English: Diolch yn fawr, Luke Fletcher, and thank you very much for welcoming the basic income pilot for care leavers in Wales. I'm very glad you drew attention to the fact that the UK Government Department for Work and Pensions has declined - I would say, 'refused', but they declined to engage with us. They have declined to disregard this income payment that we're making. They declined to actually engage with us to see if this basic income pilot for care leavers could actually benefit care leavers across the whole of the United Kingdom. But that's what it will do, because, again, we've learnt a lot from Scotland as well, in terms of the piloting that they've undertaken and, of course, we've looked across the world. But I would say, and I will share a letter that I've written to the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions, Thérèse Coffey, who I have - . I did write to her and asked to discuss this pilot with her last year. She declined and also decided that the basic income payment would be counted as unearned income and offset and, of course, then be subject to tax and benefits consideration. And, actually, one of the greatest concerns I've got at the moment, and I'll share my letter to the Secretary of State with you, is that although it's declared as unearned income, it will be taxed, but as far as eligibility for universal credit is concerned, they say they're going to assess it on the gross value before tax, which means it's going to be unfairly assessed. I'm giving her the opportunity to rectify that, and I will share that, my call to her, and I hope colleagues from the Welsh Conservatives will back me in that as I share that letter with you. It is very important, in terms of young people deciding whether they will take part in this pilot, that they make an informed choice to do so. And your point about finding out if young people decide not to - well, it is of course their choice. The first cohort, if you like, has been approached, and they're very much aware of what's happening because of the recognition and engagement we've had with young people through Voices from Care over the period of the last year or so. They've actively been engaging with young people and all the local authorities involved in terms of - . And I've been working also with the Deputy Minister for Social Services, who's working with young people. We've met young people - they will have the choice as to whether they take part, and that will be about their circumstances and, indeed, looking at other earnings they might have, and their position in life in terms of jobs, education and opportunities. But in terms of evaluation, we will look at these kinds of factors because we need to learn from the young people, those who do take part throughout the evaluation, about the impact it's having on them and how they are engaging and what more support we can provide. I have already mentioned in response to Joel James the fact that we would expect any existing safeguarding measures and support already in place, because they have an ongoing duty of care, local authorities, to care leavers, to be followed and made available to basic income participants. But also, I've given you some examples where pilots across the world have shown that people who may have been vulnerable, not just in terms of things like becoming homeless, not being able to access jobs, or training and education - actually, the pilots across the world have shown that young people have benefitted, and that those on pilots, UBI pilots, have benefitted from the basic income, which gives them a whole measure of security in their lives in terms of options that lie ahead. Disability-related issues - it's very important this pilot