Translate the text from Welsh to English.



 
Rwyf wedi bod o’r farn ers tro fod eiriolaeth yn ddull hanfodol o ddiogelu plant a phobl ifanc er mwyn sicrhau bod eu lleisiau yn cael eu clywed a’u bod yn derbyn y cymorth gorau posibl i oresgyn heriau a rhwystrau eu bywydau.  

Mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi dangos ei hymrwymiad cyson i eiriolaeth ar gyfer plant a phobl ifanc. Prawf o hyn yw iddi lansio ‘Meic’ sef y llinell gymorth genedlaethol sy’n cynnig cyngor ac eiriolaeth i unrhyw blentyn, person ifanc neu gynrychiolydd iddynt, a hynny bob awr o’r dydd a’r nos.   

Nid yw ‘Meic’ yn disodli dyletswyddau statudol yr Awdurdodau Lleol a’r Byrddau Iechyd Lleol i ddarparu Eiriolaeth Proffesiynol Annibynnol i grwpiau penodol o blant a phobl ifanc agored i niwed. Ceir Canllawiau Statudol sy’n nodi’r ffordd rydym ni, fel Llywodraeth, yn disgwyl i’r sawl sy’n gyfrifol am y ddyletswydd hon ei gweithredu.  

Mae’r Gweinidogion yn eglur eu bod yn disgwyl i’r canllawiau statudol gael eu gweithredu’n lleol. Maent yn disgwyl bod plant a phobl ifanc sy’n gymwys i dderbyn gwasanaeth eiriolaeth lleol yn gwybod am eiriolaeth, yn deall beth mae’n ei olygu, yn gwybod sut i gael gafael arno, ac yn teimlo’n hyderus i wneud hynny, beth bynnag sy’n eu poeni.

Fy nod i yw sicrhau bod gwasanaethau eiriolaeth ar gyfer plant a phobl ifanc Cymru mor hygyrch ac mor effeithiol â phosibl. Byddwn yn gwneud hyn drwy ddarparu arweiniad, cyfeiriad a chefnogaeth i awdurdodau lleol a byrddau iechyd lleol, yn ogystal â darparwyr eiriolaeth.

Heddiw ydym yn cynnal cynhadledd ar eiriolaeth er mwyn:

* ailddatgan safbwynt ein polisi eiriolaeth;
* ystyried ffyrdd o godi ymwybyddiaeth a gwella dealltwriaeth o eiriolaeth;
* rhannu arferion da;
* gweithio gyda’n gilydd i sicrhau bod gwasanaeth eiriolaeth sy’n gyson uchel ei safon ar gael i grwpiau o blant a phobl ifanc agored i niwed.

Byddwn yn cyhoeddi Datganiad Polisi ar Eiriolaeth erbyn diwedd mis Ebrill, a bydd y gynhadledd yn helpu i lywio hyn. Bydd y Datganiad Polisi hwn yn nodi ein blaenoriaethau ar gyfer eiriolaeth, y camau y bwriadwn eu cymryd i wella eiriolaeth a’n dull o adrodd ein bod yn cyflawni ein hymrwymiadau. 

Rwyf wedi ymrwymo i sefydlu Grŵp Arbenigwyr Gweinidogol ar Eiriolaeth i gefnogi a llywio’r Datganiad Polisi hwn, ac mae’n bleser mawr gennyf gyhoeddi ein bod wedi penodi Dr Mike Shooter yn Gadeirydd arno. Byddaf yn cyfarfod â’r Grŵp a’r Cadeirydd cyn hir i amlinellu’r hyn rwy’n disgwyl i’r Grŵp Arbenigwyr ei gyflawni ac i roi llythyr cylch gwaith iddo ar y meysydd y bydd arnaf angen cyngor ac argymhellion yn eu cylch.  

