, or the builders who provide it, are sub-service: the renovations have not been to the right standard, the adaptations do not meet the needs of the person, and they have not done what they said they would do. You go back to the councils and they say, 'But we've given out the money; our job has finished'. What can you do, as a Minister for this area, to encourage councils to actually just be a little bit more savvy in their business dealings with these organisations, and to do simple things like have a 5 per cent or 10 per cent retention fee, so that once the householder, and only when the householder, has actually signed off on it and said, 'Yes, that disabled bathroom is now fit for purpose', or 'Yes, that renovation is allowing me to stay in this home safely and securely', does the council then pay the balance? Because it's a loss-loss situation—the council have got money that's not being utilised properly, the poor person involved in this has got the stress, at an older age, of trying to deal with a recalcitrant company and they're not getting what they need.
Mae llawer o'r bobl hŷn sy'n dod ataf wedi bod yn ddiolchgar iawn am y grantiau a gawsant i addasu neu adnewyddu eu tai, oherwydd fel y gwyddoch chi a minnau a'r rhan fwyaf o'r Aelodau yma, mae sefydlogrwydd yn eich cartref yn hynod o bwysig wrth i chi fynd yn hŷn gan y gallwch barhau i fod wedi'ch cysylltu wrth eich cymuned, mae pethau'n fwy cyfarwydd, ac mae'n helpu gyda materion iechyd meddwl, unigrwydd, teimlo'n ynysig a phopeth arall—mae'n bwysig iawn. Fodd bynnag, y broblem gyda'r arian yw y bydd y cynghorau yn aml iawn yn darparu'r arian hwnnw, maent wedi dyfarnu'r contract ac yna mae'r contract ei hun, neu'r adeiladwyr sy'n ei ddarparu, yn anfoddhaol: nid yw'r gwaith adnewyddu wedi'i gwblhau i'r safon iawn, nid yw'r addasiadau yn bodloni anghenion yr unigolyn, ac nid ydynt wedi gwneud yr hyn y dywedasant y byddent yn ei wneud. Rydych yn mynd yn ôl at y cynghorau ac maent yn dweud, 'Ond rydym wedi darparu'r arian; mae ein gwaith ni wedi'i wneud'. Beth y gallwch ei wneud, fel y Gweinidog sy'n gyfrifol am y maes hwn, i annog cynghorau i fod ychydig yn fwy doeth wrth ymdrin â'r sefydliadau hyn, ac i wneud pethau syml fel pennu ffioedd dargadw o 5 y cant neu 10 y cant, er mwyn sicrhau mai pan fydd deiliad y tŷ, a dim ond pan fydd deiliad y tŷ, wedi cytuno ac wedi dweud, 'Ydy, mae'r ystafell ymolchi anabl honno bellach yn addas i'r diben', neu 'Ydy, mae'r gwaith adnewyddu hwnnw'n caniatáu i mi aros yn y cartref hwn yn ddiogel', y bydd y cyngor wedyn yn talu'r hyn sy'n dal i fod yn ddyledus? Oherwydd mae hon yn sefyllfa lle mae pawb ar eu colled—mae gan y cyngor arian nad yw'n cael ei ddefnyddio'n iawn, mae'r unigolyn druan wedi dioddef straen, a hwythau'n bobl hŷn, o geisio ymdrin â chwmni ystyfnig ac nid ydynt yn cael yr hyn sydd ei angen arnynt.
I said in response to Rhun that what we want to do is look to see what the evidence coming back to us is telling us about the way that some of the care and repair schemes across Wales are managed. Actually, it's my colleague Julie Morgan who has overarching portfolio responsibility for that, but I have the housing bit of it, so it overlaps almost entirely. So, we've been working together to try and get the best out of it.
If you've got very specific examples, I'd be very happy to hear about them and see what we can do. It is helpful to us to know where the problems are. As I say, we are looking at data collection so that we can redesign the schemes appropriately. We're also looking to see whether the way we currently deliver it is the best way to deliver it or whether there are other methodologies available. It's not done in the same way in every part of Wales, so it'll be interesting to see some of the detail of the things that you're telling me.
Dywedais mewn ymateb i Rhun mai'r hyn rydym yn awyddus i'w wneud yw edrych ar yr hyn y mae'r dystiolaeth a gawn yn ei ddweud wrthym am y ffordd y rheolir rhai o'r cynlluniau gofal a thrwsio ledled Cymru. A dweud y gwir, fy nghyd-Aelod Julie Morgan sydd â'r cyfrifoldeb portffolio trosfwaol am hynny, ond rwy'n gyfrifol am yr agwedd dai, felly mae'n gorgyffwrdd bron yn llwyr. Felly, rydym wedi bod yn cydweithio i geisio cael y gorau o hynny.
Os oes gennych enghreifftiau penodol iawn, rwy'n fwy na pharod i wrando arnynt a gweld beth y gallwn ei wneud. Mae'n ddefnyddiol inni wybod ble mae'r problemau. Fel y dywedais, rydym yn edrych ar gasglu data fel y gallwn ailgynllunio'r cynlluniau'n briodol. Rydym hefyd yn edrych i weld ai'r ffordd rydym yn darparu hyn ar hyn o bryd yw'r ffordd orau o'i ddarparu neu a oes methodolegau eraill ar gael. Nid yw hyn yn cael ei wneud yn yr un ffordd ym mhob rhan o Gymru, felly bydd yn ddiddorol gweld rhywfaint o fanylion y pethau a ddywedwch wrthyf.
Minister, we all agree that we must do everything we can to ensure older people remain in their homes for as long a possible. Home adaptations are essential in ensuring this. What is your Government doing to reduce the inordinately long waits for such adaptations?
Weinidog, mae pob un ohonom yn cytuno bod yn rhaid i ni wneud popeth o fewn ein gallu i sicrhau bod pobl hŷn yn aros yn eu cartrefi am gyn hired â phosibl. Mae addasu cartrefi yn hanfodol er mwyn sicrhau hyn. Beth y mae eich Llywodraeth yn ei wneud i leihau'r amseroedd aros anarferol o hir ar gyfer addasiadau o'r fath?
I don't accept there are inordinately long waits. Actually, over the last two Assembly terms, it's improved out of all measure. I don't know if I speak only for my surrounding AMs, but we've had this discussion. Certainly, when I started as an Assembly Member, I had a fairly large postbag full of people waiting for adaptations. I certainly don't have that now because the service has improved out of all measure. So, I don't think waiting is the issue.
There are some quality issues that Angela Burns highlighted, and there are some issues around at what level you get the support. I think there are some issues about, if you're an older person living in your home and you have a couple of steps going down to your garden, how you would know how to get hold of that assistance. We're very keen to make sure that we have the right information out there, that people know how to access the assistance, and they have a relatively simple and user-friendly way of getting hold of it. But I don't accept that there are long delays. That's not what the evidence is showing us.
We have invested just short of £3.5 million into core funding for care and repair agencies to support this work, with a view to making sure that we are not having long waits. Long waits are in no-one's interests, as I said in response to Rhun ap Iorwerth. These are both preventative in the sense that they keep people out of expensive secondary and tertiary services, and ameliorative in that they get people back out of those services as fast as possible. So, in terms of value for money, it's an absolute no-brainer to spend the money on this rather than on the more expensive acute services. But if the Member has any specific examples of long delays, again, I'd be very grateful to hear specifics from her, because that's not our general experience.
Nid wyf yn derbyn bod yr amseroedd aros yn anarferol o hir. A dweud y gwir, dros ddau dymor diwethaf y Cynulliad, mae pethau wedi gwella'n sylweddol. Nid wyf yn gwybod ai dros fy ACau cyfagos yn unig rwy'n siarad, ond rydym wedi cael y drafodaeth hon. Yn sicr, pan ddechreuais fel Aelod Cynulliad, roedd gennyf fag post eithaf mawr yn llawn o bobl a oedd yn aros am addasiadau. Yn sicr, nid oes gennyf hynny bellach gan fod y gwasanaeth wedi gwella'n sylweddol. Felly, ni chredaf mai aros yw'r broblem.
Mae Angela Burns wedi tynnu sylw at rai materion ynghylch ansawdd, ac mae rhai problemau i'w cael ynglŷn ag ar ba lefel y byddwch yn cael y cymorth. Os ydych yn unigolyn hŷn sy'n byw yn eich cartref ac mae gennych ychydig o stepiau i lawr i'ch gardd, rwy'n credu bod rhai problemau'n codi o ran sut y byddech yn gwybod sut i gael gafael ar y cymorth hwnnw. Rydym yn awyddus iawn i sicrhau ein bod yn darparu'r wybodaeth gywir, fod pobl yn gwybod sut i gael gafael ar y cymorth, a bod ganddynt ffordd gymharol syml o gael gafael arno. Ond nid wyf yn derbyn bod yna oedi hir. Nid dyna y mae'r dystiolaeth yn ei ddangos i ni.
Rydym wedi buddsoddi bron i £3.5 miliwn mewn cyllid craidd ar gyfer asiantaethau gofal a thrwsio i gefnogi'r gwaith hwn, gyda'r bwriad o sicrhau nad oes gennym amseroedd aros hir. Nid yw amseroedd aros hir o fudd i unrhyw un, fel y dywedais mewn ymateb i Rhun ap Iorwerth. Mae'r rhain yn ataliol yn yr ystyr eu bod yn cadw pobl allan o wasanaethau eilaidd a thrydyddol drud, ac yn wellhaol yn yr ystyr eu bod yn cael pobl allan o'r gwasanaethau hynny cyn gynted â phosibl. Felly, o ran gwerth am arian, mae'n gwbl amlwg y dylid gwario'r arian ar hyn yn hytrach nag ar y gwasanaethau acíwt drytach. Ond os oes gan yr Aelod unrhyw enghreifftiau penodol o amseroedd aros hir, unwaith eto, buaswn yn ddiolchgar iawn i glywed manylion ganddi, am nad dyna yw ein profiad cyffredinol ni.
