Lywydd, dwi'n cyflwyno'r cynnig gerbron y Senedd y prynhawn yma, ac mae'r ddadl hon yn ymwneud ag un egwyddor syml: sicrhau bod gan Gymru'r cyllid, yr hyblygrwydd cyllidol a'r buddsoddiad sydd eu hangen i ddelifro ar gyfer cymunedau ledled y wlad, i bob postcode. Rwy'n falch bod y cynnig hwn wedi'i gyflwyno ar y cyd â Llafur Cymru, sy'n adlewyrchu ymrwymiad cyffredin i sicrhau setliad cyllido teg i Gymru ac yn adeiladu ar waith y Llywodraeth flaenorol yn y maes hwn. Mae'r materion hyn yn effeithio ar gymunedau ledled Cymru, ac rwy'n gobeithio gall fod consensws eang ar draws y Senedd y prynhawn yma ar bwysigrwydd y materion yma.
Official English translation
Llywydd, I move the motion before the Senedd this afternoon, and this debate is about one simple principle: ensuring that Wales has the funding, the fiscal flexibility and the investment required to deliver for communities across the country, for every postcode. I am pleased that this motion has been jointly tabled with Welsh Labour, which reflects a shared commitment to securing a fair funding settlement for Wales and builds on the work of the previous Government in this area. These issues affect communities across Wales, and I hope that there can be broad consensus across the Senedd this afternoon on the importance of these issues.
Mae'r cynnig yn galw ar Lywodraethau Cymru a'r Deyrnas Gyfunol i weithio gyda'n gilydd mewn tri maes allweddol: i wella hyblygrwydd cyllidol Cymru, i adolygu gweithrediad fformiwla Barnett ac i ailddatgan cefnogaeth i ymrwymiad Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Gyfunol i fuddsoddi £14 biliwn mewn seilwaith rheilffyrdd ledled Cymru. Mae'r rhain yn gamau ymarferol, cyraeddadwy a all helpu i gryfhau ein heconomi, cefnogi gwasanaethau cyhoeddus a gwella bywydau pobl. Nid ydynt yn geisiadau am driniaeth arbennig. Maent yn geisiadau am ddull cydweithredol a fydd yn arwain at ganlyniadau gwell i Gymru.
Hyblygrwydd cyllidol, felly. Mae'r Prif Weinidog wedi bod yn glir bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn wynebu rhagolygon ariannol eithriadol o heriol, gyda disgwyl i gyllideb y flwyddyn nesaf fod yn is mewn termau real nag eleni. Tra bo'r galw ar ein gwasanaethau cyhoeddus, ein seilwaith a'n heconomi yn parhau i gynyddu, nid yw'r cyllid sydd ar gael inni yn cadw cam â hyn. Mae'r rhagolygon cyfredol yn dangos gostyngiad termau real yn ein cyllideb adnodd o 0.7 y cant yn ystod 2027-28, tra bod disgwyl i'r gyllideb gyfalaf fod tua 9 y cant yn is mewn termau real erbyn diwedd cyfnod yr adolygiad gwariant yn 2030.
Gallai'r her hon ddod yn fwy fyth unwaith y bydd goblygiadau cyhoeddiadau diweddar Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Gyfunol ar wariant amddiffyn yn gliriach i ni. Yn yr amgylchiadau hyn, mae'n bwysicach nag erioed bod gan Gymru gyllid teg, y pwerau cyllidol a'r hyblygrwydd sydd eu hangen i gwrdd â heriau, buddsoddi yn ein blaenoriaethau a chyflawni ar gyfer cymunedau. Mae sicrhau bod gan Gymru'r offer i reoli ei chyllid ei hun yn effeithiol yn hanfodol er mwyn i benderfyniadau am Gymru adlewyrchu anghenion a blaenoriaethau Cymru.
Gall cyhoeddiadau yn ystod y flwyddyn gan Lywodraeth y Deyrnas Gyfunol, newidiadau i broffiliau gwariant ac amgylchiadau economaidd annisgwyl oll gael effaith sylweddol ar ein gwaith o gynllunio'r gyllideb. Ond o dan y trefniadau presennol, dim ond mynediad cyfyngedig i'n cronfa wrth gefn sydd gan Lywodraeth Cymru a hyblygrwydd cyllidol mwy cyfyngedig na rhannau eraill o'r Deyrnas Gyfunol. Bu'n rhaid i Lywodraeth Cymru ofyn am hepgoriadau dros dro i gyfyngiadau'r cronfa wrth gefn mewn tair o'r pedair blynedd ddiwethaf. Nid yw hynny'n ffordd effeithiol o reoli cyllid cyhoeddus. Ni ddylem orfod gofyn i Lywodraeth y Deyrnas Gyfunol bob blwyddyn am yr hyblygrwydd sydd eisoes ar gael mewn rhannau eraill o'r Deyrnas Unedig. Felly, rwy'n ceisio rhoi'r trefniadau dros dro hyn, y bu'n rhaid dibynnu arnynt dro ar ôl tro, ar sail barhaol, gan ddarparu mwy o sicrwydd a chefnogi gwaith effeithiol o gynllunio'r gyllideb.
Mae dileu'r cyfyngiadau ar gronfa wrth gefn Cymru yn gam cyntaf ymarferol. Byddai hynny'n caniatáu i Gymru wneud gwell defnydd o adnoddau sydd eisoes yn perthyn i Gymru ac yn dod â'n trefniadau yn nes at y rhai sydd ar gael yn yr Alban. Heb fynediad llawn at gronfa wrth gefn, dim ond £200 miliwn y byddaf i'n gallu ei thynnu i lawr, sef ymhell o dan 1 y cant o gyllideb Cymru, er mwyn helpu i ymdrin â phwysau y gwyddom amdanynt eisoes a phwysau sy'n dod i'r amlwg. Mae hyn yn cynnwys effeithiau cyhoeddiadau ariannu Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Gyfunol o fewn blwyddyn, megis y toriadau disgwyliedig i'n setliad cyfalaf o ganlyniad i gynnydd mewn gwariant ar amddiffyn.
Wrth gwrs, mae'r materion yn ymestyn y tu hwnt i weithrediad cronfa wrth gefn Cymru yn unig. Mae'r achos dros fwy o hyblygrwydd yn tynnu sylw at gwestiwn ehangach ynghylch a yw trefniadau cyllidol Cymru yn parhau i fod yn addas. Dyna pam yr wyf yn cynnig adolygiad o fframwaith cyllidol Cymru. Mae degawd wedi mynd heibio ers i'r fframwaith cyllidol gael ei gytuno yn 2016. Mae Cymru wedi newid. Mae'r amgylchedd economaidd wedi newid. Mae'r dirwedd gyfansoddiadol wedi newid. Mae'n rhesymol gofyn a yw'r trefniadau presennol yn parhau i fod yn addas i'r diben ac a ydynt yn rhoi'r gwytnwch a'r hyblygrwydd sydd eu hangen i Gymru i gwrdd â heriau yn y dyfodol.
Fel rhan o'r adolygiad, byddaf eisiau mynd i'r afael ag amrywiaeth o faterion, gan gynnwys gweithrediad a hyblygrwydd cronfa wrth gefn Cymru a digonolrwydd pwerau benthyca Cymru—a chofiwch fod gan awdurdodau lleol fwy o hyblygrwydd cyllidol nag sydd gan Lywodraeth Cymru. Hefyd mae angen edrych ar effeithiolrwydd y trefniadau cyllido presennol o ran adlewyrchu angen cymharol a'r achos dros ddatganoli treth pellach. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn bwriadu ceisio datganoli pwerau pellach dros dreth incwm, ynghyd â datganoli'r doll teithwyr awyr. Byddwn hefyd yn ceisio cymhwysedd deddfwriaethol ar wahân ar gyfer treth newydd ar dir gwag.
Mae'r materion hyn yn mynd y tu hwnt i'r cynnig sydd gerbron y Senedd heddiw, ond gallaf roi'r ymrwymiad hwn ichi heddiw: ni fyddaf yn cytuno, fel Gweinidog cyllid, i fframwaith cyllidol diwygiedig oni bai ei fod yn gynnig da i Gymru, a bydd barn y Senedd yma ar hynny yn ystyriaeth bwysig wrth i’r adolygiad fynd yn ei flaen.
