Translate the text from English to Welsh.



 
Sitting at the heart of the Welsh Government’s approach to tackling poverty is action to promote a fairer, more prosperous and greener Wales. For many years, we have taken clear and decisive action to tackle poverty in our communities and to protect and support the most vulnerable in society.


Welsh Government policies and initiatives, such as free prescriptions, free school meals, the education maintenance allowance (EMA) and a generous childcare offer, have made a real difference to the lives of people most in need of support. We have also tackled fuel poverty, with the most recent estimates suggesting levels of fuel poverty in Wales have more than halved in ten years.


Much of this reduction can be attributed to our continued investment in the Warm Homes Programme, which supports owner occupiers and people living in the Private Rented Sector to improve their home energy efficiency. More than £366 million has been invested through this programme, benefitting more than 61,400 households since 2011, saving bill payers an estimated average of more than £280 on their annual household fuel bills. The decision to expand the Nest Health Conditions Pilot in July 2019 has enabled more than 1,000 people at risk of avoidable ill health from living in a cold home to access help.


The investment we have made in the Welsh Housing Quality Standard has led to further improvements in the energy efficiency of social housing, which has better enabled tenants to maintain a warm home at an affordable cost. 


Through these initiatives, we have been able to put more money back into more people’s pockets by reducing their energy bills.


Despite the progress we have made, in 2018, 144,000 lower income households were estimated to be living in fuel poverty. A further 145,000 Welsh households at risk of living in fuel poverty. This means spending between eight and ten percent (8\-10%) of their household income on household fuel. 


Reducing fuel poverty further has been made more difficult by our reliance on the UK Government to take action on welfare, to manage the energy generation and distribution systems in the UK, and by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which reached our shores in February.


We have worked to safeguard and insulate households from the worst effects of this deadly virus. We have provided additional support to low income households through our Discretionary Assistance Fund and have supplemented UK Government funding to support our business community. Despite this, our economy and household incomes have suffered. 


As at 31 July 2020, 195,600 employees in Wales were furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, a take up rate of 15%, the joint second highest of all the UK countries and English regions. Data published in July reported the number of people claiming Universal Credit in Wales has also continued to grow, with the number of claimants now 74\.5% higher than in March, an increase of 116,000 people. 


It is in this context I have published our new draft plan to tackle fuel poverty.


It is informed by extensive engagement with the third sector supporting our communities, including a round table I held in June last year. It is further informed by the Landscape Report into Fuel Poverty in Wales published in October 2019 by the Wales Audit Office, and by the work undertaken by the Senedd’s Committee for Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs inquiry into fuel poverty tabled in April.  


These significant reports provide the backbone of the draft plan, which proposes to reduce estimated levels of fuel poverty over the next fifteen years. The draft plan sets out the immediate actions needed over the next two years.


We will develop the next iteration of the Warm Homes programme which will:


* Continue to target support to lower income households who are at risk of, or living in fuel poverty;
* Continue to advance a fabric first approach to home energy efficiency retrofit, installing the most appropriate energy efficiency measures to enable householders to maintain a satisfactory heating regime at an affordable cost;
* Continue to focus investment on the most thermally inefficient homes in Wales;
* Work towards the eradication of the burning of coal, wood and heating oil in our homes for primary heating purposes as part of our commitments set out in our clean air plan and our ambition to be net zero by 2050;
* Install low carbon heating systems and reduce the overreliance on the burning of fossil fuels to heat our homes, managing this transition in a way which does not result in more households becoming fuel poor.


As part of our plan, I am also proposing to do more to improve advice and support services to vulnerable households and people dis\-engaged from the energy market. In the coming months, I expect to begin a pilot to explore what can be achieved by taking a more proactive approach to energy efficiency advice and support. 


Alongside this, investment in improving the energy efficiency of our homes is, and will continue to be a priority for this Government.


The work being undertaken by my Cabinet colleague, the Minister for Housing and Local Government, as part of the Optimised Retrofit Pilot and our Innovative Housing Programme will ensure schemes delivering energy efficiency measures achieve the best outcomes for householders and the environment. This work links directly to our efforts to decarbonise Welsh housing and our ambitions to reconstruct an economy, better able to deliver against our climate ambitions.


The draft plan to tackle fuel poverty I published on 30 September is poised to take account of the new reality presented by the coronavirus pandemic, tackle the ongoing threat posed by Climate Change and take fresh action to lift people in Wales out of fuel poverty in all its forms.  