5. A wnaiff y Gweinidog ddatganiad am argaeledd tai mewn awdurdodau lleol ledled Cymru? OAQ54062
5. Will the Minister make a statement on the availability of housing in local authorities across Wales? OAQ54062
Yes. The need for housing continues to outstrip the number of homes available. With borrowing constraints now removed by Westminster—at long last and after much lobbying by us—and record low interest rates, we are working with local authorities to build at scale and pace, for the first time in a generation, to make more homes available across Wales.
Gwnaf. Mae'r angen am dai yn parhau i fod yn fwy na nifer y cartrefi sydd ar gael. Gyda San Steffan bellach wedi cael gwared ar gyfyngiadau benthyca—o'r diwedd, ac ar ôl llawer o lobïo gennym—a'r cyfraddau llog isaf erioed, rydym yn gweithio gydag awdurdodau lleol i adeiladu ar raddfa fawr ac yn gyflym am y tro cyntaf mewn cenhedlaeth i sicrhau bod mwy o gartrefi ar gael ledled Cymru.
Thank you, Minister. As was mentioned here in the Senedd yesterday, we've seen housing developments approved despite them falling outside the settlement boundary of local development plans. A key consideration allowing these is the obvious need for new homes. However, whilst controversial applications are receiving consent, it is true that Wales has an empty property problem. All local authorities in Wales have an empty home strategy and an action plan. Yet, despite this—and I would add that I've been here eight years now, and right from my very first week as an Assembly Member, I was raising concerns about the number of empty properties in Wales that would turn into very good homes for people who are waiting desperately—currently there are around 27,000 private sector and 1,400 social sector empty properties in Wales. Therefore, will you explain what further support you will give to local authorities and other agencies—registered social landlords—to go about helping them to bring these empty properties back into purposeful homes for those who desperately need them?
Diolch, Weinidog. Fel y soniwyd yma yn y Senedd ddoe, rydym wedi gweld datblygiadau tai yn cael eu cymeradwyo er eu bod y tu allan i ffiniau aneddiadau cynlluniau datblygu lleol. Ystyriaeth allweddol sy'n caniatáu hyn yw'r angen amlwg am gartrefi newydd. Fodd bynnag, er bod ceisiadau dadleuol yn cael cydsyniad, mae'n wir fod gan Gymru broblem gydag eiddo gwag. Mae gan bob awdurdod lleol yng Nghymru strategaeth gartrefi gwag a chynllun gweithredu. Serch hynny—a buaswn yn ychwanegu fy mod wedi bod yma ers wyth mlynedd bellach, ac ers fy wythnos gyntaf fel Aelod Cynulliad, roeddwn yn mynegi pryderon am nifer yr eiddo gwag yng Nghymru a fyddai'n troi'n gartrefi da iawn i bobl sy'n aros—ar hyn o bryd mae oddeutu 27,000 eiddo gwag yn y sector preifat a 1,400 yn y sector cymdeithasol yng Nghymru. Felly, a wnewch chi egluro pa gymorth pellach y byddwch yn ei roi i awdurdodau lleol ac asiantaethau eraill—landlordiaid cymdeithasol cofrestredig—i fynd ati i'w helpu i droi'r eiddo gwag hyn yn ôl yn gartrefi pwrpasol i'r rhai sydd eu hangen yn daer?
There's absolutely no excuse whatsoever for anybody in the social housing sector to have a void issue. We provide them with more than sufficient grants to bring those voids back into beneficial use. So, again, if you have specific examples of social housing in that position, I'd be really glad to see it, because there's something going very wrong there. I can assure you that no RSL or LSVT should be in a position where they can't bring their voids back into beneficial use.
In terms of the private sector, my colleague Lee Waters has been working very hard on a scheme to bring empty properties back into beneficial use by looking at loan schemes and a series of grant schemes so that we can find out why it's empty, find out who the owners are, and then find out what it would need to either buy it off them or bring it back into beneficial use. He's been working very hard on getting a number of pilot schemes running in that area.
We also encourage local authorities to act properly in terms of their council tax to make sure that they are levying the right amounts of tax on empty homes. It depends why the home is empty and my colleague Rebecca Evans is working very hard on the vacant land tax implications of some of this work. We're very keen that local authorities use all the levers that they have in order to bring homes back into beneficial use. We also have a number of grant schemes. We have schemes designed to bring homes back into beneficial use that private owners can access, and we have schemes for landlords that they can access as well. And if the Member wants to write to me, I'd be more than happy to provide her with details of those schemes.
Nid oes unrhyw esgus o gwbl fod gan unrhyw un yn y sector tai cymdeithasol broblem ag eiddo gwag. Rydym yn darparu mwy na digon o grantiau iddynt i ddod â'r eiddo gwag hynny yn ôl i ddefnydd buddiol. Felly, unwaith eto, os oes gennych enghreifftiau penodol o dai cymdeithasol yn y sefyllfa honno, buaswn yn falch o'u gweld, gan fod rhywbeth mawr o'i le yno. Gallaf eich sicrhau na ddylai unrhyw landlord cymdeithasol cofrestredig neu gymdeithas drosglwyddo gwirfoddol ar raddfa fawr fod mewn sefyllfa lle na allant ddod â'u tai gwag yn ôl i ddefnydd buddiol.
O ran y sector preifat, mae fy nghyd-Aelod Lee Waters wedi bod yn gweithio'n galed iawn ar gynllun i ddod ag eiddo gwag yn ôl i ddefnydd buddiol drwy edrych ar gynlluniau benthyg a chyfres o gynlluniau grant fel y gallwn ddarganfod pam ei fod yn wag, darganfod pwy yw'r perchnogion, ac yna darganfod beth fyddai ei angen naill ai i'w brynu ganddynt neu ddod ag ef yn ôl i ddefnydd buddiol. Mae wedi bod yn gweithio'n galed iawn i roi nifer o gynlluniau peilot ar waith yn y maes hwnnw.
Rydym hefyd yn annog awdurdodau lleol i weithredu'n briodol mewn perthynas â'u treth gyngor er mwyn sicrhau eu bod yn codi'r symiau cywir o dreth ar gartrefi gwag. Mae'n dibynnu pam fod y cartref yn wag ac mae fy nghyd-Aelod Rebecca Evans yn gweithio'n galed iawn ar oblygiadau rhywfaint o'r gwaith hwn o safbwynt treth ar dir gwag. Rydym yn awyddus iawn i awdurdodau lleol ddefnyddio'r holl ddulliau sydd ganddynt o ddod â chartrefi yn ôl i ddefnydd buddiol. Hefyd, mae gennym nifer o gynlluniau grant. Mae gennym gynlluniau a gynlluniwyd i ddod â chartrefi yn ôl i ddefnydd buddiol y gall perchnogion preifat fanteisio arnynt, ac mae gennym gynlluniau i landlordiaid allu gwneud defnydd ohonynt hefyd. Ac os yw'r Aelod yn dymuno ysgrifennu ataf, rwy'n fwy na pharod i roi manylion y cynlluniau hynny iddi.
I wonder what role the Minister sees modular housing playing in meeting the needs within local authority areas. I was delighted to be able to join her only recently in Maes Glas in Ynysawdre to look at the Valleys to Coast initiative with modular housing, very much on that theme of houses for life that can be adapted and changed as the years go by. Now, that's being developed by a Port Talbot company, Wernick, who are new to this residential market but have a long pedigree within modular construction. And I just wonder how much more we can do to deal with those issues of quality, homes for life and meeting those massive supply needs that we have with different local authority areas, and building local jobs, I have to say, in Port Talbot and locally with me.
Tybed pa rôl y mae'r Gweinidog yn gweld tai modiwlar yn ei chwarae yn diwallu anghenion o fewn ardaloedd awdurdodau lleol? Roeddwn yn falch iawn o allu ymuno â hi yn ddiweddar ym Maes Glas yn Ynysawdre i edrych ar fenter Cymoedd i'r Arfordir gyda thai modiwlar ar y thema honno o dai am oes y gellir eu haddasu a'u newid wrth i'r blynyddoedd fynd heibio. Nawr, mae'r gwaith hwnnw'n cael ei ddatblygu gan gwmni o Bort Talbot, Wernick, sy'n newydd i'r farchnad breswyl hon ond sydd â hanes hir ym maes adeiladu modiwlar. A tybed faint yn fwy y gallwn ei wneud i fynd i'r afael â'r materion sy'n ymwneud ag ansawdd, cartrefi am oes a bodloni'r anghenion cyflenwi enfawr sydd gennym gyda gwahanol ardaloedd awdurdodau lleol, ac adeiladu swyddi lleol, rhaid dweud, ym Mhort Talbot ac yn lleol gyda mi.
Yes, that was an excellent scheme and a very good visit, and I was very impressed, as I know Huw Irranca-Davies was, at the speed of construction, the niceness of the house—I can't think of another word, but it's just a really lovely home. But I was also very impressed by the ability to add on another unit if you had a growing family, and to actually pick the whole house up and put it down somewhere else if you needed to. It was a very interesting and, I thought, instructive visit, and he's absolutely right—what we are looking to do in Wales is, using Welsh materials with as low a carbon footprint as is humanly possible, build house to passive standard if at all possible, so the bills are £100 or less a year, using local labour in local factories.
