English: I'd like to thank the Minister for his statement, and, as always, for the advanced copy, and to give him Plaid Cymru's overall support for the direction of travel of the statement. To make my opening remarks, I just would like to associate myself with what the Minister has said about the importance of taxis and private vehicles. There are some communities where they're the only form of public transport, actually, and people couldn't manage without them, and I know that many taxi and private hire vehicle providers have done extra work during the lockdown. I know the Drive taxi co-operative in Cardiff was picking up prescriptions and delivering food for people, and I know that was reflected across Wales. I hope the Minister would agree with me that it's very important that he has the co-operation and support of the sector in order to be able to deliver the ambitions set out in his statement. He will, of course, be aware of the demonstation today, the trade union demonstration today - one of the signs referring to themselves, the taxi industry, as sometimes a forgotten trade, particularly through the pandemic. Now, the Minister has mentioned that there was financial support available through the economic resilience fund, lockdown business discretionary assistance fund, but I wonder if he can say a bit more about his perception of how much of that has actually reached people working in the taxi and private hire industry. There may be issues, for example, in terms of access to information. A lot of the people who work in the industry, for example, in Cardiff and Newport, are people from other countries who may not have English or Welsh as their first language; they may not know where to go to look for this kind of support. I welcome what the Minister said today about PPE for taxi drivers, but of course we know, for a lot of people who work in that sector, it is literally too late. This has been a sector where very many people who work in the sector have become ill, so can he please give us a timescale on that work around protective equipment? Because I think that's absolutely crucial for, as he said himself, those people to be able to work safely and for the safety, of course, of their passengers. I firmly agree that legislation is needed, and, as the Minister has said, the current framework is very outdated. In my discussions with representatives of the sector, I think they do, overall, appreciate the need for reform, but there are some concerns. I'm not quite sure if I'd agree with the Minister when he says that people don't know the distinction between taxis and private hire vehicles. I know, for example, many women who will always use a taxi rather than a private hire vehicle because the perception, whether it's true or not, is that the standards of vetting mean that a taxi is a safer place for a woman to be if she's travelling alone. I have to say that it's something that I always recommend that my daughter does. So, there is a concern that, by removing the distinction between taxis and private hire vehicles - . Can the Minister assure me today that that's not going to lead to a reduction in standards, and that we're actually going to see the private hire vehicles raised up to the same standards as are required now of what we think of as proper taxis - that's probably not the right way to describe it - because we would certainly not want to see standards going down? So, I hope the Minister can say a bit more today about the justification for the single-tier changes. I think simplicity is clearly one of them, but can he be sure that standards will not be reduced? Now, the idea of a national database and register is something that we would welcome