English: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to respond to this debate today, and I'd like to thank the Conservatives for bringing this debate to the Chamber. I think there's been a lot of interest and a lot of very important points made. So, thank you for that. I first want to acknowledge the very helpful work of the Public Accounts Committee and its inquiry into care-experienced children and young people. I also want to acknowledge the work of the ministerial advisory group, very ably chaired by David Melding, who I'm pleased is in the Chamber today. And following on from his announcement on the weekend, I'd really like to pay tribute to David for his huge contribution to children in Wales. I've worked with David - we've worked together on this issue - for many years, and his contribution to children in Wales is immeasurable. So, thank you, David. While I'm pleased with the progress of the Outcomes for Children programme, I think it's very important that we do not be complacent. Statistics from March 2019 showed that the number of children looked after by local authorities continued to increase by 7 per cent on the previous year, and, obviously, an increase is disappointing, but it is very important to note that for the second year running the number of children starting to become looked after has decreased. It's very important that children have stable placements. The 2018 and 2019 data show that 9 per cent of children had three or more placement moves. These figures have actually remained stable over a period of time, and I think we've just got to recognise that, sometimes, placement moves are necessary and are in the best interest, but we want children to have as much stability as possible. This area of work is complex and we are working with partners across the whole system, and many of those areas have been mentioned today, including the local authority, social services, the judiciary, health, education, housing and the third sector and all these organisations have a significant role in helping to keep families safely together and reducing the need for children to come into care. The motion makes a number of calls on Government, so I will address these in turn - firstly, to review local authorities' reduction expectation plans. We already do this through our peer learning and feedback group. Local authorities' progress in the first six months showed that the looked-after rate has slowed. While there was an increase during this period, it was at a rate of 1.3 per cent, and previous years' annual increases have been around 7 per cent. I want to caution that these are unvalidated numbers, but I do hope that this trend will continue. That is for the first six months. The reasons for increases in the looked-after population are, indeed, complex, as Siân Gwenllian said in her amendment, but I'm absolutely in no doubt that the First Minister's request for local authorities to set reduction targets has focused minds and encouraged a whole-system approach to prevention. And we are on that journey of improvement and must sustain momentum. As I've said before in the Chamber, the targets are the targets put forward by the local authorities, there no penalties, and they are only part of a whole-system approach. In terms of foster carers, we continue to help local authorities recruit more foster carers through the national fostering framework, and this year we provided an additional £100,000 to progress its marketing strategy. Similarly, we're striving to make adoption services in Wales the best they can be. In 2019-20 we provided unprecedented funding of £3.2 million for local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies to improve adoption support, to be delivered through the adoption support framework for Wales. I attended an adoption symposium yesterday in the Temple of Peace, and although everybody acknowledged there is a long way to go, certainly there is a feeling that now the Welsh Government has invested in very important areas of post-adoption support - and some of the comments made today about parents having to struggle post adoption - we are definitely trying to address that. I was on that first inquiry that looked into adoption, and I would say that there has been improvement since then, but there's still a long way to go. [ Interruption.] Yes.