And one of the lovely things about modular factories—I haven't visited that one, but I did visit one in Ynys Môn last week—is that no matter what the weather—and although Ynys Môn is very beautiful, the weather was a little inclement, I think it's fair to say; a bit horizontal rain last week—of course, in the factory it was warm and dry and the people could carry on their jobs, they were not having to work at height, and so on. They were constructing the house that would then have its final stage of construction actually on the site, exactly like the programme we saw.
So, I actually believe that is the future for housing in Wales and, at the moment, we're about to go out to what's called the third iteration of the innovative housing programme, so that was the fruit of the first part of the programme. That will deliver 1,000 new homes across Wales in the next few years. It's got 45 schemes running, and we expect to learn a lot of lessons about the way that we can build at pace and scale using that kind of modular construction.
Roedd hwnnw'n gynllun ardderchog ac yn ymweliad da iawn, ac roeddwn yn llawn edmygedd, fel Huw Irranca-Davies, rwy'n gwybod, o gyflymder yr adeiladu, pa mor ddeniadol oedd y tŷ—ni allaf feddwl am air arall, ond mae'n gartref hyfryd iawn. Ond roeddwn hefyd yn llawn edmygedd o'r gallu i ychwanegu uned arall os oedd eich teulu'n tyfu, ac i godi'r tŷ cyfan i fyny a'i osod yn rywle arall pe bai angen. Roedd yn ymweliad hynod ddiddorol ac addysgiadol yn fy marn i, ac mae'n llygad ei le—yr hyn rydym yn gobeithio'i wneud yng Nghymru, drwy ddefnyddio deunyddiau Cymreig ag ôl-troed carbon mor isel â phosibl, yw adeiladu tŷ i safon ynni goddefol os yw hynny'n bosibl, fel bod y biliau'n £100 neu lai bob blwyddyn, gan ddefnyddio gweithwyr lleol mewn ffatrïoedd lleol.
Ac un o'r pethau hyfryd am ffatrïoedd modiwlar—nid wyf wedi ymweld â'r un hwnnw, ond ymwelais ag un ar Ynys Môn yr wythnos diwethaf—ni waeth beth yw'r tywydd—ac er bod Ynys Môn yn hyfryd iawn, credaf ei bod yn deg dweud bod y tywydd braidd yn arw; glaw llorweddol yr wythnos diwethaf—wrth gwrs, yn y ffatri, roedd hi'n gynnes ac yn sych a gallai'r bobl barhau i weithio, nid oedd yn rhaid iddynt weithio ar uchder, ac yn y blaen. Roeddent yn adeiladu'r tŷ a fyddai wedyn yn cael ei godi ar y safle ar y cam olaf, yn union fel y rhaglen a welsom.
Felly, credaf mai dyna ddyfodol tai yng Nghymru, ac ar hyn o bryd, rydym ar fin dechrau'r hyn a elwir yn drydydd iteriad y rhaglen dai arloesol, felly dyna oedd canlyniad rhan gyntaf y rhaglen. Bydd hynny'n darparu 1,000 o gartrefi newydd ledled Cymru dros yr ychydig flynyddoedd nesaf. Mae 45 o gynlluniau ganddo ar waith, ac rydym yn disgwyl dysgu llawer o wersi am y ffordd y gallwn adeiladu ar raddfa fawr ac yn gyflym gan ddefnyddio'r math hwnnw o adeiladu modiwlar.
6. A wnaiff y Gweinidog ddatganiad am y pwys a roddir ar ystyriaethau amgylcheddol yn y system gynllunio? OAQ54075
6. Will the Minister make a statement on the weight given to environmental considerations in the planning system? OAQ54075
Sustainable development is at the heart of the planning system. 'Planning Policy Wales' is clear that environmental issues have parity with social, economic and cultural considerations and, together with technical advice and supporting guidance, provides comprehensive coverage on environmental considerations in the planning system.
Mae datblygu cynaliadwy'n ganolog i'r system gynllunio. Mae 'Polisi Cynllunio Cymru' yn datgan yn glir fod materion amgylcheddol yr un mor bwysig ag ystyriaethau cymdeithasol, economaidd a diwylliannol, ac ynghyd â chyngor technegol a chanllawiau ategol, mae'n rhoi sylw cynhwysfawr i ystyriaethau amgylcheddol yn y system gynllunio.
Diolch i chi am yr ateb, achos dyna yw'r theori, ond rwy'n credu bod y practis damaid bach yn wahanol, oherwydd gan fod y Prif Weinidog wedi dweud yn glir mewn perthynas â'i benderfyniad ynglŷn â'r M4 fod y pwysau mae e wedi'i roi ar ystyriaethau amgylcheddol yn wahanol i'r pwysau roddwyd ar yr ystyriaethau hynny gan yr Arolygiaeth Gynllunio, dwi'n meddwl bod hynny yn amlygu anghysondeb pwysig o fewn y gyfundrefn, ac mae rhywun yn cwestiynu faint o benderfyniadau eraill fyddai wedi bod yn wahanol petai'r arolygydd cynllunio efallai wedi rhoi yr un pwys ar ffactorau amgylcheddol ag yn amlwg y mae'r Prif Weinidog a'r Llywodraeth yn ei wneud erbyn hyn. Felly, sut ydych chi'n bwriadu diwygio neu gywiro canfyddiad anghywir, os caf i ddweud, yr Arolygiaeth Gynllunio ar y weighting sydd angen ei roi ar faterion amgylcheddol, yn enwedig, wrth gwrs, yn sgil datgan argyfwng hinsawdd?
Thank you for that response, because that’s the theory, but I think the practice is slightly different, because as the First Minister made clear in relation to his decision on the M4 that the weighting that he has given to environmental considerations is different to the weighting given to those considerations by the Planning Inspectorate, I think that does highlight an inconsistency, and an important inconsistency, within the system. One does question how many other decisions would have been different if the Planning Inspectorate had given the same weighting to environmental considerations as the First Minister and the Government clearly do now. So, how do you intend to amend or correct the incorrect perception of the Planning Inspectorate of the weighting that should be given to environmental considerations, particularly given the declaration of a climate emergency?
I take the point the Member's trying to make, but I think it's not entirely a fair one. Obviously, when any individual human being brings a judgment to bear on a set of facts, there's an element of subjectivity in that, no matter how objective the rules are that are set out. And one individual gives slightly different weight to something than another for a variety of reasons. But what we try to do in Wales—and we're about to go out to consultation on the national development framework and, as I said yesterday in my submission about regional working for local authorities, we're putting a strategic planning tier in as well—here in Wales we want to have a plan-led system where local people have a big say in what their local plan says, that we assist them to have that very loud say in what their local plan says—every area should look the way its local people want it to look; that's the point of the planning system—but that there are a set of rules that we agree here in the Assembly and in our various tiers of government that are applied to make sure that people have the right considerations in place. So, this is a set of rules that says that environmental considerations have the same weight as the economic, social and other considerations. That is the weight we expect the inspectorate to put on it, and I just recently spoke to the royal institute of town planners and I made very clear what our expectations were for the places of the future and I made it extremely clear that what we want to see are local, sustainable communities with a sense of place, which value their local environment and their local culture and their local economic arrangements, which have sustainable jobs closer to where they live, in a system that allows us to make the best use of Wales's natural resources—so, very much what you said. But what we're doing is putting the plan-led system in place that would allow that to happen.
Now, ideally, you would have put the national development framework in first, but we are where we are. So, we've got a set of LDPs that are going through review at the moment. We will put the national development framework in place in consultation with the people of Wales over the summer and then we will put the strategic bits in place, and, at each one of those, there will be a loud conversation with the people of Wales to make sure that we have that balance right for them, because people in different places put different emphasis on different types of things, depending on local need.
So, I'm sort of agreeing with you, I think, but the element of subjectivity is necessarily there. So, in the end, the decision maker brings that to bear, but they do it in a way that is compliant with the system that's in place and unchallengeable in the sense that they show that they've put that balance right. But there'll always be nuance in that. So, the individual decision maker will always bring that nuance to it. And that's the case for planning committees and for planning inspectors. We would like to see as many decisions as possible made in the planning committees themselves, in the democratically controlled councils that are elected to do these things, and, if we can get that system right, we will see a diminution of the appeals to the Planning Inspectorate and—Llywydd, if you'll forgive me for going on at length about this, but I think it's an important point—we are also, of course, consulting about separating the planning inspectorate for Wales into a separate body for that exact reason, because we want a planning system in Wales that's fit for Wales's future.
