English: 'The shocking reality is that this winter, we are likely to see charities being forced to stop feeding the hungry so they can help the starving, cut back on support to the poorly housed so they can focus on the fast-rising numbers of homeless, and give up on helping the down-at-heel because their priority has to be the destitute.' These are not my words, but those of Dr Rowan Williams and Gordon Brown in their foreward to the Theos report, which is a religious think tank that particularly focuses on the work of churches in endeavouring to relieve this level of concern and pain that our communities are going through. It echoes the latest NUS survey, which came out today, on the impact of the rising cost of living on students in Wales, because, obviously, they are not eligible for any of these benefits. Nine out of 10 of those who took part in this survey said that their mental health was being impacted by financial worries, and a quarter reported this to be significant, as well as increasing numbers cutting down on essentials, including, for example, period products, as well as not putting the heating on as much in their homes and eating less. I think, more concerning for me is that they are returning to their families, or savings, for help, but, increasingly, the cost-of-living crisis is affecting their families as well. So, there is nowhere for these people to turn to. All those who have spoken so far have agreed that the situation is extremely serious, and we'll find out tomorrow whether public services will have even less resource to cope with, to get us through this terrible winter. So, we have to think of other ways in which we can endeavour to mitigate the pain that our communities are going through. I was pleased to host the launch of the Enforcement Conduct Board in the Pierhead today. I'm very grateful to those Members who attended, including the Minister for Social Justice, who took the time to hear what Catherine Brown, the chair, had to say, and to agree to work with her. Catherine Brown has a long and distinguished career as a civil servant, so, as chair of this non-statutory body for Wales and England, she will bring a lot of experience of negotiating with public bodies and the enforcement of regulations. It is a non-statutory body, set up by the civil enforcement industry, otherwise known as bailiffs, and supported by several leading debt advice charities, including Money Advice Trust, Christians Against Poverty and StepChange. One of the expert debt advisers present today told me what happened after she moved into a new home that had previously been occupied by someone who appeared to have accumulated a large number of debts. She experienced a series of visits from bailiffs, most of whom were polite and correct in the way they conducted their business. But one in particular, acting on behalf of a local authority, had aggressive behaviour and reflected some of the testimonials that we heard in our Equality and Social Justice Committee inquiry into debt in the pandemic. This, obviously, is extremely worrying, and we need to ensure that all local authorities, when they're enforcing, for example, council tax debt, are not employing people who are cowboys in the industry and not adhering to the law. It is a sad fact that one of the growth areas in the economy in this crisis is debt collection agencies, and many of those trade in people's misery by buying up court enforcement orders in order to endeavour to make money from them. This is a very worrying situation, because once you get involved with debt collectors you're then, obviously, increasing the amount of debt that you owe, and sometimes the charges they are making are seriously unreasonable. I just wanted to pick up on a point that Paul Davies made, which is around form filling and the difficulties that a lot of people have in doing that. I recall often the words of Lynne Neagle saying that the Healthy Start vouchers are not going to a large number of the people who are entitled to them. In an energy summit I organised in my constituency, it was very concerning to hear that health visitors report that trying to fill in the form to get the Healthy Start vouchers is so time consuming that they simply don't have the time to complete the application on behalf of these low-income women on benefits who desperately need that extra £8.25 in the first year of a child's life, and £4.25 per child up to four years. So, I think we have to look at ways in which we can help make this situation easier. I hope that we can speak to the UK Government about making this Healthy Start easier to get hold of. I was particularly interested in the response of the Government to your report that said that the Welsh Government set up a task and finish group to look at a delivery model that will enable local authority data sources to be used to target pension credit information to households who may be missing out -
