English: I'm grateful to the commission - in particular the Welsh commissioner, June Milligan, having taken over from Ann Beynon, who I'd like to thank for her work in that role - for this report, 'Towards a Fairer Wales'. I think it's important to understand that this report is from the Wales committee that is chaired by the Welsh commissioner as the lead officer of the EHRC, who supports it, and there's a number of part-time people on that committee. But the vast bulk of the EHRC work happens on a Great Britain-wide basis across strands focused on - really, stemming from the previous commission, the Equal Opportunities Commission, which previously was focused on gender equality. The Commission for Racial Equality and Disability Rights Commission were rolled into this new EHRC. There is a disabled committee as there is a Wales and Scotland committee, but the idea of the EHRC was to focus on equality as a principle, rather than having competing commissions and bodies pushing different groups. I think it would be wise for the Assembly to assess how that commission is working in terms of devolution. We have that particular Wales committee. There's also a duty on the commission to report on what it's doing in Wales in its own annual report; I can only find a very small paragraph on that, which then just links through to who's on the Wales committee on their main website. When we look at the seven key challenges that are identified for Wales, what I think would be valuable is if we were able to compare how we were doing on equality on these various perspectives in Wales compared to Scotland and compared to English regions, and whether the seven areas that have been identified are identified because they're particularly important equality issues, or whether it's because we have particular issues and challenges in Wales that aren't shared elsewhere in the UK. On its website, the commission says that it's Great Britain's national equality body, but I don't think many people would argue that Great Britain is a nation; I can see why Wales or the UK would have a national equality body. But I think it's important to understand how the Wales committee is working. It is advising the Welsh Government and also public bodies across Wales, and certainly some useful activity is identified in this report. But it's also there to ensure that the EHRC on a Great Britain basis is taking into account the Welsh context and particular needs in Wales. I think it would be useful to explore the extent to which it's doing that, and comparative data I think would be very useful to report back to the Assembly for future years. For instance, when we look at its particular objectives for Wales, it wants to close the attainment gaps by raising standards for children receiving free school meals, children with special educational needs, looked-after children and Gypsy and Traveller children. When it speaks about free school meals, is that a particular problem in Wales - is the attainment gap greater in a Welsh context? Because I know in a UK-wide context, I think there's been some narrowing in the free school meals gap, but that's particularly been driven by very sharp improvements within London. Are there lessons we can learn there? In encouraging fair recruitment, development and reward in employment, the Wales committee says it wants to increase the employment rates of young people, disabled people, ethnic minority people and Muslim people. It then goes on to say it wants to close pay gaps, focusing on young people, ethnic minority people and women. So, we see that young people and