English: I'm speaking this afternoon in my capacity as Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee. As a committee, we are all very much aware of the significant financial difficulties facing the Ministers setting this year's budget. We know that children and other vulnerable groups of people are disproportionately impacted by the cost-of-living crisis. An estimated 31 per cent of children in Wales are living in relative poverty. In a survey of 7,873 children and young people last November, the children's commissioner found that 45 per cent of children aged seven to 11, and 26 per cent of young people aged 12 to 18, said they worry about having enough to eat. This is the stark reality of how poverty affects children, and the backdrop against which the Welsh Government sets its 2023-24 draft budget. It demonstrates why it's so important for the Welsh Government to give children and young people their fair share of resources. At the heart of the Children, Young People and Education Committee's scrutiny of the Welsh Government's draft budget is this key question: has the Welsh Government allocated enough resources to children and young people? Unfortunately, we do not know for sure. Once again, the Welsh Government did not publish a children's rights impact assessment of its draft budget. Our committee is clear in our recommendation on this: the Welsh Government must comply with its duty to have due regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child when setting its draft budget. We asked for a lot of information in preparation for our scrutiny, and we are grateful for the co-operation of Ministers and officials on this. Sadly, not all of the written evidence we receive to support our scrutiny was clear, and we look forward to the Finance Committee's forthcoming consultation. Despite those challenges in seeing what's spent on children, we have made a series of recommendations to the Welsh Government this year, some of which aim to mitigate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on children and young people across Wales. The school holidays free school meals programme, which is due to end after the February half term, should be extended. Children in Wales should not have to worry about having enough to eat. The school meals programme is an effective way to mitigate the impact of food poverty on our most vulnerable. We welcome the Welsh Government's decision to extend the scheme thus far and urge it to do so again. A number of Members have already mentioned the education maintenance allowance, and we believe that the time has come for the education maintenance allowance to be properly reviewed. In its response to our draft budget report last year, the Welsh Government told us that it hasn't reviewed the EMA in part because a 2014 review suggested that it was 'an essential source of financial support for only the minority of students.' That review is almost now a decade old. An awful lot has changed since then. Meanwhile, since neither the EMA eligibility threshold nor the support rate have been revised since 2011-12, the EMA is of less real-terms value to fewer students every year. These recommendations, alongside others, feed into the final recommendation of our report. This year, we join the children's commissioner, Audit Wales and many others in calling for the Welsh Government to produce a child poverty action plan with clear, costed, deliverable, measurable and time-bound actions. We understand that the main levers for alleviating child poverty lie with the UK Government. But that does not negate the need for the Welsh Government to set out clearly how it will use the levers that are in its gift, and the money that it does have, to reduce child poverty here in Wales. And I know that we are not the only ones who will be paying close attention to the Welsh Government's response to that recommendation, in particular. And finally, I would like to thank my fellow Senedd committee Chairs and committee members for their support and collaboration this year. It is so important for the Senedd to be as holistic as possible in its scrutiny of the Welsh Government's draft budget. As well as drawing on the expertise and excellent engagement work of the Finance Committee, I know that some committee reports this year - including ours - have joint recommendations with other committees that have shared areas of interest. I hope very much that we continue to build on this collaborative approach to scrutiny in future years. Diolch yn fawr.