Rwy'n derbyn y pwynt y mae'r Aelod yn ceisio'i wneud, ond ni chredaf ei fod yn gwbl deg. Yn amlwg, pan fydd unrhyw unigolyn yn ffurfio barn ar set o ffeithiau, ceir elfen o oddrychedd yn hynny o beth, ni waeth pa mor wrthrychol yw'r rheolau. Ac mae un unigolyn yn rhoi pwys ychydig yn wahanol i rywbeth arall am amryw o resymau. Ond yr hyn y ceisiwn ei wneud yng Nghymru—ac rydym ar fin ymgynghori ar y fframwaith datblygu cenedlaethol, ac fel y dywedais ddoe yn fy nghyflwyniad am weithio rhanbarthol i awdurdodau lleol, rydym yn rhoi haen gynllunio strategol i mewn hefyd—yma yng Nghymru, rydym yn awyddus i gael system wedi'i harwain gan gynlluniau lle mae gan bobl leol lais cryf yn yr hyn y mae eu cynllun lleol yn ei ddweud, ein bod yn eu cynorthwyo i gael y llais cryf hwn yn yr hyn y mae eu cynllun lleol yn ei ddweud—dylai pob ardal edrych fel y mae ei phobl leol am iddi edrych; dyna bwynt y system gynllunio—ond bod yna set o reolau rydym yn cytuno arnynt yma yn y Cynulliad ac yn ein gwahanol haenau o lywodraeth a ddefnyddir i sicrhau bod gan bobl yr ystyriaethau cywir ar waith. Felly, mae hon yn set o reolau sy'n dweud bod ystyriaethau amgylcheddol yr un mor bwysig â'r ystyriaethau economaidd, cymdeithasol ac yn y blaen. Dyna'r pwysau y disgwyliwn i'r arolygiaeth ei roi ar hyn, ac yn ddiweddar, siaradais â'r sefydliad cynllunio trefol brenhinol a dywedais yn glir iawn beth oedd ein disgwyliadau ar gyfer lleoedd y dyfodol, a dywedais yn glir iawn mai'r hyn rydym am ei weld yw cymunedau lleol, cynaliadwy gydag ymdeimlad o le, sy'n gwerthfawrogi eu hamgylchedd lleol a'u diwylliant lleol a'u trefniadau economaidd lleol, sydd â swyddi cynaliadwy yn agosach at eu cartrefi, mewn system sy'n ein galluogi i wneud y defnydd gorau o adnoddau naturiol Cymru—felly, yr hyn a ddywedasoch, yn bendant iawn. Ond yr hyn rydym yn ei wneud yw rhoi'r system a arweinir gan gynlluniau ar waith er mwyn caniatáu i hynny ddigwydd.
Nawr, yn ddelfrydol, byddech wedi rhoi'r fframwaith datblygu cenedlaethol ar waith yn gyntaf, ond dyma'r sefyllfa rydym ynddi. Felly, mae gennym gyfres o gynlluniau datblygu lleol sy'n cael eu hadolygu ar hyn o bryd. Byddwn yn rhoi'r fframwaith datblygu cenedlaethol ar waith mewn ymgynghoriad â phobl Cymru dros yr haf, ac yna byddwn yn rhoi'r darnau strategol ar waith, ac ym mhob un o'r rheini, bydd sgwrs glir gyda phobl Cymru i sicrhau ein bod yn cael y cydbwysedd hwnnw'n iawn ar eu cyfer hwy, gan fod pobl mewn gwahanol leoedd yn rhoi pwyslais gwahanol ar wahanol fathau o bethau, yn dibynnu ar angen lleol.
Felly, rwy'n credu fy mod yn cytuno â chi, ond mae'r elfen o oddrychedd yno o reidrwydd. Felly, yn y pen draw, yr un sy'n gwneud y penderfyniad sy'n rhoi hynny ar waith, ond maent yn gwneud hynny mewn ffordd sy'n cydymffurfio â'r system sydd ar waith ac na ellir ei herio yn yr ystyr eu bod yn dangos eu bod wedi cael y cydbwysedd hwnnw'n gywir. Ond bydd amrywiadau cynnil o fewn hynny bob amser. Felly, bydd yr un sy'n gwneud y penderfyniad bob amser yn ystyried yr amrywiadau cynnil hynny. Ac mae hynny'n wir ar gyfer pwyllgorau cynllunio ac arolygwyr cynllunio. Hoffem weld cymaint o benderfyniadau â phosibl yn cael eu gwneud yn y pwyllgorau cynllunio eu hunain, yn y cynghorau a reolir yn ddemocrataidd sy'n cael eu hethol i wneud y pethau hyn, ac os gallwn gael y system honno'n iawn, byddwn yn gweld lleihad yn nifer yr apeliadau i'r Arolygiaeth Gynllunio a—Lywydd, os maddeuwch i mi am siarad yn bur faith ar hyn, ond credaf ei fod yn bwynt pwysig—rydym hefyd, wrth gwrs, yn ymgynghori ar wahanu arolygiaeth gynllunio Cymru yn gorff ar wahân am yr union reswm hwnnw, gan ein bod yn awyddus i gael system gynllunio yng Nghymru sy'n addas ar gyfer dyfodol Cymru.
I'm struggling to think of anything that the Minister could possibly add to that in a supplementary question. [Laughter.] If I could just ask—. You mentioned in the middle of your speech there, Minister, the need to build houses for the future. I've had correspondence with one of my constituents—. I don't want to go into the individual planning applications, but the local authority has turned down a modern eco house—or is in the process of doing that—on the basis that the land within which it's being built also contains a derelict building that they say should be done up first. My constituents have raised a valid point, which is, surely, now that we've got the climate change emergency and we're talking about environmental concerns—is there a need to overhaul planning guidance to local authorities so that the climate emergency and the need for environmental concerns are factored into it at a far greater level, so that, if someone does want to build an eco-friendly house, then surely that should be pushed a little bit higher up the agenda so that we are getting homes that are more helping with the decarbonising agenda?
Rwy'n ei chael yn anodd meddwl am unrhyw beth y gallai'r Gweinidog ei ychwanegu at hynny mewn cwestiwn atodol. [Chwerthin.] Os caf fi ofyn—. Roeddech yn sôn yn eich araith yn awr, Weinidog, fod angen adeiladu tai ar gyfer y dyfodol. Rwyf wedi bod yn gohebu ag un o fy etholwyr—. Nid wyf eisiau trafod y ceisiadau cynllunio unigol, ond mae'r awdurdod lleol wedi gwrthod tŷ eco modern—neu mae yn y broses o wneud hynny—ar y sail fod y tir y mae'n cael ei adeiladu arno hefyd yn cynnwys adeilad adfeiliedig y dylid ei adnewyddu yn gyntaf, yn ôl yr awdurdod. Mae fy etholwyr wedi codi pwynt dilys, sef, yn awr fod gennym argyfwng newid hinsawdd a'n bod yn siarad am bryderon amgylcheddol—a oes angen ailwampio canllawiau cynllunio i awdurdodau lleol fel bod yr argyfwng hinsawdd a'r angen i fynd i'r afael â materion amgylcheddol yn cael eu cynnwys ar lefel lawer uwch, ac felly, os oes rhywun eisiau adeiladu tŷ eco-gyfeillgar, oni ddylai hynny gael ei wthio fymryn yn uwch ar yr agenda fel bod gennym gartrefi sy'n helpu mwy gyda'r agenda ddatgarboneiddio?
Well, I'm not going to comment on the individual planning application, about which I know nothing, and so I'm going to make my remarks much more general. But we changed—. Actually, my colleague Lesley Griffiths, one of the last thing she did as the planning Minister was to issue the new 'Planning Policy Wales' document, which fundamentally changes the planning system in Wales, which, I think—. People are talking about a review; we've just fundamentally changed the system, and, if you haven't read it, I recommend it to you. It is not a dry planning document. It's a very living document, which fundamentally shifts the landscape in Wales that we're talking about, and it does it in the way that you've just outlined. So, it talks about the sustainability of placemaking, it talks about using local resources in the best way, it talks about the development of proper planning processes with local people at the heart of it.
And, as I've just said, we're also putting the rest of that framework into place now. We will shortly be consulting over the summer on the national development framework. I encourage all Assembly Members to engage with that and come back to us with both their own and their constituents' comments on that plan. And, as I said yesterday, I've started to outline a process by which we want local authorities to put the strategic layer of plans in place. People have to be at the heart of that process, because it's their place that they're making and what we want to ensure is that the citizens of Wales feel that their planning system properly represents them. The individual decisions are then made in the light of the weight of the documents that their locality has put in place. So, if you don't engage with your local development plan process, you will not have a say in what those rules are when they come to each individual planning application. So, we need to strengthen that voice because I think often it's the case that a local community only realises when an individual planning application comes forward that there's an issue and they don't engage with the plan part of that process in quite the way we'd like. So, I very much welcome views on how we might get a better engagement so that people own their plan in a much more realistic way.
Wel, nid wyf am wneud sylw ar y cais cynllunio unigol, rhywbeth nad wyf yn gwybod dim amdano, ac felly rwyf am wneud fy sylwadau'n llawer mwy cyffredinol. Ond rydym wedi newid—. A dweud y gwir, un o'r pethau olaf a wnaeth fy nghyd-Aelod Lesley Griffiths fel Gweinidog cynllunio oedd cyhoeddi'r ddogfen 'Polisi Cynllunio Cymru' newydd, sy'n newid y system gynllunio yng Nghymru'n sylfaenol, ac sydd, rwy'n credu—. Mae pobl yn sôn am adolygiad; rydym newydd newid y system yn sylfaenol, ac os nad ydych wedi'i ddarllen, rwy'n ei argymell i chi. Nid dogfen gynllunio sych yw hi. Mae'n ddogfen fyw iawn, sy'n symud y tirlun rydym yn sôn amdano yng Nghymru yn sylfaenol, ac mae'n gwneud hynny yn y ffordd rydych newydd ei hamlinellu. Felly, mae'n sôn am gynaliadwyedd creu lleoedd, mae'n sôn am ddefnyddio adnoddau lleol yn y ffordd orau, mae'n sôn am ddatblygu prosesau cynllunio priodol gyda phobl leol yn greiddiol iddynt.
