English: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you, Minister, for your statement, and can I also thank you for your briefing this morning? I found it very useful in terms of understanding your viewpoint. Indeed, I acknowledge completely your view of investing in care leavers and trying to provide opportunities for them that others might take for granted, and I accept that this comes from a position of genuinely wanting to help. I further believe that every Member here would recognise that care leavers are a particularly vulnerable group that need additional support. The Welsh Conservatives recognise this and that care leavers face unique challenges and difficulties, and we want to do everything to ensure that they have the best care and every opportunity available to them. However, Minister, my concern with this UBI trial is that this Government is changing the narrative of universal basic income by conflating it with providing specific help for care leavers in the hope that, after two years, you will have data that justifies the roll-out of a UBI. This approach is inherently flawed, because you will not actually be able to extrapolate any data from such a specific and, might I add, vulnerable group to apply it to a full cross-section of society. Moreover, by using care leavers as your measurement group, I believe that you are diminishing the opportunity for rigorous scrutiny of UBI, because any adverse comments will be met with a counter-argument that the person making them is against care leavers, which is not only very unlikely to be true, but it will, overall, prevent many people from engaging with the scrutiny process out of a fear of a backlash. Moreover, on the grounds of helping care leavers, we believe that giving them every opportunity to make the best of their lives is right, and we recognise the trauma and very difficult circumstances some of them have faced. However, we also have to be mindful that within this group there are some extremely vulnerable people with complex needs, and giving them £1,600 a month in theory may help them in the short term, in reality it could make the situation worse for them in the long term. Firstly, this vulnerable group of teenagers, some of whom come from challenging backgrounds, could become, without the right help and support, targets for people looking to coerce, abuse and exploit them because of the extra money. How will you prevent this? Secondly, as you have mentioned previously, we know that there are people within this group, although they are a very small proportion, that have drug dependency issues, and having such a large amount of money given to them, again without the right help and support, could worsen existing issues. And thirdly, the Welsh Government is ultimately creating a cliff edge for care leavers who will simply have their money stopped after two years. So, in reality, you are taking some of the most vulnerable people, creating a dependency on an additional income that they are very unlikely to receive ever again and then leaving them to fend for themselves after two years. Minister, you mentioned this massive package of support that I have highlighted that they will need, but, in reality, this is not the case and the maths don't add up. You're providing £20 million over two years, which will only leave £800,000 to provide the support package, which is woeful at best, and, as mentioned this morning, you are relying almost entirely on the voluntary sector to provide that support. We have heard about the possibilities of people using this money to support higher education. While university degrees take, on average, three years, what you will be doing is not giving them the same opportunities that other people have had when their families have supported them, because you're only helping out part of the way, which I believe is irresponsible. With this in mind, Minister, what assessment have you done to evaluate the actual support needed for care leavers to maximise the use of this money, and what help and support are you offering to voluntary and third sector organisations to help them meet the support needs of those undertaking this trial? What assessment has this Government made of the needs of this group once the trial has ended, and how do you envisage they will be supported after it? With this being a voluntary programme for care leavers to sign up to, what specific help and support is the Welsh Government offering to those eligible to actually sign up and access this trial? And finally, in terms of universal basic income, how do you expect this data to be extrapolated to provide sufficient evidence that UBI will help the full cross-section of Welsh society? Thank you.
