English: Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I would also like to put on record the thanks of the Welsh Conservative group to Professor Diamond, and indeed all of the panel members, especially our nominee, Professor David Warner, for his contribution to the excellent work that they have done. We certainly welcome the publication; we welcome wholeheartedly the recommendations that have been made to move away from tuition fee support, and towards a system of means-tested maintenance grants. This is something, of course, that our party has been advocating for some time, and I'm pleased that you've referred to the fact that there are some planks of each individual party's commitments that are embedded within the recommendations that have been made. We as a party, of course, have always believed that no-one should be denied the opportunity to go to university on the basis of their background. We want as many young people who want to go to university to be able to access a university education. One thing that I'm very keen to hear from you on, though, Minister, is - obviously, there are people who are already embarked upon their university education, embedded within the current grant system. There's a very clear recommendation from Professor Diamond to continue to allow those individuals who've already embarked upon their education in university with the current support package to still have that maintained for them throughout and not be disadvantaged, perhaps, by any changes as a result of any new arrangements that come into force. Can you confirm that that will be the case for those individuals in order that they are not disadvantaged? Some of the areas where there was clearly a discussion still ongoing within the panel and no firm conclusions reached were in respect of support for parents who want to attend university - people who might be single mothers or single parents or have other caring responsibilities. I just wonder, Cabinet Secretary, whether there's been any consideration in advance of the publication of the report by the Welsh Government as to what sort of support might be available to help individuals with caring responsibilities to access university education. I note and welcome the recommendations that have been made around part-time support. I think they're very welcome indeed, in order to give a more level playing field and, indeed, encourage more people into part-time study. We all know that part-time students are more likely to pay their loans back, for example, so there's a good financial incentive to encourage people to study part-time, and, of course, they play a very active role in contributing to the Welsh economy while they are studying, if they're working alongside. So, I'd particularly like to hear from you, Minister, about how rapidly you hope to be able to implement the part-time study proposals. I was also very interested in the recommendations that have been made around investment in knowledge transfer. There's a significant recommendation about increasing investment on that front. We know that there's a note in the report about - every £1 invested in the higher education innovation fund at the moment returns £7 to the Welsh economy. I think that's very good value for money and, therefore, I would hope that you would take fully on board the recommendation that has been made about further investing in knowledge transfer. There was no specific reference to the current bursaries that have been made available to nursing students here in Wales. You know that there's all-party support in the Chamber for the existing arrangements to continue at present, but I wonder, Cabinet Secretary, whether you might give consideration, as you're looking to see what skills might be retained in Wales and how to attract people, particularly into those parts of the public sector where we've got skills shortages, such as the NHS, whether there might be other bursary options that could be considered and extended, particularly given that the figures in the report seem to suggest that there's going to be a net saving as a result of the implementation of this package of reform that is being proposed by Professor Diamond and his team. And just finally, you've made an indication that you, obviously, want to go away and consider the recommendations more fully before announcing a full response on behalf of the Government. There's a clear indication that Professor Diamond feels that these are recommendations that can be implemented in 2018, for the start of the academic year in 2018. I wonder whether you feel that you're able to hit what I think is quite an ambitious target, given that all of the ducks have got to be in a row in terms of the discussions that you've got to have with the UK Government, the Student Loans Company and others in order to embed what is a significant change into the system without any big problems.
