English: In a meeting with the deputy director of children's services in the local authority in the case I'm talking about, the deputy director had been briefed by officers, yet relayed error of fact after error of fact. The same deputy director told me before the case review that there would be no change in contact arrangements - now, I emphasise, before the review. The deputy director was right, because there was no change, despite one child pleading to go home. After the review, the independent officer was asked how he or she could possibly recommend no change and the reply was that he or she had 90 cases - 90 - and was unable to properly scrutinise the case. It's not unreasonable to conclude that such reviewers are led by the nose and are not independent; they don't have the time to be. After changes of senior management, I'm glad to say that this case is now being investigated, but I had to employ a social worker, a very experienced social worker, to do the work on that case. I have another case also where allegations against the children's family have been fabricated. The family was involved in getting a social worker struck off and the response from the local authority is one of supreme aggression, and it's a case that I will be following up. Professionals in the field tell me that parents with mental health challenges get a raw deal. Now, Minister, this really does need to be looked at with measures and support put in place. As a general rule, there is huge class discrimination in taking children into care: do not be working class; do not be on a low income; do not be without formal education; do not be a former child in care; do not be a former victim of child abuse or rape, because, I tell you, in some circumstances, all this will be held against you and I've seen the cases to prove it. I'll tell you also: don't be a feisty mother trying to protect her offspring, because this will also be held against you - you will be called 'aggressive'; you will be called 'unco-operative'. And the fact that mothers may dearly love their children who they have lost will not be taken into account. The treatment of some mothers that I've come across borders on inhumane. There is a complete absence of taking into account the mental health conditions and the trauma of losing one's children. Where there are serious threats, of course children should be removed. There's no argument with that; we all support that. But there are so many cases that I've come across where families need support, not punishment. As a result, now, I'm currently employing two social workers to work on my caseload. Let's move on to child protection conferences. Minister, I'm banned from attending any child protection conference in Cardiff, and I'd like to tell you why because I think you'll be shocked. I attended a conference and there were lots of errors. Father was a victim of domestic abuse, yet there was no statutory domestic abuse agency there to support him. If he were female, he would have been supported, so there's a systemic gap. Moving on, the local authority had in writing that there was a paedophile threat to the child when in mother's care. The chair of the child protection conference tried to close the conference without discussing the paedophile threat. I raised the matter and the chair said that it was not relevant. After I raised the paedophile threat, a person supporting the mother said, 'That won't happen again'. The words are burnt into my memory: 'That won't happen again'. I asked, 'What won't happen again?' and, of course, there was no reply. I asked for everything to be minuted and, when the minutes came through, there was no reference to the paedophile threat. The hearing, however, had been covertly recorded and it was evidenced that the paedophile threat was mentioned. I complained to the local safeguarding board and all but one of my complaints were upheld. So, I was right to complain, we were vindicated, but the action of children's services was not to resolve matters, but to ban me from any future conferences with any parents, and this is something I'll be challenging in the near future. And then, afterwards, the department aggressively went after father, who was the safeguarding influence in the child's life. Minister, all child protection conferences should be digitally recorded and the data held on a cloud, a