Official English translation
The motion calls on the Welsh and UK Governments to work together in three key areas: enhancing Wales's fiscal flexibilities, to review the operation of the Barnett formula and to reaffirm support for the UK Government's commitment to invest £14 billion in rail infrastructure across Wales. These are practical, achievable steps that can help to strengthen our economy, support public services and improve people's lives. They are not asks for special treatment. They are asks for a collaborative approach to lead to better outcomes for Wales.
Fiscal flexibilities, therefore. The First Minister has been clear that the Welsh Government faces an exceptionally challenging financial outlook, with next year's budget expected to be lower in real terms than this year's. While demands on our public services, our infrastructure and economy continue to grow, the funding available to us is not keeping pace. Current forecasts point to a real-terms reduction in our resource budget of 0.7 per cent in 2027-28, while our capital budget is expected to be around 9 per cent lower in real terms by the end of the spending review period in 2030.
That challenge may become even greater once the implications of recent announcements by the UK Government on defence spending become clearer. In these circumstances, it's more important than ever that Wales has fair funding and the fiscal powers and flexibility needed to meet emerging challenges, invest in our priorities and deliver for communities across Wales. Ensuring that Wales has the tools to manage its own finances effectively is essential if decisions about Wales are to reflect Wales's needs and priorities.
In-year announcements from the UK Government, changing spending profiles and unforeseen economic circumstances can all have substantial impacts on our budget planning. But under current arrangements, the Welsh Government only has limited access to its own reserve and more restricted fiscal flexibilities than other parts of the UK. The Welsh Government has had to seek temporary waivers to Wales reserve restrictions in three of the last four years. That is not an effective way to manage public finances. We should not have to ask the UK Government each year for flexibilities that are already available elsewhere in the UK. I'm therefore seeking to place these temporary arrangements, which we have had to rely on repeatedly, on a permanent footing, providing greater certainty and supporting effective budget planning.
Removing restrictions on the Wales reserve is a practical first step. It would allow Wales to make better use of resources that already belong to Wales and bring our arrangements closer to those available in Scotland. Without full access to the Wales reserve, I will only be able to draw down £200 million, which is well under 1 per cent of the Wales budget, to assist with known and emerging pressures. This includes the impacts of funding announcements by the UK Government in year, such as the expected cuts in our capital settlement because of increased defence spending.
Of course, these issues extend beyond the operation of the Wales reserve alone. The case for greater flexibility highlights a broader question about whether Wales's fiscal arrangements remain fit for purpose. That's why I have proposed a review of the Wales fiscal framework. A decade has passed since the fiscal framework was agreed in 2016. Wales has changed. The economic environment has changed. The constitutional landscape has changed. It's reasonable to ask whether the current arrangements remain fit for purpose and whether they provide Wales with the resilience and flexibility required to meet future challenges.
As part of that review, I will be looking to address a variety of issues, including the operation and flexibility of the Wales reserve and the adequacy of Wales's borrowing powers—and remember that local authorities have greater flexibilities than the Welsh Government has. We also need to look at the effectiveness of current funding arrangements in reflecting relative need and the case for further tax devolution. The Welsh Government plans to seek further income tax devolution and the devolution of air passenger duty. We will also be separately seeking competence for a new vacant land tax.
These issues go beyond the motion before the Senedd today, but I can also give you this commitment today: I will not agree, as finance Minister, a revised fiscal framework unless it is a good deal for Wales, and the opinion of the Senedd on this will be an important consideration as the review proceeds.
I want to be clear: recent UK Government funding settlements have provided additional resources for Wales, and we recognise that. Next year’s settlement, however, is negative in real terms. However, any increased funding does not automatically mean fair funding, nor does it necessarily provide sufficient resources to meet growing demands or address where there has been historical underinvestment by the UK Government.
The pressures facing public services remain significant. The NHS continues to face increasing demand, local authorities and other public services continue to face substantial financial pressures, while persistent inflation continues to erode the real-terms value of public spending. These pressures reinforce the need to consider whether current funding arrangements adequately reflect Wales's needs.
My priority is to improve the operation of the Barnett formula while also exploring, over the medium term, whether a more needs-based approach could better support communities across Wales. All systems can be improved. I do not underestimate the challenge. The Treasury's instinct will often be to resist changes to established funding arrangements or the transfer of additional fiscal powers. However, we must move beyond viewing these issues as a zero-sum game, and we must believe that the spirit of the new Prime Minister to support more devolution from Whitehall will reach even the darkest corners of the UK Treasury in the coming weeks and months.
I also realise that there will be a variety of views across this Chamber on the need for reforming or replacing the Barnett formula. In the interest of building consensus, that is why this motion concentrates only on its operation. This is about ensuring that the system commands confidence, operates transparently and enables funding decisions to be clearly understood by governments and citizens alike.
As an illustration, we have limited visibility over how comparability percentages are determined and how changes at fiscal events are assessed by the Treasury. These decisions directly affect our funding. There should be a structured and timely process through which we can challenge or seek clarification.
We have already secured an action through the Finance: Interministerial Standing Committee to make practical improvements to the operation of the Barnett formula, increase transparency around funding decisions and remove constraints that limit our ability to invest in and improve Welsh public services. This work was started in the interministerial group by my predecessor, and new Ministers in our meeting in September agreed that this work must deliver tangible progress before we meet again in the new year.
Finally for this opening introduction, Llywydd, the third part of the motion. For decades, Wales has experienced significant underinvestment in rail infrastructure. That is why we welcomed the UK Government's recommitment to invest £14 billion in Welsh rail infrastructure through the joint UK-Wales rail board vision, ‘Today, Tomorrow, Together’. I would also like to acknowledge the amount of work undertaken by the previous Welsh Government in its development.
However, commitments alone do not improve connectivity. What matters now is delivery. At present, only £302 million has been allocated for the enhancement of non-devolved rail infrastructure in Wales during the current spending review period. That represents little more than 1 per cent of Network Rail spending in England and Wales over the same period.
The consequences of this long-term underinvestment extend beyond the rail network itself. Insufficient rail capacity and connectivity have limited travel choices for many communities, contributing to greater reliance on road transport, increased congestion on key routes such as the M4, as we heard earlier this afternoon, and higher transport-related emissions. Strengthening rail infrastructure is, therefore, not simply about improving train services; it is about creating a more resilient, sustainable and integrated transport network for Wales as a whole.
Delivering the £14 billion commitment is an important step towards addressing decades of underinvestment in Wales's rail infrastructure and the legitimate concerns felt across Wales that we did not benefit from HS2 consequentials, despite the scale of rail investment elsewhere in the UK. Not receiving a consequential for HS2 has meant that we have not been able to choose to use that additional funding that would have come into our budget to invest in our own priorities for rail, roads or wider transport infrastructure.
We now need agreement on a delivery programme and a clear timeline for the £14 billion rail investment commitment. The UK Government must substantially increase current levels of investment to deliver the Burns and other stations, including in north Wales, that were committed to at the UK spending review in 2025. Doing so would improve connectivity, support economic growth and enable the development of future projects for the next spending review period, while beginning to address the historic underfunding of rail in Wales. We therefore want to see an additional £1 billion of the £14 billion commitment invested during the current spending review period, up to 2029-30.
Better connectivity links people to jobs, businesses to markets and communities to opportunities. Every part of Wales deserves the benefits that modern transport infrastructure can bring. If we can build consensus on what Wales needs, we'll be in a stronger position to secure the investment, powers and funding arrangements necessary to ensure that Wales's interests and needs are fully reflected in the UK autumn budget and future UK Government decisions.
I look forward, this afternoon, to hearing the views of Members across the Chamber. I hope that there will be clarity on what unites us on fiscal reform. We will always be stronger in making our case for Wales when we speak with one voice. Diolch yn fawr.
Diolch, Lywydd. To Reform, and to Cai Parry-Jones, may I start by saying that this Senedd most definitely should be discussing how we are funded? You tabled a debate last week on blankets of the past. I tabled one this week on the financing of Wales. Reform, you may be counting views and shares on social media. I'm counting the money made available and used in Wales. So, this motion is clear: it supports flexible access to reserves to enable better financial planning and control by Government, and that will definitely benefit the people of Wales.
