English: We recognise the need to protect our communities from harm and where we cannot divert people away from crime in the first place, we must ensure that all we do is in a holistic and rehabilitative way. We don't believe that building more prison places is the right way to solve the crisis in our criminal justice system. There's clearly a distinction between wanting to take a different approach to improving facilities and wanting to build additional facilities. We want an improvement in the standard and condition of the existing secure estate. We do not want an increase in the number of prisons or prison places in Wales. Services, of course, don't end at the prison gate when an individual leaves prison, as the First Minister stated in Plenary last week. This Government is fully supportive of the reunification of the probation service in Wales. There are welcome steps being taken in relation to the probation service in Wales, but we must go further. This is our chance to shape the future direction of probation services, which need to be flexible and innovative in their approach to meeting the needs of individuals, helping them achieve best outcomes and maintaining stability within their communities. Leanne Wood would be, I'm sure, pleased to hear that I'm meeting Napo tomorrow to discuss these issues, because they are so relevant and key, and this debate is, as I said, very timely. Only by ensuring that the correct level of support post release can be provided - including appropriate housing, health and social services provision, and encouragement to access education and skills to maximize job opportunities - can we begin to address the issue of the revolving door occurrence of people regularly returning to prison. So, I'd encourage and support any proposals to end or limit the use of short-term sentences. Costly process serves little if no purpose in terms of rehabilitation, but, as I said, can have a devastating impact on people's lives. Turning to other policy issues in the motion - the right to vote for prisoners in Welsh elections. The Minister for Housing and Local Government is exploring options for extending the rights of prisoners to vote in Welsh local government elections and we've consulted on a package of proposals in terms of electoral reform with a view to bringing forward a Bill later this year. But of course, the Assembly's Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, chaired by John Griffiths, is undertaking an inquiry on this very issue of voting rights for prisoners. I'm pleased the terms of reference include considering whether some or all prisoners should be given the right to vote in Welsh elections or whether distinctions might be drawn between different categories of prisoner. So, the Welsh Government supports the principle of the right to vote for prisoners but awaits the committee's findings. I want to make a strong point as well about women and the criminal justice system. I was also appalled by the statistics - and Helen Mary as well as Alun Davies and others on this point. I strongly endorse the principle set out and many of you will remember Baroness Jean Corston's seminal report on this issue. More than 10 years on, these principles that she outlined remain the same. It's clear that women are being sent to prison often for low-level, summary offences. Thank you for your insights today on this issue. Consequently, the use of ineffective short-term prison sentences on women who have not committed serious offences can have a catastrophic impact on them and their families. Short sentences don't enable rehabilitation in its fullest sense, because, obviously, they're often not in prison long enough to be able to even complete or access programmes that could be beneficial in terms of education and rehabilitation. At the same time, the children of women serving a custodial sentence will in turn suffer. As the Prison