secure cloud. The important point about this is that, if parents have a strong advocate in such proceedings, then they will simply be taken out of the equation and parents will be left without adequate help, and that cannot be right. It also begs the question: just who are child protection conferences there to protect? Parental alienation, according to expert witnesses on the Petitions Committee, is a form of child abuse. This abuse is ignored and, indeed, tolerated. A strategy to keep both parents in children's lives should be adopted by all children's services departments. There needs to be a rebalancing of power with children's services. It's far too easy for individuals to be crushed - and I do say crushed - in every sense. Justice and due process need to be at the heart of everything done. At the moment, I have too many examples where they simply are not. The timetabling of courts doesn't help either, Minister, because too often under-resourced social workers do not have time to prepare adequate reports, and the emphasis then is on box ticking. I'll briefly talk about the complaints procedure, because once you get to a stage 3 independent complaints level, the so-called independent investigator is both employed by and paid by the council. Now, if the investigator were to be too robust, let's say, then they're not going to be re-employed, and there's case after case after case where they're clearly not independent, and that's another gap, Minister. My considered view is that children's services should be taken out of local authority control. Wales should have a children's service that is democratically accountable, because at council level there is virtually no accountability - no accountability. Cabinet members simply do not know what is going on. Social workers have a right to expect to be able to practice their vocation free of fear. Children across Wales have the right to expect to be kept safe, and families have a right to be supported, not punished. Mae'n amser newid - it's time for change. Diolch.
Welsh: Mewn cyfarfod â dirprwy gyfarwyddwr gwasanaethau plant yn yr awdurdod lleol yn yr achos rwy'n sôn amdano, roedd y dirprwy gyfarwyddwr wedi cael ei friffio gan swyddogion, ac eto llwyddodd i fynegi un ffaith wallus ar ôl y llall. Dywedodd yr un dirprwy gyfarwyddwr wrthyf cyn yr adolygiad achos na fyddai unrhyw newid yn y trefniadau cyswllt - nawr, rwy'n pwysleisio, cyn yr adolygiad. Roedd y dirprwy gyfarwyddwr yn iawn, oherwydd nid oedd unrhyw newid, er bod un plentyn yn erfyn am gael mynd adref. Ar ôl yr adolygiad, gofynnwyd i'r swyddog annibynnol sut y gallai argymell dim newid a'r ateb oedd fod gan yr unigolyn dan sylw 90 o achosion - 90 - ac ni allai graffu'n briodol ar yr achos. Nid yw'n afresymol dod i'r casgliad fod adolygwyr o'r fath yn cael eu harwain gerfydd eu trwynau ac nad ydynt yn annibynnol; nid oes ganddynt amser i fod yn annibynnol. Ar ôl newidiadau i'r rheolwyr uwch, rwy'n falch o ddweud bod yr achos hwn bellach yn cael ei archwilio, ond bu'n rhaid i mi gyflogi gweithiwr cymdeithasol, gweithiwr cymdeithasol profiadol iawn, i wneud y gwaith ar yr achos hwnnw. Mae gennyf achos arall hefyd lle mae'r honiadau yn erbyn teulu'r plant yn rhai ffug. Roedd y teulu'n rhan o gamau i gael gweithiwr cymdeithasol wedi'u diswyddo ac mae'r awdurdod lleol wedi ymateb drwy ymddwyn yn ymosodol iawn, ac mae'n achos y byddaf yn mynd ar ei drywydd. Mae gweithwyr proffesiynol yn y maes yn dweud wrthyf fod rhieni sy'n wynebu heriau iechyd meddwl yn cael cam. Nawr, Weinidog, mae gwir angen edrych ar hyn a rhoi mesurau a chymorth ar waith. Fel rheol gyffredinol, mae gwahaniaethu ar sail dosbarth enfawr ynghlwm wrth roi plant mewn gofal: peidiwch â bod yn ddosbarth gweithiol; peidiwch â bod ar incwm isel; peidiwch â bod heb fod wedi cael addysg ffurfiol; peidiwch â bod yn rhywun a arferai fod yn blentyn mewn gofal; peidiwch â bod yn gyn-ddioddefwr cam-drin plant neu drais rhywiol, oherwydd, rwy'n dweud wrthych, mewn rhai amgylchiadau, caiff hyn oll ei ddal yn eich erbyn ac rwyf wedi gweld yr achosion i brofi hynny. Fe ddywedaf wrthych hefyd: peidiwch â bod yn fam danllyd sy'n ceisio amddiffyn ei phlant, oherwydd fe ddelir hyn hefyd yn eich erbyn - cewch eich galw'n 'ymosodol'; cewch eich galw'n rhywun nad yw'n fodlon cydweithredu. Ac ni roddir ystyriaeth i'r ffaith bod mamau o bosibl yn caru'r