English: Good evening, everybody. I would just like to thank the children's commissioner and her staff for their ongoing work to protect the rights of Welsh children, and for the dedication they have shown throughout this past year. I do, however, have an issue with the stance taken over independent care providers. The private sector provides eight out of every 10 placements for children in care. Given the vast black hole that exists in funding for social services, we cannot expect the public sector to step in. Local authorities were already struggling with cost pressures prior to the pandemic. Services for looked-after children are woefully underfunded and funding shortfalls will be much worse as we emerge from the pandemic. The WLGA have stated that local authorities are concerned about the demands that will be placed upon services as we emerge from the lockdown. There is still a backlog of court cases that is adding to the challenges faced in making appropriate and sustainable placements for looked-after children and young people. Without private providers, the situation would be much worse. Despite the private sector providing 80 per cent of placements, we still, sadly, saw over 365 children placed outside Wales last year. The problem isn't with the care providers, it's with the system. After all, our NHS and our care system is founded on the principle of public and private sectors working hand in hand together. Without the private sector, we would have no GPs, no dentists, no opticians, no medicines, and large numbers of children and young people without any care. Lack of funding and, more importantly, demand are the major issues facing looked-after children's care. Just last week, the Auditor General for Wales outlined a stark fact: the number of looked-after children in Wales has increased by two thirds since 2004. The Wales Centre for Public Policy found that Wales has consistently had a higher number of looked-after children than the rest of the UK, and the gap is continuing to widen. It has also found that there is local variation in the number of looked-after children, with numbers in some council areas remaining steady or falling. They found that some of the variation was due to differing social work practices and policies across councils. The centre also found that Welsh judges are more likely than their UK counterparts to make orders allowing councils to take children into care, and I would ask Sally Holland and her team to focus on tackling this disparity. Why are children in Wales more likely to end up in care? We all know that children in care are more likely to suffer poorer outcomes. While it's right that we should do everything in our power to improve the life chances of care leavers, the best action we can take is to prevent children from going into care in the first place and remembering that prevention should be our main focus. Thank you very much.
Welsh: Noswaith dda, pawb. Hoffwn ddiolch i'r comisiynydd plant a'i staff am eu gwaith parhaus i ddiogelu hawliau plant Cymru, ac am yr ymroddiad y maen nhw wedi'i ddangos drwy gydol y flwyddyn ddiwethaf. Fodd bynnag, mae gennyf broblem gyda'r safbwynt a gymerwyd dros ddarparwyr gofal annibynnol. Mae'r sector preifat yn darparu wyth o bob 10 lleoliad ar gyfer plant mewn gofal. O ystyried y twll du enfawr sy'n bodoli o ran cyllid ar gyfer gwasanaethau cymdeithasol, ni allwn ddisgwyl i'r sector cyhoeddus gamu i mewn. Roedd awdurdodau lleol eisoes yn cael trafferthion gyda phwysau cost cyn y pandemig. Mae gwasanaethau ar gyfer plant sy'n derbyn gofal yn cael eu tanariannu'n druenus a bydd diffygion ariannol yn llawer gwaeth wrth i ni ddod allan o'r pandemig. Mae Cymdeithas Llywodraeth Leol Cymru wedi datgan bod awdurdodau lleol yn pryderu am y galw a roddir ar wasanaethau wrth i ni ddod allan o'r cyfnod clo. Mae ôl-groniad o achosion llys o hyd sy'n ychwanegu at yr heriau a wynebir wrth wneud lleoliadau priodol a chynaliadwy ar gyfer plant a phobl ifanc sy'n derbyn gofal. Heb ddarparwyr preifat, byddai'r sefyllfa'n llawer gwaeth. Er bod y sector preifat yn darparu 80 y cant o leoliadau, yr oeddem yn dal wedi gweld dros 365 o blant y tu allan i Gymru y llynedd, yn anffodus. Nid gyda'r darparwyr gofal y mae'r broblem, mae gyda'r system. Wedi'r cyfan, mae ein GIG a'n system ofal yn seiliedig ar yr egwyddor o sectorau cyhoeddus a phreifat yn gweithio law yn llaw â'i gilydd. Heb y sector preifat, ni fyddai gennym feddygon teulu, dim deintyddion, dim optegwyr, dim meddyginiaethau, a nifer fawr o blant a phobl ifanc heb unrhyw ofal. Diffyg cyllid ac, yn bwysicach na hynny, y galw yw'r prif faterion sy'n wynebu gofal plant. Yr wythnos diwethaf, amlinellodd Archwilydd Cyffredinol Cymru ffaith amlwg: mae nifer y plant sy'n derbyn gofal yng Nghymru wedi cynyddu dwy ran o dair ers 2004. Canfu Canolfan Polisi Cyhoeddus Cymru fod gan Gymru yn gyson nifer uwch o blant sy'n derbyn gofal na gweddill y DU, ac mae'r bwlch yn parhau i ehangu. Mae hefyd wedi canfod bod amrywiad lleol yn nifer y plant sy'n derbyn gofal, gyda'r niferoedd mewn rhai ardaloedd cyngor yn parhau i fod yn sefydlog neu'n gostwng. Canfuwyd bod rhywfaint o'r amrywiad yn deillio o wahanol arferion a pholisïau gwaith cymdeithasol ar draws cynghorau. Canfu'r ganolfan hefyd fod barnwyr Cymru yn fwy tebygol na'u cymheiriaid yn y DU o wneud gorchmynion sy'n caniatáu i gynghorau gymryd plant i ofal, ac rwy'n gofyn i Sally Holland a'i thîm ganolbwyntio ar fynd i'r afael â'r gwahaniaeth hwn. Pam mae plant yng Nghymru yn fwy tebygol o orfod derbyn gofal yn y pen draw? Rydym i gyd yn gwybod fod plant mewn gofal yn fwy tebygol o ddioddef canlyniadau gwaeth. Er ei bod yn iawn i ni wneud popeth o fewn ein gallu i wella cyfleoedd bywyd y rhai sy'n gadael gofal, y camau gorau y gallwn ni eu cymryd yw atal plant rhag mynd i ofal yn y lle cyntaf a chofio mai atal ddylai fod ein prif pwyslais. Diolch yn fawr iawn.