English: May I congratulate Welsh Government for what it's doing with the childcare offer? I've made some quite strong comments about areas such as respecting the referendum result or building an M4 relief road, where Labour hasn't followed its manifesto, but on this you have - indeed, getting it done a year early. I congratulate you on that. I also noted that the pre-existing offer was quite a lot more focused on public sector provision through schools in Wales, compared to what had developed in England. I really note that the way you've rolled this out seems to be fair to the private and public sectors, and allows them to compete or, where appropriate, work together on equal terms. So, again, I'd like to credit Welsh Government in that respect. You said you were delighted to tell Assembly Members that the offer had been available across the whole of Wales since April. I just wonder why you are only telling us about it now. Why didn't we have an official announcement in April? I hope he won't mind me saying, I had to rely on the previous Minister Huw Irranca-Davies, who I asked, and he said, 'Oh no, we're doing this. It's all happening across Wales in April,' and no-one seemed to know. I don't understand why you've been hiding your light under a bushel on this issue. I think I actually asked Huw, and Huw said I was allowed to talk about it and it wasn't confidential, it just hadn't been announced. The roll-out. Sixty per cent of all parents using the offer are below median income; I think that's quite significant. People often seem to have some idea that it's disproportionately the well-off who are benefiting from this. I wonder, Minister, how much of that reflects a cohort, demographic issue that young parents are below their peak earning years, still, quite often. And also, I think we need to recognise that changes in the tax and benefits system at the UK level have tended to penalise this group, relative at least to pensioners, over the last decade or so. It's good to see you're taking up some of the ideas from the Children, Young People and Education Committee. I think, particularly where parents are studying or about to get a job, it is good to give further support. I wonder in terms of the HMRC versus local authority, firstly, Minister, you and I and a few select colleagues spent quite a lot of time on a Bill committee giving powers to HMRC to share data and to do this work. I just wonder whether our work on that was in vain, and how much, also, has been spent already on that interaction with HMRC that's not being taken forward. I also wonder what the implications are in terms of the application and enforcement of the eligibility requirements. It may be you're more relaxed about the eligibility requirements than you were, and don't mind so much, but it seems to me that HMRC have got this data, and for our tax-free childcare we have to go in every three months and confirm we're still eligible according to the various criteria. Do the local authorities really have the same capabilities as HMRC to know what the earnings are and to enforce if people don't, anymore, meet the eligibility criteria? Finally, could I just again emphasise the importance of the tax-free childcare? A lot of parents who are taking up this offer will be paying for additional childcare, and I fear that very large numbers of them aren't benefiting from the UK tax-free childcare scheme. I thought one positive of working with HMRC was that people would set up an account and the barrier to them then taking the tax-free childcare as well would be less. That's money that's coming from UK Government that would come into Wales to support the sector, to boost people's incomes that they could then spend within Wales. I just ask the Minister: could you as Welsh Government to do more to promote and make people aware of the availability of this scheme, and that if they set up an account with HMRC, for every £8 they put in it will be topped up and they can pay for £10 of childcare, on top of the offer they're getting from Welsh Government?
