English: I thank you very, very much for those questions and for outlining the support for the aims and the principles of the Bill. I think that we all reflect on the previous public health Bill and the important role that scrutiny played in that, and certainly in strengthening the Bill and in testing the Bill, and I think that we can look forward to similarly robust scrutiny as this Bill makes its way through the Assembly as well. In terms of the 'why now?' question, that's an excellent question, and actually, in an ideal world it wouldn't be now, but unfortunately the powers that we have in this area are powers that will be removed from Welsh Government when the Wales Act 2017 comes into force in April of next year, so we need to have cleared Stage 1 within the Assembly in April of next year. So, that's why we're taking this particular moment to introduce the Bill. I would have much preferred to have waited until the outcome of the Scottish court case had come to a resolution, and I had hoped it would have been before now. I do understand it will be fairly imminent, and, obviously, when that judgment is made, we'll have to consider what implications that does have for our Bill. But it is very much a situation of having a very small window in which to act at the moment, so we're taking this window while we can. I completely agree with you as well that the minimum unit pricing can only be one part in a much wider jigsaw in terms of tackling substance misuse in the round and particularly supporting people with an alcohol dependency and preventing people from having that dependency in the first place. So, there are a range of ways in which we're already trying to tackle alcohol consumption and harmful and hazardous drinking, particularly across Wales, and those were set out in our 'Working Together to Reduce Harm' substance misuse delivery plan 2016-18, which was published in the Assembly in September of 2016. Examples of some of the actions in that include working to tackle the excessive consumption of alcohol through better education, through prevention, and of course through those treatment services to support the most harmful drinkers, as well as support, of course, for the families of people who misuse alcohol. That has been recognised as one of the significant adverse childhood experiences, which is something that all Ministers have a real concern about as well. You also referred, quite rightly, to the issue of unintended consequences, and I really do recognise the concerns that you and others have raised that there are some vulnerable groups who might continue to purchase the same amounts of alcohol despite the increase in price. For example, in terms of household spend on areas such as food or heating - making those choices as well. So, I'm very aware of that potential issue and we're already looking with our area planning boards on how we can ensure that local services are as responsive as possible to vulnerable groups' needs in this respect. It's also important to recognise that, overall, we do expect to see reduced levels of consumption amongst harmful and hazardous drinkers, and associated reductions in alcohol-related harms. However, it is important to make sure that those services are there, which is one of the reasons that we do invest £50 million in our substance-misuse agenda to try and ensure that the support is there for people who need it. I also noted some of the other concerns raised by stakeholders about unintended consequences. For example, families might, as I say, be forced to make those difficult choices as well, but as you suggested and others have suggested here today, individuals might switch to other substances. We think the risk that consumers could switch to illegal