English: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm delighted to, once again, be able to raise the issue of motor neurone disease in the Senedd, and I've agreed to Mark Isherwood and Dai Lloyd that they can have a minute of my time. In 2014, I held a short debate on the plight of people living with motor neurone disease and called on the Welsh Government to recognise some of the challenges that people in Wales are facing and look at ways it can better support the MND community. While some progress has been made, and for that I know that I and people living with MND are very grateful, there's still much more than can and should be done. Today's debate specifically is about the need to support people living with MND by adapting the current process and making it easier for them and their families to adapt their homes in response to living with the condition. Undoubtedly, MND is a cruel disease. It's one that robs people of their dignity and, unfortunately, carries quite literally a death sentence. And so if one message is taken from this debate, it's that time is critical for people living with MND. It's believed that MND kills a third of people within a year and more than half within two years, and so time is so important in ensuring that they can live in a safe and suitable home. Housing adaptations and the process by which they are made to a property need to be quicker, more joined up and ultimately need to recognise the importance of swift action to ensure that people living with MND can live as comfortably as possible. Now, in 2018, the Auditor General for Wales published a very important report on housing adaptations more generally, and that report highlighted a number of significant issues. Indeed, that report states that user satisfaction with housing adaptations masks a hugely complicated reactive and inequitable system that is not delivering for all those who may need it, and public bodies are not taking opportunities to improve value for money. The report also highlights that the current system for delivering adaptations reinforces inequalities for some disabled and older people, and addressing need is complicated by the different sources of funding. And people living with motor neurone disease are very much within the umbrella of people living with complex neurological problems who are struggling to adapt their homes quickly enough. Now, following the auditor general's report, the Public Accounts Committee, which I chair, also undertook a short inquiry into housing adaptations to focus on some of the themes and established ways in which we could help guide the Welsh Government to improve its processes. What the committee found was that there were so many sources of funding and policies for adaptations it results in disabled and older people receiving different standards of service and therefore the Welsh Government needed to set standards for all adaptations to ensure disabled and older people receive the same standard of service irrespective of where they live, who their property owner is, and whether indeed they own their own home. Now, to the Welsh Government's credit, some very important work has been done to review and implement changes to the adaptations process, and I fully appreciate, and the MND Association fully appreciate, that this is a process that will take time. As I understand it, the Welsh Government has established service standards that apply to all adaptations irrespective of tenure, provider or source of funding, and that's been in force since April 2019. Secondly, the Welsh Government has attempted to review the policy on means testing and implement changes, and I know that some work has been done with the housing adaptation steering group, the HASG, looking at how means testing should not be applied to less complex small and medium adaptations or individuals receiving palliative and end-of-life care. The Wales Centre for Public Policy was then tasked to take this forward, involving significant engagement with local authorities. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic has meant that the work has been paused, and the research done by the Wales Centre for Public Policy has not been able to progress as planned. In the meantime, people in Wales living with motor neurone disease and other neurological conditions continue to struggle to get home adaptations done quickly, and, as a result, some are living in homes that are neither safe nor suitable for them. And this is having a very direct impact on health and well-being, which may lead to isolation, lack of physical activity, disengagement from family and community, and unsafe environments contributing to accidents and falls.
