English: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this important debate on the 'Debt and the pandemic' report, published by the Equality and Social Justice Committee, with such a strong debate this afternoon, which adds such weight to your report and recommendations. I welcome the report, with its insightful recommendations. I thank the Chair and members of the committee for your significant contribution and hard work during your inquiry. Before Christmas, I also met with the Bevan Foundation to discuss their latest survey within their 'A Snapshot of Poverty' report series. The figures show that personal debt is now, as you said in the debate, a major problem in Wales. Twenty-five per cent of people surveyed said that they had had to borrow money since May 2021, and 12 per cent had already fallen behind with their repayments by at least one month. I fully agree with the committee on the importance of tackling the growing debt burden that's being faced by people in Wales. Our efforts to find them a pathway out of debt will be strengthened by implementing these report recommendations. There are more actions, clearly, that we can take, and we will take, as a result of our programme for government, our co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru and also other dimensions that, in fact, we've been debating and discussing over the past two days, in terms of the cost-of-living crisis and your next inquiry. It has never been more important than it is now that services such as debt advice and affordable lending reach people who are at higher risk of getting into debt. I welcome the recommendations in relation to wider promotion of our services. We will be supporting all our partners to work with more community groups, who already have very established relationships in place in local communities with people who need the help the most. You engaged with those local groups, I know, and you've mentioned them. The recommendations relating to our existing support mechanisms for those in financial crisis through the discretionary assistance fund are very relevant, given that we will see increasing numbers of people looking to us for support, so I welcomed that recommendation on the DAF. I also welcome the written statement that has just been published by the Minister for Climate Change, which, hopefully, you've been able to have sight of, extending the tenancy hardship grant to cover arrears built up to 31 December 2021. The statement confirms that eligibility has been extended to social housing tenants not in receipt of housing-related benefits. This brings their access to financial help in line with all other renters. You called for that in recommendation 11, so that's also a positive indication of the Government's response to the report. The evidence is clear that the impact of problem debt upon the well-being of individuals and their families can be negative and long-lasting. However, the Welsh Government is doing all that it can to support people in Wales through the cost-of-living crisis that they are facing. On 16 November last year, I announced a £51 million package of support for low-income households to meet the immediate pressures of the cost-of-living crisis this winter. We've talked a lot this afternoon about the winter fuel support scheme - £38 million for householders in receipt of means-tested benefits. Eligible households can claim a one-off £100 cash payment from their local authority to be used towards paying winter fuel bills. But I'm under no illusion that that payment will fully compensate households that lost over £1,000 a year when the £20 a week universal credit payment ended. However, it will help some keep their homes a little warmer this winter without building up fuel debt. But we do have - as the Chair, Jenny Rathbone, has said - a tsunami, a perfect storm, of a cost-of-living crisis, which is now being expressed in terms of the clear evidence. We do know that people can recover from debt. What they need is access to free, quality, assured advice. That's why the Welsh Government's long-standing commitment to funding advice services is so important. It's rare that debt is the only problem that a person will have. It makes no sense to tackle a person's debt if they also have a welfare benefit problem or a housing problem that's left unresolved. So, the Welsh Government's single advice fund offers integrated services, helping people to deal with their financial problems together with other social welfare problems, and it does ensure that services tackle the underlying causes of debt and helps people put their finances on a more sustainable footing.