Secondly, it supports better operation and transparency on the decisions that finance Wales via Barnett. These decisions should not be hidden behind a Treasury curtain. And it calls for rail investment in Wales to finally be realised, and those Burns stations, so often mentioned in this Senedd, to be built.
Felly, diolch i Lafur am gyd-gyflwyno’r cynnig a'r galwadau yma, a hefyd, yn y cyfraniad, am amlinellu'r ymrwymiad sydd gyda chi i ddiwygiad pellach ar gyllido Cymru. Fe amlinellodd Sera Evans hefyd yr angen am hyblygrwydd i'r mynediad yna ar gyfer ein cronfeydd wrth gefn ni, sydd mor bwysig i ni.
Official English translation
So, I'd like to thank Labour for jointly tabling the motion and also for their contribution outlining the commitment that you have to further reform of the fiscal framework in Wales. Sera Evans also outlined the need for flexibility in that access to our reserves, which is so important to us.
Paul Marr, we share the same constituents, and I can tell you that they are interested in Wales getting its fair share of funding, and especially on rail investment in Pembrokeshire and into Aberystwyth. That's not ideology; that's better rail services.
This motion today is not about the fiscal review; it's about the operation of Barnett. It is different to the call—. It was seeking to create a consensus, a commonsense consensus, across this Chamber that you've decided that you don't sign up to.
It was good to hear the commonsense approach by the Conservatives, speaking of appropriate powers for appropriate use, and that's what good politics means. [Interruption.] Look at the detail of what's in front of you. Others have suggested and said quite clearly that we need to not lay on our laurels and remain just on what this motion today is seeking to create for the Senedd, but to be bolder—Jane Dodds's words; Carrie Harper also made that call.
I would say also, Mike Hedges, I will use that line when I next speak to the UK Treasury, when you reminded us all that school governing bodies and local authorities have more fiscal powers and borrowing powers than this Senedd itself has, on access to reserves in particular. You said the UK Treasury should not be micromanaging the finances of Wales, and that's a very important thing for us to get them to understand.
So, we've created a consensus here today. It doesn't include Reform. I won't lose any sleep over that. But if I can finish by just saying that these proposals in this motion are rooted in partnership, fairness and a shared cross-party ambition to improve outcomes for the people of Wales. And if that wasn't worth an hour of this Senedd's time, then I don't know what could be.
There are lessons for Government and political parties from the supplementary budget vote. In a Senedd with no overall majority, co-operation and responsible decision making are essential as we look forward to future budgets. The Government wants to engage constructively across the Senedd to ensure that budgets are a blend, as I see it, of three component parts: funding for the delivery of effective public services, funding for priorities brought into Government by Plaid Cymru, and funding for other priorities from other political parties.
In order to produce a blended budget that can command a Senedd majority, my only plea across the Chamber is that we have a common understanding also of the financial envelope available to us. We are facing the most challenging budget settlement of this decade in 2027-28, with a real-terms reduction of around 0.7 per cent in resource funding, and even greater reductions in capital budgets. The financial envelope for next year's budget is especially tight, and will require a particular discipline for this Government and for all of us who want to play a constructive part in passing Wales's annual budget.
I'm not sure whether I will always welcome a question from Andrew R.T. Davies as Cabinet Minister for Finance, but today in particular, it was particularly useful for me to see that your question, constructed in this manner, allowed me to outline some of my thoughts on how I see the future of budget discussions. And, yes, we are keen, as the First Minister has said, to have discussions with all political parties. We are very conscious of the fact that we are a minority Government. If that supplementary budget vote was useful in anything, it was useful in reminding us, as a Government, that we need to command a majority to pass any budget in this place.
So, I look to all Members here to consider our roles in a different way perhaps to how we have considered our roles and participation in budgets of the past. In fact, the Welsh Conservatives have an advantage over all other political parties here. You're almost the continuity party in this Senedd, because you are an opposition party and you've played—[Interruption.] You're consistently an opposition party; I do not prejudge the future. But Reform is a new party in this Senedd, Labour is a party in opposition for the first time and Plaid Cymru is a party in Government, and there are new roles for all of us to play in that. But I hope that as we continue discussions over the next few weeks and months—. And those discussions are happening, and I want now to use pace and to think about how we can have those discussions across political parties and individuals in this Chamber to bring ideas into this big melting pot that is the annual budget. So, I hope that we can do that in a more meaningful way than we have done coming out of the election before the summer. And I think that's a challenge that all of us have to rise to, and me, in particular, as the finance Minister.
I take no red lines into this budgetary process, genuinely, in terms of the work that I'm doing within Government and the need, as I outlined in my initial statement, for this Government to be disciplined in how our Ministers are looking at their portfolios. A 0.7 per cent real-terms decrease in the budget is a real challenge for the Ministers in the exercise of their portfolios. So, I take no red lines into my discussions across all budget areas. But, obviously, there are manifesto commitments and ideas that this party, Plaid Cymru, brings into Government, and I am sure, as we discuss with Members and parties across the Chamber, that we can have a frank discussion about what is possible and where our common priorities lie. So, no red lines, but an open door for discussions.
Yes, I certainly agree that, in looking at budgets, we need not just to look at those spending lines as they are drafted on a spreadsheet, but we need to look properly at where our outcomes can be improved, and you've listed some of the areas where we need, as Wales, to be doing better, and, certainly, as a Government, we're committed to doing so. So, looking at outcomes, effectiveness and value for money all go hand in hand as we seek, as a new Government in place, in advance of making our own budget and putting it together, as we are looking at efficiencies within Government and outcomes of where we want to prioritise our funding. That piece of work is being undertaken as a budgetary process, but especially in light of our appointment of a Minister with exact responsibility for effectiveness and outcomes of Government action. And that lasting change, of course, that you spoke of, does require something that is more agile and meaningful than annual budgets—so, a commitment to looking to a multi-year budget, but, of course, within the spending review of the allocations to us as a Government. Looking to a multi-year budget is something that I'm looking to propose as part of our budget processes here.
I don't think we have different priorities, Mike; I think we share that priority of needing to spend more on additional learning needs. We were prepared and we voted for that in the supplementary budget. I don't think these are competing positions. We need to strike that note and work on the balances of where we can land this together. So, let's not polarise this in question No. 1 to me at the start of a budget process. Let's see if we can work together on this.
Mae cronfa buddsoddi twristiaeth Cymru, a mentrau eraill, yn buddsoddi bron i £60 miliwn yn uniongyrchol yng Nghymru. Mae llawer o fusnesau'n derbyn rhyddhad ardrethi annomestig neu byddant yn elwa o'r lluosydd is estynedig o 2027 ymlaen, fel y cyhoeddais i ddoe. Rŷn ni hefyd yn ymgynghori ar newidiadau posib i'r trothwy 182 diwrnod ar gyfer eiddo hunanarlwyo.
Official English translation
The Wales tourism investment fund, and other initiatives, invest almost £60 million directly in Wales. Many businesses receive non-domestic rates relief or they will benefit from the expanded lower multiplier from 2027 onwards, as I announced yesterday. We are also consulting on potential changes to the 182-day threshold for self-catering properties.
Wel, mae e wastad wedi bod yn rhywbeth sydd wedi bod yn bwnc trafod yn y Senedd yma, a chyda Plaid Cymru hefyd, lle mae'r pwynt yna lle mae'r cydbwysedd yn y farchnad dai yn gorwedd rhwng y stoc dai sydd ar gael i ni ar gyfer pobl i fyw ynddyn nhw, a hefyd y stoc dai sydd yna ar gyfer y sector twristiaeth a hunanarlwyo, ac mae cael y balans yna, fel nad yw un yn effeithio'n negyddol ar y llall, cael y balans yna yn gywir, yn bwysig. A dyna beth ŷn ni yn gobeithio ei gyflawni drwy ymgynghori ar hyn.