Welsh: Diolch i chi, Weinidog, am eich datganiad. Hoffwn hefyd gofnodi diolch grŵp y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig i'r Athro Diamond, ac yn wir i holl aelodau'r panel, yn enwedig ein henwebai, yr Athro David Warner, am ei gyfraniad at y gwaith rhagorol y maent wedi'i wneud. Rydym ni'n sicr yn croesawu'r cyhoeddiad; rydym ni'n llwyr groesawu'r argymhellion a wnaed i symud oddi wrth gymorth ffioedd dysgu, a thuag at system o grantiau cynhaliaeth sy'n seiliedig ar brawf modd. Dyma rywbeth, wrth gwrs, y mae ein plaid wedi bod yn ei hyrwyddo ers peth amser, ac rwy'n falch eich bod wedi cyfeirio at y ffaith bod rhai rhannau o ymrwymiadau pob plaid unigol wedi'u hymgorffori o fewn yr argymhellion a wnaed. Rydym fel plaid, wrth gwrs, bob amser o'r farn na ddylai neb gael gwrthod y cyfle i fynd i'r brifysgol ar sail eu cefndir. Rydym eisiau i gymaint o bobl ifanc ag sy'n bosibl sy'n dymuno mynd i'r brifysgol, allu dilyn addysg prifysgol. Un peth yr wyf yn awyddus iawn i glywed gennych chi amdano, serch hynny, Weinidog, yw - yn amlwg, mae yna bobl sydd eisoes wedi cychwyn ar eu haddysg prifysgol, yn rhan o'r system grantiau bresennol. Ceir argymhelliad clir iawn gan yr Athro Diamond y dylid parhau i ganiatáu i'r unigolion hynny sydd eisoes wedi cychwyn ar eu haddysg yn y brifysgol gyda'r pecyn cymorth cyfredol i barhau i dderbyn y pecyn hwnnw drwy gydol eu cwrs ac iddynt beidio â bod dan anfantais, efallai, yn dilyn unrhyw newidiadau o ganlyniad i unrhyw drefniadau newydd a ddaw i rym. A allwch chi gadarnhau y bydd hynny'n wir ar gyfer yr unigolion hynny er mwyn sicrhau nad ydynt dan anfantais? Mae rhai o'r meysydd lle'r oedd yn amlwg bod trafodaeth yn parhau o fewn y panel ac nad oedd dim casgliadau cadarn yn ymwneud â chefnogaeth i rieni sydd am fynychu'r brifysgol - pobl a allai fod yn famau sengl neu'n rhieni sengl neu bobl a chanddynt gyfrifoldebau gofalu eraill. Tybed, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, a oes unrhyw ystyriaeth wedi bod cyn i Lywodraeth Cymru gyhoeddi'r adroddiad ynghylch pa fath o gymorth a allai fod ar gael i helpu unigolion sydd â chyfrifoldebau gofalu i ddilyn addysg prifysgol. Nodaf a chroesawaf yr argymhellion a wnaed ynglŷn â chymorth rhan amser. Credaf fod croeso mawr iddynt yn wir, er mwyn rhoi mwy o chwarae teg ac, yn wir, er mwyn annog mwy o bobl i astudio yn rhan amser. Rydym ni i gyd yn gwybod bod myfyrwyr rhan amser yn fwy tebygol o dalu eu benthyciadau yn ôl, er enghraifft, felly ceir cymhelliant ariannol da i annog pobl i astudio'n rhan amser, ac, wrth gwrs, maent yn weithredol iawn yn cyfrannu at economi Cymru wrth iddynt astudio, os ydynt yn gweithio ochr yn ochr â'u hastudiaethau. Felly, hoffwn glywed yn arbennig gennych chi, Weinidog, am ba mor gyflym yr ydych yn gobeithio gallu gweithredu'r cynigion astudio rhan amser. Roedd gennyf hefyd ddiddordeb mawr yn yr argymhellion a wnaed ynglŷn â buddsoddi mewn trosglwyddo gwybodaeth. Ceir argymhelliad arwyddocaol yn ymwneud â chynyddu buddsoddiad yn y maes hwnnw. Rydym ni'n gwybod bod nodyn yn yr adroddiad ynglŷn â - bod pob £1 a fuddsoddir yn y gronfa arloesi addysg uwch ar hyn o bryd yn dychwelyd £7 i economi Cymru. Rwy'n credu bod hynny'n werth da iawn am arian ac, felly, byddwn i'n gobeithio y byddech chi'n ystyried yn llawn yr argymhelliad a wnaed am fuddsoddiad pellach mewn trosglwyddo gwybodaeth. Nid oedd unrhyw gyfeiriad penodol at y bwrsarïau cyfredol sydd ar gael i fyfyrwyr nyrsio yma yng Nghymru. Rydych chi'n gwybod y ceir cefnogaeth gan bob plaid yn y Siambr ar gyfer parhau â'r trefniadau presennol, ond tybed, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, a allech chi ystyried, gan eich bod yn chwilio i weld pa sgiliau y gellid eu cadw yng Nghymru a sut i ddenu pobl, yn enwedig yn y rhannau hynny o'r sector cyhoeddus lle mae gennym brinder sgiliau, megis y GIG, ba un a allai fod dewisiadau bwrsariaeth eraill y gellid eu hystyried a'u hehangu, yn enwedig o gofio bod y ffigurau yn yr adroddiad yn tueddu i awgrymu y bydd yna arbediad net o ganlyniad i weithredu'r pecyn hwn o ddiwygiadau a gynigir gan yr Athro Diamond a'i dîm. Ac yn olaf, rydych chi wedi dangos eich bod chi, yn amlwg, eisiau mynd i ffwrdd a rhoi mwy o ystyriaeth i'r argymhellion cyn cyhoeddi ymateb llawn ar ran y Llywodraeth. Mae'n amlwg bod yr Athro Diamond yn teimlo bod y rhain yn argymhellion y gellir eu rhoi ar waith yn 2018, ar gyfer dechrau'r flwyddyn academaidd yn 2018. Tybed a ydych chi'n teimlo eich bod chi'n gallu cyflawni nod sydd, yn fy marn i, yn un uchelgeisiol, o ystyried bod angen i bob un elfen fod yn ei lle o ran y trafodaethau sy'n rhaid i chi eu cael â Llywodraeth y DU, y Cwmni Benthyciadau i Fyfyrwyr ac eraill er mwyn ymgorffori newid sylweddol i'r system heb unrhyw broblemau mawr.