English: Thank you, Deputy Minister, for your statement today, and, if I may, I'd like to pick up on a few points. Firstly, the basis of your proposals is that firefighters are no longer dealing with so many fires and therefore have a greater capacity to help with medical emergencies, but I feel that you have failed to recognise that the drop in the number of fires is due to firefighters doing a very good job, not only in educating people to assess risks, but in helping people to implement greater fire protection. And you have made no mention of how you'll maintain this if you broaden the role of firefighters to include emergency medical call-out. Moreover, you are saying that the findings of the thematic review, published last month, indicate that there is current deficiency of training and that this is due to the heavy reliance on the discretion shown by junior officers when they implement the carrying out of training protocols. But where is the evidence that, in Wales, firefighters have had substantially insufficient training? The report you refer to even says, on points 93 and 94, that, by its very nature, assessing training competency is difficult to robustly assess in isolation, and, in practice, to actually facilitate a meaningful assessment of each individual firefighter across several competency areas would require an enormous amount of time. So, I would argue, Deputy Minister, that is an unfair statement for you to say that training is in such a dire state. You may also say, Deputy Minister, that the current working practices of firefighters are no longer suitable for the requirements of this training, because of the complex operational needs of the fire service when dealing with the wide range and varying types of incidents it faces. But the point is undermined, because you can't specify how much time is required to undertake this training, because only one out of the three fire services in Wales have actually completed unconstrained analysis of the amount of time firefighters need to maintain all core and additional competency requirements. And the report states, with no reasoning whatsoever, that it does not believe that this analysis would stand up to review. So, what you're implying, Deputy Minister, is that this Government believes that junior officers in our fire service are incapable of making correct training decisions, which I believe is simply the opinion of the chief fire and rescue adviser, without, from what I can see, any concrete evidence that firefighters are currently inadequately trained for the complexities of roles that they face, again without any assessment of the training, and, finally, that firefighters are asleep on the job during night shifts when they don't have emergency call-outs, and therefore they ultimately provide poor value for money. And your solution to this is to have a social partnership forum. If the situation is as bad as you make out in your statement, I cannot envisage how having a social partnership forum is going to actually change anything in any reasonable amount of time. With this in mind, Deputy Minister, and given that this Welsh Government will likely have to renegotiate with trade unions regarding changes in working practices, how long do you estimate it will take before your objectives are achieved? Do you expect the FBU to ballot members about these changes, or do you think that the Fire Brigades Union will accept your recommendations that working patterns need to change? Finally, given that the FBU announced a consultative ballot on 15 November, which has resulted in a 78 per cent turnout, and a 79 per cent member vote to reject the 5 per cent pay increase that was on offer, which will now almost certainly lead to strike action, what consideration have you given to address your proposed changes in shift patterns, alongside your ambition of broadening the role of firefighters to deal with medical calls, with pay negotiations that are now very likely to take place? Thank you.