Dwi eisoes wedi trafod gyda rhai sy'n cynrychioli'r sector hunanarlwyo, sydd, yn amlwg iawn, yn credu bod y balans yn gorwedd yn is na'r 152 o ddiwrnodau yna sydd yn yr ymgynghoriad, ac rŷch chi hefyd, mae'n bosib, yn teimlo yr un fath. Dwi'n agored i gael y drafodaeth yna. Dwi'n synhwyro y bydd yr ymateb i'r ymgynghoriad yn dangos bod y sector ei hun, a'r bobl sydd yn y sector, yn meddwl bod eisiau mynd yn ddyfnach na'r hyn sydd yn yr ymgynghoriad, ond fe fydd y Llywodraeth eisiau taro'r balans cywir. Dydyn ni ddim eisiau creu bwgan arall i ni ein hunain drwy osod y trothwy yma'n rhy isel. Ond rwyf i'n awyddus ein bod ni'n cyrraedd sefyllfa lle mae'r gyfundrefn yma sydd yn effeithio ar ein sector tai ni, ond hefyd ar ein sector hunanarlwyo, ein sector twristiaeth ni, yn cyrraedd pwynt lle mae'n gallu bod yn ganlyniad parhaol wedyn i'r pwnc yma. Felly, dwi'n agored iawn i drafod gyda chi hefyd ynglŷn â sut y mae cael y canlyniad i'r ymgynghoriad yma i gyrraedd rhywle sydd yn rhywbeth sydd yn cynnal mwyafrif y gefnogaeth yn y lle yma.
Official English translation
Well, it's always been something that's been a topic of debate in this Senedd, and within Plaid Cymru too, in terms of what is that point where you're striking the balance in the housing market between the housing stock available for people to live in and also the housing stock available for the tourism and self-catering sector, and striking that balance, so that one doesn't have a negative impact on the other, getting that balance right, is important. And that is what we hope to deliver through consulting on this.
I've already had discussions with representatives of the self-catering sector, who, clearly, do believe that the balance is at a lower point than the 152 days in the consultation, and you perhaps feel the same. Now, I am open to having that discussion. I sense that the response to the consultation will demonstrate that the sector itself, and those within the sector, do believe that we need to go deeper than what's contained within the consultation, but the Government does want to strike the right balance. We don't want to create further problems for ourselves by setting this threshold too low. But I am eager that we reach a position where this system that impacts our housing sector, but also our self-catering and tourism sectors, reaches a point where it can be a permanent solution in this area. So, I'm open to discuss this with you too in terms of how we get the outcome to this consultation to reach a point that has majority support in this place.
A year-round tourism economy is something that I definitely want to see, both for the constituency that we both represent, but also for Wales generally. I think we've seen significant progress on that over the last few years, but there is more to do still on that. We have our investment priorities, and looking at how we can attract tourists for an extended period of the year is part of the criteria in how we invest in that. Also, we need to make sure that the business rates system that we have, and other taxation aspects, are also ensuring that those businesses that support the hospitality sector are able to be all year round. There's no point having businesses that are only open for a particular part of the year. We need businesses that are open all year long, so that they can provide the opportunity for tourists to benefit, but also, what benefits tourists also benefits the communities they serve. So, I'm particularly hopeful that the positive sign that the Government was able to give yesterday for such a wide array of businesses that do support the tourism sector, of a 30 per cent reduction in business rates from next April, is a positive sign for the tourism sector generally that this Government backs it.
There are two aspects to this; I've spoken, actually, twice on the politics show on both of them. One was the in-year challenges that the Welsh Government inherited as a result of the budget that was laid last year and passed last year. The pressures in particular from within the NHS are considerable, and they were considerably more than I expected them to be. They are a challenge within the financial year that I'm trying to manage as we speak. But also, in a world where—and we've heard it again today—the inflationary pressures in our wider society and economy mean that the budget next year, at the moment, is 0.7 per cent less in real terms, that is very challenging in the context of the wage inflation that is within our public services as well. So, those were two aspects that were particularly challenging for public services in Wales.
It was fully costed, but the job of work that we have to do as a Government, and I've alluded to it already, is the discipline now that Ministers have to face in allocating within their priorities how they marry the priorities that a governing party brings into Government with the day-to-day running of public services.
I spoke of the three components of the budget as I see them: the effective running of public services in Wales and how we fund those in the budget settlement that we have as a Senedd and Government; and then the priorities that the Plaid Cymru Government, as voted for by the people of Wales, bring into that; as well as then, of course, the ability that other political parties will want to influence that budget as a third component part of it. So, putting all of that together in one blended melting pot is what we're doing as we speak. Doing that at a time of more financial flexibility would have made it an easier and more constructive piece of work to undertake. It is going to be a challenging piece of work. As I've hopefully set out today, I hope that we're all up for that challenge as a Senedd together.
I accept that there is a higher ask of those businesses across the business rates portfolio that have the higher rateable values. The bit you didn't mention in your question was those up to 20,000 businesses that will benefit from lower taxes as a result of the announcement yesterday and the support for retail premises as well. I think the premise of your question is, though, that this is not just about how we allocate the public funding that's available to us, but how we also use our taxation system to ensure, yes, that we're using it to fund public services, because taxation is what enables public services to be run, but also how we get that balance right in terms of supporting our economy. All of those together, again, are part of the considerations when we need to think about where we strike this balance.
Dwi'n meddwl bod y cwestiwn yna yn un gwirioneddol ddiddorol, ac yn wirioneddol yn gwestiwn sydd yn ein hwynebu ni fel Llywodraeth, sy'n Llywodraeth am y tro cyntaf. Rydym ni wedi etifeddu cyllidebau sydd wedi cael eu cynllunio gan bleidiau eraill a Llywodraethau o'n blaenau ni, er ein bod ni fel plaid hefyd wedi cefnogi agweddau o'r cyllidebau hynny. Mae'n wir i ddweud ein bod ni fel Llywodraeth a Gweinidogion y Llywodraeth yma yn edrych ar draws holl gyllidebau'r Llywodraeth ar hyn o bryd i weld beth sydd yn gweithio'n effeithiol, beth sydd angen ei newid, a lle mae toriadau. Gyda llaw, byddwch chi'n dod i wybod hyn, dwi ddim yn Weinidog cyllid sy'n ofni defnyddio'r gair 'toriadau'. Mewn rhai llefydd, mae toriadau yn beth da. Mewn llefydd eraill, dydyn nhw ddim. Ond dwi ddim yn mynd i osgoi defnyddio'r term.
Official English translation
I think that that question is a truly interesting one, and is truly a question that faces us as a Government, who are in Government for the first time. We've inherited budgets that have been planned by other parties and previous Governments, although we as a party did support aspects of those budgets. It is true to say that we as a Government and Ministers within that Government are looking across all the Government budgets at present to see what's working effectively, what needs to change, and where there are cuts. By the way, you'll get to know this, I'm not a Minister for finance who is afraid to use the word 'cuts'. In some places, cuts are a good thing. In other places, they're not. But I'm not going to avoid using that term.
I'm not going to be one of those Ministers who avoids the term 'cuts' at all times and tries to say 'efficiencies' or other ways of describing it.
So, all of these factors are in the melting pot, as I see it, at this time. That overview of the whole budget of Government is currently a disciplined process that the Ministers are looking at, so that we reprioritise spend in terms of some of the priorities that Plaid Cymru has brought in to Government, but also that we look to see which budget areas are properly delivering the outcomes that another Member spoke of earlier. Because we really have to look at where the outcomes are best achieved, rather than just looking at headings on budget lines at all times.
Dwi yn fodlon ymrwymo i edrych ar y mater yma. Dyw e ddim yn fater dwi'n hollol gyfarwydd ag e. Dwi yn gweld y gwerth sydd yna a dwi'n ymwybodol iawn bod fy nghyd-Weinidogion yn ymwybodol iawn bod impact unrhyw newidiadau cyllid angen cael eu hasesu ac angen mynd drwy'r lens yna rŷch chi'n sôn amdano. Dŷn ni ddim eisiau gweld taw'r bobl fwyaf difreintiedig neu anghenus fydd yn dioddef o unrhyw newidiadau i'r gyllideb. Felly, mae hwnna'n rhywbeth rŷn ni'n mynd i eisiau iddo fod yn ffactor allweddol yn sut rŷn ni'n gwneud yr asesiadau cyllidol yma. Ac felly, mi wnaf i edrych yn benodol ar y grŵp rŷch chi newydd sôn amdano i weld sut gallwn ni fod yn dwyn y drafodaeth yn ei blaen gyda'r arbenigwyr yna.
