English: Thank you, Llywydd. I thank Plaid Cymru for bringing this debate to the Chamber today, as it does highlight the dire need - the real need - to tackle poverty here in Wales, and the need to protect and look after children in need. It is very hard to concentrate and get a good education when your stomach is rumbling, and that's why I think there is now universal support for free school meals for our poorest pupils. But universal benefits, I would argue, Llywydd, are not the answer. Of course the state has a moral duty to protect those who fall below the poverty line, but it is not the responsibility of the state to feed everybody's children. Universal free meals would lead to a situation where relatively low-income people are paying extra in tax to fund free meals for families who can well afford to contribute to the system. The welfare system is a safety net to catch the vulnerable before they fall. Our citizens should have the dignity and freedom to choose how they spend their money and how to raise their own children. If a family can afford to feed their children, they should have the freedom to do so. The past 16 months has seen an extraordinary rate of restrictions on the freedoms and liberties that we all take for granted; many have been for good reasons, to keep people safe, but we mustn't think that the public will tolerate this sort of nannying long term. It is not the role of Government to tell families how they should raise their children. Government needs to provide efficient and reliable public services, maximise investment to create jobs, and that's how you lift families out of poverty, not through nannying bureaucratic interventions. The Conservative amendment removes the reference to universal free school meals, but I do not want to detract from the rest of the motion by extending free school meals to those households that are on universal credit - 16,400 more households will be eligible, meaning that those children could be better equipped to learn. But we should be cautious of gold-plating benefits like universal credit like this too often, as it creates a cliff edge and this creates the risk that they end up better off by living on the safety net rather than having the dignity and reward that a job and a monthly pay check will provide. While on the subject of free school meals, I would urge the Welsh Government to improve the way that they process school admissions data so that schools are funded based on the number of free school meals pupils that they have, not on the number that they had two years ago. Welsh Government has a ridiculously bureaucratic funding system, which is denying pupils the targeted support and intervention that they need. It's the twenty-first century, Llywydd; such a system should have left our classrooms along with the BBC BASIC computer. And, Llywydd, I cannot let this debate go past without mentioning, alongside free school meals, the academic benefits of sport and physical activity, which are also proven to improve academic attainment and improve concentration in the classroom. Even taking part in programmes like the daily mile, as was talked about earlier, can have a big impact, which I know from my son's own primary school. So, if we are serious about the benefits that we've heard in the Chamber today, the Welsh Government should be ring-fencing time and providing proper financial support to enable our schools to encourage sport and active lifestyles in our young people alongside free school meals. And I was pleased that the Minister actually said something on it earlier in this regard, but I would urge speed, Minister, as post pandemic, the benefits that physical activity can bring are even more than we've outlined today. But the best thing we can do for children eligible for free school meals is to tackle poverty by attracting more investment that creates decent, well-paid jobs - opportunities for families to get on in life. An evidence review on child poverty conducted by the UK Government highlighted that one of the most important factors that contributes to child poverty is long-term worklessness and low earnings within the child's household. Thirty-eight per cent of children who experience persistent poverty live in workless households, and that's why, Llywydd, while this debate is well-intentioned, free school meals is a policy to treat the symptom. We need bold intervention to address the deep-rooted causes of poverty, so young people can do well in school and go on to secure well-paid jobs. In 22 years of Labour rule we have seen the Welsh economy stagnate, and, despite well-meaning reports and short-term policies, there has been no improvement in social mobility. Now is the time, Minister, to act and build that dynamic economy that will help poorer families get on in life.