Ochr yn ochr â hyn bydd grŵp arbenigwyr pobl ifanc yn edrych ar yr un meysydd ac yn cynnig argymhellion. Rwy’n falch o gyhoeddi mai Grŵp Cyfeirio Cenedlaethol Voices from Care fydd yn ymgymryd â hyn.

Hoffwn ddiolch yn awr i’r Bwrdd Eiriolaeth Annibynnol Cenedlaethol, sydd wedi rhoi cyngor ac argymhellion amhrisiadwy i’r Gweinidogion. Roedd pobl ifanc yn aelodau llawn o’r grŵp hwn ac roedd yn enghraifft wych o’r ffordd y gall pobl ifanc gymryd rhan lawn ac adeiladol, mewn unrhyw sefyllfa. Mae’n bleser mawr gennyf gyhoeddi Adroddiad Etifeddiaeth y Bwrdd. Bydd y Grŵp Arbenigwyr Gweinidogol ar Eiriolaeth yn ystyried hwn wrth iddo fwrw ymlaen â’i waith.  

Rydym yn lansio “Fframwaith Safonau a Chanlyniadau Eiriolaeth” ar gyfer ymgynghori heddiw, ar y cyd ag AGGCC. Sicrhau bod gwasanaethau eiriolaeth o safon uchel ar gael i blant a phobl ifanc yw ei ddiben. Mae’n seiliedig ar y Safonau Eiriolaeth Cenedlaethol ac mae’n disgrifio’r hyn sydd, yn ein barn ni, yn wasanaeth eiriolaeth da. Disgwyliwn i’r Fframwaith hwn gynorthwyo Darparwyr Eiriolaeth i ddarparu tystiolaeth eu bod yn rhoi gwasanaeth o safon dda. Disgwyliwn hefyd i’r Comisiynwyr ei ystyried wrth fonitro’r gwasanaethau eiriolaeth sydd ar gael i blant a phobl ifanc.  

O ran ein hymateb i ‘Lleisiau Coll’ – rydym yn cyhoeddi diweddariad heddiw ar ein hymateb i argymhellion y Comisiynydd Plant i’r Llywodraeth. 

Codwyd mater arolygu eiriolaeth ar gyfer plant a phobl ifanc hefyd gan y Comisiynydd Plant. Rwy’n falch o gyhoeddi y bydd AGGCC eleni yn gweithio ar adolygiad cenedlaethol o wasanaethau eiriolaeth ar gyfer plant. Bydd AGGCC hefyd yn edrych ar y gwasanaethau eiriolaeth sydd ar gael i blant sy’n destun achos yn y llys teulu fel rhan o’u harolygiad nesaf o CAFCASS CYMRU. Bydd casgliadau’r rhain yn dangos i’r Llywodraeth sut y dylai weithredu o ran rheoleiddio ac arolygu gwasanaethau eiriolaeth ac wrth gwrs, bydd Bil Rheoleiddio ac Arolygu (Cymru) arfaethedig yn un dull posibl o wneud hyn. 

Er bod eiriolaeth wedi’i feirniadu’n ddiweddar ac er bod gwaith o’n blaenau, rhaid inni hefyd gofio bod Cymru yn gwneud gwaith arloesol, sy’n torri tir newydd. Yn wir, cyhoeddodd y Comisiynydd Plant lyfr achosion arfer gorau yn ddiweddar, oedd yn tynnu sylw at hyn.    

Mae diogelu plant a phobl ifanc yn ganolog i bopeth a wnawn ac mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn glir yn ei hymrwymiad parhaus i ddatblygu a chynyddu mynediad at eiriolaeth yn gyson i bob plentyn a pherson ifanc, yn enwedig y rhai mwyaf agored i niwed.

Gall gwasanaeth eiriolaeth da gael effaith ddofn ar fywydau plant a phobl ifanc. Gadewch inni fod yn sicr ein bod yn gwneud popeth o fewn ein gallu i sicrhau ei fod ar gael, a bod y llwyddiannau a brofwyd hyd yn hyn yn parhau. 