Official English translation
I am willing to commit to look at this issue. It's not an issue that I'm completely familiar with. I do see the value in it and I am aware that my fellow Ministers are very aware that the impact of any budgetary changes need to be assessed and need to be viewed through that lens you're talking about. We don't want to see the most disadvantaged or needy people suffering as a result of any budgetary changes. So, that's something we want to regard as a key factor in terms of how we undertake these budgetary assessments. So, I'll look specifically at the group that you just mentioned to see how we can progress that discussion with those experts.
Well, I think, by doing the job of work that I outlined just earlier. We're a new Government, we have a new lens and, hopefully, a new energy into wanting to make the best use of the Welsh pound and to make sure that we are outcomes led in how we take our financial decisions. I recognise that we have a particular opportunity to do that in our first annual budget, and therefore there is considerable impetus from me, and from my Cabinet colleague on effectiveness of Government delivery, to be looking at how we ensure that the budgets that we will put to this Senedd are as outcomes focused as they can be and, as I've spoken of already, that they're not just lines on a spreadsheet, but they're actually meaningful in terms of what they will be delivering.
Well, it concerns me too that that level of debt was allowed to accrue without the Government being able to monitor it in an effective way, and I'm aware from cases in the past, not particularly this one, that this can happen. Government is always about investing properly in economic development and in running public services. Sometimes, that investment needs to happen in a context where there is risk, and Ministers need to balance that risk. But making sure that we have the right financial controls in place in a risky situation or not—. We need to make sure that those financial control measures are in place, because £700,000 is, as you could describe, or I could describe, money that would have been better spent elsewhere.
Diolch. O fewn Llywodraeth Cymru, mae'r cyfrifoldeb am lywodraeth leol yn dod o dan fy nghydweithiwr, y Gweinidog Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol, Tai a Chynllunio. Gan weithio gyda llywodraeth leol, rŷn ni wedi cyflawni ein hymrwymiad 100-diwrnod i gomisiynu adolygiad o fformiwla gyllido llywodraeth leol.
Official English translation
Thank you. Within the Welsh Government, responsibility for local government lies with my colleague the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning. Working with local government, we have delivered our 100-day commitment to commission a review of the local government funding formula.
Yes, I can certainly give you the complete confidence that local government is a key partner in the work that we're doing on this review through its existing mechanisms, so that we do look properly at all aspects of work that need to feature in a review of this nature. And that does reflect on, and needs to reflect on, the patterns of need that we have throughout our communities and also the costs of delivering services across communities as well. So, it is a joint piece of work. I see it as a joint piece of work with local government. We want to be, as you were previously, a Government in partnership—working in partnership with local government. They are key to the delivery of public services in Wales. They're not key to it, they do it—they do the delivery of public services in Wales, and we need to make sure that they are funded in a way that enables that work to happen as effectively as possible in every community in Wales.
I agree 100 per cent with the need for us to be able to present a budget and to pass a budget in this place in as early as possible a way in order to provide that security and that lead-in time for planning and effective delivery of services by local authorities. We have a UK Government budget that happens at the end of October, and we are hoping to be able to pass a Senedd budget in the early part of January or February next year. I'm not going to miss the opportunity to say that the best way of giving certainty to local authorities, NHS, public services, public bodies, businesses in Wales, is that we can find a way of ensuring that a budget in this place has a majority to enable it to pass. Anything that stifles that process over the next few weeks and months will ultimately end in local authorities in Wales not having the ability to pass their own budgets in time.
Ie, dwi'n meddwl bod y pwyntiau yna'n sicr o werth i awdurdodau lleol wrth iddyn nhw feddwl amboutu ariannu'r cynlluniau yna a'r gwasnaethau yna y maen nhw'n eu delifro. Ac felly, y lens yna rŷn ni'n moyn ei roi ar siẁd mae'r setliad ar gyfer llywodraeth leol yn gweithio'n fwy effeithiol, ond hefyd siẁd mae'r model o ariannu yn fwy cynhwysfawr yn gweithio hefyd.
Mae rhoi'r rhyddid yna i lywodraeth leol i fedru penderfynu ar eu blaenoriaethau nhw eu hunain yn bart o ddatganoli o fewn Cymru, wrth gwrs, ac felly, os ydyn ni'n gallu cyflawni yr hyn rŷn ni eisiau trwy rymuso llywodraeth leol i fod yn arwain ar siẁd mae datblygu a chyflenwi gwasanaethau yn eu hardaloedd nhw, yna, fel Llywodraeth, byddwn ni'n falch iawn i glywed am syniadau sy'n dod wrth lywodraeth leol, ac yn dod o'r Senedd yma, fel y gallwn ni sicrhau bod y pecyn mwyaf effeithiol o ariannu yn cyrraedd llywodraeth leol, achos, fel dwi wedi dweud eisoes, nhw sy'n delifro gwasanaethau, ac maen nhw angen yr arfau hynny a'r pwerau hynny i fedru gwneud hynny'n effeithiol.
Official English translation
Well, yes, I think those points are valuable for local authorities as they think about funding those programmes and services that they deliver. And it's that lens that we want to apply as to how the local government settlement could work more effectively, but also how the funding model could work more comprehensively too.
Providing that freedom to local government to decide on their own priorities is part of devolution within Wales of course, and, therefore, if we can deliver what we want to achieve by empowering local government to lead on how to develop and deliver services in their own areas, then we as a Government would be very pleased to hear of any ideas coming from local government, and coming from this Senedd, of course, so that we can ensure that the most effective package of funding is provided to local government, because, as I've said already, they deliver services, and they need those tools and those powers to do that effectively.
Dwi'n ymwybodol o effeithiau helaeth y tanau gwyllt ar ffermwyr a commoners hefyd. Os yn briodol, byddwn yn caniatáu eithriadau i ofynion cynllunio er mwyn helpu ffermwyr sydd wedi eu heffeithio. Mae ystyriaeth bellach yn cael ei roi hefyd i sut i gefnogi gwydnwch y sector yn wyneb pwysau sylweddol yr haf hwn.
Official English translation
I'm aware of the extensive impacts of the wildfires on commoners and farmers. And if appropriate, we will allow exemptions to planning conditions in order to help farmers that have been affected. Further consideration is given to how to support the resilience of the sector given the extensive pressures of this summer.
Thank you for the supplementary question, and I'm sure it must have been a terrible summer for those farmers and commoners in your area and elsewhere in Wales where they faced these fires with very real consequences on how they did their farming and livestock farming.
I have had discussions, and they continue, with the rural resilience Minister about the financial implications of both the direct fires and also such a difficult summer in terms of harvest and growing that the drought led to here in Wales. So, we'll continue those discussions. I'll discuss that particular letter with him as well.
But also, to the point you make about the longer term implications of what we face as a country, as a world, in terms of the different challenges that have really struck home this year, I think, in a way, that we've seen bits of it in the past, over the past few years where we've had some intense periods of heat and wildfire consequences, but we've never seen it in such a sustained way over such a long period of time. And so, this asks questions of our sustainable farming scheme. Of course, we've made the long-term financial commitment, multi-year, of £1 billion on that scheme, but we do need to look at the content of that scheme, going forward, in order to meet some of the challenges that were discussed yesterday, actually, in this Senedd over how we manage our uplands and mountain areas in particular.
Yes, I agree, and I'm sure this summer has brought it home to the Minister, just as much as it has to farmers, how we manage land. Farmers knew this already, by the way. They were telling Ministers, I think, over the years about how some of the changes in support schemes are having effects on our uplands. But this year has brought to the forefront how there is a very direct relationship with how we farm our uplands and what happens in those uplands, both in terms of wildlife and regeneration of wildlife, but also in how we manage the uplands both in order to prevent floods downstream and also to ensure that we have adequate measures for limiting wildfires in these excessive heat situations that we have.