Welsh: Diolch, Dirprwy Weinidog, am eich datganiad heddiw, ac os caf i, hoffwn ymateb i ambell bwynt. Yn gyntaf, sail eich cynigion yw nad yw diffoddwyr tân yn ymdrin â chymaint o danau mwyach ac felly mae ganddyn nhw fwy o gapasiti i helpu gydag argyfyngau meddygol, ond rwy'n teimlo eich bod wedi methu â chydnabod mai'r rheswm dros y gostyngiad yn nifer y tanau yw bod diffoddwyr tân yn gwneud gwaith da iawn, nid yn unig wrth addysgu pobl i asesu risgiau, ond wrth helpu pobl i weithredu mwy o fesurau diogelwch tân. Ac nid ydych wedi sôn am sut y byddwch yn cynnal hyn os ydych chi'n ehangu swyddogaeth diffoddwyr tân i gynnwys galwadau meddygol brys. Ar ben hynny, rydych chi'n dweud bod canfyddiadau'r adolygiad thematig, a gyhoeddwyd fis diwethaf, yn nodi bod diffyg hyfforddiant ar hyn o bryd a bod hyn oherwydd y ddibyniaeth drom ar y disgresiwn a ddangosir gan swyddogion iau pan fyddant yn gweithredu'r gwaith o gynnal protocolau hyfforddi. Ond ble mae'r dystiolaeth bod diffoddwyr tân, yng Nghymru, wedi cael hyfforddiant hynod o annigonol? Mae'r adroddiad yr ydych yn cyfeirio ato hyd yn oed yn dweud, ar bwyntiau 93 a 94, bod asesu cymhwysedd hyfforddi yn anodd ei asesu'n gadarn ar wahân, ac, yn ymarferol, i hwyluso asesiad ystyrlon o bob diffoddwr tân unigol ar draws sawl ardal gymhwysedd byddai angen llawer iawn o amser. Felly, fe fyddwn i'n dadlau, Dirprwy Weinidog, bod hwnnw'n ddatganiad annheg, i chi ddweud bod hyfforddiant mewn cyflwr mor enbyd. Efallai y byddwch hefyd yn dweud, Dirprwy Weinidog, nad yw arferion gwaith presennol diffoddwyr tân yn addas bellach ar gyfer gofynion yr hyfforddiant hwn, oherwydd anghenion gweithredol cymhleth y gwasanaeth tân wrth ymdrin â'r ystod eang a'r mathau amrywiol o ddigwyddiadau y mae'n eu hwynebu. Ond caiff y pwynt ei danseilio, oherwydd ni allwch nodi faint o amser sydd ei angen i ymgymryd â'r hyfforddiant hwn, oherwydd dim ond un o'r tri gwasanaeth tân yng Nghymru sydd mewn gwirionedd wedi cwblhau dadansoddiad o'u gwirfodd o faint o amser y mae diffoddwyr tân ei angen i gynnal yr holl ofynion cymhwysedd craidd ac ychwanegol. Ac mae'r adroddiad yn dweud, heb unrhyw resymu o gwbl, nad yw'n credu y byddai'r dadansoddiad hwn yn dal dŵr o'i adolygu'n fanwl. Felly, yr hyn yr ydych chi'n ei awgrymu, Dirprwy Weinidog, yw bod y Llywodraeth hon yn credu bod swyddogion iau yn ein gwasanaeth tân yn methu a gwneud penderfyniadau hyfforddi cywir, sydd, yn fy marn i, yn farn y prif gynghorydd tân ac achub, heb, o'r hyn y gallaf ei weld, unrhyw dystiolaeth bendant bod diffoddwyr tân wedi'u hyfforddi'n annigonol ar hyn o bryd ar gyfer cymhlethdodau swyddogaethau sy'n eu hwynebu, eto heb unrhyw asesiad o'r hyfforddiant, ac, yn olaf, bod diffoddwyr tân yn cysgu yn ystod shifftiau nos pan nad oes ganddyn nhw alwadau brys, ac felly maen nhw yn y pen draw yn darparu gwerth gwael am arian. A'ch ateb i hyn yw cael fforwm partneriaeth gymdeithasol. Os yw'r sefyllfa gynddrwg ag yr ydych yn ei honni yn eich datganiad, ni allaf ragweld sut mae cael fforwm partneriaeth gymdeithasol yn mynd i newid unrhyw beth mewn unrhyw gyfnod rhesymol mewn gwirionedd. Gyda hyn mewn golwg, Dirprwy Weinidog, ac o gofio y bydd yn debygol y bydd yn rhaid i Lywodraeth Cymru ail-drafod gydag undebau llafur ynghylch newidiadau mewn arferion gwaith, pa mor hir yr ydych chi'n amcangyfrif y bydd yn ei gymryd cyn byddwch yn cyflawni eich amcanion? Ydych chi'n disgwyl i Undeb y Brigadau Tân gynnal pleidlais ymhlith aelodau ynghylch y newidiadau hyn, neu a ydych chi'n credu y bydd Undeb y Brigadau Tân yn derbyn eich argymhellion bod angen i batrymau gwaith newid? Yn olaf, o ystyried bod yr Undeb wedi cyhoeddi pleidlais ymgynghorol ar 15 Tachwedd, sydd wedi arwain at ganran o 78 yn pleidleisio, a phleidlais aelodau o 79 y cant yn gwrthod y cynnydd cyflog o 5 y cant a oedd ar gael, a fydd bellach bron yn sicr yn arwain at streicio, pa ystyriaeth yr ydych chi wedi'i rhoi i fynd i'r afael â'ch newidiadau arfaethedig mewn patrymau shifft, ochr yn ochr â'ch uchelgais o ehangu swyddogaeth diffoddwyr tân i ymdrin â galwadau meddygol, gyda thrafodaethau cyflog sydd bellach yn debygol iawn o ddigwydd? Diolch.