                                             





Translation:


 
I have long believed that advocacy is an essential means of safeguarding children and young people to ensure that they are heard and have the best possible support to overcome the challenges and barriers they experience in their lives.  


The Welsh Government has consistently shown our commitment to children and young people’s advocacy and the launch of ‘meic’ – the National Advocacy and Advice helpline available 24 hours a day 7 days a week open to any child, young person or their representative \- is testament to this.   


‘Meic’ does not however replace the statutory duties that sit with Local Authorities and Local Health Boards to provide Independent Professional Advocacy for named groups of vulnerable children and young people. There is Statutory Guidance setting out how we as a Government expect the duty bearer to put this duty in place.


Ministers are clear \- they expect statutory guidance to be implemented at a local level. They expect children and young people who are eligible for local advocacy service to know about advocacy, understand what it means, know how to access it, and feel confident in doing so \- whatever their concern.


My aim is to make advocacy services for children and young people in Wales as accessible and effective as possible.  We will do this by providing leadership, direction and support to local authorities and local health boards as well as advocacy providers.


Today we are holding a national conference on advocacy to:


 


* reaffirm our policy position in relation to advocacy;
* set out ways to raise awareness and understanding of advocacy;
* share good practice; and
* work together to ensure that there is consistent high quality advocacy provision for vulnerable groups of children and young people.


 


By the end of April, we will publish an Advocacy Policy Statement and the conference will help inform this. This Policy Statement will set out our priorities for advocacy, the actions we intend to undertake to secure improvements in advocacy and our reporting procedure for delivering our commitments. 


To support and inform this Policy Statement, I have committed to establishing a Ministerial Expert Group on Advocacy and I am very pleased to announce that we have appointed Dr Mike Shooter as the Chair.  I will meet with the group and Chair shortly to set out my expectations of the Expert Group and to issue a remit letter on the areas that I will require advice and recommendations.


Alongside this, there will be a young people’s expert group which will look at the same areas and provide recommendations.  I am pleased to announce that the Voices from Care’s National Reference Group will take on this role.


At this point I would like to thank the National Independent Advocacy Board which has provided Ministers with invaluable advice and recommendations.  Young People were full members of this group and it was an excellent example of how young people can participate fully and constructively in any setting.  I am delighted to announce the publication of the Board’s Legacy Report which will be considered by the Ministerial Expert Group on Advocacy when taking forward their work. 


To ensure high quality advocacy services for children and young people we are today, jointly with CSSIW, launching a draft   “Advocacy Standards and Outcomes Framework” for consultation. This is based on the National Advocacy Standards and sets out what we believe to be a good advocacy service.  We will expect this Framework to support Advocacy Providers to evidence a good standard of service, and for Commissioners to consider this when monitoring the advocacy provision for their children and young people.


In terms of our response to ‘Missing Voices’ – we are today publishing an update of how we have responded to the Children’s Commissioners recommendations for Government.    


The Children’s Commissioner also raised the matter of the inspection of advocacy for children and young people. I am pleased to announce that this year CSSIW will be taking forward a national review of advocacy services for children. CSSIW will also examine the provision of advocacy services for children subject to family court proceedings as part of their next inspection of CAFCASS CYMRU.  The findings from these will inform Government as to the direction we need to take in relation to the regulation and inspection of advocacy services, and of course, we will have a potential vehicle to take this forward through the proposed Regulation and Inspection (Wales) Bill. 


While the provision of advocacy has recently come under some criticism and there is of course work to be done, we must also remember that there is some innovative and ground\-breaking work being taken forward in Wales.  In fact, the Children’s Commissioner only recently published a good practice casebook highlighting this.  


Safeguarding children and young people is central to all we do and the Welsh Government is clear in its continuing commitment to the sustained development of and increased access to advocacy for all children and young people especially those most vulnerable.


Good advocacy can have a profound effect on the lives of children and young people. Let us be certain we are doing all we can to ensure provision and continue with the positive achievements to date.