Welsh: Diolch, Lywydd. Diolch i Blaid Cymru am ddod â'r ddadl hon i'r Siambr heddiw, gan ei bod yn tynnu sylw at yr angen dybryd - yr angen gwirioneddol - i fynd i'r afael â thlodi yma yng Nghymru, a'r angen i amddiffyn a gofalu am blant mewn angen. Mae'n anodd iawn canolbwyntio a chael addysg dda pan fydd eich stumog yn wag, a dyna pam rwy'n credu bod cefnogaeth gyffredinol bellach i brydau ysgol am ddim i'n disgyblion tlotaf. Ond Lywydd, byddwn yn dadlau nad budd i bawb yw'r ateb. Wrth gwrs, mae gan y wladwriaeth ddyletswydd foesol i ddiogelu'r rhai sy'n syrthio islaw'r llinell dlodi, ond nid cyfrifoldeb y wladwriaeth yw bwydo plant pawb. Byddai prydau am ddim i bawb yn arwain at sefyllfa lle mae pobl ar incwm cymharol isel yn talu treth ychwanegol i ariannu prydau am ddim i deuluoedd sy'n gallu fforddio cyfrannu at y system. Mae'r system les yn rhwyd ddiogelwch i ddal y rhai sy'n agored i niwed cyn iddynt ddisgyn. Dylai ein dinasyddion gael urddas a rhyddid i ddewis sut y maent yn gwario eu harian a sut i fagu eu plant eu hunain. Os gall teulu fforddio bwydo eu plant, dylent gael rhyddid i wneud hynny. Mae'r 16 mis diwethaf wedi gweld cyfradd eithriadol o gyfyngiadau ar y rhyddid a'r hawliau rydym i gyd yn eu cymryd yn ganiataol; mae llawer wedi bod am resymau da, i gadw pobl yn ddiogel, ond rhaid inni beidio â meddwl y bydd y cyhoedd yn goddef gorofal maldodus o'r fath yn hirdymor. Nid rôl y Llywodraeth yw dweud wrth deuluoedd sut y dylent fagu eu plant. Mae angen i'r Llywodraeth ddarparu gwasanaethau cyhoeddus effeithlon a dibynadwy, gwneud y mwyaf o fuddsoddiad i greu swyddi, a dyna sut mae codi teuluoedd allan o dlodi, nid drwy ymyriadau biwrocrataidd maldodus. Mae gwelliant y Ceidwadwyr yn dileu'r cyfeiriad at brydau ysgol am ddim i bawb, ond nid wyf am dynnu o weddill y cynnig i ymestyn prydau ysgol am ddim i'r aelwydydd sydd ar gredyd cynhwysol - bydd 16,400 yn fwy o aelwydydd yn gymwys, sy'n golygu y gallai'r plant hynny fod mewn sefyllfa well i ddysgu. Ond dylem ofalu rhag goreuro budd-daliadau fel credyd cynhwysol fel hyn yn rhy aml, gan ei fod yn creu ymyl clogwyn a'r risg y byddant yn well eu byd yn byw ar y rhwyd ddiogelwch yn hytrach na chael yr urddas a'r fantais y mae swydd a chyflog misol yn eu cynnig. Gan ein bod yn trafod prydau ysgol am ddim, byddwn yn annog Llywodraeth Cymru i wella'r ffordd y maent yn prosesu data derbyniadau i ysgolion fel bod ysgolion yn cael eu hariannu ar sail nifer y disgyblion sy'n cael prydau ysgol am ddim, nid y nifer a oedd ganddynt ddwy flynedd yn ôl. Mae gan Lywodraeth Cymru system ariannu hurt o fiwrocrataidd, sy'n amddifadu disgyblion o'r cymorth a'r ymyrraeth wedi'u targedu y maent eu hangen. Rydym yn byw yn yr unfed ganrif ar hugain, Lywydd; dylai system o'r fath fod wedi gadael ein hystafelloedd dosbarth gyda'r cyfrifiadur BBC BASIC. Lywydd, ni allaf adael i'r ddadl hon basio heb sôn, ochr yn ochr â phrydau ysgol am ddim, am fanteision academaidd chwaraeon a gweithgarwch corfforol, pethau eraill y profwyd eu bod yn gwella cyrhaeddiad academaidd ac yn gwella gallu disgyblion i ganolbwyntio yn yr ystafell ddosbarth. Gall hyd yn oed cymryd rhan mewn rhaglenni fel y filltir ddyddiol, gweithgaredd y soniwyd amdano'n gynharach, gael effaith fawr, a gwn hynny o ysgol gynradd fy mab fy hun. Felly, os ydym o ddifrif am y manteision y clywsom amdanynt yn y Siambr heddiw, dylai Llywodraeth Cymru neilltuo amser a darparu cymorth ariannol priodol i alluogi ein hysgolion i annog chwaraeon a ffyrdd egnïol o fyw ymhlith ein pobl ifanc ochr yn ochr â phrydau ysgol am ddim. Ac roeddwn yn falch fod y Gweinidog wedi dweud rhywbeth am hynny yn gynharach, ond byddwn yn eich annog i fynd ati'n gyflym, Weinidog, gan fod hyd yn oed mwy o fanteision i weithgarwch corfforol ar ôl y pandemig na'r hyn a amlinellwyd gennym heddiw. Ond y peth gorau y gallwn ei wneud i blant sy'n gymwys i gael prydau ysgol am ddim yw mynd i'r afael â thlodi drwy ddenu mwy o fuddsoddiad sy'n creu swyddi gweddus sy'n talu'n dda - cyfleoedd i deuluoedd gamu ymlaen mewn bywyd. Nododd adolygiad o'r dystiolaeth ar dlodi plant a gyflawnwyd gan Lywodraeth y DU mai un o'r ffactorau pwysicaf sy'n cyfrannu at dlodi plant yw bod heb waith yn hirdymor ac enillion isel yng nghartref y plentyn. Mae 38 y cant o blant sy'n profi tlodi parhaus yn byw ar aelwydydd heb waith, ac er bod bwriadau da i'r ddadl hon, Lywydd, dyna pam y mae prydau ysgol am ddim yn bolisi i drin y symptom. Mae arnom angen ymyrraeth feiddgar i fynd i'r afael ag achosion dwfn tlodi, fel y gall pobl ifanc wneud yn dda yn yr ysgol a mynd ymlaen i gael swyddi sy'n talu'n dda. Mewn 22 mlynedd o reolaeth Lafur rydym wedi gweld economi Cymru'n aros yn ei hunfan, ac er gwaethaf adroddiadau sy'n llawn bwriadau da a pholisïau tymor byr, ni fu gwelliant o ran symudedd cymdeithasol. Weinidog, dyma'r adeg i weithredu ac adeiladu'r economi ddeinamig a fydd yn helpu teuluoedd tlotach i gamu ymlaen mewn bywyd.