Reform Trust report, 'What about me?', published last year states, only 5 per cent of children whose mothers are in prison are able to stay within the family home. The longer-term impacts of the imprisonment of women are far reaching and must be considered seriously. Any proposal to reduce the impact of incarceration on women should therefore be welcomed. I'd also like to thank Alun Davies, my predecessor, for the work that he undertook in this key area of policy, and the commitment he made to address these issues across the full range of aspects arising within this debate, and widely welcomed. We need to ensure that, as far as Welsh women are concerned, they have safe and secure facilities that are fit for purpose, and I do look forward to, obviously, moving the female offending blueprint for Wales. Alun announced it last year in December. It was developed jointly with Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, and that will help identify the additional support required for the delivery of appropriate justice system services for women in Wales. So, I think it's important, Llywydd, to say that in setting out his immediate priorities for reform - and he did that in his first First Minister's questions - the First Minister identified those immediate priorities that youth justice and female offending are areas we are working on with the Ministry of Justice, through the blueprints announced in December, to see what progress can be made within the constraints of the existing devolution settlement. The Welsh Government didn't establish the commission to ratify its own view; it is independent and it has heavyweight expertise from across all the areas it's investigating. Our amendment was laid in order to recognise the important work of the Thomas commission, and, of course, we all across this Chamber look forward to the conclusions and recommendations that it will provide.
Welsh: Rydym yn cydnabod yr angen i amddiffyn ein cymunedau rhag niwed a lle na allwn droi pobl oddi wrth droseddu yn y lle cyntaf, rhaid inni sicrhau bod popeth a wnawn yn digwydd mewn ffordd gyfannol a ffordd sy'n adsefydlu. Nid ydym yn credu mai adeiladu mwy o leoedd carchar yw'r ffordd gywir o ddatrys yr argyfwng yn ein system cyfiawnder troseddol. Mae'n amlwg fod gwahaniaeth rhwng dymuno mabwysiadu dull gwahanol o wella cyfleusterau a dymuno adeiladu cyfleusterau ychwanegol. Rydym am weld gwelliant yn safon a chyflwr yr ystâd ddiogeledd bresennol. Nid ydym am weld cynnydd yn nifer y carchardai na lleoedd carchar yng Nghymru. Wrth gwrs, nid yw gwasanaethau'n dod i ben wrth giât y carchar pan fydd unigolyn yn gadael carchar, fel y dywedodd y Prif Weinidog yn y Cyfarfod Llawn yr wythnos diwethaf. Mae'r Llywodraeth hon yn gwbl gefnogol i ailuno'r gwasanaeth prawf yng Nghymru. Mae camau calonogol ar y gweill mewn perthynas â'r gwasanaeth prawf yng Nghymru, ond rhaid inni fynd ymhellach. Dyma ein cyfle i lywio cyfeiriad gwasanaethau prawf, ac mae angen iddynt fod yn hyblyg ac yn arloesol o ran eu dull o ateb anghenion unigolion, gan eu helpu i gyflawni'r canlyniadau gorau a chynnal sefydlogrwydd o fewn eu cymunedau. Byddai Leanne Wood yn falch o glywed, rwy'n siŵr, y byddaf yn cyfarfod â Napo yfory i drafod y materion hyn, oherwydd eu bod mor berthnasol ac allweddol, ac mae'r ddadl hon, fel y dywedais, yn amserol iawn. Ni allwn ddechrau mynd i'r afael â'r drws troi wrth i bobl ddychwelyd i garchar yn rheolaidd heb sicrhau bod modd darparu'r lefel gywir o gefnogaeth ar ôl eu rhyddhau - gan gynnwys tai priodol, darpariaeth iechyd a gwasanaethau cymdeithasol, ac anogaeth i gael mynediad at addysg a sgiliau er mwyn sicrhau cymaint â phosibl o gyfleoedd gwaith. Felly, hoffwn annog a chefnogi unrhyw gynigion i roi diwedd ar, neu gyfyngu ar y defnydd o ddedfrydau tymor byr. Nid oes fawr o bwrpas os o gwbl i brosesau costus mewn perthynas ag adsefydlu, ond fel y dywedais, gall gael effaith