Translation:


 
Mae hyrwyddo Cymru decach, fwy llewyrchus a gwyrdd wrth wraidd dull Llywodraeth Cymru o fynd i'r afael â thlodi. Rydym wedi cymryd camau clir a phendant ers sawl blwyddyn i fynd i'r afael â thlodi yn ein cymunedau a diogelu a chefnogi'r rhai sydd fwyaf agored i niwed mewn cymdeithas.


Mae polisïau a mentrau Llywodraeth Cymru, fel presgripsiynau am ddim, prydau ysgol am ddim, y lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg (LCA) a chynnig gofal plant hael, wedi gwneud gwahaniaeth gwirioneddol i fywydau pobl y mae angen cymorth arnynt fwyaf. Rydym hefyd wedi mynd i'r afael â thlodi tanwydd, ac mae'r amcangyfrifon diweddaraf yn awgrymu bod lefelau tlodi tanwydd yng Nghymru wedi mwy na haneri mewn cyfnod o ddeng mlynedd.


Gellir priodoli llawer o'r gostyngiad hwn i'n buddsoddiad parhaus yn y Rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd, sy'n cefnogi perchennog\-ddeiliaid a phobl sy'n byw yn y Sector Rhentu Preifat.


Mae dros £366 miliwn wedi'i fuddsoddi drwy'r rhaglen hon, ac mae  dros 61,400 o gartrefi wedi elwa arni ers 2011, gyda thalwyr biliau yn arbed dros £280 ar gyfartaledd ar filiau tanwydd blynyddol eu cartrefi. Mae'r penderfyniad i ehangu Cynllun Peilot Iechyd Nyth ym mis Gorffennaf 2019 wedi galluogi mwy na 1,000 o bobl sy'n wynebu risg o salwch y gellid ei osgoi o ganlyniad i fyw mewn cartref oer, i gael cymorth.


Mae ein buddsoddiad yn Safon Ansawdd Tai Cymru wedi arwain at welliannau pellach o ran effeithlonrwydd ynni tai cymdeithasol, sydd wedi galluogi tenantiaid i gynnal cartref clyd am gost fforddiadwy. 


Drwy'r mentrau hyn, rydym wedi gallu rhoi mwy o arian yn ôl ym mhocedi pobl drwy leihau eu biliau ynni.


Er gwaethaf y cynnydd rydym wedi'i wneud, yn 2018, amcangyfrifwyd bod 144,000 o gartrefi incwm is yn byw mewn tlodi tanwydd. Mae 145,000 o gartrefi pellach yng Nghymru yn wynebu risg o fyw mewn tlodi tanwydd. Mae hyn yn golygu eu bod yn gwario rhwng wyth a deg y cant (8\-10%) o incwm eu cartref ar danwydd i'r cartref.


Mae lleihau tlodi tanwydd ymhellach wedi bod yn anos fyth oherwydd ein dibyniaeth ar Lywodraeth y DU i gymryd camau ar les a rheoli'r systemau cynhyrchu a dosbarthu ynni yn y DU, ac oherwydd pandemig y coronafeirws, a gyrhaeddodd ein glannau ym mis Chwefror.


Rydym wedi gweithio i ddiogelu ac ynysu cartrefi rhag effeithiau gwaethaf y feirws angheuol hwn. Rydym wedi darparu cymorth ychwanegol i gefnogi cartrefi incwm isel drwy ein Cronfa Cymorth Dewisol, ac wedi ychwanegu at gyllid Llywodraeth y DU i gefnogi ein cymuned fusnes. Er gwaethaf hyn, mae ein heconomi ac incwm cartrefi wedi dioddef.


Ar 31 Gorffennaf 2020, roedd 195,600 o weithwyr yng Nghymru wedi'u hatgyfnerthu o dan Gynllun Cadw Swyddi Coronavirus, cyfradd derbyn o 15%, yr ail uchaf ar y cyd o holl wledydd y DU a rhanbarthau Lloegr. Nododd data a gyhoeddwyd ym mis Gorffennaf fod nifer y bobl sy'n hawlio Credyd Cynhwysol yng Nghymru hefyd wedi parhau i dyfu, gyda nifer yr hawlwyr bellach 74\.5% yn uwch nag ym mis Mawrth, cynnydd o 116,000 o bobl.


Yn y cyd\-destun hwn, rwyf wedi cyhoeddi ein cynllun drafft newydd i fynd i'r afael â thlodi tanwydd.