is available, and we think it's up to 500 young people, diverse young people across Wales with protected characteristics, and they will be eligible for other benefits. So, again, with advice and guidance and the ongoing support they'll get from Citizen's Advice as well as their care leaver advisers and social workers, they will be able to assess the benefits they're entitled to. But it's unconditional. They'll be getting their £1,600 - taxed, unfortunately - every month regardless. So, hopefully it will build on those entitlements. I think the evaluation will be critical in terms of seeing this as an insightful and multifaceted evaluation. We need to look at the longer term impacts, and of course some of that will take some time into the future in terms of what this has meant for the care-experienced young people who are going to benefit. But we're applying a mixture of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods, engaging with young people themselves to get that baseline data, which is going to ensure that we can assess the impact of basic income appropriately. I think this in itself will show the important impact of the basic income pilot, because it just does go back to the fact that this provides those young people with the opportunities that they haven't had, and they might not have had in their lives, and which they haven't seen, and haven't been possible for them to have. So, the young people that, certainly, the First Minister and Julie Morgan and I met on Friday just said, 'Now we've got hope. Now we've got a future.'
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr, Luke Fletcher, a diolch yn fawr iawn i chi am groesawu'r cynllun treialu incwm sylfaenol ar gyfer y rhai sy'n gadael gofal yng Nghymru. Rwy'n falch iawn eich bod chi wedi tynnu sylw at y ffaith fod Adran Gwaith a Phensiynau Llywodraeth y DU wedi ymesgusodi - fe allwn i ddweud, 'gwrthod', ond fe wnaethant ymesgusodi rhag ymgysylltu â ni. Maen nhw wedi gwrthod diystyru'r taliad incwm hwn yr ydym ni'n ei wneud. Fe wnaethon nhw ymesgusodi rhag ymgysylltu â ni mewn gwirionedd o ran gweld a allai'r cynllun treialu incwm sylfaenol hwn ar gyfer y rhai sy'n gadael gofal fod o fudd i'r rhai sy'n gadael gofal ledled y Deyrnas Unedig. Ond dyna y bydd yn ei wneud, oherwydd, unwaith eto, rydym ni wedi dysgu llawer o'r Alban hefyd, o ran y cynlluniau a gynhaliwyd yno ac, wrth gwrs, rydym ni wedi edrych yn fyd-eang. Ond fe fyddwn i'n dweud, ac rwyf i am rannu llythyr â chi a ysgrifennais i at Ysgrifennydd Gwladol yr Adran Gwaith a Phensiynau, Thérèse Coffey, yr wyf i wedi - . Y llynedd, fe ysgrifennais ati hi a gofyn am gael trafod y cynllun treialu hwn gyda hi. Gwrthod a wnaeth hi a phenderfynu hefyd y byddai'r taliad incwm sylfaenol yn cael ei gyfrif fel incwm heb ei ennill a'i wrthbwyso ac, wrth gwrs, yn destun i'w ystyried o ran y dreth a budd-daliadau. Ac, mewn gwirionedd, un o'r pryderon mwyaf sydd gennyf i ar hyn o bryd, ac rwyf i am rannu fy llythyr at yr Ysgrifennydd Gwladol gyda chi, yw, er bod hwnnw wedi cael ei ddatgan yn incwm heb ei ennill, ac fe gaiff ei drethu, ond o ran cymhwysedd i gael credyd cynhwysol, maen nhw'n dweud eu bod nhw am ei asesu yn ôl ei werth gros cyn treth, sy'n golygu y bydd yn cael ei asesu yn annheg. Rwy'n rhoi cyfle iddi i unioni'r cam hwnnw, ac fe fyddaf i'n ei rannu, fy ngalwad arni hi, ac rwy'n gobeithio y bydd fy nghyd-Aelodau yma o blith y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig yn fy nghefnogi i yn hynny o beth gan fy mod i am rannu'r llythyr hwnnw gyda chi. Mae hi'n bwysig iawn, o ran pobl ifanc yn penderfynu a fyddan nhw'n cyfranogi o'r cynllun treialu hwn, eu bod ni'n gwneud dewis deallus wrth wneud felly. A'ch pwynt chi ynglŷn â darganfod