Ac fel rwyf newydd ddweud, rydym hefyd yn rhoi gweddill y fframwaith hwnnw ar waith yn awr. Cyn bo hir, byddwn yn ymgynghori ar y fframwaith datblygu cenedlaethol dros yr haf. Anogaf holl Aelodau'r Cynulliad i ymgysylltu â hwnnw a dod yn ôl atom gyda'u sylwadau eu hunain a sylwadau eu hetholwyr ar y cynllun hwnnw. Ac fel y dywedais ddoe, rwyf wedi dechrau amlinellu proses lle rydym eisiau i awdurdodau lleol roi haen strategol cynlluniau ar waith. Mae'n rhaid i bobl fod wrth wraidd y broses honno, oherwydd eu lle hwy y maent yn ei greu ac rydym eisiau sicrhau bod dinasyddion Cymru'n teimlo bod eu system gynllunio'n eu cynrychioli'n briodol. Yna, gwneir y penderfyniadau unigol yng ngoleuni pwysau'r dogfennau a roddwyd ar waith yn eu hardal leol. Felly, os nad ydych yn ymgysylltu â phroses eich cynllun datblygu lleol, ni fydd gennych lais yn y rheolau hynny pan fyddant yn dod at bob cais cynllunio unigol. Felly, mae angen cryfhau'r llais hwnnw oherwydd, yn aml, credaf nad yw cymuned leol yn sylweddoli bod problem hyd nes y cyflwynir cais cynllunio unigol ac nid ydynt yn ymgysylltu â chynllun y broses honno yn y ffordd y byddem yn ei hoffi. Felly, rwy'n falch iawn o glywed safbwyntiau ynglŷn â sut y gallem sicrhau ymgysylltiad gwell fel bod pobl yn berchen ar eu cynllun mewn ffordd lawer mwy realistig.
Not only for humans but for animals as well, please. Apart from acting as boundaries and keeping animals inside fields, the hedgerow is an important habitat for a wide variety of animals and plants. As woodlands have been destroyed over the years, a lot of wildlife in them has adapted to living underneath hedgerows and in hedgerows. Will the Minister ensure that, for planning rules, they give due regard to the protection of both the urban and the rural wildlife by conserving and creating the habitats that sustain these creatures?
Nid yn unig ar gyfer pobl ond ar gyfer anifeiliaid hefyd, os gwelwch yn dda. Ar wahân i weithredu fel ffiniau a chadw anifeiliaid y tu mewn i gaeau, mae'r gwrychoedd yn gynefin pwysig i amrywiaeth eang o anifeiliaid a phlanhigion. Wrth i goetiroedd gael eu dinistrio dros y blynyddoedd, mae llawer o'r bywyd gwyllt ynddynt wedi addasu i fyw o dan berthi ac mewn gwrychoedd. A wnaiff y Gweinidog sicrhau, mewn perthynas â rheolau cynllunio, eu bod yn rhoi sylw dyledus i ddiogelu bywyd gwyllt y trefi a'r ardaloedd gwledig drwy warchod a chreu'r cynefinoedd sy'n cynnal y creaduriaid hyn?
Yes. I think that's a very valid point, and, as each local development plan goes through, those are the sorts of considerations that the planners and the councillors in each local area should be giving to the preservation of their local landscape. My colleague the Minister for environment has recently been consulting widely on the protection of countryside—things such as hedgerows—and we will certainly be taking that into account.
Ie. Credaf fod hwnnw'n bwynt dilys iawn, ac wrth i bob cynllun datblygu lleol gael ei gyflwyno, dyna'r mathau o bethau y dylai'r cynllunwyr a'r cynghorwyr ym mhob ardal leol fod yn eu hystyried er mwyn diogelu eu tirwedd leol. Yn ddiweddar, bu fy nghyd-Aelod, Gweinidog yr amgylchedd, yn ymgynghori'n eang ar ddiogelu cefn gwlad—pethau fel gwrychoedd—a byddwn yn sicr yn ystyried hynny.
7. A wnaiff y Gweinidog ddatganiad am y broses gynllunio ar gyfer datblygiadau o arwyddocâd cenedlaethol? OAQ54057
7. Will the Minister make a statement on the planning process for developments of national significance? OAQ54057
Certainly. Developments of national significance is a specific process where defined categories of infrastructure planning applications are made to the Welsh Ministers rather than local planning authorities. Since the process was introduced in 2016, four such applications have been made and were determined within the statutory time frame.
Yn sicr. Mae datblygiadau o arwyddocâd cenedlaethol yn broses benodol lle caiff categorïau diffiniedig o geisiadau cynllunio seilwaith eu cyflwyno i Weinidogion Cymru yn hytrach nag i awdurdodau cynllunio lleol. Ers i'r broses gael ei chyflwyno yn 2016, mae pedwar cais o'r fath wedi'u cyflwyno a'u penderfynu o fewn y terfyn amser statudol.
Thank you for your answer, Minister. There is an impending large-scale incinerator application proposal at Buttington Quarry in Powys, which has prompted me to look at the relevant planning guidance. Now, I was quite surprised to see this proposal because it is in a particular site where there's no other large industry at that rural location. When the application is submitted, the scale of it means that it will be decided under the developments of national significance process. Can I ask you to look at national waste strategy as a whole to ensure that waste is dealt with strategically for Wales's needs, and also in the most environmentally conscious way possible? I think the Welsh Government needs to take some time to consider whether the current processes and rules surrounding large-scale incinerator applications are fit for purpose, and, in doing so, develop a national plan. Having noted the lack of a national plan myself, I certainly feel that a moratorium on all applications for incinerators should be put in place when a full and detailed review is carried out ahead of a plan being developed.
Diolch i chi am eich ateb, Weinidog. Mae cynnig yn yr arfaeth i wneud cais am losgydd mawr yn chwarel Tal-y-bont ym Mhowys, sydd wedi fy ysgogi i edrych ar y canllawiau cynllunio perthnasol. Nawr, cefais fy synnu braidd o weld y cynnig hwn oherwydd ei fod mewn safle penodol lle nad oes unrhyw ddiwydiant mawr arall yn yr ardal wledig honno. Pan fydd y cais yn cael ei gyflwyno, mae ei faint yn golygu y bydd yn cael ei benderfynu o dan broses y datblygiadau o arwyddocâd cenedlaethol. A gaf fi ofyn i chi edrych ar y strategaeth wastraff genedlaethol yn ei chyfanrwydd i sicrhau bod gwastraff yn cael ei drin yn strategol ar gyfer anghenion Cymru, a hefyd yn y ffordd fwyaf amgylcheddol ymwybodol sy'n bosibl? Rwy'n credu bod angen i Lywodraeth Cymru roi rhywfaint o amser i ystyried a yw'r prosesau a'r rheolau cyfredol sy'n ymwneud â cheisiadau am losgyddion mawr yn addas i'r diben, a datblygu cynllun cenedlaethol drwy wneud hynny. Ar ôl sylwi ar ddiffyg cynllun cenedlaethol fy hun, rwy'n sicr yn teimlo y dylid rhoi moratoriwm ar bob cais am losgyddion a chynnal adolygiad llawn a manwl cyn i gynllun gael ei ddatblygu.
I'm not going to comment on the individual application; I don't know anything about it, anyway. As far as I'm aware, it's not being done under the developments of national significance route, but if it is, it is. I'm not aware of it, so I'm not going to comment on that.
My colleague Hannah Blythyn is actually undertaking a review of our 'Towards Zero Waste' strategy with a view to looking again at the circular economy in Wales. And, in her debate response only last week, she talked about the work that we're going to be doing towards that. Certainly, the end disposal of any waste that's remaining will be part of that relook. Obviously, a circular economy wouldn't have any waste in it and so there'd be a falling need for end-of-life disposal of that sort. So, we will be looking again at our 'Towards Zero Waste' policy, with a view to implementing as much of a circular economy in Wales as possible.
Nid wyf am wneud sylwadau ar y cais unigol; nid wyf yn gwybod unrhyw beth amdano beth bynnag. Hyd y gwn i, nid yw'n cael ei wneud o dan y drefn ar gyfer datblygiadau o arwyddocâd cenedlaethol, ond efallai ei fod. Nid wyf yn ymwybodol ohono, felly nid wyf am wneud sylwadau ar hynny.
Mae fy nghyd-Aelod, Hannah Blythyn, yn cynnal adolygiad o'n strategaeth 'Tuag at Ddyfodol Diwastraff', gyda'r bwriad o ailedrych ar yr economi gylchol yng Nghymru. Ac yn ei dadl yr wythnos diwethaf, soniodd am y gwaith y byddwn yn ei wneud tuag at hynny. Yn sicr, bydd gwaredu unrhyw wastraff diwedd oes yn rhan o'r ailystyriaeth honno. Yn amlwg, ni fyddai gan economi gylchol unrhyw wastraff ynddi ac felly byddai llai a llai o angen gwaredu gwastraff terfynol o'r math hwnnw. Felly, byddwn yn ailedrych ar ein polisi 'Tuag at Ddyfodol Diwastraff', gyda'r bwriad o weithredu cymaint o economi gylchol yng Nghymru ag sy'n bosibl.
8. Pa gamau y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn eu cymryd i fynd i'r afael â chyflymu'r gwaith o gynllunio a darparu addasiadau i gartrefi? OAQ54061
8. What action is the Welsh Government taking to speed up the planning and delivery of home adaptations? OAQ54061
The rapid delivery of housing adaptations is key to helping people stay independent in their own home. We are working with colleagues in the health services, local authorities and the voluntary sector to tackle the complexity that can sometimes hamper speedy adaptations.
Mae darparu addasiadau i dai yn gyflym yn allweddol i helpu pobl i aros yn annibynnol yn eu cartrefi eu hunain. Rydym yn gweithio gyda chydweithwyr yn y gwasanaethau iechyd, awdurdodau lleol a'r sector gwirfoddol i fynd i'r afael â'r cymhlethdod sy'n gallu rhwystro addasiadau cyflym weithiau.
