English: I'll start, as we always tend to in these debates, and thank the Chair for his expert way in how he chairs our committee, as well as all the work the clerks do as well, and in particular the evidence we received from various stakeholders and community action groups. I'll highlight the Caerau and Ely action group, much like the Chair did, and refer to their point around it only being of benefit if you know about it. I think that's a vitally important point. It links with my previous contribution relating to broadband social tariffs. But it also highlights the need to raise awareness of what is available to people. And of course, I fundamentally think people should receive what they're entitled to anyway as a default. But if I could start with businesses. It is no secret that the cost-of-living crisis is tearing through Welsh high streets as warnings of a lost generation of small and independent businesses continue to loom large. The impact of soaring inflation and skyrocketing energy prices has been felt by traders, many of whom have been forced to close their doors for good or are considering doing so. The cost-of-living crisis is running in tandem with a cost-of-doing-business crisis - something that is well documented in our committee's report. Prices are surging for business at the same time that working people are having to reduce their spending. It's very much a double-whammy. It's worth noting here that this spending by working people isn't for luxuries either - many can't afford the necessities. The considerable increases in fuel poverty, predicted to follow the energy cap rise in April, whereby 45 per cent of Welsh households are expected to contend with grinding fuel poverty, are expected to coincide with possibly the biggest fall in disposable income since records began in the 1950s. On top of this, many businesses are still recovering from the pandemic. I mentioned small, independent businesses and it's these that are being hit the hardest in certain sectors. The Federation of Small Businesses reported that there has been an average gas bill hike of 250 per cent for small businesses and that 96 per cent of these are concerned about their rising energy bills. Energy-intensive industries are also suffering - not just the ones that immediately come to mind, such as steel, but also ones that I've been vocal about, such as breweries and hospitality. For example, Bang-On Brewery, a local brewery in my region, in Bridgend, have seen their bills increase in an eye-watering way. For example, they've seen a 549 per cent increase in their new utility contract; a 68 per cent increase in their new premises lease; a 165 per cent increase in brewers grain since the beginning of 2021, with a further 70 per cent increase being introduced in January 2023, and an 80 per cent increase in vehicle running costs in the past year. If you add all that up, just to stay where they are, they will need to find an additional £198,000 after tax to survive. Under those costs, the new trade price of a bottle of beer would have to be £12.53 per bottle plus VAT. I don't know many people, if anyone really, who would consider paying that for a bottle of beer. Costs such as these are just some of the myriad ways that this crisis is debilitating an already hamstrung hospitality industry. Sectors like hospitality, retail and tourism are hypervulnerable to people's discretionary spending. The report notes that sectors under significant pressures are at an increased risk of offloading cost-of-living pressures onto employees. Many working in sectors such as hospitality will have no collective bargaining beyond zero-hours contracts or no written contracts, and working hours that can be confirmed, cancelled or changed at the whim of a text message or phone call. The executive director for Wales of UKHospitality has said that 13,000 Welsh jobs are at risk if there is no help for the industry. And from this, we can see the cyclical nature of this crisis. The cost-of-living crisis and the cost-of-doing-business crisis are intimately bound up with each other and its impact on working class people is devastating. Livelihoods are at stake. Something noted by the Trades Union Congress in the report was the lack of an adequate understanding of these levels of precarity, and they're absolutely right. In-work poverty, low pay and insecure employment are no longer marginal or provisional in certain sectors - it's simply a fact of life for many. Not only does it serve to bring about a plague of mental health struggles, for many workers it can also have the effect of naturalising some of the dire employment conditions. People are having to work longer hours, some taking multiple jobs for less and less money. I spoke to a constituent at the surgery in Caerau on Monday who is working three jobs at the moment and yet still only had £3 to her name on Monday.