We are facing and we are likely to have to plan for these events to become possibly even annual events. We know that our climate is changing, and we as a Government and as a Senedd need to own up to that fact and to take the measures that we need to in order to make Wales resilient in the nature of the climate change that we are seeing in our society.
Diolch am y cwestiwn a diolch am ein hatgoffa ni o'r golygfeydd ofnadwy yna welon ni yn Pantside yn eich ardal chi, gyda'r tanau yna yn y gymuned yna yn dangos bod eiddo a thai hefyd mewn peryg mewn sefyllfaoedd o’r math yma. Mae’r Gweinidog llywodraeth leol eisoes wedi cytuno i agor yr emergency financial assistance scheme. Felly, mae hwnna ar gael ar gyfer yr awdurdodau lleol a’r awdurdodau tân i asesu maint y gwariant ychwanegol yr oedden nhw wedi gorfod ei wynebu yn ystod yr haf yma, a sut y gallan nhw, os oes angen, ddefnyddio’r cynllun yna. Rŷn ni’n derbyn bod y gwaith maen nhw wedi'i wneud fel diffoddwyr tân, fel awdurdodau lleol, fel cymunedau lleol, yn arbennig o bwysig yn ein cymdeithas ni, ac rŷn ni'n ddiolchgar am y gwaith yna yn ystod yr haf. Felly, rŷn ni'n barod i edrych gyda'r awdurdodau perthnasol ar sut mae'n bosib ariannu unrhyw arian sydd ei angen arnyn nhw. Byddwn ni'n cydweithio gyda nhw ar hynny.
Official English translation
Thank you for that question and thank you for reminding us of those terrible scenes that we saw in Pantside in your own constituency, with the fires affecting that community showing that property and homes are also at risk in scenarios such as this. The Minister for local government has already agreed to open the emergency financial assistance scheme and, therefore, that is available for local authorities and fire authorities in order to assess the scale of additional expenditure that they faced during this summer, and how they can, if necessary, use that programme. We accept that the work that they did as firefighters and local authorities and local communities is extremely important for our communities, and we are grateful for that work done over the summer. Therefore, we are willing to look, along with the appropriate authorities, as to the funding of any moneys that they require. We will be working with them on that.
Ddoe, roeddwn i'n falch iawn i gyhoeddi cymorth ardrethi annomestig newydd i fusnesau lletygarwch a hamdden, sydd wrth galon ein huchelgais i adfywio canol trefi. O 1 Ebrill 2027 ymlaen, bydd busnesau cymwys yn elwa ar ostyngiad parhaol o 30 y cant yn eu biliau ardrethi.
Official English translation
Yesterday, I was pleased to announce new non-domestic rates support for hospitality and leisure businesses, which are central to our ambition to regenerate town centres. From 1 April 2027 onwards, eligible businesses will benefit from a permanent 30 per cent reduction in their rates bills.
Diolch. Ces i gic gan y Dirprwy Lywydd, dwi'n meddwl, i gadw fy atebion i'n fyrrach. Felly, fe wnaf i ymdrechu i wneud hynny. Ni wnaf i ddim ail-ddweud dim gwnes i ei ddweud ddoe yn Senedd, pan oeddem ni'n trafod y gostyngiad treth yma o 30 y cant. Dwi'n gobeithio ei fod e'n cyflawni dau beth. Dwi'n gobeithio ei fod e'n gwneud gwahaniaeth realistig i'r busnesau yma a fydd yn elwa o hyn, ac y byddan nhw yn teimlo ei fod e'n eu galluogi nhw i gynllunio'n well ar gyfer y dyfodol oherwydd bod hyn yn barhaol. Ond hefyd gobeithio ei fod e'n cyflawni neges o gefnogaeth oddi wrth y Llywodraeth yma, a'r Senedd yma os bydd pawb yn cytuno i'r rheoliadau, ein bod ni o ddifri yn moyn gweld y sector yma yn cael ei chefnogi ac yn elwa ac yn datblygu yn y cymunedau yna ar draws Cymru sy'n mynd i elwa—nid dim ond y rhai arfordirol yn eich etholaeth chi a fi, ond hefyd y canol trefi yna, y swbwrbia yna hefyd, yn ein dinasoedd ni ac yn ein cymunedau ôl-lofaol ni.
Official English translation
Thank you. I was nudged by the Deputy Presiding Officer to keep my answers shorter, so I'll make an effort to do that. I won't repeat what I said yesterday in the Senedd when we were discussing this rate reduction of 30 per cent. But I do hope that it achieves two things. I hope that it makes a real difference to these businesses that will benefit from this, and that they will feel that it will enable them to plan more effectively for the future because this is a permanent cut. But also I hope that it delivers a message of support from this Government, and this Senedd if everyone agrees to the regulations, that we are serious about seeing this sector being supported and benefiting and developing in those communities across Wales that will benefit—not just those in coastal areas in our constituency, but also those town centres and suburbia too in our cities, towns and post-industrial communities.
O fewn Llywodraeth Cymru, y Gweinidog Cabinet dros Lywodraeth Leol, Tai a Chynllunio sy'n uniongyrchol gyfrifol am lywodraeth leol, ond rŷn ni'n ymwybodol ar draws y Llywodraeth o'r pwysau ariannol ar gynghorau sir wrth iddynt ddelifro gwasanaethau cyhoeddus pwysig.
Official English translation
Within the Welsh Government, responsibility for local government lies with my colleague the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, but we are aware across the Government that there is financial pressure on local authorities as they deliver important public services.
I represent a rural community, and have done over the years, so I'm very familiar with the fact that there are many factors that are at play in designing and deciding on the future of rural schools. It is not just the availability of public funding. Rural communities and aspects within those rural communities are a challenge, especially when we think about the depopulation, especially of our younger population, from many of our rural communities. How we look across Government as to how we can support that, not just in terms of money, but in how we are designing support, housing and economic opportunity for our rural areas, is important.
The important piece of work that this Government has started, though, is how we design a local government formula that meets the complexity of needs that our local authorities have. You rightly identified two of them in rurality and sparsity and the difficulty and expensive nature of delivering services across rural and sparse areas. We had reference made earlier to other priorities as well in terms of socioeconomic deprivation. Making sure that we strike a better balance in how we can deliver services effectively to all our communities in Wales is the journey that this Government has commenced in this piece of work, and hopefully all of us can involve ourselves in that.
Mae'r rhagolygon ar gyfer cyllideb Cymru yn dal i fod yn hynod heriol. Mae disgwyl i’r cyllid adnoddau ostwng 0.7 y cant mewn termau real yn 2027-28 a bydd cyllidebau cyfalaf yn gostwng dros y tair blynedd nesaf, o’i gyferbynnu â'r twf cyfartalog o 3.5 y cant y flwyddyn mewn termau real a welwyd ddechrau'r degawd.
Official English translation
The outlook for the Welsh budget remains extremely challenging. The expectation is that resource funding will fall 0.7 per cent in real terms in 2027-28 and that capital budgets will decline over the next three years, in contrast to the average real-terms growth of 3.5 per cent per year seen since the start of the decade.
I don't dispute the Holtham commission. I don't dispute the point you made at the start that wherever you start your analysis of any data, you can assess that. I'm trying to think of how we think about public service delivery now in the post-COVID period. That's why I was identifying this decade only. But you and I were in Senedds of the past where those austerity years of public finance in Wales, under a different political regime at a UK level, were particularly difficult at that time as well. So, I'm not pitching one difficult time against another. We have faced many of them in this place. I actually go back long enough to remember a time of plenty as well in this place, but that was another decade, almost in another century.
On the point you make, though, about needing to properly now assess where we are in terms of fiscal equality and meeting the economic and social needs of Wales through the Barnett formula as it is currently, our view as a Government is that the Barnett formula needs review. My immediate view on that—and it's something that I shared with the previous finance Minister—is that the Barnett formula especially needs its operational aspects to be strengthened. So, we need greater transparency on the Barnett formula as it exists, as well as independent oversight of the Barnett formula, so that we never ever again have to deal with the fiasco as it was of the decision on HS2 and how that has underfunded us as a country. And on that, if not on any other issue, I hope that we can all unite.