Welsh: 'Y realiti dychrynllyd y gaeaf hwn, yw ein bod yn debygol o weld elusennau'n cael eu gorfodi i roi'r gorau i fwydo'r llwglyd fel y gallant helpu'r newynog, i dorri'n ôl ar gymorth i'r rhai mewn tai gwael fel y gallant ganolbwyntio ar y niferoedd cynyddol o bobl ddigartref, a rhoi'r gorau i helpu'r llai ffodus am fod rhaid iddynt flaenoriaethu'r anghenus.' Nid fy ngeiriau i yw'r rhain, ond rhai Dr Rowan Williams a Gordon Brown yn eu rhagair i adroddiad Theos, sef melin drafod grefyddol sy'n canolbwyntio'n arbennig ar waith eglwysi wrth ymdrechu i leddfu'r lefel hon o bryder a phoen y mae ein cymunedau'n mynd drwyddo. Mae'n adleisio arolwg diweddaraf Undeb Cenedlaethol y Myfyrwyr, a ddaeth allan heddiw, ar effaith costau byw cynyddol ar fyfyrwyr yng Nghymru, oherwydd, yn amlwg, nid ydynt yn gymwys i gael unrhyw un o'r budd-daliadau hyn. Dywedodd naw o bob 10 o'r rhai a gymerodd ran yn yr arolwg fod eu hiechyd meddwl yn cael ei effeithio gan bryderon ariannol, a dywedodd eu chwarter fod yr effaith yn sylweddol, yn ogystal â nifer cynyddol yn prynu llai o nwyddau hanfodol, gan gynnwys, er enghraifft, cynnyrch mislif, yn ogystal â pheidio â rhoi'r gwres ymlaen cymaint yn eu cartrefi a bwyta llai. Yr hyn sy'n peri mwy o bryder i mi, rwy'n credu, yw eu bod yn dychwelyd at eu teuluoedd, neu gynilion, am help, ond yn gynyddol, mae'r argyfwng costau byw yn effeithio ar eu teuluoedd hefyd. Felly, nid oes unman i'r bobl yma droi. Mae pawb sydd wedi siarad hyd yma wedi cytuno bod y sefyllfa'n hynod ddifrifol, a chawn wybod yfory a fydd gan wasanaethau cyhoeddus lai fyth o adnoddau i ymdopi â hwy, i'n tywys drwy'r gaeaf ofnadwy hwn. Felly, mae'n rhaid inni feddwl am ffyrdd eraill y gallwn ymdrechu i liniaru'r boen y mae ein cymunedau'n mynd drwyddi. Roeddwn yn falch o gynnal lansiad y Bwrdd Ymddygiad Gorfodi yn y Pierhead heddiw. Rwy'n ddiolchgar iawn i'r Aelodau a'i mynychodd, gan gynnwys y Gweinidog Cyfiawnder Cymdeithasol, a roddodd amser i wrando ar beth oedd gan Catherine Brown, y cadeirydd, i'w ddweud, ac i gytuno i weithio gyda hi. Mae gan Catherine Brown yrfa hir a disglair fel gwas sifil, felly, fel cadeirydd y corff anstatudol hwn i Gymru a Lloegr, bydd ganddi lawer o brofiad o drafod gyda chyrff cyhoeddus a gorfodi rheoliadau. Mae'n gorff anstatudol, a sefydlwyd gan y diwydiant gorfodi sifil, a elwir fel arall yn feilïaid, ac a gefnogir gan sawl elusen flaenllaw ym maes cyngor ar ddyled, yn cynnwys Money Advice Trust, Christians Against Poverty a StepChange. Heddiw, dywedodd un o'r cynghorwyr arbenigol ar ddyled a oedd yn bresennol wrthyf beth a ddigwyddodd ar ôl iddi symud i gartref newydd a arferai fod yn eiddo i rywun a oedd i'w weld fel pe bai wedi cronni nifer fawr o ddyledion. Profodd gyfres o ymweliadau gan feilïaid, y rhan fwyaf ohonynt yn gwrtais ac yn gywir yn y ffordd y gwnaent eu gwaith. Ond roedd gan un yn arbennig, a oedd yn gweithredu ar ran awdurdod lleol, ymddygiad ymosodol ac adlewyrchai beth o'r dystiolaeth a glywsom yn ein hymchwiliad Pwyllgor Cydraddoldeb a Chyfiawnder Cymdeithasol i ddyled yn y pandemig. Mae hyn yn amlwg yn peri pryder mawr, ac mae angen inni sicrhau nad yw awdurdodau lleol, wrth orfodi dyled y dreth gyngor er enghraifft, yn cyflogi pobl sy'n gowbois nad ydynt yn cydymffurfio â'r gyfraith yn y diwydiant. Mae'n ffaith drist mai un o'r meysydd twf yn yr economi yn yr argyfwng hwn yw asiantaethau casglu dyledion, ac mae llawer o'r rheini'n masnachu yn niflastod pobl drwy brynu gorchmynion gorfodi llysoedd er mwyn ymdrechu i wneud arian ohonynt. Mae hon yn sefyllfa ofidus iawn, oherwydd pan fyddwch yn ymwneud â chasglwyr dyledion rydych chi felly, yn amlwg, yn cynyddu faint o ddyled sydd arnoch chi, ac weithiau mae'r taliadau a godant yn ddifrifol o afresymol. Roeddwn eisiau mynd ar drywydd pwynt a wnaeth Paul Davies, ynghylch llenwi ffurflenni a'r anawsterau i lawer o bobl wrth wneud hynny. Rwy'n aml yn cofio geiriau Lynne Neagle yn dweud nad yw'r talebau Cychwyn Iach yn mynd i nifer fawr o'r bobl sydd â hawl i'w cael. Mewn uwchgynhadledd ynni a drefnais yn fy etholaeth, roedd hi'n ofidus clywed bod ymwelwyr iechyd yn dweud bod ceisio llenwi'r ffurflen i gael talebau Cychwyn Iach mor llafurus fel nad oes ganddynt amser i gwblhau'r cais ar ran y menywod incwm isel ar fudd-daliadau sydd angen yr £8.25 ychwanegol ym mlwyddyn gyntaf bywyd plentyn, a £4.25 y plentyn hyd at bedair blwydd oed. Felly, rwy'n credu bod yn rhaid inni edrych ar ffyrdd y gallwn helpu i wneud y sefyllfa hon yn haws. Rwy'n gobeithio y gallwn siarad â Llywodraeth y DU ynglŷn â gwneud Cychwyn Iach yn haws i'w gael. Roedd gennyf ddiddordeb arbennig yn ymateb y Llywodraeth i'ch adroddiad a ddywedai fod Llywodraeth Cymru wedi sefydlu grŵp gorchwyl a gorffen i edrych ar fodel cyflawni a fydd yn ei gwneud hi'n bosibl defnyddio ffynonellau data awdurdodau lleol i dargedu gwybodaeth credyd pensiwn i aelwydydd a allai fod ar eu colled -