in Plaid Cymru, and the strengthening of enforcement powers in the interests of public safety and standards is important. There are a minority of people working in this field who don't keep their vehicles clean, who don't meet the standards that we would expect, and that of course is bad for everybody who works in the industry. But I have had concerns put to me about the removal altogether of any local element. Local authorities surely need to know how many vehicles are on the road in their area, and if taxis and private hire vehicles are to form part of our overall public transport planning, we need to know where they are at a local level as well. In his response to Russell George, I think the Minister mentioned the risk of oversupply in certain areas, but I would also suggest to the Minister that there's also a risk of undersupply - that, if taxis are registered nationally, they will go to work where the work is, and that may mean that there are some communities that are left without a service. So, I wonder if the Minister can say a little bit more about how he intends to ensure that a service continues to be available nationwide. One advantage of registering county by county is that that's the county in which you have to work. So, finally, to come to the zero-carbon issues, in the transport strategy last week you mentioned the need for a transition to zero-emission taxis, and I welcomed what you had to say about enabling people to try that out, but can you tell us a little bit more, Minister? I'd be grateful if you can say a bit more about the incentives scheme that's under consideration. Would it, for example, potentially provide support to enable drivers to be able to purchase zero-emissions vehicles, which are of course more expensive at present? Thank you.
Welsh: Hoffwn ddiolch i'r Gweinidog am ei ddatganiad, ac, fel bob amser, am y copi ymlaen llaw, ac i roi cefnogaeth gyffredinol iddo gan Blaid Cymru am sylwedd y datganiad. I wneud fy sylwadau agoriadol, hoffwn gefnogi'r hyn y mae'r Gweinidog wedi'i ddweud am bwysigrwydd tacsis a cherbydau preifat. Mewn rhai cymunedau nhw yw'r unig fath o drafnidiaeth gyhoeddus, mewn gwirionedd, ac ni allai pobl ymdopi hebddyn nhw, ac rwy'n gwybod bod llawer o ddarparwyr tacsis a cherbydau hurio preifat wedi gwneud gwaith ychwanegol yn ystod y cyfyngiadau symud. Gwn fod cwmni tacsis cydweithredol Drive yng Nghaerdydd yn casglu presgripsiynau ac yn dosbarthu bwyd i bobl, a gwn fod hynny wedi'i adlewyrchu ledled Cymru. Rwy'n gobeithio y byddai'r Gweinidog yn cytuno â mi ei bod yn bwysig iawn iddo gael cydweithrediad a chefnogaeth y sector er mwyn gallu cyflawni'r uchelgeisiau a nodir yn ei ddatganiad. Bydd, wrth gwrs, yn ymwybodol o'r gwrthdystiad heddiw, y gwrthdystiad gan undebau llafur heddiw - ac un o'r arwyddion yn cyfeirio atyn nhw eu hunain, y diwydiant tacsis, yn fasnach anghofiedig weithiau, yn enwedig drwy'r pandemig. Nawr, mae'r Gweinidog wedi crybwyll bod cymorth ariannol ar gael drwy'r gronfa cadernid economaidd, y gronfa cymorth dewisol i fusnesau yn ystod y cyfyngiadau symud, ond tybed a all ddweud ychydig mwy am ei dybiaeth ynghylch faint o hynny sydd wedi cyrraedd pobl sy'n gweithio yn y diwydiant tacsis a hurio preifat. Efallai y bydd problemau, er enghraifft, o ran cael gafael ar wybodaeth. Mae llawer o'r bobl sy'n gweithio yn y diwydiant, er enghraifft, yng Nghaerdydd a Chasnewydd, yn bobl o wledydd eraill nad oes ganddyn nhw'r Gymraeg na'r Saesneg fel eu hiaith gyntaf o bosibl; efallai nad ydyn nhw'n gwybod ble i fynd i chwilio am y math hwn o gymorth. Croesawaf yr hyn a ddywedodd y Gweinidog heddiw am gyfarpar diogelu personol ar gyfer gyrwyr tacsis, ond wrth gwrs gwyddom, i lawer o bobl sy'n