Welsh: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Diolch am y cyfle i ymateb i'r ddadl bwysig hon ar yr adroddiad 'Dyled a'r pandemig', a gyhoeddwyd gan y Pwyllgor Cydraddoldeb a Chyfiawnder Cymdeithasol, gyda dadl mor gryf y prynhawn yma, sy'n ychwanegu cymaint o bwysau at eich adroddiad a'ch argymhellion. Rwy'n croesawu'r adroddiad, gyda'i argymhellion craff. Diolch i Gadeirydd ac aelodau'r pwyllgor am eich cyfraniad sylweddol a'ch gwaith caled yn ystod eich ymchwiliad. Cyn y Nadolig, cyfarfûm innau hefyd â Sefydliad Bevan i drafod eu harolwg diweddaraf yn eu cyfres o adroddiadau, 'A Snapshot of Poverty'. Mae'r ffigurau'n dangos bod dyled bersonol bellach, fel y dywedoch chi yn y ddadl, yn broblem fawr yng Nghymru. Dywedodd 25 y cant o'r bobl a holwyd eu bod wedi gorfod benthyg arian ers mis Mai 2021, a bod 12 y cant eisoes o leiaf un mis ar ei hôl hi gyda'u had-daliadau. Cytunaf yn llwyr â'r pwyllgor ynglŷn â phwysigrwydd mynd i'r afael â'r baich dyled cynyddol sy'n wynebu pobl yng Nghymru. Bydd ein hymdrechion i ddod o hyd i lwybr allan o ddyled iddynt yn cael eu cryfhau drwy weithredu argymhellion yr adroddiad hwn. Yn amlwg, mae mwy o gamau gweithredu y gallwn eu cymryd, ac y byddwn yn eu cymryd, o ganlyniad i'n rhaglen lywodraethu, ein cytundeb cydweithio gyda Phlaid Cymru a dimensiynau eraill hefyd, mewn gwirionedd, y buom yn eu dadlau ac yn eu trafod dros y ddau ddiwrnod diwethaf, mewn perthynas â'r argyfwng costau byw a'ch ymchwiliad nesaf. Mae'n bwysicach nag erioed yn awr fod gwasanaethau fel cyngor ar ddyledion a benthyca fforddiadwy yn cyrraedd pobl sydd mewn mwy o berygl o fynd i ddyled. Rwy'n croesawu'r argymhellion mewn perthynas â hyrwyddo ein gwasanaethau yn ehangach. Byddwn yn cefnogi ein holl bartneriaid i weithio gyda mwy o grwpiau cymunedol, sydd eisoes â chysylltiadau sefydledig iawn ar waith mewn cymunedau lleol â phobl sydd fwyaf o angen y cymorth. Gwn eich bod wedi ymgysylltu â'r grwpiau lleol hynny, ac rydych wedi sôn amdanynt. Mae'r argymhellion sy'n ymwneud â'n mecanweithiau cymorth presennol i rai sydd mewn argyfwng ariannol drwy'r gronfa cymorth dewisol yn berthnasol iawn, o gofio y byddwn yn gweld nifer cynyddol o bobl yn troi atom am gymorth, felly roeddwn yn croesawu'r argymhelliad hwnnw ar y gronfa cymorth dewisol. Rwyf hefyd yn croesawu'r datganiad ysgrifenedig sydd newydd ei gyhoeddi gan y Gweinidog Newid Hinsawdd, y gobeithiaf eich bod wedi'i weld, yn ymestyn y grant caledi i denantiaid i dalu am ôl-ddyledion a gronnwyd hyd at 31 Rhagfyr 2021. Mae'r datganiad yn cadarnhau bod cymhwysedd wedi'i ymestyn i denantiaid tai cymdeithasol nad ydynt yn derbyn budd-daliadau sy'n gysylltiedig â thai. Mae hyn yn sicrhau bod ganddynt yr un mynediad at gymorth ariannol â'r holl rentwyr eraill. Fe alwoch chi am hynny yn argymhelliad 11, felly mae hwnnw'n arwydd cadarnhaol o ymateb y Llywodraeth i'r adroddiad hefyd. Mae'r dystiolaeth yn glir y gall effaith dyled broblemus ar lesiant unigolion a'u teuluoedd fod yn negyddol a hirhoedlog. Fodd bynnag, mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn gwneud popeth yn ei gallu i gefnogi pobl yng Nghymru drwy'r argyfwng costau byw y maent yn ei wynebu. Ar 16 Tachwedd y llynedd, cyhoeddais becyn cymorth gwerth £51 miliwn ar gyfer aelwydydd incwm isel i ddiwallu pwysau uniongyrchol yr argyfwng costau byw y gaeaf hwn. Rydym wedi sôn llawer y prynhawn yma am y cynllun cymorth tanwydd gaeaf - £38 miliwn i ddeiliaid tai sy'n derbyn budd-daliadau sy'n dibynnu ar brawf modd. Gall aelwydydd cymwys hawlio taliad arian parod untro o £100 gan eu hawdurdod lleol i'w ddefnyddio tuag at dalu biliau tanwydd gaeaf. Ond nid wyf o dan unrhyw gamargraff y bydd y taliad hwnnw'n llwyr ddigolledu aelwydydd a gollodd dros £1,000 y flwyddyn pan ddaeth y taliad credyd cynhwysol o £20 yr wythnos i ben. Fodd bynnag, bydd yn helpu rhai i gadw eu cartrefi ychydig yn gynhesach y gaeaf hwn heb gronni dyledion tanwydd. Ond mae gennym - fel y dywedodd y Cadeirydd, Jenny Rathbone - tswnami, storm berffaith, o argyfwng costau byw, sydd bellach yn cael ei fynegi ar ffurf tystiolaeth glir. Gwyddom y gall pobl ddod allan o ddyled. Yr hyn sydd ei angen arnynt yw mynediad at gyngor sicr o ansawdd da a hynny'n rhad ac am ddim. Dyna pam y mae ymrwymiad hirsefydlog Llywodraeth Cymru i ariannu gwasanaethau cynghori mor bwysig. Fel arfer, nid dyled yw'r unig broblem y bydd person yn ei hwynebu. Nid yw'n gwneud synnwyr i fynd i'r afael â dyled unigolyn os oes ganddynt broblem tai neu fudd-daliadau lles heb ei datrys hefyd. Felly, mae cronfa gynghori sengl Llywodraeth Cymru yn cynnig gwasanaethau integredig, gan helpu pobl i ymdrin â'u problemau ariannol, ynghyd â phroblemau lles cymdeithasol eraill, ac mae'n sicrhau bod gwasanaethau'n datrys achosion sylfaenol dyled ac yn helpu pobl i roi eu trefniadau ariannol ar sail fwy cynaliadwy.