Welsh: Rwy'n siarad y prynhawn yma yn rhinwedd fy swydd fel Cadeirydd y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg. Fel pwyllgor, rydyn ni i gyd yn ymwybodol iawn o'r anawsterau ariannol sylweddol sy'n wynebu'r Gweinidogion wrth osod y gyllideb eleni. Rydyn ni'n gwybod bod yr argyfwng costau byw yn effeithio'n anghymesur ar blant a grwpiau eraill o bobl agored i niwed. Mae tua 31 y cant o blant Cymru'n byw mewn tlodi cymharol. Mewn arolwg o 7,873 o blant a phobl ifanc fis Tachwedd diwethaf, gwnaeth y comisiynydd plant ddarganfod fod 45 y cant o blant rhwng saith ac 11 oed, a 26 y cant o bobl ifanc rhwng 12 ac 18 oed, yn dweud eu bod yn poeni am gael digon i'w fwyta. Dyma'r gwir plaen o sut mae tlodi'n effeithio ar blant, a'r cefndir y mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn gosod ei chyllideb ddrafft ar gyfer 2023-24 yn ei erbyn. Mae'n dangos pam mae hi mor bwysig i Lywodraeth Cymru roi cyfran deg o adnoddau i blant a phobl ifanc. Wrth wraidd craffu'r Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg ar gyllideb ddrafft Llywodraeth Cymru y mae'r cwestiwn allweddol hwn: a yw Llywodraeth Cymru wedi clustnodi digon o adnoddau i blant a phobl ifanc? Yn anffodus, nid ydyn ni'n gwybod yn sicr. Unwaith eto, ni wnaeth Llywodraeth Cymru gyhoeddi asesiad effaith ar hawliau plant o'i chyllideb ddrafft. Mae ein pwyllgor ni'n glir yn ein hargymhelliad ar hyn: mae'n rhaid i Lywodraeth Cymru gydymffurfio â'i dyletswydd i roi sylw dyladwy i Gonfensiwn y Cenhedloedd Unedig ar Hawliau'r Plentyn wrth bennu ei chyllideb ddrafft. Gwnaethon ni ofyn am lawer o wybodaeth wrth baratoi ar gyfer ein gwaith craffu, ac rydyn ni'n ddiolchgar am gydweithrediad Gweinidogion a swyddogion ar hyn. Yn anffodus, nid oedd yr holl dystiolaeth ysgrifenedig y gwnaethon ni ei chael i gefnogi ein craffu'n glir, ac edrychwn ni ymlaen at ymgynghoriad y Pwyllgor Cyllid sydd i ddod. Er gwaethaf yr heriau hynny o ran gweld yr hyn sy'n cael ei wario ar blant, rydyn ni wedi gwneud cyfres o argymhellion i Lywodraeth Cymru eleni, a rhai ohonyn nhw'n â'r nod o liniaru effaith yr argyfwng costau byw ar blant a phobl ifanc ledled Cymru. Dylai'r rhaglen prydau ysgol am ddim i blant, sydd i fod i ddod i ben ar ôl hanner tymor mis Chwefror, gael ei hymestyn. Ni ddylai plant yng Nghymru orfod poeni am fod â digon i'w fwyta. Mae'r rhaglen prydau ysgol yn ffordd effeithiol o liniaru effaith tlodi bwyd ar ein hunigolion mwyaf agored i niwed. Rydyn ni'n croesawu penderfyniad Llywodraeth Cymru i ymestyn y cynllun hyd yma ac yn ei hannog i wneud hynny eto. Mae nifer o Aelodau eisoes wedi sôn am y lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg, ac rydyn ni'n credu bod yr amser wedi dod i'r lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg gael ei adolygu'n briodol. Yn ei hymateb i'n hadroddiad cyllideb ddrafft y llynedd, dywedodd Llywodraeth Cymru wrthym nad yw wedi adolygu'r lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg yn rhannol oherwydd bod adolygiad yn 2014 yn awgrymu 'mai dim ond i leiafrif o fyfyrwyr yr oedd yr LCA yn ffynhonnell hanfodol o gymorth ariannol.' Mae'r adolygiad hwnnw bron yn ddegawd oed erbyn hyn. Mae llawer iawn wedi newid ers hynny. Yn y cyfamser, gan nad yw trothwy cymhwysedd y lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg na'r gyfradd gymorth wedi'u diwygio ers 2011-12, mae'r lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg gwerth llai mewn termau real i lai o fyfyrwyr bob blwyddyn. Mae'r argymhellion hyn, ochr yn ochr ag eraill, yn cyfrannu at argymhelliad terfynol ein hadroddiad. Eleni, rydyn ni'n ymuno â'r comisiynydd plant, Archwilio Cymru a llawer o rai eraill wrth alw ar Lywodraeth Cymru i lunio cynllun gweithredu ar dlodi plant gyda chamau clir, wedi'u costio, y mae modd eu cyflawni, eu mesur ac sydd yn gyfyngedig o ran amser. Rydyn ni'n deall bod y prif ysgogiadau ar gyfer lliniaru tlodi plant yn nwylo Llywodraeth y DU. Ond nid yw hynny'n nacáu'r angen i Lywodraeth Cymru nodi'n glir sut y bydd yn defnyddio'r ysgogiadau sydd ganddi, a'r arian sydd ganddi, i leihau tlodi plant yma yng Nghymru. Ac rwy'n gwybod nad ni yw'r unig rai fydd yn rhoi sylw manwl i ymateb Llywodraeth Cymru i'r argymhelliad hwnnw, yn benodol. Ac yn olaf, hoffwn i ddiolch i fy nghyd-Gadeiryddion pwyllgorau yn y Senedd ac i aelodau'r pwyllgor am eu cefnogaeth a'u cydweithrediad eleni. Mae hi mor bwysig bod y Senedd mor gyfannol â phosibl wrth graffu ar gyllideb ddrafft Llywodraeth Cymru. Yn ogystal â defnyddio arbenigedd a gwaith ymgysylltu rhagorol y Pwyllgor Cyllid, rwy'n gwybod bod gan rai adroddiadau pwyllgor eleni - gan gynnwys ein rhai ni - argymhellion ar y cyd â phwyllgorau eraill sydd wedi rhannu meysydd o ddiddordeb. Rwy'n gobeithio'n fawr ein bod ni'n parhau i adeiladu ar y dull cydweithredol hwn o graffu mewn blynyddoedd i ddod. Diolch yn fawr.