gweithio yn y sector hwnnw, ei bod yn llythrennol yn rhy hwyr. Mae hwn wedi bod yn sector lle mae llawer iawn o bobl sy'n gweithio ynddo wedi mynd yn sâl, felly a wnaiff roi amserlen inni ynghylch y gwaith hwnnw o ran cyfarpar diogelu? Oherwydd rwy'n credu bod hynny'n gwbl hanfodol i'r bobl hynny, fel y dywedodd ei hun, allu gweithio'n ddiogel ac er diogelwch eu teithwyr, wrth gwrs. Cytunaf yn bendant fod angen deddfwriaeth, ac, fel y dywedodd y Gweinidog, mae'r fframwaith presennol yn hen ffasiwn iawn. Yn fy nhrafodaethau â chynrychiolwyr y sector, credaf eu bod, yn gyffredinol, yn gwerthfawrogi'r angen i ddiwygio, ond mae rhai pryderon. Dydw i ddim yn hollol siŵr a fyddwn i'n cytuno â'r Gweinidog pan ddywed nad yw pobl yn gwybod y gwahaniaeth rhwng tacsis a cherbydau hurio preifat. Rwy'n adnabod, er enghraifft, llawer o fenywod a fydd bob amser yn defnyddio tacsi yn hytrach na cherbyd hurio preifat oherwydd y canfyddiad, boed yn wir ai peidio, bod y safonau fetio yn golygu bod tacsi yn lle mwy diogel i fenyw os yw'n teithio ar ei phen ei hun. Mae'n rhaid i mi ddweud ei fod yn rhywbeth yr wyf bob amser yn argymell bod fy merch i yn ei wneud. Felly, mae pryder, drwy ddileu'r gwahaniaeth rhwng tacsis a cherbydau hurio preifat - . A all y Gweinidog fy sicrhau heddiw nad yw hynny'n mynd i arwain at leihad mewn safonau, a'n bod mewn gwirionedd yn mynd i weld y cerbydau hurio preifat yn cael eu codi i'r un safonau ag sy'n ofynnol yn awr i'r hyn yr ydym yn eu hystyried yn dacsis go iawn - mae'n debyg nad dyna'r ffordd gywir o'i ddisgrifio - oherwydd yn sicr ni fyddem am weld safonau'n gostwng? Felly, gobeithio y gwnaiff y Gweinidog ddweud ychydig mwy heddiw am y cyfiawnhad dros y newidiadau un haen. Credaf fod symlrwydd yn amlwg yn un ohonyn nhw, ond a all fod yn siŵr na chaiff safonau eu gostwng? Nawr, mae'r syniad o gronfa ddata a chofrestr genedlaethol yn rhywbeth y byddem yn ei groesawu ym Mhlaid Cymru, ac mae cryfhau pwerau gorfodi er budd diogelwch a safonau'r cyhoedd yn bwysig. Mae lleiafrif o bobl yn gweithio yn y maes hwn nad ydyn nhw'n cadw eu cerbydau'n lân, nad ydyn nhw'n bodloni'r safonau y byddem yn eu disgwyl, ac mae hynny wrth gwrs yn ddrwg i bawb sy'n gweithio yn y diwydiant. Ond rwyf wedi clywed pryderon ynghylch dileu unrhyw elfen leol yn gyfan gwbl. Siawns nad oes angen i awdurdodau lleol wybod faint o gerbydau sydd ar y ffordd yn eu hardal, ac os yw tacsis a cherbydau hurio preifat i fod yn rhan o'n cynlluniau trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus cyffredinol, mae angen inni wybod ble maen nhw ar lefel leol hefyd. Yn ei ymateb i Russell George, credaf fod y Gweinidog wedi sôn am y risg o orgyflenwi mewn rhai ardaloedd, ond byddwn hefyd yn awgrymu i'r Gweinidog fod perygl hefyd o dangyflenwi - sef os caiff tacsis eu cofrestru'n genedlaethol, byddant yn mynd i weithio lle mae'r gwaith, a gallai hynny olygu bod rhai cymunedau'n cael eu hamddifadu o wasanaeth. Felly, tybed a all y Gweinidog ddweud ychydig mwy am sut y mae'n bwriadu sicrhau bod gwasanaeth yn parhau i fod ar gael ledled y wlad. Un fantais o gofrestru fesul sir yw mai dyna'r sir y mae'n rhaid i chi weithio ynddi. Felly, yn olaf, i ddod at y materion di-garbon, yn y strategaeth drafnidiaeth yr wythnos diwethaf fe wnaethoch chi sôn am yr angen i drosglwyddo i dacsis dim allyriadau, a chroesawais yr hyn a oedd gennych i'w ddweud am alluogi pobl i roi cynnig ar hynny, ond a wnewch chi ddweud ychydig mwy wrthym, Gweinidog? Byddwn yn ddiolchgar pe baech yn dweud ychydig mwy am y cynllun cymhellion sy'n cael ei ystyried. A fyddai, er enghraifft, o bosibl yn rhoi cymorth i alluogi gyrwyr i brynu cerbydau dim allyriadau, sydd, wrth gwrs, yn ddrutach ar hyn o bryd? Diolch.