Thank you, Minister, and, in some ways, this question follows on from the earlier question from Rhun, and you mentioned earlier that we both have just come from an event organised by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, and they were talking about this very issue. I won't repeat what you and others have already said about the benefits of adaptations, but we all face the challenge of delivering those adaptations in good time, and the royal college are recommending a categorised approach to adaptation work focused on person-centred outcomes, driven by the level of complexity of each person's needs. So, can I therefore ask you: do you broadly endorse the guide to planning and delivering home adaptations differently in Wales from the royal college? And can you tell me whether you'll be working with them to see how the recommendations in their report can be effectively delivered?
Diolch i chi, Weinidog, ac mewn rhai ffyrdd, mae'r cwestiwn hwn yn dilyn y cwestiwn cynharach gan Rhun, a soniasoch yn gynharach ein bod newydd ddod o ddigwyddiad a drefnwyd gan Goleg Brenhinol y Therapyddion Galwedigaethol, a'u bod yn siarad am yr union fater hwn. Ni wnaf ailadrodd yr hyn rydych chi ac eraill eisoes wedi'i ddweud am fanteision addasiadau, ond rydym i gyd yn wynebu'r her o ddarparu'r addasiadau hynny mewn da bryd, ac mae'r coleg brenhinol yn argymell dull o gategoreiddio gwaith addasu sy'n canolbwyntio ar ganlyniadau i'r unigolyn, wedi'u hysgogi gan lefel cymhlethdod anghenion pob unigolyn. Felly, a gaf fi ofyn i chi: a ydych yn cymeradwyo'r canllawiau i gynllunio a darparu addasiadau cartrefi mewn modd gwahanol yng Nghymru i'r coleg brenhinol? Ac a allwch ddweud wrthyf a fyddwch yn gweithio gyda hwy i weld sut y gellir cyflawni'r argymhellion yn eu hadroddiad yn effeithiol?
Yes, it's very good. I haven't read it all since lunchtime, but I've had a flick through and it certainly does look very good. I very much welcome the guide, which certainly will help housing providers consider how to provide a wider range of adaptations to their tenants, using an assessment that reflects the complexity of a person's needs and the adaptation they require. Obviously, the guide is aimed at reducing delays in the delivery of adaptations by providing tools that support proportionate responses and making more effective use of occupational therapists in particular, since it's done by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. And it echoes our preventative approach to adaptations that I outlined in my answer to Rhun. I do think that the royal college makes a very pertinent point about the best use of scarce resource.
So, the example that the speaker before me was making was that, if you need a grab rail in your house, then you need somebody who can fit a grab rail and yourself to say where you need it; you do not need an occupational therapist to come and tell you where to put it. What you need is some common sense. On the other hand, if you need adaptations for the way that you get in and out of a complex seat or bed, for example, you may well need an occupational therapist to be able to work out the best way for you to stay as independent as possible. And she was making the valid point that they are best placed to say which of those pieces of advice they would be best placed to give, and there are a range of other experts who need to be involved in that. And, as I said in response to a number of other Members who've raised this issue today, I very much welcome details from around the country, if you have any, of any things that are particularly good, as well as any issues that are coming back. And Julie Morgan and I have had a number of meetings with care and repair agencies in Wales looking at what data is coming back so that we can make the best use of scarce resources.
Ydy, mae'n dda iawn. Nid wyf wedi ei ddarllen i gyd ers amser cinio, ond rwyf wedi ei frasddarllen ac mae'n sicr yn edrych yn dda iawn. Croesawaf y canllaw yn fawr, a bydd yn sicr o helpu darparwyr tai i ystyried sut i ddarparu ystod ehangach o addasiadau i'w tenantiaid, gan ddefnyddio asesiad sy'n adlewyrchu cymhlethdod anghenion unigolyn a'r addasiad sydd ei angen arnynt. Yn amlwg, nod y canllaw yw lleihau oedi wrth ddarparu addasiadau drwy ddarparu offer sy'n cefnogi ymatebion cymesur a gwneud defnydd mwy effeithiol o therapyddion galwedigaethol yn arbennig, gan mai Coleg Brenhinol y Therapyddion Galwedigaethol sy'n ei wneud. Ac mae'n adleisio ein hymagwedd ataliol tuag at addasiadau a amlinellais yn fy ateb i Rhun. Credaf fod y coleg brenhinol yn gwneud pwynt perthnasol iawn am y defnydd gorau o adnoddau prin.
Felly, yr enghraifft roedd y siaradwr o fy mlaen yn ei rhoi oedd, os oes angen canllaw cydio arnoch yn eich tŷ, mae angen rhywun sy'n gallu gosod canllaw cydio a chi i ddweud lle rydych ei angen; nid oes angen therapydd galwedigaethol arnoch i ddod i ddweud wrthych ble i'w roi. Yr hyn sydd ei angen arnoch yw rhywfaint o synnwyr cyffredin. Ar y llaw arall, os oes angen addasiadau arnoch ar gyfer y ffordd rydych yn mynd i mewn ac allan o wely neu sedd gymhleth, er enghraifft, efallai y bydd angen therapydd galwedigaethol arnoch i allu nodi'r ffordd orau i chi allu parhau i fod mor annibynnol â phosibl. Ac roedd yn gwneud y pwynt dilys mai hwy sydd yn y sefyllfa orau i ddweud pa agweddau ar y cyngor hwnnw y byddent yn y sefyllfa orau i'w rhoi, ac mae angen i amrywiaeth o arbenigwyr eraill fod yn rhan o hynny. Ac fel y dywedais mewn ymateb i nifer o Aelodau eraill sydd wedi codi'r mater hwn heddiw, rwy'n croesawu manylion o bob cwr o'r wlad, os oes gennych rai, ynglŷn ag unrhyw bethau sy'n arbennig o dda, yn ogystal ag unrhyw faterion sy'n codi. Ac mae Julie Morgan a minnau wedi cael nifer o gyfarfodydd gydag asiantaethau gofal a thrwsio yng Nghymru i edrych ar ba ddata sy'n dod yn ôl fel y gallwn wneud y defnydd gorau o adnoddau prin.
Diolch i'r Gweinidog.
Thank you, Minister.
Yr eitem nesaf, felly, yw'r cwestiynau amserol. Mae'r cwestiwn cyntaf i'r Gweinidog Addysg ac mae'r cwestiwn yn cael ei ofyn gan Bethan Sayed.
The next item, therefore, is topical questions. The first question is for the education Minister and the question is to be asked by Bethan Sayed.
1. A wnaiff y Gweinidog ymateb i faterion gweinyddol parhaus ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe, gan gynnwys y newyddion diweddar bod y Brifysgol saith mis yn hwyr yn cyhoeddi ei hadroddiad ariannol? 327
1. Will the Minister respond to ongoing administrative issues at Swansea University, including recent news that the University is seven months late publishing its financial report? 327
I met with the chair of the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales yesterday for confirmation that the council is engaging with the university and monitoring its financial position in accordance with the council's regulatory and financial responsibilities. The university, as an independent, autonomous institution, made a public statement about the delayed publication and confirmed it has no bearing on its financial well-being or performance.
Cyfarfûm â chadeirydd Cyngor Cyllido Addysg Uwch Cymru ddoe i gael cadarnhad fod y cyngor yn ymgysylltu â'r brifysgol ac yn monitro eu sefyllfa ariannol yn unol â chyfrifoldebau rheoleiddio ac ariannol y cyngor. Gwnaeth y brifysgol, fel sefydliad annibynnol, ymreolaethol, ddatganiad cyhoeddus am yr oedi cyn cyhoeddi gan gadarnhau nad yw'n effeithio ar eu perfformiad na'u lles ariannol.
Thank you for the answer. I thought it was important to raise this issue again, given some of the reports that emerged last week, and I appreciate that you've met with HEFCW. But I wanted to put on record that we all value the work that the university does, but that's one of the main reasons why I wanted to raise this again, as has my colleague Helen Mary Jones. And we can't be satisfied with the public statements that have come so far regarding the administrative and management issues at the university. I think that it's our role to scrutinise that particular aspect, and I think it's entirely appropriate for that to happen. Because, as much as any education Minister across the world may say that universities are autonomous bodies, they're also in receipt of public funds, and therefore cannot be above scrutiny or oversight, and, in my view, have a public duty to be more forthright.
So, the suspensions of senior management at the university began late last year, and it's around six months later and we're still not at all clear on the specifics of what happened and why any investigation is still ongoing. If you could provide more clarity on that, it would be much appreciated. Myself and colleagues have been approached by staff at the university who have told us that the investigation is being purposely delayed. Now, I'm not going to comment on the accuracy of that, but that is what they have told me in e-mails. So, an estimate of when we should expect the findings of an investigation and a publication of any report would be welcome, if you could provide it. You've mentioned that you've talked to HEFCW and they're satisfied with the way in which it's carrying out its work, but do you understand that all appropriate stages that are outlined within HEFCW's control have been exhausted, and do you believe that it's not the right time to think about the nature of any intervention that's taken place so far?
I'm also concerned that, to my knowledge, the university court has not been convened this year. Its meeting in February was cancelled, and I was told that a new meeting was being planned for May, but, as far as I know, I haven't had an e-mail telling me when any new meeting takes place, which is where it's an opportunity for AMs to scrutinise them. So, I would like reassurances from you—are you personally satisfied with progress in any investigation, that HEFCW are taking the necessary steps of oversight, and that Swansea University is not having any systematic problems? What time frame would you tolerate as the education Minister in drawing conclusions to any of these investigations?
