English: Five thousand five hundred students benefit from the £700,000 school uniform grant. That's £700,000, which is less than 1/150 of the Welsh Government's budget - half of what your Government spends on pizzas and luxury yacht wear on credit cards, but it's still too much for this Government. The price of school uniforms was the justification given for scrapping this grant. On average, parents spend £108 on school clothing for primary school children and £126 for secondary school children. When a third of Welsh children live in poverty, benefit cuts continue to fall on the poorest and foodbank use is on the rise, I wonder whether the Cabinet Secretary would like to repeat today her original justification that uniforms are cheap enough for parents to buy - I'd be interested to see. The Bevan Foundation has called this justification 'mealy-mouthed'. The children's commissioner was surprised and disheartened by the decision and highlighted the strangeness of the decision to withdraw financial support for school uniforms whilst launching a fund for sanitary products, which would benefit the very children that this grant helps - a very strange decision, which came to everyone's attention in the same week as the Government's flagship anti-poverty programme Communities First came to an end with no alternative programme to take its place. The Children's Society has said that this decision will negatively affect the well-being and ability of children to participate fully in school life. Following insurmountable pressure, it seems like the Government will be forced into providing some kind of financial assistance, but how much, by when and how it will work is yet to be revealed. U-turns and policy made up on the hoof will never be a successful strategy for helping the third of Welsh children who are in poverty to succeed. Today, I want to give the Minister a chance to enlighten us and the hundreds of families who face cuts to this crucial grant. Can we have cast-iron guarantees that a replacement grant will be in place well in advance of the next school term? For that matter, will anyone miss out as a result of this decision? Exactly how much money will be allocated to a new grant, and will there be any changes to eligibility for those who can access it? What mechanism will there be for scrutinising any new grant, and what role will this Assembly play in that process? Finally, I want to ask the Minister once again: what motivated her to cut this grant in the first place? What impact assessment did she undertake? Who was consulted? And will she reconsider her decision?
Welsh: Mae 5,500 o fyfyrwyr yn elwa ar y grant gwisg ysgol gwerth £700,000. Dyna £700,000, sy'n llai nag 1/150 o gyllideb Llywodraeth Cymru - hanner yr hyn y mae eich Llywodraeth yn ei wario ar bitsas a dillad hwylio moethus ar gardiau credyd, ond mae'n dal i fod yn ormod i'r Llywodraeth hon. Pris gwisgoedd ysgol oedd y cyfiawnhad a roddwyd dros gael gwared ar y grant hwn. Ar gyfartaledd, mae rhieni'n gwario £108 ar ddillad ysgol ar gyfer plant ysgol gynradd a £126 ar gyfer plant ysgol uwchradd. Pan fo traean o blant Cymru'n byw mewn tlodi, toriadau i fudd-daliadau yn parhau i effeithio ar y bobl dlotaf a defnydd o fanciau bwyd ar gynnydd, tybed a fyddai Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet yn hoffi ailadrodd heddiw ei chyfiawnhad gwreiddiol pam y mae gwisgoedd ysgol yn ddigon rhad i rieni eu prynu - byddai gennyf ddiddordeb mewn gweld. Mae Sefydliad Bevan wedi galw'r cyfiawnhad hwn yn un mursennaidd. Roedd y comisiynydd plant yn synnu ac yn digalonni ynglŷn â'r penderfyniad a thynnodd sylw at hynodrwydd y penderfyniad i ddileu cymorth ariannol ar gyfer gwisgoedd ysgol wrth lansio cronfa ar gyfer cynnyrch misglwyf a fyddai o fudd i'r union blant y mae'r grant hwn yn eu helpu - penderfyniad rhyfedd iawn, a ddaeth i sylw pawb yn yr un wythnos ag y daeth rhaglen wrth-dlodi flaenllaw'r Llywodraeth, Cymunedau yn Gyntaf, i ben heb fod unrhyw raglen arall i gymryd ei lle. Mae Cymdeithas y Plant wedi dweud y bydd y penderfyniad hwn yn effeithio'n negyddol ar les a gallu plant i gymryd rhan lawn ym mywyd yr ysgol. Yn dilyn pwysau anorchfygol, mae'n ymddangos y caiff y Llywodraeth ei gorfodi i ddarparu rhyw fath o gymorth ariannol, ond mae faint, erbyn pryd a sut y bydd yn gweithio eto i'w datgelu. Ni fydd troeon pedol a pholisi heb ei gynllunio'n iawn byth yn strategaeth lwyddiannus ar gyfer helpu'r traean o blant Cymru sy'n byw mewn tlodi i lwyddo. Heddiw, rwyf am roi cyfle i'r Gweinidog ein goleuo ni a'r cannoedd o deuluoedd sy'n wynebu toriadau i'r grant hollbwysig hwn. A allwn gael sicrwydd pendant y bydd grant newydd ar waith ymhell cyn i'r tymor ysgol nesaf ddechrau? O ran hynny, a fydd unrhyw un ar ei golled o ganlyniad i'r penderfyniad hwn? Faint yn union o arian a gaiff ei ddyrannu i'r grant newydd, ac a fydd unrhyw newidiadau i gymhwysedd ar gyfer y rhai sy'n gallu ei gael? Pa fecanwaith a fydd ar waith ar gyfer craffu ar unrhyw grant newydd, a beth fydd rôl y Cynulliad hwn yn y broses honno? Yn olaf, hoffwn ofyn i'r Gweinidog unwaith eto: beth a'i hysgogodd i ddileu'r grant hwn yn y lle cyntaf? Pa asesiad effaith a gynhaliodd? Pwy yr ymgynghorwyd â hwy? Ac a wnaiff hi ailystyried ei phenderfyniad?