English: As a member of the Equality and Social Justice Committee, I am delighted to contribute to today's debate on our report, 'Debt and the pandemic'. The pandemic has taken its toll in different ways. For many people it hit financially - they faced job insecurity, less income, higher bills. It has compounded the financial problems that families have been grappling with. I believe this inquiry and our report is a testament to the enthusiasm of all Members who wanted to understand more about the complexities of the debt experienced by people in Wales and the impact of the pandemic on individual and household finances. I want at the outset to thank our Chair, Jenny Rathbone, who has skillfully led the committee through this inquiry, and the Minister for accepting in full or in principle the recommendations that we settled on. It is the response of the Government that I want to focus on this afternoon, because as the Minister rightly said in her letter to the committee, there is an urgent need to tackle the growing debt burden that is being faced by some of our most vulnerable households in Wales. I also want us to remember that, for many people, the challenge of managing debt and attempting to resolve their problems can be a lonely affair. There is a significant risk that those in society with less to start with will witness a disproportionate impact on their financial health because of the pandemic, and this has been well documented in other studies beyond this inquiry - [ Inaudible.] - and increasing worries, strain, depression and longer lasting mental ill health. According to the mental ill health charity Platfform, these anxieties and distresses have not, however, been experienced uniformly, and there is good evidence that the pandemic and our responses to it have widened these health inequalities. They also observe that mental health is known to be linked to wider inequalities that are prevalent in our society. There's a link between financial health and mental health, and the effect of the pandemic on the financial health of those who were already struggling is going to provide the basis for a range of ongoing challenges that this Government needs to meet. The evidence to the committee was comprehensive. The recommendations are based on that evidence and the discussions that followed. There appears to be little disagreement between the committee and the Government about the seriousness of the challenges that many people face in Wales, although I do want to see some speed put into the work the Government is committed to. I want to raise three points in support of the committee report this afternoon. Firstly, the importance of data. Without information we will have little ability to affect the life chances of those in debt. Planning will be pointless without understanding the complete picture, which is why I welcome the Government's acceptance of the committee's view that their equalities data unit should work with organisations in the sector to collate and publish annual data on debt in Wales, broken down by protected characteristics. My concerns about health inequalities, especially mental ill health, should feature in the work undertaken, so that we fully understand the consequences of the debt position beyond the financial. Secondly is the disproportionate impact of debt and the pandemic on different groups. In our report we outline how much of the evidence pointed to the differing impact on different groups. Organisations such as StepChange, Citizens Advice and the Bevan Foundation provided evidence that some groups are more likely to experience debt than others, such as people who are unemployed or in insecure work, people whose work has been affected by the pandemic, single parents, parents with young children, renters, people from some ethnic minority communities, and people with disabilities. In addition, the Bevan Foundation highlighted that households with an annual income below £40,000 a year were significantly more likely to be in arrears than higher income households. Furthermore, they found that people living in social rented accommodation are more likely to be in arrears on every major bill than any other group. This evidence demonstrates how complex the picture is and how it will not be resolved quickly. Thirdly is the importance of us holding the Welsh Government to account and returning to this subject as soon as we can. I appreciate that there are matters beyond our control, but people expect Welsh Ministers to act. In doing so, I expect that other departments within Government should be engaged in this agenda as we also seek to provide a stronger economy from which people should be able to benefit.