Welsh: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Rwy'n falch iawn, unwaith eto, o allu codi mater clefyd niwronau motor - MND - yn y Senedd, ac rwyf wedi cytuno i Mark Isherwood a Dai Lloyd gael munud o fy amser. Yn 2014, cynhaliais ddadl fer ar drafferthion pobl sy'n byw gyda chlefyd niwronau motor a galwais ar Lywodraeth Cymru i gydnabod rhai o'r heriau y mae pobl yng Nghymru yn eu hwynebu ac edrych ar ffyrdd y gall gefnogi'r gymuned MND yn well. Er bod rhywfaint o gynnydd wedi'i wneud, ac am hynny gwn fy mod i a phobl sy'n byw gydag MND yn ddiolchgar iawn, mae llawer mwy y gellir ac y dylid ei wneud o hyd. Mae'r ddadl heddiw'n ymwneud yn benodol â'r angen i gefnogi pobl sy'n byw gydag MND drwy addasu'r broses bresennol a'i gwneud yn haws iddynt hwy a'u teuluoedd addasu eu cartrefi mewn ymateb i fyw gyda'r cyflwr. Yn ddiau, mae MND yn glefyd creulon. Mae'n un sy'n amddifadu pobl o'u hurddas ac yn anffodus, mae'n llythrennol yn ddedfryd o farwolaeth. Ac felly os llwydda'r ddadl hon i gyfleu un neges, y ffaith bod amser yn hollbwysig i bobl sy'n byw gydag MND yw honno. Credir bod MND yn lladd traean o bobl o fewn blwyddyn a mwy na hanner o fewn dwy flynedd, ac felly mae amser mor bwysig er mwyn sicrhau eu bod yn gallu byw mewn cartref diogel ac addas. Mae angen i addasiadau tai a'r broses o'u gwneud fod yn gyflymach, yn fwy cydgysylltiedig ac yn y pen draw mae angen cydnabod pwysigrwydd gweithredu cyflym i sicrhau bod pobl sy'n byw gydag MND yn gallu byw mor gyfforddus â phosibl. Nawr, yn 2018, cyhoeddodd Archwilydd Cyffredinol Cymru adroddiad pwysig iawn ar addasiadau tai yn fwy cyffredinol, a thynnodd yr adroddiad hwnnw sylw at nifer o faterion arwyddocaol. Yn wir, mae'r adroddiad hwnnw'n datgan bod boddhad defnyddwyr ag addasiadau tai yn celu system adweithiol ac anghyfartal hynod gymhleth nad yw'n cyflawni ar gyfer pawb y gallai fod ei hangen, ac nad yw cyrff cyhoeddus yn manteisio ar gyfleoedd i wella gwerth am arian. Mae'r adroddiad hefyd yn tynnu sylw at y ffaith bod y system bresennol ar gyfer cyflawni addasiadau yn atgyfnerthu anghydraddoldebau i rai pobl anabl a phobl hŷn, ac mae mynd i'r afael ag angen yn cael ei gymhlethu gan y gwahanol ffynonellau cyllid. Ac mae pobl sy'n byw gyda chlefyd niwronau motor yn sicr yn dod o dan ymbarél pobl sy'n byw gyda phroblemau niwrolegol cymhleth sy'n ei chael hi'n anodd addasu eu cartrefi'n ddigon cyflym. Nawr, yn dilyn adroddiad yr archwilydd cyffredinol, cynhaliodd y Pwyllgor Cyfrifon Cyhoeddus, a gadeirir gennyf fi, ymchwiliad byr i addasiadau tai er mwyn canolbwyntio ar rai o'r themâu a'r ffyrdd sefydledig y gallem helpu i gynorthwyo Llywodraeth Cymru i wella ei phrosesau. Yr hyn a ganfu'r pwyllgor oedd bod cynifer o ffynonellau cyllid a pholisïau ar gyfer addasiadau fel bod pobl anabl a phobl hŷn yn cael gwasanaeth o safon wahanol ac felly roedd angen i Lywodraeth Cymru osod safonau ar gyfer pob addasiad er mwyn sicrhau bod pobl anabl a phobl hŷn yn cael yr un safon o wasanaeth ni waeth ble maent yn byw, pwy yw perchennog eu heiddo, ac a ydynt yn berchen ar eu cartref eu hunain yn wir. Nawr, er clod i Lywodraeth Cymru, mae peth gwaith pwysig iawn wedi'i wneud i adolygu a gweithredu newidiadau i'r broses o gyflawni addasiadau, ac rwy'n llawn sylweddoli, ac mae'r Gymdeithas MND yn llawn sylweddoli, fod hon yn broses a fydd yn cymryd amser. Yn ôl yr hyn a ddeallaf, mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi sefydlu safonau gwasanaeth sy'n berthnasol i bob addasiad ni waeth beth fo'r math o ddeiliadaeth, y darparwr neu'r ffynhonnell ariannu, ac mae hynny wedi bod mewn grym ers mis Ebrill 2019. Yn ail, mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi ceisio adolygu'r polisi ar brofion modd a gweithredu newidiadau, a gwn fod peth gwaith wedi'i wneud gyda'r grŵp llywio ar addasu tai, a edrychai ar sut na ddylid cymhwyso profion modd ar gyfer addasiadau bach a chanolig llai cymhleth neu unigolion sy'n derbyn gofal lliniarol a gofal diwedd oes. Yna, gofynnwyd i Ganolfan Polisi Cyhoeddus Cymru ddatblygu hyn, gan gynnwys ymgysylltu'n sylweddol ag awdurdodau lleol. Fodd bynnag, mae'r pandemig COVID-19 presennol wedi golygu bod y gwaith wedi'i ohirio, ac nid yw'r ymchwil a wnaed gan Ganolfan Polisi Cyhoeddus Cymru wedi gallu symud ymlaen yn ôl y bwriad. Yn y cyfamser, mae pobl yng Nghymru sy'n byw gyda chlefyd niwronau motor a chyflyrau niwrolegol eraill yn parhau i'w chael hi'n anodd cael addasiadau wedi'u gwneud i'w cartrefi'n gyflym, ac o ganlyniad, mae rhai'n byw mewn cartrefi nad ydynt yn ddiogel nac yn addas ar eu cyfer. Ac mae hyn yn cael effaith uniongyrchol iawn ar iechyd a llesiant, a all arwain at unigedd, diffyg gweithgarwch corfforol, ymddieithrio oddi wrth deulu a chymuned, ac amgylcheddau anniogel sy'n cyfrannu at ddamweiniau a chwympiadau.