plant y maent wedi'u colli yn fawr. Mae'r driniaeth i rai mamau y deuthum ar eu traws yn ymylu ar fod yn annynol. Ni roddir ystyriaeth o gwbl i'r cyflyrau iechyd meddwl a'r trawma a ddaw yn sgil colli eich plant. Lle ceir bygythiadau difrifol, wrth gwrs y dylid symud plant. Nid oes neb yn dadlau ynglŷn â hynny; mae pawb ohonom yn cefnogi hynny. Ond ceir cymaint o achosion y deuthum ar eu traws lle mae teuluoedd angen cymorth, nid cosb. O ganlyniad, nawr, rwyf ar hyn o bryd yn cyflogi dau weithiwr cymdeithasol i weithio ar fy llwyth achosion. Gadewch inni symud ymlaen i gynadleddau amddiffyn plant. Weinidog, rwyf wedi cael fy ngwahardd rhag mynychu unrhyw gynhadledd amddiffyn plant yng Nghaerdydd, a hoffwn ddweud wrthych pam oherwydd credaf y cewch eich synnu. Mynychais gynhadledd ac roedd llawer o gamgymeriadau. Roedd y tad yn ddioddefwr cam-drin domestig, ac eto nid oedd unrhyw asiantaeth cam-drin domestig statudol yno i'w gefnogi. Pe bai'n ddynes, byddai wedi cael cefnogaeth, felly mae yna fwlch systemig. Gan symud ymlaen, roedd yr awdurdod lleol wedi nodi'n ysgrifenedig fod bygythiad pedoffilaidd i'r plentyn tra oedd yng ngofal y fam. Ceisiodd cadeirydd y gynhadledd amddiffyn plant gloi'r gynhadledd heb drafod y bygythiad pedoffilaidd. Codais y mater a dywedodd y cadeirydd nad oedd yn berthnasol. Ar ôl i mi nodi'r bygythiad pedoffilaidd, dywedodd person a gefnogai'r fam 'Ni fydd hynny'n digwydd eto'. Mae'r geiriau wedi'u serio ar fy nghof: 'Ni fydd hynny'n digwydd eto'. Gofynnais, 'Beth na fydd yn digwydd eto?' ac wrth gwrs, ni ddaeth ateb. Gofynnais am i bopeth gael ei gofnodi a phan ddaeth y cofnodion, nid oedd cyfeiriad at y bygythiad pedoffilaidd. Fodd bynnag, gwnaethpwyd recordiad cudd o'r gwrandawiad a gwelwyd bod y bygythiad pedoffilaidd yn cael ei grybwyll. Gwneuthum gŵyn i'r bwrdd diogelu lleol a chafodd pob un ond un o fy nghwynion eu cadarnhau. Felly, roeddwn yn iawn i gwyno, cafodd ein cwynion eu cyfiawnhau, ond nid datrys materion oedd yr hyn a wnaeth y gwasanaethau plant ond fy ngwahardd o unrhyw gynadleddau yn y dyfodol gydag unrhyw rieni, ac mae hyn yn rhywbeth y byddaf yn ei herio yn y dyfodol agos. Ac wedyn, aeth yr adran ar ôl y tad mewn modd ymosodol, er mai'r tad oedd y dylanwad diogelu ym mywyd y plentyn. Weinidog, dylid cofnodi pob cynhadledd amddiffyn plant yn ddigidol a chadw'r data ar gwmwl, cwmwl diogel. Y pwynt pwysig am hyn yw y bydd rhieni sydd ag eiriolwr cryf mewn achosion o'r fath yn cael eu tynnu allan o'r hafaliad a bydd rhieni'n cael eu gadael heb gymorth digonol, ac ni all hynny fod yn iawn. Mae'n gwneud inni gwestiynu hefyd: pwy'n union y mae cynadleddau amddiffyn plant yno i'w hamddiffyn? Yn ôl tystion arbenigol ar y Pwyllgor Deisebau, mae dieithrio plentyn oddi wrth riant yn ffurf ar gam-drin plant. Caiff y gamdriniaeth ei hanwybyddu, a'i goddef yn wir. Dylai'r holl adrannau gwasanaethau plant fabwysiadu strategaeth i gadw'r ddau riant ym mywydau plant. Mae angen ailgydbwyso pŵer gyda gwasanaethau plant. Mae'n llawer rhy hawdd i unigolion gael eu llethu - ac rwy'n dweud llethu - ym mhob ystyr. Mae angen i gyfiawnder a'r drefn briodol fod wrth wraidd popeth a wneir. Ar hyn o bryd, mae gennyf ormod o enghreifftiau lle nad yw hynny'n wir. Nid yw trefniadau amserlennu llysoedd yn helpu ychwaith, Weinidog, oherwydd yn rhy aml, nid oes gan weithwyr cymdeithasol sy'n brin o adnoddau amser i baratoi adroddiadau digonol, ac mae'r pwyslais wedyn ar dicio bocsys. Rwyf am sôn yn fyr am y weithdrefn gwyno, oherwydd pan fyddwch wedi cyrraedd lefel cam 3 o broses gwynion annibynnol, mae'r ymchwilydd honedig annibynnol yn cael eu cyflogi a'u talu gan y cyngor. Nawr, os yw'r ymchwilydd yn rhy drylwyr, gadewch i ni ddweud, ni chânt eu cyflogi eto, a cheir achos ar ôl achos ar ôl achos lle mae'n amlwg nad ydynt yn annibynnol, a dyna fwlch arall, Weinidog. Fy marn i yw y dylid tynnu gwasanaethau plant allan o reolaeth awdurdodau lleol. Dylai fod gan Gymru wasanaeth plant sy'n atebol yn ddemocrataidd, oherwydd ar lefel cyngor ni cheir y nesaf peth i ddim atebolrwydd - dim atebolrwydd. Nid yw aelodau'r cabinet yn gwybod beth sy'n digwydd. Mae gan weithwyr cymdeithasol hawl i ddisgwyl gallu cyflawni eu galwedigaeth yn rhydd o ofn. Mae gan blant ledled Cymru hawl i ddisgwyl cael eu cadw'n ddiogel, ac mae gan deuluoedd hawl i gael eu cefnogi, nid eu cosbi. Mae'n amser newid. Diolch.