ddinistriol ar fywydau pobl. Gan droi at faterion polisi eraill yn y cynnig - hawl carcharorion i bleidleisio yn etholiadau Cymru. Mae'r Gweinidog Tai a Llywodraeth Leol yn ystyried opsiynau ar gyfer ymestyn hawliau i garcharorion gael pleidleisio yn etholiadau llywodraeth leol Cymru ac rydym wedi ymgynghori ar becyn o gynigion o ran diwygio etholiadol gyda golwg ar gyflwyno Bil yn ddiweddarach eleni. Ond wrth gwrs, mae'r Pwyllgor Cydraddoldeb, Llywodraeth Leol a Chymunedau, dan gadeiryddiaeth John Griffiths, yn cynnal ymchwiliad ar hawliau pleidleisio i garcharorion. Rwy'n falch fod y cylch gorchwyl yn cynnwys ystyried a ddylid rhoi'r hawl i bleidleisio yn etholiadau Cymru i bob carcharor neu a ddylid gwahaniaethu rhwng gwahanol gategorïau o garcharor. Felly, mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn cefnogi'r egwyddor o hawl i bleidleisio ar gyfer carcharorion ond mae'n aros i weld canfyddiadau'r pwyllgor. Mae arnaf eisiau gwneud pwynt cryf hefyd ynglŷn â menywod a'r system cyfiawnder troseddol. Roedd yr ystadegau'n codi arswyd arnaf - a Helen Mary yn ogystal ag Alun Davies ac eraill ar y pwynt hwn. Rwy'n cefnogi'r egwyddor a nodir yn gryf, a bydd llawer ohonoch yn cofio adroddiad arloesol y Farwnes Jean Corston ar y mater hwn. Dros 10 mlynedd ers hynny, mae'r egwyddorion hyn a amlinellwyd ganddi yn aros yr un fath. Mae'n amlwg fod menywod yn cael eu hanfon i'r carchar am droseddau diannod lefel isel yn aml. Diolch i chi am eich sylwadau heddiw ar y mater hwn. O ganlyniad, gall defnydd aneffeithiol o ddedfrydau byr o garchar i fenywod nad ydynt wedi cyflawni troseddau difrifol effeithio'n drychinebus arnynt hwy ac ar eu teuluoedd. Nid yw dedfrydau byr yn galluogi adsefydlu yn ei ystyr lawnaf, oherwydd, yn amlwg, yn aml nid ydynt yn y carchar yn ddigon hir i allu cwblhau rhaglenni neu ddechrau rhaglenni hyd yn oed a allai fod yn fuddiol o ran addysg ac adsefydlu. Ar yr un pryd, bydd plant menywod sy'n bwrw dedfryd o garchar yn dioddef yn eu tro. Fel y mae adroddiad yr Ymddiriedolaeth Diwygio Carchardai, 'What about me?', a gyhoeddwyd y llynedd yn ei ddweud, 5 y cant yn unig o'r plant sydd â mamau yn y carchar sy'n gallu aros yn y cartref teuluol. Mae effeithiau mwy hirdymor carcharu menywod yn bellgyrhaeddol ac mae'n rhaid eu hystyried o ddifrif. Felly, dylid croesawu unrhyw gynnig i leihau effaith carcharu ar fenywod. Hefyd, hoffwn ddiolch i Alun Davies, fy rhagflaenydd, am y gwaith a wnaeth yn y maes polisi allweddol hwn, a'r ymrwymiad a wnaeth i fynd i'r afael â'r materion hyn ar draws yr ystod lawn o agweddau sy'n codi yn y ddadl hon, ac sydd wedi cael croeso eang. Mae angen inni sicrhau, ar ran menywod Cymru, fod ganddynt gyfleusterau diogel sy'n addas at y diben, ac edrychaf ymlaen at ddatblygu'r glasbrint ar gyfer troseddwyr benywaidd yng Nghymru. Cafodd ei gyhoeddi gan Alun ym mis Rhagfyr y llynedd. Fe'i datblygwyd ar y cyd â Gwasanaeth Carchardai a Phrawf Ei Mawrhydi, a bydd hwnnw'n helpu i nodi'r cymorth ychwanegol sydd ei angen ar gyfer darparu gwasanaethau system cyfiawnder priodol ar gyfer menywod yng Nghymru. Felly, Lywydd, mae'n bwysig dweud wrth amlinellu ei brif flaenoriaethau ar gyfer diwygio - a gwnaeth hynny yn ei sesiwn gwestiynau gyntaf fel Prif Weinidog - fod y Prif Weinidog wedi nodi'r blaenoriaethau uniongyrchol fod cyfiawnder ieuenctid a throseddu ymysg menywod yn feysydd rydym yn gweithio arnynt gyda'r Weinyddiaeth Gyfiawnder, drwy'r glasbrintiau a gyhoeddwyd ym mis Rhagfyr, er mwyn gweld pa gynnydd y gallwn ei wneud o fewn cyfyngiadau'r setliad datganoli presennol. Ni wnaeth Llywodraeth Cymru sefydlu'r comisiwn i gadarnhau ei barn ei hun; mae'n annibynnol ac mae ganddo arbenigedd mawr ym mhob un o'r meysydd y mae'n ymchwilio iddynt. Gosodwyd ein gwelliant er mwyn cydnabod gwaith pwysig comisiwn Thomas, ac wrth gwrs, mae pawb ohonom ar draws y Siambr yn edrych ymlaen at y casgliadau a'r argymhellion y bydd yn eu darparu.