Just to finish, I think, on a broader level, these incidents, where the public, students and many of the staff of the university are largely unaware of what's happening—I'd like you to comment as to whether you think that's appropriate. I've said before we should have a wider governance review of Welsh universities in terms of the oversight arrangements so that we can understand fully what's happening and that we understand that, given the significant amount of public money involved—that the public and those working at university, more fundamentally, understand what's happening as part of these processes. Because while we understand that you don't have direct control, we also need to understand that we have all of these overarching policies in place where we can scrutinise exactly what's happened here. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Diolch am eich ateb. Roeddwn yn meddwl ei bod yn bwysig codi'r mater hwn eto, o ystyried rhai o'r adroddiadau a ddaeth i'r amlwg yr wythnos diwethaf, ac rwy'n derbyn eich bod wedi cyfarfod â CCAUC. Ond roeddwn am ddweud ar goedd fod pob un ohonom yn gwerthfawrogi'r gwaith y mae'r brifysgol yn ei wneud, ond dyna un o'r prif resymau pam roeddwn yn awyddus i godi hyn eto, fel y gwnaeth fy nghyd-Aelod Helen Mary Jones. Ac ni allwn fod yn fodlon â'r datganiadau cyhoeddus a gafwyd hyd yma ynglŷn â materion gweinyddol a rheoli yn y brifysgol. Credaf mai ein rôl ni yw craffu ar yr agwedd benodol honno, a chredaf ei bod yn gwbl briodol fod hynny'n digwydd. Oherwydd, er y byddai unrhyw Weinidog addysg mewn unrhyw ran o'r byd yn dweud bod prifysgolion yn gyrff ymreolaethol, maent hefyd yn derbyn arian cyhoeddus, ac felly ni allant fod uwchlaw craffu neu oruchwyliaeth, ac yn fy marn i, mae ganddynt ddyletswydd gyhoeddus i fod yn fwy clir.
Felly, dechreuodd y camau i atal yr uwch reolwyr yn y brifysgol dros dro yn hwyr y llynedd, ac oddeutu chwe mis yn ddiweddarach, ceir dryswch o hyd ynglŷn â manylion yr hyn a ddigwyddodd a pham fod unrhyw ymchwiliad yn dal i fynd rhagddo. Pe gallech roi mwy o eglurder ar hynny, byddai hynny'n cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr. Mae staff yn y brifysgol wedi cysylltu â mi a chyd-Aelodau gan ddweud wrthym fod yr ymchwiliad yn cael ei ohirio'n fwriadol. Nawr, nid wyf am wneud sylwadau ar gywirdeb hynny, ond dyna'r hyn y maent wedi'i ddweud wrthyf mewn e-byst. Felly, byddai amcangyfrif o ran pryd y dylem ddisgwyl canfyddiadau ymchwiliad a chyhoeddi unrhyw adroddiad yn cael ei groesawu, pe gallech ei roi. Rydych wedi sôn eich bod wedi siarad â CCAUC a'u bod yn fodlon â'r ffordd y maent yn cyflawni eu gwaith, ond a ydych yn deall bod yr holl gamau priodol a amlinellir o fewn rheolaeth CCAUC wedi eu cymryd, ac a ydych yn credu nad dyma'r amser i feddwl am natur unrhyw ymyrraeth a ddigwyddodd hyd yma?
Rwyf hefyd yn pryderu nad yw llys y brifysgol, hyd y gwn i, wedi ymgynnull eleni. Cafodd eu cyfarfod ym mis Chwefror ei ganslo, a dywedwyd wrthyf fod cyfarfod newydd yn cael ei gynllunio ar gyfer mis Mai, ond hyd y gwn i, nid wyf wedi cael e-bost yn dweud wrthyf pryd y bydd unrhyw gyfarfod newydd yn cael ei gynnal, sef y man lle caiff Aelodau'r Cynulliad gyfle i graffu arnynt. Felly, hoffwn sicrwydd gennych—a ydych chi'n bersonol yn fodlon â chynnydd mewn unrhyw ymchwiliad, fod CCAUC yn cymryd y camau goruchwylio angenrheidiol, ac nad oes unrhyw broblemau systematig ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe? Pa amserlen y byddech yn ei chaniatáu fel y Gweinidog addysg o ran dod i gasgliadau mewn perthynas ag unrhyw un o'r ymchwiliadau hyn?
I gloi, ar lefel ehangach, credaf nad yw'r digwyddiadau hyn, lle nad yw'r cyhoedd, y myfyrwyr a llawer o staff y brifysgol yn ymwybodol o'r hyn sy'n digwydd—hoffwn i chi wneud sylwadau ynglŷn ag a ydych o'r farn fod hynny'n briodol. Rwyf wedi dweud o'r blaen y dylem gael adolygiad llywodraethu ehangach o brifysgolion Cymru mewn perthynas â'r trefniadau goruchwylio fel y gallwn ddeall yn iawn beth sy'n digwydd a deall, o ystyried y symiau sylweddol o arian cyhoeddus sy'n gysylltiedig â hwy—fod y cyhoedd a'r rheini sy'n gweithio yn y brifysgol yn deall yn iawn beth sy'n digwydd fel rhan o'r prosesau hyn. Oherwydd er ein bod yn deall nad oes gennych reolaeth uniongyrchol, mae angen i ni ddeall hefyd fod gennym yr holl bolisïau trosfwaol hyn ar waith lle gallwn graffu ar beth yn union sydd wedi digwydd yma. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Of course I'm aware of the situation at Swansea University and am monitoring the situation and have had regular updates from HEFCW. In my meeting with the chair of the higher education funding council yesterday, I asked a direct question as to whether he and the council had any concerns around the processes that had been employed by Swansea University in dealing with the disciplinary cases that we are all aware of, and the chair confirmed to me that they had no concerns regarding the processes undertaken by Swansea University. I take the chair's word for it when he tells me that.
With regard to a wider governance review of the entirety of the higher education sector, I'm sure the Member is aware of the contents of my remit letter to HEFCW this year, which calls upon them to undertake such a review. That work has already begun, and we will look to work with HEFCW and our institutions in Wales to see that that review strengthens corporate governance in the sector, ahead of, of course, our wider set of post-compulsory education and training reforms where we will look to abolish HEFCW and establish a new commission that will have a regulatory and a governance role, not only for higher education, but also for further education and, indeed, all providers of post-compulsory education in our nation.
Wrth gwrs, rwy'n ymwybodol o'r sefyllfa ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe ac rwy'n monitro'r sefyllfa ac rwyf wedi cael diweddariadau rheolaidd gan CCAUC. Yn fy nghyfarfod â chadeirydd y cyngor cyllido addysg uwch ddoe, gofynnais gwestiwn uniongyrchol ynglŷn ag a oedd ganddo ef a'r cyngor unrhyw bryderon ynghylch y prosesau a ddilynwyd gan Brifysgol Abertawe wrth ymdrin â'r achosion disgyblu y mae pob un ohonom yn ymwybodol ohonynt, a chadarnhaodd y cadeirydd wrthyf nad oedd ganddynt unrhyw bryderon ynghylch y prosesau a ddilynwyd gan Brifysgol Abertawe. Rwy'n derbyn gair y cadeirydd pan ddywed hynny wrthyf.
O ran adolygiad llywodraethu ehangach o'r sector addysg uwch yn ei gyfanrwydd, rwy'n siŵr fod yr Aelod yn ymwybodol o gynnwys fy llythyr cylch gwaith i CCAUC eleni, sy'n galw arnynt i gynnal adolygiad o'r fath. Mae'r gwaith hwnnw eisoes wedi dechrau, ac rydym yn bwriadu gweithio gyda CCAUC a'n sefydliadau yng Nghymru i sicrhau bod yr adolygiad hwnnw'n cryfhau llywodraethu corfforaethol yn y sector, cyn ein set ehangach o ddiwygiadau i addysg ôl-orfodol a hyfforddiant wrth gwrs, lle byddwn yn diddymu CCAUC ac yn sefydlu comisiwn newydd ag iddo rôl reoleiddio a llywodraethu, nid yn unig ar gyfer addysg uwch, ond hefyd ar gyfer addysg bellach, ac yn wir, pob darparwr addysg ôl-orfodol yn ein gwlad.
I agree with Bethan Sayed that once an institution, whether it's an autonomous body or not, is in receipt of public funds, it has an accountability to this place, either through yourself or through us directly. I just want to follow up on the comments you made about the conversations that you've had with HEFCW, because, actually, I think this is where, as an Assembly, we can be asking some questions. You just said that they have no concerns about the processes that Swansea University has been following during this rather sorry period, and you were happy to take their word for it. Well, the fact that we're standing here asking this question shows that there should be some concerns about those processes. What exactly did they tell you that they had done in order to satisfy themselves of the processes that Swansea had followed? Because it may well be that this seven-month delay in putting the accounts forward is the only thing that they've done wrong, but I would be pretty astounded if anyone just took their word for that. So, perhaps you can give us a bit more detail on that.
The university, of course, in recent years, has done phenomenally well in improving its status and its reputation throughout the world, and the work that it's done has done nothing but impress me in recent years. However, in 2016-17, its income from student sources had already started to fall, which made me wonder whether, perhaps, some of the more recent bad news, if you like, had started to affect confidence in the institution. So, I'm wondering if you've got any views on this issue of confidence in the good name of the university, not least because it is one of the major players in the Swansea bay city deal. So, this is not just about the learners and their individual futures, because it's not just student money that's going into this place at the moment. There's UK Government, Welsh Government and private sector money all being put into the city deal on the basis that this is a fantastic institution with whom they can do business. Obviously, we don't want to undermine that, so perhaps you can give us a little bit of reassurance on that front.
And then finally from me, it's been a stated ambition of the university to make major investment in its estate that will dominate its financial position for the next 10 years. Now, we're talking about long-term investment, particularly in capital estate here. The fact that we haven't got a one-year financial report submitted in time is a cause for concern longer term as well, in that case. And then I just go back to that initial question about what it was that you did ask HEFCW, because if they're not worried about that specific financial question, then I would be worried. Thank you.