ethnic minority people are identified as areas of particular concern in both those areas, but its focus on closing pay gaps is for women; it doesn't share that focus for employment rates, and, on employment rates, its particular concerns are disabled people and Muslim people. Are we not also concerned about the extent to which disabled people may be getting lower pay in the workforce, and the extent to which that may be a particular problem in Wales? Similarly, when it refers to Muslim people, we see identification of particular groups who have a protected characteristic under the equality Act, but not necessarily a recognition of the wider context. For instance, the employment rate amongst Muslim men is a modest amount lower than it is amongst other men, but there's a very, very large gap amongst Muslim women. Is that a particular concern of the commission and an area where it wants action by Government and public sector bodies? I just feel perhaps that we can look at this in a broader context, and also understand that we're concerned about promoting equality and equality of opportunity more generally, rather than only about specific groups who happen to be identified in the equality Act. For example, in Wales, we've a number of communities where we have lower achievement or there are particular difficulties with employment or wages, often in white working-class areas, and I think we need to make it clear that we are as concerned about improving opportunities and outcomes there as we are with other areas that may perhaps have been identified in this report. But, overall, I welcome the report and thank those involved for their work.
Welsh: Rwy'n ddiolchgar i'r comisiwn - i gomisiynydd Cymru, June Milligan, yn arbennig, ar ôl cymryd yr awenau gan Ann Beynon, a hoffwn ddiolch iddi am ei gwaith yn y swydd honno - am yr adroddiad hwn, 'Tuag at Gymru Decach'. Credaf ei bod yn bwysig deall y daw'r adroddiad hwn gan bwyllgor Cymru, sy'n cael ei gadeirio gan gomisiynydd Cymru fel swyddog arweiniol y EHRC, sy'n ei gefnogi, a cheir nifer o bobl rhan amser ar y pwyllgor hwnnw. Ond y mae rhan fwyaf o waith yr EHRC yn digwydd ar sail Prydain gyfan mewn meysydd sy'n canolbwyntio ar - mewn gwirionedd, yn deillio o'r comisiwn blaenorol, y Comisiwn Cyfle Cyfartal, a oedd yn canolbwyntio yn flaenorol ar gydraddoldeb rhywiol. Ymgorfforwyd y Comisiwn Cydraddoldeb Hiliol a'r Comisiwn Hawliau Anabledd yn rhan o'r EHRC newydd hwn. Ceir pwyllgor anabledd gan fod pwyllgor Cymru a'r Alban, ond nod yr EHRC oedd canolbwyntio ar gydraddoldeb fel egwyddor, yn hytrach na chael comisiynau a chyrff sy'n cystadlu i gynrychioli gwahanol grwpiau. Rwy'n credu y byddai'n ddoeth i'r Cynulliad asesu sut y mae'r comisiwn yn gweithio yng nghyd-destun datganoli. Mae gennym y pwyllgor Cymru arbennig hwnnw. Mae yna hefyd ddyletswydd ar y comisiwn i adrodd ar yr hyn y mae'n ei wneud yng Nghymru yn ei adroddiad blynyddol; dim ond paragraff bach iawn ar hynny y gallaf ddod o hyd iddo, sydd ond yn cysylltu wedyn â thudalen yn nodi aelodau pwyllgor Cymru ar eu prif wefan. Pan ydym ni'n ystyried y saith her allweddol sy'n cael eu nodi ar gyfer Cymru, yr hyn yr wyf yn credu a fyddai'n werthfawr yw pe baem yn gallu cymharu sut yr ydym yn ymdrin â chydraddoldeb o ran y gwahanol safbwyntiau hyn yng Nghymru o'i gymharu â'r Alban ac o'i gymharu â rhanbarthau Lloegr, a pha un a nodwyd y saith maes hynny am eu bod yn faterion cydraddoldeb sy'n arbennig o bwysig, neu am fod gennym faterion a heriau arbennig yng Nghymru na chânt eu rhannu mewn mannau eraill yn y DU. Ar ei wefan, mae'r comisiwn yn dweud mai