Welsh: A gaf i longyfarch Llywodraeth Cymru am yr hyn y mae'n ei wneud gyda'r cynnig gofal plant? Rwyf wedi gwneud rhai sylwadau eithaf cryf am feysydd megis parchu canlyniad y refferendwm neu adeiladu ffordd liniaru i'r M4, lle nad yw'r Baid Lafur wedi dilyn ei maniffesto, ond o ran hyn rydych chi wedi - yn wir, cyflawni hyn flwyddyn yn gynnar. Rwy'n eich llongyfarch ar hynny. Sylwais hefyd fod y cynnig a oedd yn bodoli eisoes yn canolbwyntio llawer mwy ar ddarpariaeth y sector cyhoeddus drwy ysgolion yng Nghymru, o'i gymharu â'r hyn a oedd wedi datblygu yn Lloegr. Rwy'n nodi bod y ffordd yr ydych chi wedi cyflwyno hyn i'w weld yn deg i'r sectorau preifat a chyhoeddus, ac yn caniatáu iddyn nhw gystadlu neu, lle bo'n briodol, weithio gyda'i gilydd ar delerau cyfartal. Felly, unwaith eto, hoffwn roi clod i Lywodraeth Cymru yn hynny o beth. Fe wnaethoch chi ddweud eich bod yn falch iawn o ddweud wrth Aelodau'r Cynulliad bod y cynnig wedi bod ar gael drwy Gymru gyfan ers mis Ebrill. Ni allaf ond dyfalu pam nad ydych chi ond yn dweud wrthym amdano nawr. Pam na chawsom ni gyhoeddiad swyddogol ym mis Ebrill? Gobeithio nad oes gwahaniaeth ganddo fy mod i'n dweud, ond bu'n rhaid i mi ddibynnu ar y Gweinidog blaenorol, Huw Irranca-Davies, a phan ofynnais iddo, dywedodd, 'o na, rydym ni'n gwneud hyn. Mae'r cyfan yn digwydd ledled Cymru ym mis Ebrill', ac roedd hi'n ymddangos fel petai neb yn gwybod. Dydw i ddim yn deall pam rydych wedi bod yn cuddio'ch golau o dan lestr ar y mater hwn. Rwy'n credu fy mod wedi gofyn i Huw, a dywedodd Huw fy mod yn cael siarad am y peth ac nad oedd yn gyfrinachol, dim ond heb ei gyhoeddi, dyna'r cwbl. Y cyflwyno. Mae 60 y cant o'r holl rieni sy'n defnyddio'r cynnig yn ennill llai na'r incwm canolrifol; rwy'n credu bod hynny'n eithaf sylweddol. Yn aml, mae'n ymddangos bod gan bobl ryw syniad bod y rhai cefnog yn elwa'n anghymesur ar hyn. Tybed, Gweinidog, faint o hynny sy'n adlewyrchu problem garfan, ddemograffig o ran bod rhieni ifanc yn iau na'r oedran pan fo enillion ar eu hanterth yn eithaf aml. A hefyd, rwy'n credu bod angen i ni gydnabod bod newidiadau yn y system drethi a budd-daliadau ar lefel y DU wedi tueddu i gosbi'r grŵp hwn, o gymharu â phensiynwyr o leiaf, dros y degawd diwethaf. Mae'n dda gweld eich bod chi'n mabwysiadu rhai o syniadau' r Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg. Rwy'n credu, yn enwedig pan fo rhieni yn astudio neu ar fin cael swydd, ei bod hi'n dda rhoi mwy o gefnogaeth. Tybed o ran dewis rhwng Cyllid a Thollau ei Mawrhydi ac awdurdodau lleol, yn gyntaf, Gweinidog, bu i chi a mi ac ychydig o gydweithwyr dethol dreulio cryn dipyn o amser ar bwyllgor Bil yn rhoi pwerau i Gyllid a Thollau ei Mawrhydi rannu data a gwneud y gwaith hwn. Meddwl wyf i, tybed a oedd ein gwaith ar hynny'n ofer, a faint, hefyd, sydd wedi'i wario eisoes ar y rhyngweithio hwnnw â Chyllid a Thollau ei Mawrhydi nad yw'n cael ei ddatblygu. Tybed hefyd beth yw'r goblygiadau o ran cymhwyso a gorfodi'r gofynion cymhwysedd. Efallai eich bod yn teimlo'n fwy cartrefol ynglŷn â'r gofynion cymhwysedd nag yr oeddech chi, ac nid yn poeni cymaint, ond mae'n ymddangos i mi fod Cyllid a Thollau ei Mawrhydi wedi cael y data hwn, ac ar gyfer ein gofal plant di-dreth mae'n rhaid i ni gadarnhau bob tri mis ein bod yn dal yn gymwys yn ôl meini prawf amrywiol. A oes gan yr awdurdodau lleol yr un gallu â Chyllid a Thollau ei Mawrhydi i wybod beth yw'r enillion ac i orfodi os nad yw pobl yn bodloni'r meini prawf cymhwysedd mwyach? Yn olaf, a gaf i bwysleisio eto mor bwysig yw'r gofal plant di-dreth? Bydd llawer o rieni sy'n derbyn y cynnig hwn yn talu am ofal plant ychwanegol, ac ofnaf nad yw niferoedd mawr iawn ohonyn nhw'n elwa ar gynllun gofal plant di-dreth y DU. Credwn mai un peth cadarnhaol o weithio gyda Chyllid a Thollau ei Mawrhydi oedd y byddai pobl yn sefydlu cyfrif a byddai'r rhwystr rhag iddyn nhw elwa wedyn ar y gofal plant di-dreth hefyd yn llai. Mae hwnnw'n arian sy'n dod gan Lywodraeth y DU a fyddai'n dod i Gymru i gefnogi'r sector, i hybu incwm pobl y gallent ei wario wedyn yng Nghymru. Gofynnaf i'r Gweinidog: a allech chi fel Llywodraeth Cymru wneud mwy i hyrwyddo a gwneud pobl yn ymwybodol o'r ffaith bod y cynllun hwn ar gael, a phe bydden nhw'n sefydlu cyfrif gyda Chyllid a Thollau ei Mawrhydi, y cai swm ei ychwanegu at bob £8 a roddir ynddo ac y gallant wedyn dalu am werth £10 o ofal plant, ar ben y cynnig y maen nhw'n ei gael gan Lywodraeth Cymru?