Caiff ei lywio gan waith ymgysylltu helaeth â'r trydydd sector sy'n cefnogi ein cymunedau, gan gynnwys cyfarfod bord gron a gynhaliais ym mis Mehefin y llynedd.  Caiff ei lywio ymhellach gan yr Adroddiad Tirwedd ar Dlodi Tanwydd yng Nghymru, a gyhoeddwyd ym mis Hydref 2019 gan Swyddfa Archwilio Cymru, a'r gwaith a wnaed fel rhan o ymchwiliad Pwyllgor y Senedd ar gyfer Newid yn yr Hinsawdd, Amgylchedd a Materion Gwledig i dlodi tanwydd, a gyflwynwyd ym mis Ebrill.  


Yr adroddiadau pwysig hyn yw asgwrn cefn y cynllun drafft, sy'n cynnig gostwng lefelau amcangyfrifedig tlodi tanwydd dros y 15 mlynedd nesaf. Yn bwysicach, mae'n nodi'r camau gweithredu uniongyrchol y mae angen eu cymryd dros y ddwy flynedd nesaf.


Byddwn yn datblygu fersiwn nesaf y Rhaglen Cartrefi Clyd. Yn seiliedig ar ein profiad a'r prosiectau datblygu rwyf wedi'u crybwyll, byddwn yn gwneud y canlynol:


* Parhau i dargedu cymorth i gartrefi incwm is sy'n byw mewn tlodi tanwydd, neu sy'n wynebu risg o hynny;
* Parhau i ddatblygu dull gweithredu deunyddiau yn gyntaf mewn perthynas ag ôl\-osod mesurau effeithlonrwydd ynni cartref, gan osod y mesurau mwyaf priodol i alluogi deiliaid tai i gynnal system gwresogi foddhaol am gost fforddiadwy;
* Parhau i ganolbwyntio ar fuddsoddi yn y cartrefi mwyaf thermol aneffeithlon yng Nghymru;
* Gweithio tuag at symud i ffwrdd oddi wrth losgi glo, pren ac olew gwresogi yn ein cartref at ddibenion gwresogi sylfaen, fel rhan o'n hymrwymiadau a nodir yn ein cynllun aer glân a'n huchelgais i fod yn sero\-net erbyn 2050;
* Gosod systemau gwresogi carbon isel a lleihau'r orddibyniaeth ar losgi tanwyddau ffosil i wresogi ein cartrefi, gan reoli'r broses hon o drosglwyddo mewn ffordd na fydd yn arwain at fwy o gartrefi yn byw mewn tlodi tanwydd.


Fel rhan o'n cynllun, rwyf hefyd yn cynnig gwneud mwy i wella gwasanaethau cyngor a chymorth i gartrefi agored i niwed a phobl sydd wedi ymddieithrio o'r farchnad ynni. Yn ystod y misoedd nesaf, fy mwriad yw rhoi cynllun peilot ar waith i archwilio'r hyn y gellir ei gyflawni drwy gynnig cyngor a chymorth ynghylch effeithlonrwydd ynni mewn modd mwy rhagweithiol.


Ochr yn ochr â hyn, mae buddsoddi mewn gwella effeithlonrwydd ynni ein tai yn flaenoriaeth i'r Llywodraeth hon, a bydd yn parhau felly.


Bydd y gwaith sy'n cael ei wneud gan fy nghydweithiwr yn y Cabinet, y Gweinidog Tai a Llywodraeth Leol, fel rhan o'r Cynllun Peilot Ôl\-osod er mwyn Optimeiddio a'n Rhaglen Tai Arloesol, yn sicrhau bod cynlluniau sy'n cynnig mesurau effeithlonrwydd ynni yn cyflawni'r canlyniadau gorau i ddeiliaid tai a'r amgylchedd. Mae'r gwaith hwn yn cysylltu'n uniongyrchol â'n hymdrechion i ddatgarboneiddio tai Cymru a'n huchelgeisiau i ail\-greu economi a all gyflawni ein huchelgeisiau o ran yr hinsawdd yn well.


Mae'r cynllun drafft i fynd i'r afael â thlodi tanwydd a gyhoeddais ar 30 Medi ar fin cymryd i ystyriaeth y realiti newydd a gyflwynwyd gan y pandemig coronafirws, mynd i'r afael â'r bygythiad parhaus a achosir gan Newid Hinsawdd a chymryd camau newydd i godi pobl yng Nghymru allan o dlodi tanwydd i gyd. ei ffurfiau.