rhesymau pobl ifanc am beidio â gwneud felly - wel, eu dewis nhw yw hwnnw, wrth gwrs. Cysylltwyd â'r garfan gyntaf, os hoffech chi, ac maen nhw'n ymwybodol iawn o'r hyn sy'n digwydd oherwydd y gydnabyddiaeth a'r ymgysylltiad a gawsom gyda phobl ifanc drwy Voices from Care dros gyfnod y flwyddyn ddiwethaf, fwy neu lai. Maen nhw wedi bod yn ymgysylltu â phobl ifanc a'r awdurdodau lleol i gyd sydd o ran - . Ac rwyf i wedi bod yn gweithio hefyd gyda'r Dirprwy Weinidog Gwasanaethau Cymdeithasol, sy'n gweithio gyda phobl ifanc. Rydym ni wedi cwrdd â phobl ifanc - fe fydd ganddyn nhw ddewis a ydyn nhw am gymryd rhan, ac fe fydd hynny'n ymwneud â'u hamgylchiadau nhw ac, yn wir, gan ystyried enillion eraill a allai fod ganddyn nhw, a'u sefyllfa nhw yn eu bywydau o ran swyddi, addysg a chyfleoedd. Ond o ran gwerthuso, fe fyddwn ni'n edrych ar y ffactorau o'r fath oherwydd mae angen i ni ddysgu oddi wrth y bobl ifanc, y rhai sy'n cymryd rhan drwy gydol y gwerthusiad, am effaith hyn arnyn nhw a sut maen nhw'n ymgysylltu a pha gymorth arall y gallwn ni ei gynnig. Rwyf i wedi crybwyll y ffaith eisoes mewn ymateb i Joel James y byddem ni'n disgwyl i unrhyw fesurau diogelu a chymorth sydd ar waith yn barod, gan fod ganddyn nhw ddyletswydd barhaus o ran gofal, yr awdurdodau lleol, i'r rhai sy'n gadael gofal, gael eu dilyn a'u rhoi ar gael i'r rhai sy'n gyfranogwyr o'r incwm sylfaenol. Ond hefyd, rwyf i wedi rhoi rhai enghreifftiau i chi o gynlluniau treialu ledled y byd yn dangos bod pobl a allasai fod yn agored i niwed, nid yn unig o ran pethau fel mynd yn ddigartref, neu fethu â chael swyddi, neu hyfforddiant ac addysg - mewn gwirionedd, mae'r cynlluniau treialu ar draws y byd wedi dangos bod pobl ifanc wedi elwa, a bod y rhai ar gynlluniau treialu, ar gynlluniau treialu Incwm Sylfaenol Cyffredinol wedi elwa ar yr incwm sylfaenol, sy'n rhoi mesur llawn o ddiogelwch iddyn nhw yn eu bywydau o ran y dewisiadau sydd ar gael iddyn nhw. Materion o ran anabledd - mae hi'n bwysig iawn bod y cynllun treialu hwn ar gael, ac rydym ni o'r farn y bydd hyn yn golygu hyd at 500 o bobl ifanc, pobl ifanc amrywiol ledled Cymru sydd â nodweddion gwarchodedig, ac fe fyddan nhw'n gymwys i gael budd-daliadau eraill. Felly, unwaith eto, gyda chyngor ac arweiniad a'r cymorth parhaus y byddan nhw'n ei gael gan Gyngor ar Bopeth yn ogystal â'u cynghorwyr nhw wrth adael gofal a gweithwyr cymdeithasol, fe fyddan nhw'n gallu asesu'r budd-daliadau y mae'r hawl ganddyn nhw i'w cael. Ond mae hynny'n ddiamod. Fe fyddan nhw'n cael eu £1,600 - a drethir, yn anffodus - bob mis, doed a ddelo. Felly, rwy'n gobeithio y bydd hyn yn adeiladu ar yr hawliau hynny. Rwyf i o'r farn bydd y gwerthusiad yn hollbwysig o ran ystyried hwn yn werthusiad sy'n dreiddgar a chynhwysfawr. Mae angen i ni edrych ar yr effeithiau tymor hwy, ac wrth gwrs fe fydd rhywfaint o hynny'n cymryd peth amser eto o ran yr hyn a olygodd hyn i bobl ifanc â phrofiad o ofal a fydd yn elwa arno. Ond rydym ni'n defnyddio amrywiaeth o ddulliau gwerthuso ansoddol a meintiol, gan ymgysylltu â'r bobl ifanc eu hunain i gael y data gwaelodlin hynny, a fydd yn sicrhau y gallwn ni asesu effaith incwm sylfaenol yn briodol. Rwyf i o'r farn y bydd hynny ynddo'i hun yn dangos effaith bwysig y cynllun treialu incwm sylfaenol, oherwydd mae'n dychwelyd at y ffaith bod hyn yn rhoi iddyn nhw y cyfleoedd hynny na chafodd y bobl ifanc hyn, ac efallai na fydden nhw wedi cael rhai o'r fath yn eu bywydau nhw, ac nad oedden nhw yn eu profiad nhw, ac nad yw'r cyfleoedd hynny wedi bod yn bosibl o gwbl. Felly, roedd y bobl ifanc, yn sicr, y gwnaeth y Prif Weinidog a Julie Morgan a minnau gyfarfod â nhw ddydd Gwener yn dweud yn syml, 'Nawr mae gobaith gennym ni. Nawr mae dyfodol gennym ni.'