drugs or new psychoactive substances, for example, is considered low, as an illegal or untested substance is clearly qualitatively a big step and very different to the consumption of alcohol, and most people wouldn't consider that to be a valid substitute. However, it is something that we intend to explore further with the Welsh Government's advisory panel on substance misuse. They've previously commented that they don't believe that this is likely to be an issue. However, it's something that we're very much alive to as well. In terms of referring to this as a tax, we are very clear that this isn't a tax. It's very much a minimum unit price. The evidence suggests that higher taxation alone wouldn't be as effective as a minimum unit price. In fact, you'd have to reduce taxation by a large amount to achieve the same kind of benefits to health and the NHS that we would expect to see from a minimum unit price alone. That's one of the reasons why it's important to look at this very much as a minimum unit price. It does allow us to target those high-strength very cheap alcohol products rather than taking a blanket approach and raising the price of all alcohol as well. An interesting note to this is that the 2014 modelling suggests that high drinkers purchase more of their alcohol below an example minimum unit price of 50p at the moment. These are people at all income levels. High-risk drinkers in poverty buy 42 per cent of their alcohol below the 50p per unit, as compared to 21 per cent for moderate drinkers in poverty. High-risk drinkers not in poverty buy 28 per cent of units below 50p, compared to 14 per cent of moderate drinkers not in poverty. So, the minimum unit price would change the price of approximately a fifth of the alcohol purchased by moderate drinkers in poverty, whereas an increase in taxation would affect the price of all drinks purchased by people living in lower income households.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr iawn, iawn am y cwestiynau hynny ac am amlinellu'r gefnogaeth i nodau ac egwyddorion y Bil. Rwy'n credu ein bod ni i gyd yn ystyried y Bil iechyd y cyhoedd blaenorol a swyddogaeth bwysig craffu ar hynny, ac yn sicr wrth gryfhau'r Bil ac wrth brofi'r Bil. A chredaf y gallwn edrych ymlaen at graffu yr un mor gadarn wrth i'r Bil hwn fynd drwy'r Cynulliad hefyd. O ran y cwestiwn 'pam nawr?', mae hwnnw'n gwestiwn ardderchog, ac mewn gwirionedd, mewn byd delfrydol ni fyddai hyn yn digwydd nawr. Ond yn anffodus mae'r pwerau sydd gennym yn y maes hwn yn bwerau a fydd yn cael eu tynnu oddi wrth Lywodraeth Cymru pan ddaw Deddf Cymru 2017 i rym ym mis Ebrill y flwyddyn nesaf. Felly, mae'n rhaid i ni fod wedi clirio Cyfnod 1 yn y Cynulliad ym mis Ebrill y flwyddyn nesaf. Felly, dyna pam yr ydym yn cyflwyno'r Bil ar adeg benodol hon. Byddai'n well gennyf fod wedi aros hyd nes i achos llys yr Alban ddod i benderfyniad, ac roeddwn wedi gobeithio y byddai hynny wedi digwydd cyn nawr. Rwy'n deall y bydd yn digwydd yn fuan, ac, yn amlwg, pan wneir y dyfarniad hwnnw, bydd yn rhaid inni ystyried goblygiadau hynny i'n Bil ni. Ond mae'n fater o gael ffenestr fach iawn i weithredu oddi mewn iddi ar hyn o bryd, ac rydym ni'n cymryd y ffenestr hon tra gallwn ni. Rwy'n cytuno'n llwyr â chi hefyd mai dim ond un rhan mewn jig-so llawer ehangach yw gosod isafbris uned o ran mynd i'r afael â chamddefnyddio sylweddau yn llawn a thrylwyr, ac yn benodol gefnogi pobl â dibyniaeth ar alcohol, ac atal pobl rhag mynd yn ddibynnol ar alcohol yn y lle cyntaf. Felly, rydym ni eisoes yn ceisio mynd i'r afael ag yfed alcohol ac yfed niweidiol a pheryglus mewn amrywiaeth o ffyrdd, yn benodol ledled Cymru, a nodwyd y rhain yn ein cynllun cyflawni 'Gweithio Gyda'n Gilydd i Leihau Niwed' ar gyfer