Diolch, Lywydd. Heddiw, rwy'n falch i gyhoeddi newidiadau y bydd Llywodraeth Cymru yn eu gwneud i adlewyrchu'r ymrwymiadau yn ein maniffesto i ailgydbwyso’r system ardrethi annomestig, a sicrhau tegwch i fusnesau'r stryd fawr. Rŷm ni'n cydnabod pwysigrwydd sectorau manwerthu, lletygarwch a hamdden llewyrchus, ac mae'r rhain yn ganolog i’n huchelgais i adfywio canol trefi a rhoi bywyd newydd i'n stryd fawr.
Bydd ein gwaith o ailgydbwyso’r system ardrethi yn cael ei gyflawni drwy newidiadau i’r lluosyddion gwahaniaethol presennol, gan wella’r cymorth i fusnesau lletygarwch a hamdden penodol. Bydd cwmpas ehangach ar gyfer y lluosydd is yn cael ei ariannu gan gynnydd bach i’r lluosydd uwch sy’n gymwys i’r eiddo â'r gwerth uchaf yn y sylfaen drethu ar draws pob sector.
O 2027-28 ymlaen felly, bydd y lluosydd is sy'n cael ei ddefnyddio ar gyfer siopau manwerthu yn berthnasol hefyd i rai mathau o eiddo lletygarwch a hamdden bach a chanolig eu maint. Bydd hyn yn dod â busnesau lletygarwch a hamdden cymwys yn unol â'r cymorth parhaol a gyflwynwyd i fanwerthwyr eleni. Bydd eiddo cymwys sydd â gwerth ardrethol o dan £51,000 yn cael gostyngiad o 30 y cant yn eu biliau ardrethi annomestig.
Bydd y cymorth parhaol hwn yn disodli ac yn rhagori ar y rhyddhad dewisol dros dro o 15 y cant ar gyfer eiddo lletygarwch bwyd a diod sy’n cael ei ddarparu ar hyn o bryd. Bydd yn golygu bod ystod ehangach o fusnesau lletygarwch a hamdden yn cael y sicrwydd hirdymor sydd ei angen arnyn nhw i fuddsoddi a thyfu.
Y mannau lletygarwch bwyd a diod sy'n gymwys felly yw tafarndai, bwytai, caffis, bariau, cyrtiau bwyd, clybiau trwyddedig a lleoliadau cerddoriaeth fyw. Y mathau o lety ymwelwyr a fydd yn gymwys yw gwestai, tai llety a hosteli. Ac o ran hamdden, y mannau cymwys yw sinemâu, theatrau, llyfrgelloedd, amgueddfeydd a champfeydd.
Mae'r busnesau hyn yn cyflawni rolau pwysig sy'n ategu ei gilydd ar y stryd fawr a chanol trefi ffyniannus. Yn ogystal â manwerthwyr, bydd talwyr ardrethi ar gyfer tua 20,000 o safleoedd yn elwa ar y lluosydd is estynedig. Mae dros 12,500 yn fwy o'r mathau perthnasol o eiddo eisoes yn gymwys i gael rhyddhad llawn, sy'n golygu nad ydyn nhw'n talu unrhyw ardrethi annomestig. Bydd talwyr ardrethi ar gyfer y mwyafrif o eiddo ledled Cymru, yn arbennig busnesau bach, hefyd yn parhau i elwa ar sawl rhyddhad parhaol sy’n werth mwy na £200 miliwn y flwyddyn ar hyn o bryd.
Rhaid taro cydbwysedd rhwng y cymorth ehangach sy'n cael ei ddarparu drwy’r lluosydd is ac effaith hynny ar werth y lluosydd uwch. Bydd y lluosydd uwch yn cael ei osod ar ychydig dros 4 y cant yn uwch na'r lluosydd safonol o 2027-28 ymlaen. Mae hyn yn gynnydd bach i'r gwahaniaeth presennol, ac mae hi'n ffordd deg o ailddosbarthu atebolrwydd er mwyn inni allu rhoi gwell cefnogaeth i'r busnesau sy'n galon i'r stryd fawr a chanol trefi.
Mae’r newidiadau hyn i’r lluosyddion gwahaniaethol yn gysylltiedig â gwaith ehangach y tasglu canol trefi. Bydd y tasglu yma yn ystyried fframweithiau polisi cenedlaethol, yn ogystal â’r cymorth wedi’i deilwra a allai fod ei angen yng nghanol trefi unigol. Mae ein dull gweithredu yn cydnabod y bydd anghenion yn amrywio rhwng llefydd sy’n wynebu gwahanol heriau, tu hwnt i’r system ardrethi.
Official English translation
Thank you, Llywydd. Today, I'm pleased to announce changes the Welsh Government will make to reflect our manifesto commitments to rebalance the non-domestic rates system, and level the playing field for high-street businesses. We recognise the importance of vibrant retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, and these are central to our ambition to regenerate town centres and to breathe new life into our high streets.
Our work of rebalancing the rates system will be delivered through changes to the existing differential multipliers, improving support for selected hospitality and leisure businesses. An expanded scope for the lower multiplier will be funded by a marginal increase to the higher multiplier, applicable to the highest value properties in the tax base across all sectors.
From 2027-28, selected small to medium-sized hospitality and leisure properties will be subject to the lower multiplier currently applied to retail shops. This will bring eligible hospitality and leisure businesses in line with the permanent support introduced for retailers from this year. Eligible properties with rateable values below £51,000 will attract a 30 per cent reduction in their non-domestic rates bills.
This permanent support will replace and exceed the temporary discretionary relief of 15 per cent for food and drink hospitality properties that is currently being provided. It will mean that a wider range of hospitality and leisure businesses will get the long-term certainty that they need to invest and to grow.
The eligible food and drink hospitality properties are pubs, restaurants, cafes, bars, food courts, licensed clubs and live music venues. The eligible visitor accommodation properties are hotels, guest houses and hostels. And in the leisure sector, the eligible properties are cinemas, theatres, libraries, museums and gyms.
These businesses play important and complementary roles in vibrant high streets and town centres. Along with retailers, ratepayers for around 20,000 properties will therefore benefit from the expanded lower multiplier. Over 12,500 more properties of the relevant types already attract full relief, and that means that they therefore do not pay any non-domestic rates. Ratepayers for a majority of properties across Wales, particularly small businesses, will also continue to benefit from a range of permanent reliefs currently worth more than £200 million per year.
There is a balance to strike between the broader support that is provided through the lower multiplier and the resulting impact on the value of the higher multiplier. The higher multiplier will be set at just over 4 per cent above the standard multiplier from 2027-28 onwards. This is a small increase to the existing difference, and it's a fair way to redistribute liability so that we can better support the businesses that are at the heart of our high streets and town centres.
These changes to the differential multipliers are linked with the broader work of the town centres taskforce. This taskforce will take account of national policy frameworks, as well as considering the more tailored support that may be needed in individual town centres. Our approach recognises that needs will vary between places that may be facing different challenges that might go beyond the rate system.
I'll bring forward the regulations required to implement the changes to the differential multipliers in the coming weeks. The regulations will specify the properties that will be subject to the lower multiplier, and amend the value used to calculate the higher multiplier relative to the standard multiplier for any given year. Subject to the approval of this Senedd, the changes will take place on 1 April 2027.
The values of the multipliers for next year will be determined as part of our budget preparations for 2027-28, following the UK Government's autumn budget. I'm proposing to make these changes at the earliest opportunity in this Senedd, to prioritise the improvements that are deliverable and affordable in the short term. The Welsh Government will continue to consider further reforms to the non-domestic rates system that reflect our broader ambitions for Wales. I know that Members across the Chamber are interested in this matter, and ideas for further measures on non-domestic rates will receive a listening ear from me. Diolch.