corff cydraddoldeb cenedlaethol Prydain Fawr ydyw, ond nid wyf yn credu y byddai llawer o bobl yn dadlau bod Prydain Fawr yn genedl; gallaf weld pam y byddai gan Gymru neu'r DU gorff cydraddoldeb cenedlaethol. Ond rwy'n credu ei bod hi'n bwysig deall sut y mae pwyllgor Cymru yn gweithio. Mae'n cynghori Llywodraeth Cymru yn ogystal â chyrff cyhoeddus ledled Cymru, ac yn sicr caiff rywfaint o weithgarwch defnyddiol ei nodi yn yr adroddiad hwn. Ond y mae hefyd yno i sicrhau bod yr EHRC ar sail Prydain Fawr yn ystyried cyd-destun Cymru ac anghenion penodol yng Nghymru. Rwy'n credu y byddai'n ddefnyddiol i archwilio i ba raddau y mae'n gwneud hynny, a chredaf y byddai data cymharol yn ddefnyddiol iawn i adrodd yn ôl i'r Cynulliad ar gyfer y blynyddoedd i ddod. Er enghraifft, pan ydym ni'n ystyried ei amcanion arbennig ar gyfer Cymru, mae'n bwriadu cau'r bylchau cyrhaeddiad drwy godi safonau ar gyfer plant sy'n derbyn prydau ysgol am ddim, plant ag anghenion addysgol arbennig, plant sy'n derbyn gofal a phlant Sipsiwn a Theithwyr. Wrth iddo siarad am brydau ysgol am ddim, a yw honno'n broblem benodol yng Nghymru - a yw'r bwlch cyrhaeddiad yn uwch yng nghyd-destun Cymru? Oherwydd rwy'n gwybod yng nghyd-destun y DU gyfan, credaf fod y bwlch prydau ysgol am ddim wedi lleihau rhywfaint, ond mae hynny wedi'i yrru'n arbennig gan welliannau sydyn iawn yn Llundain. A oes gwersi y gallwn eu dysgu yno? Wrth annog recriwtio, datblygu a gwobrwyo teg mewn cyflogaeth, mae pwyllgor Cymru yn dweud ei fod am gynyddu cyfraddau cyflogaeth ymhlith pobl ifanc, pobl anabl, pobl o leiafrifoedd ethnig a phobl Fwslimaidd. Mae'n mynd ymlaen wedyn i ddweud ei fod am gau'r bylchau cyflog, gan ganolbwyntio ar bobl ifanc, pobl o leiafrifoedd ethnig a menywod. Felly, rydym yn gweld bod pobl ifanc a phobl o leiafrifoedd ethnig yn cael eu nodi fel meysydd o bryder arbennig yn y ddau faes hynny, ond mae ei bwyslais ar gau bylchau cyflog ar gyfer menywod; nid yw'n rhannu'r pwyslais hwnnw ar gyfer cyfraddau cyflogaeth, ac, ynglŷn â chyfraddau cyflogaeth, ei bryderon arbennig yw pobl anabl a phobl Fwslimaidd. Onid ydym ni hefyd yn poeni i ba raddau y gallai pobl anabl fod yn cael cyflog is yn y gweithlu, a'r graddau y gallai hynny fod yn broblem benodol yng Nghymru? Yn yr un modd, pan fo'n cyfeirio at bobl Fwslimaidd, gwelwn fod grwpiau penodol sydd â nodwedd warchodedig o dan y Ddeddf cydraddoldeb yn cael eu nodi, ond ni chaiff y cyd-destun ehangach ei gydnabod o reidrwydd. Er enghraifft, mae'r gyfradd gyflogaeth ymhlith dynion Mwslimaidd ychydig bach yn is nag ydyw ymhlith dynion eraill, ond ceir bwlch mawr iawn, iawn ymhlith menywod Mwslimaidd. A yw hynny'n bryder arbennig gan y comisiwn ac yn faes lle y mae'n dymuno gweld y Llywodraeth a chyrff y sector cyhoeddus yn gweithredu? Rwy'n credu efallai y gallwn ystyried hyn mewn cyd-destun ehangach, a deall hefyd ein bod yn pryderu am hyrwyddo cydraddoldeb a chyfle cyfartal yn fwy cyffredinol, yn hytrach na dim ond mewn cysylltiad â grwpiau penodol sydd, digwydd bod, yn cael eu nodi yn y Ddeddf cydraddoldeb. Er enghraifft, yng Nghymru, mae gennym nifer o gymunedau lle yr ydym yn gweld cyflawniad is neu lle y ceir anawsterau penodol gyda chyflogaeth neu gyflogau, yn aml mewn ardaloedd sy'n cynnwys pobl wyn dosbarth gweithiol, ac rwy'n credu bod angen i ni ei gwneud hi'n glir ein bod ni yr un mor bryderus ynglŷn â gwella cyfleoedd a chanlyniadau yn y maes hwnnw, ag yr ydym ni gyda meysydd eraill a allai o bosibl fod wedi'u nodi yn yr adroddiad hwn. Ond, ar y cyfan, rwy'n croesawu'r adroddiad ac yn diolch i'r rhai hynny a gymerodd ran am eu gwaith.