camddefnyddio sylweddau 2016-18 , a gyhoeddwyd yn y Cynulliad ym mis Medi 2016. Mae enghreifftiau o rai o'r camau gweithredu yn cynnwys gweithio i fynd i'r afael ag yfed gormod o alcohol trwy addysg well, trwy atal, ac wrth gwrs drwy'r gwasanaethau triniaeth hynny i gefnogi'r yfwyr mwyaf niweidiol, yn ogystal â chymorth, wrth gwrs, i deuluoedd pobl sy'n camddefnyddio alcohol. Cydnabuwyd hynny fel un o brofiadau andwyol iawn plentyndod, sy'n rhywbeth y mae pob Gweinidog yn bryderus iawn y ei gylch. Cyfeiriasoch, yn eithaf priodol, at y mater o ganlyniadau anfwriadol, ac rwy'n cydnabod y pryderon yr ydych chi ac eraill wedi'u codi bod rhai grwpiau agored i niwed a allai barhau i brynu'r un faint o alcohol er gwaethaf y cynnydd yn y pris. Er enghraifft, o ran gwariant aelwydydd ar feysydd megis bwyd neu wresogi - gwneud y dewisiadau hynny hefyd. Felly, rwy'n ymwybodol iawn o'r broblem bosib honno ac rydym eisoes yn edrych gyda'n byrddau cynllunio ardal ar sut y gallwn sicrhau bod gwasanaethau lleol mor ymatebol â phosib i anghenion grwpiau bregus yn hyn o beth. Mae hefyd yn bwysig cydnabod, yn gyffredinol, ein bod yn disgwyl gweld lefelau llai o ddefnydd ymhlith yfwyr niweidiol a pheryglus, a gostyngiadau cysylltiedig mewn niwed sy'n gysylltiedig ag alcohol. Fodd bynnag, mae'n bwysig sicrhau bod y gwasanaethau hynny yno, sef un o'r rhesymau pam rydym yn buddsoddi £50 miliwn yn ein hagenda camddefnyddio sylweddau i geisio sicrhau bod y gefnogaeth yno i bobl sydd ei hangen. Nodais hefyd rai o'r pryderon eraill a godwyd gan randdeiliaid ynghylch canlyniadau anfwriadol. Er enghraifft, gallai teuluoedd, fel y dywedais, gael eu gorfodi i wneud y dewisiadau anodd hynny hefyd, ond fel yr awgrymwyd gennych chi, ac mae eraill wedi awgrymu yma heddiw, gallai unigolion newid i ddefnyddio sylweddau eraill. Rydym o'r farn bod y risg y gallai defnyddwyr newid i gyffuriau anghyfreithlon neu sylweddau seicoweithredol newydd, er enghraifft, yn weddol isel. Mae sylwedd anghyfreithlon neu sylwedd sydd heb ei brofi yn amlwg yn ansoddol yn gam mawr ac yn wahanol iawn i'r defnydd o alcohol, ac ni fyddai'r rhan fwyaf o bobl yn ystyried hynny i fod yn rhywbeth amgen dilys. Fodd bynnag, mae'n rhywbeth yr ydym yn bwriadu ei archwilio ymhellach gyda phanel cynghori Llywodraeth Cymru ar gamddefnyddio sylweddau. Maent wedi dweud yn flaenorol nad ydynt yn credu bod hyn yn debygol o fod yn broblem. Fodd bynnag, mae'n rhywbeth yr ydym ni'n ymwybodol iawn ohono hefyd. O ran cyfeirio at hon fel treth, rydym yn glir iawn nad yw hon yn dreth. Mae'n bendant yn isafbris uned. Mae'r dystiolaeth yn awgrymu na fyddai trethi uwch yn unig mor effeithiol ag isafbris uned. Mewn gwirionedd, byddai'n rhaid ichi ostwng trethi'n fawr i sicrhau'r un math o fanteision i iechyd a'r GIG ag y byddem yn disgwyl eu gweld o isafbris uned yn unig. Dyna un o'r rhesymau pam mae'n bwysig edrych ar hyn fel isafbris uned. Mae'n ein galluogi i dargedu'r cynhyrchion alcohol rhad cryf iawn hynny yn hytrach na chymryd dull mwy cyffredinol a chodi pris pob diod alcohol hefyd. Nodyn diddorol i hyn yw bod modelu 2014 yn awgrymu bod y rhai sy'n yfed llawer yn prynu mwy o'u halcohol o dan isafbris uned 50c ar hyn o bryd. Mae'r rhain yn bobl ar bob lefel incwm. Mae yfwyr risg uchel mewn tlodi yn prynu 42 y cant o'u halcohol o dan y 50c yr uned, o'i gymharu â 21 y cant ar gyfer yfwyr cymedrol mewn tlodi. Mae yfwyr risg uchel nad ydynt mewn tlodi yn prynu 28 y cant o unedau o dan 50c, o'i gymharu â 14 y cant o yfwyr cymedrol nad ydynt mewn tlodi. Felly, byddai'r isafbris uned yn newid pris oddeutu un rhan o bump o'r alcohol a brynir gan yfwyr cymedrol mewn tlodi, tra byddai cynnydd mewn treth yn effeithio ar bris yr holl ddiodydd a brynir gan bobl sy'n byw mewn cartrefi incwm is.