English: May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement this afternoon? You may expect me to have mixed feelings about the statement that has been made. Certainly, I am pleased that you are getting to grips with this issue once again, after at least two of your predecessors failed, in my view, to sufficiently tackle the issue. But, you do fall short of what many of us have been calling for for many years - and I and Plaid Cymru have been clear on what we would wish to see - but I do recognise that this is a step in the right direction, even though it doesn't go to the very point that we would wish. As far as I can see, it will strengthen the legislative and policy framework around home education, but it does leave some questions unanswered in my own mind, and these may become clearer as more details are published. I would ask once again why you are not taking the advice of the children's commissioner, the NSPCC, the independent safeguarding board and the child practice review, which have all called for a statutory register. You recognise in your statement that other nations have implemented registration systems for many years, but you reject that for Wales. Also, how will asking local authorities to identify these home-educated children and put them on a database be more effective than placing a requirement on the parents to register them? I would assume that more children would be identified if parents had to register them, rather than that, somehow, local authorities had to track them down in some way. So, I'm still struggling with that, to a certain extent, and I would be grateful if you could just respond to that point. I also wanted to raise the financial implications and whether there were any, because there would be additional requirements on local authorities. Would there be additional resources made available to them? There are a number of positives in this statement - don't misunderstand me. I do see this as an opportunity to secure more consistency across Wales in the way that local authorities do deal with and support families who choose to home educate. You've referred to the improved access to resources, such as laboratories, Hwb and so on, and I'm particularly interested to the reference you made to the effort to provide opportunities to learn Welsh. I know that you will be looking into all of those options. If you do have specific ideas, I'd be pleased to hear about them now, because, clearly, that is something that I would interested in. The children's commissioner, of course, has consistently reminded us that there are specific criteria that she would be seeking in any approach in this area.
Welsh: A gaf innau ddiolch i'r Ysgrifennydd Cabinet am ei datganiad y prynhawn yma? Efallai y byddech chi'n disgwyl bod gen i deimladau cymysg am y datganiad sydd wedi cael ei wneud. Yn sicr, rwy'n falch eich bod chi yn ailgydio yn y mater yma wedi o leiaf ddau o'ch rhagflaenwyr fethu, yn fy marn i, â mynd i'r afael yn ddigonol â'r mater yma. Ond rydych chi yn stopio'n fyr o beth mae nifer ohonom ni wedi bod yn galw amdano fe ers blynyddoedd - ac rwyf i a Phlaid Cymru wedi bod yn glir ynglŷn â'r hyn y byddem ni yn dymuno ei weld - ond rwyf yn cydnabod bod hwn yn gam i'r cyfeiriad iawn, beth bynnag, os nad yw'n mynd i'r union bwynt y byddwn i'n dymuno i chi fynd iddo. Mi fydd, hyd y gwelaf i, yn cryfhau'r fframwaith polisi a deddfwriaethol o gwmpas addysgu gartref, ond mae yn gadael rhai cwestiynau yn fy meddwl i o hyd, ac mae'n bosibl y daw'r rhain yn gliriach wrth i fwy o fanylion gael eu rhyddhau. Byddwn i yn gofyn eto pam nad ydych chi yn dilyn cyngor y comisiynydd plant, yr NSPCC, y bwrdd diogelu annibynnol cenedlaethol a'r adolygiad arfer plant - y child practice review diweddar - sydd oll wedi galw am gofrestr statudol. Rydych chi yn cydnabod yn y datganiad bod gwledydd eraill wedi gweithredu systemau cofrestru ers blynyddoedd, ond eto rydych chi'n gwrthod hynny yma yng Nghymru. Hefyd, sut fydd gofyn i awdurdodau lleol ddod o hyd i'r plant yma sy'n cael eu haddysgu adref a'u rhoi nhw ar fas data yn fwy effeithiol na rhoi disgwyliad ar y rhieni i'w cofrestru nhw? Byddwn yn tybio y byddai mwy o blant yn cael eu hadnabod os yw rhieni yn gorfod eu cofrestru nhw, yn hytrach na rhywsut bod awdurdodau lleol yn gorfod trio eu tracio nhw lawr. Felly, rwy'n dal yn stryglo gyda hynny i raddau, ac fe fyddwn i yn ddiolchgar pe baech chi'n gallu jest ymateb i hynny. Roeddwn i hefyd am godi'r goblygiadau cyllidebol ac a oedd yna rai, gan y byddai yna ddisgwyliad ychwanegol ar awdurdodau lleol. A fyddai yna adnoddau ychwanegol yn cael eu gwneud ar gael iddyn nhw? Mae yna lot o bethau positif yn y datganiad - peidiwch â'm camddeall i. Rydw i yn gweld hwn yn gyfle i sicrhau gwell cysondeb ar draws Cymru o safbwynt y modd y mae awdurdodau lleol yn ymwneud â, ac yn cefnogi, teuluoedd sydd yn dewis addysgu eu plant gartref. Rŷch chi wedi cyfeirio at well mynediad i adnoddau fel labordai, Hwb ac yn y blaen, ac mae gen i ddiddordeb arbennig yn y cyfeiriad rŷch chi wedi ei wneud at, wrth gwrs, yr ymdrech efallai i gynnig cyfle i ddysgu Cymraeg. Rwy'n gwybod eich bod chi'n mynd i edrych i mewn i'r opsiynau hynny. Os oes gennych chi rai syniadau penodol, byddwn i'n falch i'w clywed nhw nawr, achos, yn amlwg, mae hynny yn rhywbeth y byddwn i â diddordeb ynddo fe. Nawr, mae'r comisiynydd plant, wrth gwrs, yn gyson wedi ein hatgoffa ni bod yna feini prawf penodol y byddai hi'n chwilio amdanyn nhw mewn unrhyw approach i'r maes yma.