English: The children's commissioner's annual report notes that groups of children currently face inequality due to a variety of factors, but it's on the effect of poverty that I'd like to focus. I welcome this report, and I really urge the Welsh Government to consider its recommendations with the sense of urgency that is suggested, particularly in regard to the expansion of eligibility for free school meals. Given Westminster's cruel decision to cut universal credit last week by £20, and the lack of interest, it seems, in truly addressing fuel poverty, we know Welsh children will be suffering this winter through absolutely no fault of their own. The Welsh Government has a duty to govern in the interests of the people of Wales, and so a failure to protect the poorest and most vulnerable from Tory austerity would be a gross abdication of this basic responsibility. There's also a need for Welsh Government to implement the principles it claims to represent - the principle of universality, for example, which was crucial to the establishment of the NHS and the welfare state, needs to be adopted if we are to end child poverty and the disadvantages it causes, which are outlined by this report. On the issue of tackling child poverty, the report states that the commissioner had recommended that the Government publish a delivery plan, but the Government had rejected this. The report notes that the Government had undertaken their own child poverty internal review and found that not everyone was accessing their full entitlements. There is low awareness of entitlements, exacerbated by literacy and language barriers, and the programmes restricted by postcode/area exclude some people in need. Introducing universal policies such as free school meals for all children in state schools would go a long way in tackling these issues. The example given in the report of a family who went without any payments for free school meals during lockdown for six months due to a local authority cross-boundary issue and changes to local authority policy clearly shows why implementing a universal free-school-meal system would ensure no Welsh families would find themselves in need in this way. So, the question must be asked why the Welsh Government thus far has not done so, given it's supposed commitment to socialist principles, the widespread calls by anti-poverty and children's rights campaigners to do so, and the large and international body of evidence that points to the transformational effect of universal free school meals. There can be no doubt that the Government needs to take urgent action on child poverty. More of the same won't cut it. Bold action is needed if we are to end this moral stain on our society. The recommendation of the children's commissioner report that free-school-meals eligibility should be urgently addressed couldn't be clearer. As the winter approaches and the pressures on Welsh families with children are highlighted in report after report, and in this Chamber time and time again, the Government needs to set a statutory target to cut child poverty and act without delay to extend the eligibility of free school meals, and this has to happen now, as Welsh families with children face a hard and difficult winter, their living costs rising as their income is being so cruelly cut. Can the Minister give us her assurance that the Welsh Government will finally act on this? Diolch.
Welsh: Mae adroddiad blynyddol y comisiynydd plant yn nodi bod grwpiau o blant yn wynebu anghydraddoldeb ar hyn o bryd oherwydd amrywiaeth o ffactorau, ond hoffwn ganolbwyntio ar effaith tlodi. Rwy'n croesawu yr adroddiad hwn, ac anogaf Lywodraeth Cymru i ystyried ei hargymhellion gyda'r ymdeimlad o frys a awgrymir, yn enwedig o ran ehangu cymhwysedd ar gyfer prydau ysgol am ddim. O ystyried penderfyniad creulon San Steffan i dorri credyd cynhwysol yr wythnos diwethaf gan £20, a'r diffyg diddordeb, mae'n ymddangos, wrth fynd i'r afael â thlodi tanwydd mewn gwirionedd, rydym yn gwybod y bydd plant Cymru yn dioddef y gaeaf hwn heb unrhyw fai arnyn nhw eu hunain. Mae gan Lywodraeth Cymru ddyletswydd i lywodraethu er budd pobl Cymru, ac felly byddai methu ag amddiffyn y tlotaf a'r mwyaf agored i niwed rhag cyni y Torïaid yn ymwrthod yn llwyr â'r cyfrifoldeb sylfaenol hwn. Mae angen hefyd i Lywodraeth Cymru weithredu'r egwyddorion y mae'n honni ei bod yn eu cynrychioli - mae angen mabwysiadu'r egwyddor o gyffredinolrwydd, er enghraifft, a oedd yn hanfodol i sefydlu'r GIG a'r wladwriaeth les, os ydym ni am roi terfyn ar dlodi plant a'r anfanteision y mae'n eu hachosi, a amlinellir gan yr adroddiad hwn. O ran mynd i'r afael â thlodi plant, dywed yr adroddiad fod y comisiynydd wedi argymell bod y Llywodraeth yn cyhoeddi cynllun cyflawni, ond bod y Llywodraeth wedi gwrthod hyn. Mae'r adroddiad yn nodi bod y Llywodraeth wedi cynnal eu hadolygiad mewnol eu hunain o dlodi plant a chanfu nad oedd pawb yn cael eu hawliau llawn. Mae ymwybyddiaeth isel o hawliau, a waethygir gan rwystrau llythrennedd ac iaith, ac mae'r rhaglenni sydd wedi'u cyfyngu gan god post/ardal yn eithrio rhai pobl mewn angen. Byddai cyflwyno polisïau cyffredinol fel prydau ysgol am ddim i bob plentyn yn ysgolion y wladwriaeth yn gwneud llawer i fynd i'r afael â'r materion hyn. Mae'r enghraifft a roddwyd yn yr adroddiad o deulu a aeth heb unrhyw daliadau am brydau ysgol am ddim yn ystod y cyfyngiadau symud am chwe mis oherwydd mater trawsffiniol awdurdodau lleol a newidiadau i bolisi awdurdodau lleol yn dangos yn glir pam y byddai gweithredu system prydau ysgol am ddim cyffredinol yn sicrhau na fyddai unrhyw deuluoedd o Gymru yn cael eu hunain mewn angen fel hyn. Felly, rhaid gofyn y cwestiwn pam nad yw Llywodraeth Cymru wedi gwneud hynny hyd yma, o ystyried ei hymrwymiad tybiedig i egwyddorion sosialaidd, y galwadau eang gan ymgyrchwyr gwrth-dlodi a hawliau plant i wneud hynny, a'r corff mawr a rhyngwladol o dystiolaeth sy'n cyfeirio at effaith drawsnewidiol prydau ysgol am ddim i bawb. Nid oes amheuaeth bod angen i'r Llywodraeth gymryd camau brys ar dlodi plant. Ni fydd mwy o'r un peth yn ddigon. Mae angen gweithredu beiddgar os ydym ni am roi terfyn ar y staen foesol hon ar ein cymdeithas. Ni allai argymhelliad adroddiad y comisiynydd plant y dylid mynd i'r afael ar frys â chymhwysedd prydau ysgol am ddim fod yn gliriach. Wrth i'r gaeaf agosáu a'r pwysau ar deuluoedd Cymru â phlant yn cael eu hamlygu mewn adroddiad ar ôl adroddiad, ac yn y Siambr hon dro ar ôl tro, mae angen i'r Llywodraeth osod targed statudol i leihau tlodi plant a gweithredu'n ddi-oedi i ymestyn cymhwysedd prydau ysgol am ddim, ac mae'n rhaid i hyn ddigwydd yn awr, wrth i deuluoedd Cymru sydd â phlant wynebu gaeaf caled ac anodd, mae eu costau byw yn codi wrth i'w hincwm gael ei dorri mor greulon. A all y Gweinidog roi sicrwydd i ni y bydd Llywodraeth Cymru yn gweithredu ar hyn o'r diwedd? Diolch.