Welsh: Fel aelod o'r Pwyllgor Cydraddoldeb a Chyfiawnder Cymdeithasol, mae'n bleser gennyf gyfrannu at y ddadl heddiw ar ein hadroddiad, 'Dyled a'r pandemig'. Mae'r pandemig wedi gadael ei ôl mewn gwahanol ffyrdd. I lawer o bobl, fe wnaeth daro'n ariannol - roeddent yn wynebu ansicrwydd ynglŷn â'u swyddi, llai o incwm, biliau uwch. Mae wedi dwysáu'r problemau ariannol y mae teuluoedd wedi bod yn ymrafael â hwy. Credaf fod yr ymchwiliad hwn a'n hadroddiad yn dyst i frwdfrydedd yr holl Aelodau a oedd am ddeall mwy am gymhlethdodau'r ddyled a brofir gan bobl yng Nghymru ac effaith y pandemig ar gyllid unigolion ac aelwydydd. Hoffwn ddiolch ar y cychwyn i'n Cadeirydd, Jenny Rathbone, sydd wedi arwain y pwyllgor yn fedrus drwy'r ymchwiliad hwn, a'r Gweinidog am dderbyn yn llawn neu mewn egwyddor yr argymhellion y gwnaethom gytuno arnynt. Rwyf am ganolbwyntio ar ymateb y Llywodraeth y prynhawn yma, oherwydd fel y dywedodd y Gweinidog yn gywir yn ei llythyr at y pwyllgor, mae gwir angen mynd i'r afael â'r baich dyledion cynyddol sy'n wynebu rhai o'n cartrefi mwyaf agored i niwed yng Nghymru. Rwyf am inni gofio hefyd y gall yr her o reoli dyled a cheisio datrys eu problemau fod yn fater unig i lawer o bobl. Mae perygl sylweddol y bydd y rhai mewn cymdeithas sydd â llai i ddechrau yn gweld effaith anghymesur ar eu hiechyd ariannol oherwydd y pandemig, ac mae hyn wedi'i ddogfennu'n dda mewn astudiaethau eraill y tu hwnt i'r ymchwiliad hwn - [ Anghlywadwy.] - a phryderon cynyddol, straen, iselder a salwch meddwl sy'n para'n hirach. Yn ôl yr elusen salwch meddwl Platfform, fodd bynnag, nid yw'r pryderon a'r gofidiau hyn wedi cael eu profi yn yr un ffordd, a cheir tystiolaeth dda fod y pandemig a'n hymatebion iddo wedi ehangu'r anghydraddoldebau iechyd hyn. Maent hefyd yn nodi y gwyddys bod iechyd meddwl yn gysylltiedig ag anghydraddoldebau ehangach sy'n gyffredin yn ein cymdeithas. Mae cysylltiad rhwng iechyd ariannol ac iechyd meddwl, ac mae effaith y pandemig ar iechyd ariannol y rhai a oedd eisoes yn ei chael hi'n anodd yn mynd i ddarparu'r sail ar gyfer amrywiaeth o heriau parhaus y mae angen i'r Llywodraeth hon eu goresgyn. Roedd y dystiolaeth i'r pwyllgor yn gynhwysfawr. Mae'r argymhellion yn seiliedig ar y dystiolaeth honno a'r trafodaethau a ddilynodd. Ymddengys nad oes llawer o anghytundeb rhwng y pwyllgor a'r Llywodraeth ynghylch difrifoldeb yr heriau y mae llawer o bobl yn eu hwynebu yng Nghymru, er fy mod am weld y gwaith y mae'r Llywodraeth wedi ymrwymo iddo'n digwydd yn gyflymach. Rwyf am grybwyll tri phwynt i gefnogi adroddiad y pwyllgor y prynhawn yma. Yn gyntaf, pwysigrwydd data. Heb wybodaeth, ni fydd gennym fawr o allu i effeithio ar gyfleoedd bywyd y rhai sydd mewn dyled. Ni fydd diben cynllunio heb ddeall y darlun cyflawn, a dyna pam rwy'n croesawu'r ffaith bod y Llywodraeth wedi derbyn barn y pwyllgor y dylai eu huned data cydraddoldeb weithio gyda sefydliadau yn y sector i gasglu a chyhoeddi data blynyddol ar ddyledion yng Nghymru, wedi'i rannu yn ôl nodweddion gwarchodedig. Dylai fy mhryderon ynghylch anghydraddoldebau iechyd, yn enwedig salwch meddwl, gael eu cynnwys yn y gwaith a wneir, fel ein bod yn deall canlyniadau'r sefyllfa mewn perthynas â dyled yn llawn y tu hwnt i'r ariannol. Yn ail, effaith anghymesur dyled a'r pandemig ar wahanol grwpiau. Yn ein hadroddiad rydym yn amlinellu faint o'r dystiolaeth a gyfeiriai at yr effaith wahanol ar wahanol grwpiau. Darparodd sefydliadau fel StepChange, Cyngor ar Bopeth a Sefydliad Bevan dystiolaeth fod rhai grwpiau yn fwy tebygol o brofi dyled nag eraill, megis pobl sy'n ddi-waith neu mewn gwaith ansicr, pobl y mae'r pandemig wedi effeithio ar eu gwaith, rhieni sengl, rhieni â phlant ifanc, rhentwyr, pobl o rai cymunedau lleiafrifol ethnig, a phobl ag anableddau. Yn ogystal, tynnodd Sefydliad Bevan sylw at y ffaith bod aelwydydd ag incwm blynyddol o dan £40,000 y flwyddyn yn llawer mwy tebygol o fod ag ôl-ddyledion nag aelwydydd incwm uwch. At hynny, canfuwyd bod pobl sy'n byw mewn tai rhent cymdeithasol yn fwy tebygol o fod ag ôl-ddyledion ar bob bil mawr nag unrhyw grŵp arall. Mae'r dystiolaeth hon yn dangos pa mor gymhleth yw'r darlun a sut na chaiff ei ddatrys yn gyflym. Yn drydydd, mae'n bwysig ein bod yn dwyn Llywodraeth Cymru i gyfrif ac yn dychwelyd at y pwnc hwn cyn gynted ag y gallwn. Rwy'n sylweddoli bod yna bethau sydd y tu hwnt i'n rheolaeth, ond mae pobl yn disgwyl i Weinidogion Cymru weithredu. Wrth wneud hynny, rwy'n disgwyl y dylai adrannau eraill o fewn y Llywodraeth fod yn rhan o'r agenda hon wrth inni hefyd geisio darparu economi gryfach y dylai pobl allu elwa ohoni.