Welsh: Rwyf am ddechrau, fel rydym bob amser yn tueddu i'w wneud yn y dadleuon hyn, drwy ddiolch i'r Cadeirydd am ei gadeiryddiaeth arbenigol ar ein pwyllgor, yn ogystal â'r holl waith y mae'r clercod yn ei wneud hefyd, ac yn arbennig y dystiolaeth a gawsom gan wahanol randdeiliaid a grwpiau gweithredu cymunedol. Rwyf am dynnu sylw at grŵp gweithredu Caerau a Threlái, fel y gwnaeth y Cadeirydd, a chyfeirio at y pwynt a wnaethant sef nad yw ond o fudd os ydych yn gwybod amdano. Rwy'n credu bod hwnnw'n bwynt hanfodol bwysig. Mae'n cysylltu â fy nghyfraniad blaenorol yn ymwneud â thariffau cymdeithasol band eang. Ond mae hefyd yn tynnu sylw at yr angen i godi ymwybyddiaeth am yr hyn sydd ar gael i bobl. Ac wrth gwrs, rwy'n credu'n sylfaenol y dylai pobl gael yr hyn y mae ganddynt yr hawl i'w gael beth bynnag a hynny'n ddiofyn. Ond hoffwn ddechrau gyda busnesau. Nid yw'n gyfrinach fod yr argyfwng costau byw yn rhwygo drwy'r stryd fawr Gymreig wrth i rybuddion ynghylch cenhedlaeth goll o fusnesau bach ac annibynnol barhau. Mae effaith chwyddiant a phrisiau ynni esgynnol wedi cael ei theimlo gan fasnachwyr, ac mae llawer ohonynt wedi cael eu gorfodi i gau eu drysau'n barhaol neu i ystyried gwneud hynny. Mae'r argyfwng costau byw yn digwydd ochr yn ochr â'r argyfwng costau gwneud busnes - rhywbeth sydd wedi'i ddogfennu'n dda yn adroddiad ein pwyllgor. Mae prisiau'n codi i'r entrychion i fusnesau ar yr un pryd ag y mae pobl sy'n gweithio yn gorfod lleihau eu gwariant. Mae'n sicr yn ergyd ddwbl. Mae'n werth nodi yma nad ydym yn sôn am warian pobl sy'n gweithio ar bethau moethus chwaith - mae llawer ohonynt yn methu fforddio hanfodion. Mae disgwyl y bydd y cynnydd sylweddol mewn tlodi tanwydd, y rhagwelir y bydd yn dilyn codi'r cap ynni ym mis Ebrill, lle mae disgwyl i 45 y cant o aelwydydd Cymru ymgodymu â thlodi tanwydd difrifol, yn cyd-redeg â'r cwymp mwyaf mewn incwm gwario o bosibl ers dechrau cadw cofnodion yn y 1950au. Ar ben hyn, mae llawer o fusnesau'n dal i adfer ar ôl y pandemig. Soniais am fusnesau bach, annibynnol a'r rhain sy'n cael eu taro waethaf mewn rhai sectorau. Dywedodd y Ffederasiwn Busnesau Bach fod biliau nwy busnesau bach wedi cynyddu 250 y cant ar gyfartaledd a bod 96 y cant o'r rhain yn poeni am eu biliau ynni cynyddol. Mae diwydiannau ynni-ddwys hefyd yn dioddef - nid yn unig y rhai sy'n dod i'r meddwl yn syth, fel dur, ond rhai rwyf wedi codi llais yn eu cylch o'r blaen hefyd, fel bragdai a lletygarwch. Er enghraifft, mae Bang-On Brewery, bragdy lleol yn fy rhanbarth i ym Mhen-y-bont ar Ogwr, wedi gweld eu biliau'n cynyddu mewn ffordd sy'n dod â dŵr i'r llygaid. Er enghraifft, maent wedi gweld cynnydd o 549 y cant yn eu contract cyfleustodau newydd; cynnydd o 68 y cant yn eu les safle newydd; cynnydd o 165 y cant ym mhris grawn bragu ers dechrau 2021, gyda chynnydd pellach o 70 y cant yn cael ei gyflwyno ym mis Ionawr 2023, a chynnydd o 80 y cant yn y gost o redeg cerbydau yn ystod y flwyddyn ddiwethaf. Os adiwch y rheini i gyd, bydd angen iddynt ddod o hyd i £198,000 ychwanegol ar ôl treth i wneud dim mwy na aros lle maent, a goroesi. Gyda chostau o'r fath, byddai'n rhaid i bris masnach newydd potel o gwrw fod yn £12.53 y botel a TAW. Nid wyf yn nabod llawer o bobl, os oes unrhyw un mewn gwirionedd, a fyddai'n ystyried talu hynny am botel o gwrw. Mae costau fel hyn yn un o'r amryw o ffyrdd y mae'r argyfwng hwn yn gwanychu diwydiant lletygarwch sydd eisoes dan bwysau eithriadol. Mae sectorau fel lletygarwch, manwerthu a thwristiaeth yn hynod ddibynnol ar wariant dewisol pobl. Mae'r adroddiad yn nodi bod sectorau o dan bwysau sylweddol mewn mwy o berygl o ddadlwytho pwysau costau byw ar weithwyr. Ni fydd llawer sy'n gweithio mewn sectorau fel lletygarwch yn gallu bargeinio y tu hwnt i gontractau dim oriau neu waith heb gontract ysgrifenedig, ac oriau gwaith y gellir eu cadarnhau, eu canslo neu eu newid ar fympwy neges destun neu alwad ffôn. Mae cyfarwyddwr gweithredol UKHospitality Cymru wedi dweud bod 13,000 o swyddi yng Nghymru yn y fantol os na fydd cymorth yn cael ei roi i'r diwydiant. Ac o hyn, gallwn weld natur gylchol yr argyfwng hwn. Mae'r argyfwng costau byw a'r argyfwng costau gwneud busnes wedi'u clymu wrth ei gilydd ac mae ei effaith ar bobl dosbarth gweithiol yn ddinistriol. Mae bywoliaeth pobl yn y fantol. Rhywbeth a nodwyd gan Gyngres yr Undebau Llafur yn yr adroddiad oedd diffyg dealltwriaeth ddigonol o'r lefelau hyn o ansicrwydd, ac maent yn hollol gywir. Nid yw tlodi mewn gwaith, cyflogau isel a chyflogaeth ansicr yn bethau ymylol neu dros dro mewn rhai sectorau bellach - mae'n ffaith bywyd i lawer. Mae'n arwain at lu o frwydrau iechyd meddwl, ond gallai hefyd arwain at normaleiddio amodau cyflogaeth enbyd i lawer o bobl sy'n gweithio. Mae pobl yn gorfod gweithio oriau hwy, ac mae rhai'n gwneud nifer o swyddi am lai a llai o arian. Bûm yn siarad ag etholwr yn y feddygfa yng Nghaerau ddydd Llun sy'n gweithio tair swydd ar hyn o bryd ac eto £3 yn unig a oedd ganddi i'w henw y diwrnod hwnnw.