Cytunaf â Bethan Sayed fod sefydliad, boed yn gorff ymreolaethol ai peidio, pan fo'n derbyn arian cyhoeddus, yn atebol i'r lle hwn, naill ai drwoch chi neu drwom ni yn uniongyrchol. Rwyf am eich holi ynglŷn â'r sylwadau a wnaethoch am y trafodaethau a gawsoch gyda CCAUC, oherwydd, mewn gwirionedd, credaf mai yma, fel Cynulliad, yw'r man lle gallwn fod yn gofyn rhai cwestiynau. Dywedoch nad oes ganddynt unrhyw bryderon am y prosesau a ddilynwyd gan Brifysgol Abertawe yn ystod y cyfnod brawychus hwn, ac roeddech yn fodlon derbyn eu gair ynghylch hynny. Wel, mae'r ffaith ein bod yn sefyll yma yn gofyn y cwestiwn hwn yn dangos y dylid pryderu rhywfaint am y prosesau hynny. Beth yn union a ddywedasant wrthych ynglŷn â'r hyn roeddent wedi'i wneud i fod yn fodlon â'r prosesau a ddilynwyd gan Abertawe? Oherwydd mae'n ddigon posibl mai'r cyfnod hwn o saith mis o oedi cyn cyflwyno'r cyfrifon yw'r unig beth y maent wedi'i wneud yn anghywir, ond buaswn yn synnu pe bai unrhyw un yn derbyn eu gair am hynny. Felly, efallai y gallwch roi rhagor o fanylion inni ynglŷn â hynny.
Dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf wrth gwrs, mae'r brifysgol wedi gwneud yn arbennig o dda o ran gwella ei statws a'i henw da ledled y byd, ac mae'r gwaith a wnaeth wedi creu argraff dda arnaf dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf. Fodd bynnag, yn 2016-17, roedd ei hincwm o ffynonellau myfyrwyr eisoes wedi dechrau gostwng, a gwnaeth hynny i mi feddwl tybed a oedd rhywfaint o'r newyddion drwg mwy diweddar, os mynnwch, wedi dechrau effeithio ar hyder yn y sefydliad. Felly, tybed a oes gennych unrhyw farn ar y mater hwn o hyder yn enw da'r brifysgol, yn enwedig gan ei bod yn chwarae rhan bwysig ym margen ddinesig bae Abertawe. Felly, mae hyn yn ymwneud â mwy na'r dysgwyr a'u dyfodol fel unigolion, gan nad arian myfyrwyr yn unig sy'n mynd i'r lle hwn ar hyn o bryd. Mae arian gan Lywodraeth y DU, Llywodraeth Cymru a'r sector preifat yn mynd i'r fargen ddinesig ar y sail fod hwn yn sefydliad gwych y gallant wneud busnes ag ef. Yn amlwg, nid ydym am danseilio hynny, felly efallai y gallwch roi ychydig o sicrwydd inni ar hynny o beth.
Ac yn olaf gennyf fi, mae'r brifysgol wedi datgan uchelgais i wneud buddsoddiad sylweddol yn ei hystâd a fydd yn dominyddu ei sefyllfa ariannol am y 10 mlynedd nesaf. Nawr, rydym yn sôn am fuddsoddiad hirdymor, yn enwedig o ran ystâd gyfalaf yma. Os felly, mae'r ffaith nad oes gennym adroddiad ariannol un flwyddyn wedi'i gyflwyno mewn pryd yn achos pryder yn y tymor hwy hefyd. Ac yna rwy'n dychwelyd at y cwestiwn cychwynnol hwnnw ynglŷn â beth yn union y gofynnoch chi i CCAUC, oherwydd os nad ydynt yn poeni am y cwestiwn ariannol penodol hwnnw, fe fuaswn i'n poeni. Diolch.
HEFCW have no concerns over the financial status and stability of the institution. Their risk board, I understand, meets next month, and I was given no indication that they will change their attitude and their rating of Swansea University as a result. Clearly, they are engaged with Swansea around the late publication of financial statements. As you will be aware, the university has made a public statement saying that the reasons behind the delay have no bearing on its financial well-being or performance. Rather, the delay is due to the further work being required related to an internal audit, and the ongoing internal inquiry at the university. HEFCW is engaged with the university to monitor the cause of the delay, and it is important that they are then able to address the issues as soon as possible, relating to the internal investigation, after which they will then be in a position to publish their financial statements.
With regard to that process, I have not been presented with any evidence to suggest to me that the processes undertaken by the registrar at Swansea University are the incorrect processes, and HEFCW are satisfied themselves and have reported to me that they believe that the processes undertaken by the registrar and the university are the correct processes. Clearly, when dealing with such sensitive personnel issues related to individuals' livelihoods and reputations, those processes need to be robust and they need to be fair, and sometimes they take longer to work their way through the various stages than perhaps any of us would like. But I am clear and I have not been presented with any evidence that suggests that the processes that have been undertaken have been unfair or have not followed correct procedures.
Can I associate myself with the comments the Member made about the success of Swansea University? The university has performed extremely strongly in a whole variety of ways—academically, and the impact that it's had on the city has been significant. I am confident that the university will continue to play a really, really important role, not just in educating its students but helping us to develop our research capacity to be able to help provide meaningful employment opportunities and business opportunities within the city and the region. I understand from colleagues that issues around the city deal are moving forward.
Nid oes gan CCAUC unrhyw bryderon ynghylch statws ariannol a sefydlogrwydd y sefydliad. Bydd eu bwrdd risg, yn ôl yr hyn a ddeallaf, yn cyfarfod y mis nesaf, ac ni chefais unrhyw arwydd y byddant yn newid eu hagwedd a'u graddiad o Brifysgol Abertawe o ganlyniad. Yn amlwg, maent yn ymgysylltu ag Abertawe ynghylch cyhoeddi datganiadau ariannol yn hwyr. Fel y gwyddoch, mae'r brifysgol wedi gwneud datganiad cyhoeddus yn dweud nad yw'r rhesymau y tu ôl i'r oedi yn effeithio ar ei lles na'i pherfformiad ariannol. Yn hytrach, mae'r oedi'n deillio o ganlyniad i'r angen am waith pellach sy'n ymwneud ag archwiliad mewnol, a'r ymchwiliad mewnol parhaus yn y brifysgol. Mae CCAUC yn ymgysylltu â'r brifysgol i fonitro achos yr oedi, ac mae'n bwysig eu bod wedyn yn gallu mynd i'r afael â'r problemau cyn gynted â phosibl, mewn perthynas â'r ymchwiliad mewnol, ac yna byddant mewn sefyllfa i gyhoeddi eu datganiadau ariannol.
O ran y broses honno, nid wyf wedi cael unrhyw dystiolaeth i awgrymu bod y prosesau a ddilynwyd gan y cofrestrydd ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe yn brosesau anghywir, ac mae CCAUC yn fodlon ac wedi dweud wrthyf eu bod o'r farn mai'r prosesau a ddilynwyd gan y cofrestrydd a'r brifysgol yw'r prosesau cywir. Yn amlwg, wrth ymdrin â materion personél sensitif o'r fath sy'n ymwneud â bywoliaeth ac enw da unigolion, mae angen i'r prosesau hynny fod yn gadarn ac mae angen iddynt fod yn deg, ac weithiau, mae'n cymryd mwy o amser i weithio drwy'r gwahanol gamau nag y byddai unrhyw un ohonom yn dymuno. Ond rwy'n glir ac nid wyf wedi gweld unrhyw dystiolaeth sy'n awgrymu bod y prosesau a ddilynwyd wedi bod yn annheg neu heb ddilyn y gweithdrefnau cywir.
A gaf fi eilio'r sylwadau a wnaeth yr Aelod am lwyddiant Prifysgol Abertawe? Mae'r brifysgol wedi perfformio'n eithriadol o gryf mewn amrywiaeth eang o ffyrdd—yn academaidd, ac mae'r effaith y mae wedi'i chael ar y ddinas wedi bod yn sylweddol. Rwy'n hyderus y bydd y brifysgol yn parhau i chwarae rôl wirioneddol bwysig, nid yn unig wrth addysgu ei myfyrwyr ond wrth ein helpu i ddatblygu ein capasiti ymchwil i allu darparu cyfleoedd cyflogaeth ystyrlon a chyfleoedd busnes yn y ddinas a'r rhanbarth. Deallaf gan gydweithwyr fod materion sy'n ymwneud â'r fargen ddinesig yn symud yn eu blaenau.
Diolch i'r Gweinidog. Mae'r cwestiwn nesaf i'w ateb gan Ddirprwy Weinidog yr Economi a Thrafnidiaeth, ac mae'r cwestiwn gan Andrew R.T. Davies.
Thank you, Minister. The next question is to be answered by the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, and the question is from Andrew R.T. Davies.
2. Pa drafodaethau y mae'r Gweinidog wedi'u cael gydag Allied Bakeries yng ngoleuni cyhoeddiad y cwmni y bydd yn atal y gwaith cynhyrchu yn ei safle yn y Mynydd Bychan yng Nghaerdydd, gan roi 180 o swyddi mewn perygl? 328
2. What discussions has the Minister had with Allied Bakeries in light of the company's announcement that it's to halt production at its Heath site in Cardiff, putting 180 jobs at risk? 328
Well, Llywydd, this is clearly very disappointing news for the company and its workforce, and our thoughts are with the families and the employees at this difficult time. Welsh Government officials spoke to the business yesterday and are ready to support all affected staff through our Working Wales programmes, Jobcentre Plus, and the citizens advice bu