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Rwy'n falch iawn o gael cyfle i ymateb i'r ddadl hon heddiw, a hoffwn ddiolch i'r Ceidwadwyr am ddod â'r ddadl hon i'r Siambr. Rwy'n credu bod llawer o ddiddordeb wedi'i ddangos a llawer o bwyntiau pwysig iawn wedi'u gwneud. Felly, diolch am hynny. Yn gyntaf, rwyf am gydnabod gwaith defnyddiol iawn y Pwyllgor Cyfrifon Cyhoeddus a'i ymchwiliad i blant a phobl ifanc sydd wedi cael profiad o ofal, ac rwyf hefyd am gydnabod gwaith grŵp cynghori'r Gweinidog dan gadeiryddiaeth fedrus iawn David Melding, ac rwy'n falch o weld ei fod yn y Siambr heddiw. Ac yn dilyn ei gyhoeddiad ar y penwythnos, hoffwn dalu teyrnged i David am ei gyfraniad enfawr i blant yng Nghymru. Rwyf wedi gweithio gyda David - rydym wedi gweithio gyda'n gilydd ar y mater hwn - ers blynyddoedd lawer, ac mae ei gyfraniad i blant yng Nghymru yn anfesuradwy. Felly, diolch, David. Er fy mod yn falch o weld cynnydd y rhaglen Canlyniadau i Blant, credaf ei bod yn bwysig iawn inni beidio â llaesu dwylo. Dangosodd ystadegau ym mis Mawrth 2019 fod nifer y plant a oedd yn derbyn gofal gan awdurdodau lleol wedi parhau i gynyddu 7 y cant ar y flwyddyn flaenorol , ac yn amlwg, mae cynnydd yn siomedig, ond mae'n bwysig iawn nodi, am yr ail flwyddyn yn olynol, fod nifer y plant sy'n dechrau derbyn gofal wedi gostwng. Mae'n bwysig iawn fod plant yn cael lleoliadau sefydlog. Mae data 2018 a 2019 yn dangos bod 9 y cant o blant wedi symud lleoliad dair gwaith neu fwy. Mae'r ffigurau hyn wedi aros yn sefydlog dros gyfnod o amser, a chredaf fod yn rhaid i ni gydnabod bod angen symud lleoliadau weithiau a bod hynny er lles gorau plant, ond rydym am i blant gael cymaint o sefydlogrwydd â phosibl. Mae'r maes gwaith hwn yn gymhleth ac rydym yn gweithio gyda phartneriaid ar draws y system gyfan, a soniwyd am lawer o'r meysydd hynny heddiw, gan gynnwys yr awdurdod lleol, gwasanaethau cymdeithasol, y farnwriaeth, iechyd, addysg, tai a'r trydydd sector ac mae gan y sefydliadau hyn oll rôl bwysig i'w chwarae yn helpu i gadw teuluoedd yn ddiogel gyda'i gilydd a lleihau'r angen i blant gael eu rhoi mewn gofal. Mae'r cynnig yn cyflwyno nifer o alwadau ar y Llywodraeth, felly rwyf am ymdrin â'r rhain yn eu tro - yn gyntaf, adolygu cynlluniau disgwyliadau lleihau awdurdodau lleol. Rydym eisoes yn gwneud hyn drwy ein grŵp dysgu ac adborth gan gymheiriaid. Roedd cynnydd awdurdodau lleol yn ystod y chwe mis cyntaf yn dangos bod y gyfradd sy'n derbyn gofal wedi arafu. Er y bu cynnydd yn ystod y cyfnod hwn, roedd ar gyfradd o 1.3 y cant, ac mae cynnydd y blynyddoedd blaenorol wedi bod oddeutu 7 y cant. Rwyf am rybuddio nad yw'r ffigurau hyn wedi'u dilysu, ond rwy'n gobeithio y bydd y duedd hon yn parhau. Ar gyfer y chwe mis cyntaf y mae hynny. Mae'r rhesymau dros y cynnydd yn y boblogaeth sy'n derbyn gofal yn gymhleth, fel y dywedodd Siân Gwenllian yn ei gwelliant, ond rwy'n gwbl sicr fod cais y Prif Weinidog i awdurdodau lleol osod targedau lleihau wedi hoelio ein meddyliau ac wedi annog dull system gyfan o atal. Ac rydym ar y daith honno o welliant a rhaid i ni gynnal momentwm. Fel y dywedais o'r blaen yn y Siambr, y targedau yw'r targedau a gyflwynwyd gan yr awdurdodau lleol, nid oes unrhyw gosbau, a dim ond rhan o ddull gweithredu system gyfan ydynt. O ran gofalwyr maeth, rydym yn parhau i helpu awdurdodau lleol i recriwtio mwy o ofalwyr maeth drwy'r fframwaith maethu cenedlaethol, ac eleni fe wnaethom ddarparu £100,000 ychwanegol i ddatblygu ei strategaeth farchnata. Yn yr un modd, rydym yn ymdrechu i sicrhau bod gwasanaethau mabwysiadu yng Nghymru cystal ag y gallant fod. Yn 2019-20, darparwyd cyllid digynsail o £3.2 miliwn gennym i awdurdodau lleol ac asiantaethau mabwysiadu gwirfoddol i wella cymorth mabwysiadu, i'w ddarparu drwy'r fframwaith cymorth mabwysiadu ar gyfer Cymru. Mynychais symposiwm ar fabwysiadu ddoe yn y Deml Heddwch, ac er bod pawb yn cydnabod bod cryn ffordd i fynd, gan fod Llywodraeth Cymru wedi buddsoddi mewn meysydd pwysig o gymorth ôl-fabwysiadu bellach, yn sicr ceir teimlad - ac mae rhai o'r sylwadau a wnaethpwyd heddiw ynglŷn â'r ffaith bod rhieni'n ei chael hi'n anodd ymdopi ar ôl mabwysiadu - rydym yn bendant yn ceisio mynd i'r afael â hynny. Roeddwn yn rhan o'r ymchwiliad cyntaf a edrychodd ar fabwysiadu, a buaswn yn dweud bod gwelliant wedi bod ers hynny, ond mae ffordd bell i fynd o hyd. [ Torri ar draws.] Iawn.