English: Thank you. You've raised an important area, where Welsh Government has been looking at how it can support the development of the legal profession, those having access to it, and, ultimately, those being able to provide legal services within communities. The first thing to say about the apprenticeship levy, of course, is that it as a tax on employers, it was not one supported by us, and we get very little financial benefit as a consequence of it. Coming back to, I think, the substance of your question, which is about legal education and training, as you say, last September, we introduced paralegal apprenticeships, which allow apprentices to gain Chartered Institute of Legal Executives qualifications, and the first cohort of those started in September 2022 at Coleg Sir Gâr in Carmarthen. As you say, we've extended it to level 3 and level 5, and we are looking at level 7; we are looking at the access to solicitor apprenticeships as well. That is slightly more complicated, because it raises issues in terms of what a lot of firms are already doing in terms of supporting and paying apprentices, and what we would really want to do is to ensure that anything that we might do would actually lead to better access for more people, more diverse access to that, and also result in people being able to provide legal services in communities, rather than just replacing expenditure that is already taking place. What I can say, though, is that we have published a specification for an assessment of the need for solicitor apprenticeships in Wales, which closed to tenders yesterday. It's aim is to establish the extent to which a solicitor degree apprenticeship may help meet the training and the development needs of the legal profession in Wales.
Welsh: Diolch. Rydych wedi codi maes pwysig, lle mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi bod yn ystyried sut y gall gefnogi datblygiad y proffesiwn cyfreithiol, y rhai sy'n cael mynediad ato, ac, yn y pen draw, y rhai sy'n gallu darparu gwasanaethau cyfreithiol o fewn cymunedau. Y peth cyntaf i'w ddweud am yr ardoll brentisiaethau, wrth gwrs, yw ei bod fel treth ar gyflogwyr, nid oeddem yn ei chefnogi, ac ychydig iawn o fudd ariannol a gawn o ganlyniad iddi. I droi'n ôl at sylwedd eich cwestiwn, sy'n ymwneud ag addysg a hyfforddiant cyfreithiol, fel y dywedwch, fis Medi diwethaf, fe wnaethom gyflwyno prentisiaethau paragyfreithiol, sy'n caniatáu i brentisiaid ennill cymwysterau Sefydliad Siartredig Gweithredwyr Cyfreithiol, a dechreuodd y garfan gyntaf o'r rheini yng Ngholeg Sir Gâr yng Nghaerfyrddin ym mis Medi 2022. Fel y dywedwch, rydym wedi ei ymestyn i gynnwys cymwysterau lefel 3 a lefel 5, ac rydym yn edrych ar gymhwyster lefel 7; rydym yn edrych ar y mynediad at brentisiaethau cyfreithwyr hefyd. Mae hynny ychydig yn fwy cymhleth, oherwydd ei fod yn codi materion ynghylch yr hyn y mae llawer o gwmnïau eisoes yn ei wneud o ran cefnogi a thalu prentisiaid, a'r hyn rydym eisiau ei wneud mewn gwirionedd yw sicrhau bod unrhyw beth y gallem ei wneud yn arwain at well mynediad i fwy o bobl, mynediad mwy amrywiol, a hefyd fod pobl yn gallu darparu gwasanaethau cyfreithiol mewn cymunedau, yn hytrach na dim ond disodli gwariant sydd eisoes yn digwydd. Yr hyn y gallaf ei ddweud, serch hynny, yw ein bod wedi cyhoeddi manyleb ar gyfer asesiad o'r angen am brentisiaethau cyfreithwyr yng Nghymru, a gaeodd i dendrau ddoe. Y nod yw sefydlu i ba raddau y gall gradd-brentisiaeth cyfreithiwr helpu i ddiwallu anghenion hyfforddiant a datblygiad y proffesiwn cyfreithiol yng Nghymru.