Welsh: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Diolch, Gweinidog, am eich datganiad chi, ac a gaf i ddiolch i chi hefyd am eich papur briffio'r bore yma? Fe'i cefais yn ddefnyddiol iawn o ran deall eich safbwynt chi. Yn wir, rwy'n llwyr gydnabod eich barn chi ynglŷn â buddsoddi yn y rhai sy'n gadael gofal a cheisio darparu cyfleoedd ar eu cyfer nhw y byddai pobl eraill yn eu cymryd yn ganiataol efallai, ac rwy'n derbyn bod hynny'n deillio o sefyllfa o fod yn wir awyddus i helpu. Rwy'n credu hefyd y byddai pob Aelod yma'n cydnabod bod y rhai sy'n gadael gofal yn grŵp arbennig o agored i niwed y mae angen cymorth ychwanegol arnyn nhw. Mae'r Ceidwadwyr Cymreig yn cydnabod hyn a bod y rhai sy'n gadael gofal yn wynebu heriau ac anawsterau unigryw, ac rydym ni'n dymuno gwneud popeth i sicrhau eu bod nhw'n cael y gofal gorau a bod pob cyfle ar gael iddyn nhw. Fodd bynnag, Gweinidog, fy mhryder i ynglŷn â'r arbrawf hwn gydag Incwm Sylfaenol Cyffredinol yw bod y Llywodraeth hon yn newid naratif Incwm Sylfaenol Cyffredinol drwy ei ddrysu â'r ddarpariaeth o gymorth penodol i'r rhai sy'n gadael gofal yn y gobaith y bydd gennych chi, ar ôl dwy flynedd, ddata sy'n cyfiawnhau cyflwyno Incwm Sylfaenol Cyffredinol. Mae'r dull hwn yn ddiffygiol yn ei hanfod, oherwydd ni fyddwch chi mewn gwirionedd yn gallu allosod unrhyw ddata oddi wrth grŵp mor arbennig ac, a gaf i ychwanegu, grŵp sy'n agored i niwed i'w ddefnyddio ar gyfer trawstoriad o'r gymdeithas gyfan. At hynny, drwy ddefnyddio'r rhai sy'n gadael gofal yn grŵp ar gyfer eich mesuriadau chi, rwyf i o'r farn eich bod chi'n cyfyngu ar y cyfle i graffu gyda manylder ar Incwm Sylfaenol Cyffredinol, oherwydd fe fydd unrhyw sylwadau anffafriol yn cael eu hateb gyda'r wrth-ddadl sef bod y sawl sy'n eu gwneud nhw'n elyniaethus i'r rhai sy'n gadael gofal, sydd nid yn unig yn annhebygol iawn o fod yn wir, ond fe fydd hynny, ar y cyfan, yn atal llawer o bobl rhag ymgysylltu â'r broses graffu rhag ofn y bydd yna adlach. At hynny, ar sail helpu'r rhai sy'n gadael gofal, rydym ni o'r farn fod rhoi pob cyfle iddyn nhw wneud y gorau o'u bywydau nhw'n iawn, ac rydym ni'n cydnabod y trawma a'r amgylchiadau anodd iawn a wynebwyd gan rai ohonyn nhw. Serch hynny, mae'n rhaid i ni gofio hefyd fod rhai pobl hynod agored i niwed ag anghenion cymhleth iawn yn y grŵp hwn, ac fe allai rhoi £1,600 y mis iddyn nhw eu helpu nhw mewn egwyddor yn y tymor byr, ond mewn gwirionedd fe allai hynny waethygu eu sefyllfa nhw yn yr hirdymor. Yn gyntaf, fe allai'r grŵp hyglwyf hwn o bobl ifanc yn eu harddegau, y mae rhai ohonyn nhw'n dod o gefndiroedd heriol, fynd i berygl, heb gymorth a chefnogaeth briodol, oherwydd rhai unigolion a fyddai'n ceisio eu gorfodi nhw i wneud pethau, eu cam-drin nhw a chymryd mantais arnyn nhw oherwydd yr arian ychwanegol hwn. Sut ydych chi am rwystro hynny rhag digwydd? Yn ail, fel gwnaethoch chi sôn o'r blaen, fe wyddom ni fod pobl yn y grŵp hwn, er mai rhan fechan iawn ydyn nhw, sydd â phroblemau o ran dibyniaeth ar gyffuriau, ac fe allai cael swm mor fawr o arian yn eu dwylo, unwaith eto heb gymorth na chefnogaeth briodol, waethygu'r problemau sy'n bodoli eisoes. Ac yn drydydd, mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn y pen draw yn creu ochr dibyn ar gyfer y rhai sy'n gadael gofal a fydd yn gweld eu harian nhw'n dod i ben ar ôl dwy flynedd. Felly, mewn gwirionedd, rydych chi'n cymryd rhai o'r bobl fwyaf agored i niwed, gan greu dibyniaeth ar incwm ychwanegol y maen nhw'n annhebygol iawn o'i weld byth eto ac yna'n eu gadael nhw i ymorol amdanyn nhw eu hunain ar ôl dwy flynedd. Gweinidog, roeddech chi'n sôn am y pecyn enfawr hwn o gymorth y tynnais i sylw ato y bydd ei angen arnyn nhw, ond, mewn gwirionedd, nid dyna yw'r achos ac nid yw'r fathemateg yn gywir. Rydych chi'n darparu £20 miliwn dros ddwy flynedd, sy'n gadael dim ond £800,000 ar ôl i ddarparu'r pecyn cymorth, sy'n druenus ar y gorau, ac, fel cafodd hynny ei grybwyll y bore yma, rydych chi'n dibynnu bron yn gyfan gwbl ar y sector gwirfoddol i ddarparu'r cymorth hwnnw. Rydym ni wedi clywed am bosibiliadau pobl yn defnyddio'r arian hwn i gefnogi addysg uwch. Er bod graddau prifysgol yn cymryd tair blynedd, ar gyfartaledd, yr hyn y byddwch chi'n ei wneud yw peidio â rhoi'r un cyfleoedd iddyn nhw ag y cafodd pobl eraill gyda chefnogaeth oddi wrth eu teuluoedd nhw, oherwydd nid ydych chi'n gwneud dim ond eu helpu nhw am ran o'r ffordd, sydd, yn fy marn i, yn anghyfrifol. Gyda hynny mewn golwg, Gweinidog, pa asesiad a wnaethoch chi i werthuso'r cymorth gwirioneddol sydd ei angen ar y rhai sy'n gadael gofal i wneud y defnydd gorau o'r arian hwn, a pha gymorth a chefnogaeth ydych chi'n eu cynnig i sefydliadau gwirfoddol a thrydydd sector i'w helpu i ddiwallu anghenion y rhai sy'n ymgymryd â'r cynllun hwn o ran y gefnogaeth a fydd ar gael? Pa asesiad a wnaeth y Llywodraeth hon o anghenion y grŵp hwn ar ôl i'r cyfnod arbrofol ddod i ben, a sut ydych chi'n rhagweld y cânt eu cefnogi ar ei ddiwedd? Gan mai rhaglen wirfoddol yw hon i'r rhai sy'n gadael gofal ymrwymo iddi, pa gymorth a chefnogaeth yn benodol y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn eu cynnig i'r rhai sy'n gymwys i gofrestru a chael bod ar y cynllun hwn? Ac yn olaf, o ran incwm sylfaenol cyffredinol, sut ydych chi'n disgwyl i'r data hyn gael eu hallosod i ddarparu tystiolaeth ddigonol y bydd Incwm Sylfaenol Cyffredinol yn helpu trawstoriad llawn o'r gymdeithas yng Nghymru? Diolch i chi.