Making the economy work for people on low incomes / Gwneud i’r economi weithio i’r rheini sydd ag incwm isel

Making the economy work for people on low incomes

Response to the Equalities, Local Government and Communities Committee Poverty Inquiries - Making the economy work for people on low incomes

Citizens Advice Cymru welcomes the opportunity to provide written evidence

to the Equalities, Local Government and Communities Committee to help inform its latest poverty inquiry looking at ‘Making the economy work for people on low incomes [ 140 kb]’.

Citizens Advice contributes to the vitality of local economies by:

• training 2,800 new volunteer advisers each year across England and Wales, plus many hundreds more volunteers to take on a variety of other roles. Every year, 30% of the volunteers that leave us do so for employment, further education or other training opportunities

• tackling the barriers to paid work such as homelessness, unmanaged debt and relationship problems through our advice work. This is based on individual need rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, providing people with the different and appropriate types of support they need at various times in their life

• providing unrivalled insight into local economies gained through the evidence we gather from our advice work, which helps us to build an understanding of the barriers to work, as well as the difficulties many people face when unemployed or struggling to survive on a low income.

Gwneud i’r economi weithio i’rrheini sydd ag incwm isel

Mae Cyngor at Bopeth Cymru yn croesawu’r cyfle i ddarparu tystiolaeth ysgrifenedig i’r Pwyllgor Cydraddoldeb, Llywodraeth Leol a Chymunedau i helpu i lywio ei ymchwiliad diweddaraf i dlodi – ‘Gwneud i’r economi weithio i’r rheini sydd ag incwm isel’.

Mae Cyngor ar Bopeth yn cyfrannu at fywiogrwydd economïau lleol drwy:

• hyfforddi 2,800 o gynghorwyr gwirfoddol newydd bob blwyddyn ledled Cymru a Lloegr, ynghyd â channoedd yn fwy o wirfoddolwyr i ysgwyddo rolau amrywiol eraill. Bob blwyddyn, mae 30% o’r gwirfoddolwyr sy’n ein gadael yn ein gadael am waith cyflogedig, addysg bellach neu gyfleoedd hyfforddiant eraill

• mynd i’r afael â’r rhwystrau i waith cyflogedig fel digartrefedd, dyled heb ei rheoli a phroblemau perthynas drwy ein gwaith cynghori. Mae hyn yn seiliedig ar anghenion unigol yn hytrach na dull un ateb sy’n addas i bawb, gan ddarparu’r mathau gwahanol a phriodol o gymorth sydd eu hangen ar bobl ar wahanol adegau yn ystod eu hoes

• rhoi cipolwg heb ei ail ar economïau lleol drwy dystiolaeth a gesglir o’n gwaith cynghori, sy’n ein helpu i feithrin dealltwriaeth o’r rhwystrau i waith ynghyd â’r anawsterau y mae llawer o bobl yn eu hwynebu pan yn ddi-waith neu’n cael trafferth cael dau ben llinyn ynghyd ar incwm isel.