Ie, wel, mae'n siŵr y gallwn i fod wedi gwneud y datganiad yma unrhyw bryd yn ystod tymor yr haf. Roedd y datganiad yn barod i'w wneud. Dewisais i yn benodol i aros tan ddiwrnod cyntaf y Senedd i fod nôl yn ymgynnull i wneud y datganiad, a dwi'n ei wneud e ar lawr y Senedd yma er mwyn cael cwestiynau gan bleidiau a gan Aelodau fan hyn i weld sut maen nhw'n ymateb i'r datganiad, a beth mwy maen nhw'n ei feddwl y dylai'r system yma ei gyflawni. Ar ôl y pum munud yna gan gynrychiolydd Reform, dwi ddim yn gwybod a ydy Reform yn mynd i gefnogi'r gostyngiad yma o 30 y cant mewn ardrethi busnes ar gyfer y sector yma, sy'n rili bwysig i'n canol trefi ni, neu beidio. Doedd hi ddim yn glir i mi, o'r hyn a ddywedoch chi, a fyddech chi'n ei gefnogi fe neu beidio. Fe fydd yn rhaid i chi benderfynu, wrth gwrs, cyn bod yna bleidleisio ar lawr y Senedd yma un ffordd neu'r llall ar newid o'r math yma.
Ond a gaf i ddweud pam fod Plaid Cymru wedi penderfynu cymryd y cam cychwynnol yma? Mae Aelodau ar draws y Senedd yma yn sôn yn barhaus am yr angen i gryfhau ein canol trefi ni. Mae ein canol trefi ni yn bwysig i'r cymunedau rŷn ni'n eu cynrychioli, p'un ai ydy hynny yn ein hardaloedd diwydiannol, yn ein Cymoedd, ni neu yng nghefn gwlad. Mae rhoi cymorth i'r busnesau yna sydd, yn eu hystod ehangach, yn bodoli'n benodol yng nghanol trefi wedi bod yn gomitment maniffesto gan Blaid Cymru, a heddiw yn gomitment inni ei ddelifro o fewn y Llywodraeth. Dwi'n gobeithio bod hwnna'n taro nodyn a fydd yn cael ei gefnogi gan bobl ar draws y Senedd yma, gan gynrychiolwyr o gymunedau o bob cwr o Gymru ac o bob cefndir gwleidyddol hefyd.
Rydych chi wedi bod bach yn rhy fisi yn darllen y press release yn hytrach na beth ddywedais i yn y datganiad, 5 tr oddi wrthych chi fan hyn y prynhawn yma. Roeddech chi'n gofyn y cwestiwn, 'Is this it?', ac fe atebais i hwnna yn y fan hyn o'ch blaen chi. Fe atebais i fe pan ddywedais i mai'r cam cyntaf yw hwn, a dwi'n awyddus i glywed beth yw barn Aelodau eraill ar beth yn fwy y gallai'r Llywodraeth yma ei gyflawni ar gyfer cefnogi busnesau. Felly, halwch bach llai o amser yn darllen press releases, yn beirniadu'r press releases, a defnyddio bach mwy o'ch amser ar eich traed yn y Senedd yma yn gwrando ar yr hyn sy'n cael ei ddweud.
Official English translation
Well, I'm sure I could have made this statement at any point during the summer term. The statement was ready to be made. I chose in particular to wait for the first day of the Senedd being back in session to make the statement, and I'm making it on the floor of the Senedd in order to receive questions from other parties and from Members here to see how they respond to the statement, and what else they think that this system should deliver. After that five minutes from the Reform representative, I'm not sure whether Reform are going to support this reduction of 30 per cent in business rates for this sector, which is a really important sector for our town centres, or not. It wasn't clear to me, from what you said, whether you would support it or not. But you'll have to decide on that, of course, before the voting happens on the floor of this Senedd one way or another on a change of this kind.
But may I say why Plaid Cymru decided to take this initial step? Members across this Senedd continuously talk about the need to strengthen our town centres. Our town centres are important to the communities that we represent, whether that is in our industrial areas, in our Valleys, or in more rural areas. Providing support to those businesses that are, in their broad range, existing in town centres has been a manifesto commitment from Plaid Cymru, and today it is a commitment that we are delivering within Government. I hope that that strikes a chord that will be supported by people across the Senedd who represent communities all across Wales and of all political backgrounds as well.
You have been a bit too busy reading that press release, I think, rather than listening to what I said in my statement 5 ft away from you this afternoon. You asked the question, 'Is this it?', and I responded to that today in front of you. I responded when I said that this is an initial first step, and I'm keen to hear the views from other Members on what more this Government could be able to deliver in order to support those businesses. So, spend a bit less time reading the press releases and judging those press releases, and use a bit more of your time standing up in this Chamber listening to what's being said.
Diolch am y sylwadau a'r croeso a'r heriau yn eich cyfraniad. Wrth gwrs, un o'r manteision, gobeithio, bydd y busnesau sydd yn gymwys ar gyfer y gefnogaeth yma'n ei weld yw y bydd e'n 30 y cant o ostyngiad parhaol iddyn nhw. Mae'r gostyngiad sydd mewn lle ar gyfer tafarnau ar hyn o bryd yn discretionary ac ond yn 15 y cant, ac felly fe fydd hwn yn rhagori ar hynny ac fe fydd e'n awtomatig ar gyfer y busnesau hynny. Bydd e'n caniatáu i'r busnesau sy'n gymwys i allu cynllunio ar sail y gwarant fydd yna, os bydd y rheoliadau a'r mesur yma'n pasio, fod hyn yn rhywbeth maen nhw'n gallu cynllunio ar ei gyfer o flaen llaw. Wrth gwrs, ychwanegu at y system sydd eisoes mewn lle ar gyfer siopau rŷn ni'n ei wneud, y system wnaeth gael ei gyflwyno gan y Gweinidog cyllid o fy mlaen i o dan Lywodraeth Lafur, ac felly mae'r defnydd o'r multipliers a'r gwahanol multiplier wedi cael ei gyflwyno gan fy rhagflaenydd i yn y cyd-destun yna. Felly ymestyn y nifer o fusnesau sy'n gymwys am y cwtogiad yma yn y trethi busnes ydw i.
Ac mae'n gam cyntaf, fel y gwnes i sôn, wrth inni feddwl ynglŷn â sut gallwn ni fynd ymhellach gyda'r tasglu ar ganol trefi sydd wedi'i sefydlu o ran datblygu'r stryd fawr a chefnogi'r stryd fawr fel calon i nifer o gymunedau. Ond hefyd, mae'r her rŷch chi'n ei rhoi yn her sydd yn sôn am y system yn ei chyfanrwydd, wrth gwrs. Rŷch chi'n sôn yn benodol, onid ydych, am ganol dinasoedd, sydd â siopau mawr ac sydd ag anchor stores pwysig yng nghanol y dinasoedd hynny. Mae'n bwysig, wrth ein bod ni'n meddwl ynglŷn â chael y balans yma'n iawn o ran cefnogi busnesau llai, sydd yn alwad sydd yn dod yn barhaus gan Aelodau yn y Siambr yma, ein bod ni'n gwneud hynny gyda golwg ar beidio ag anfanteisio mewn ffordd rhy ddifrifol y busnesau hynny sydd yn fwy. Felly, mae taro'r balans yna'n bwysig. O ran cyhoeddi'r union multipliers fydd yn weithredol ar gyfer 2027, fe fydd hwnna'n gorfod aros tan fydd y gyllideb ar gyfer y flwyddyn nesaf yn cael ei chyflwyno. Dyna pryd fydd hwnna'n dod yn weithredol, yn wybodus.
Wedyn, ar y pwynt ynglŷn â'r diwygiad llawn o'r gyfundrefn yma sydd ei angen, dwi'n credu, fel Senedd—. Dwi'n ei glywed e o wahanol bleidiau ac o wahanol Aelodau: yn hytrach na gwneud mân newidiadau fan hyn a fan draw ac ambell waith eu gwneud nhw'n adweithiol i ba bynnag fater sy'n bwrw'r economi, fod angen edrych ar y maes yma yn ei gyfanrwydd. Byddwn i'n gobeithio, wrth inni drafod a testio fwy o'r syniadau ynglŷn â threthi busnes, ein bod ni'n dod i ryw gonsensws ar draws y Siambr yma ynglŷn â'r appetite gwleidyddol sydd yna i fynd i'r afael â'r gwaith yma. Fe fyddwn i'n hapus i fod yn rhan o'r drafodaeth ynglŷn â hynny.
O ran y cliff edges yma rŷch chi wedi sôn amdanyn nhw—os ŷch chi un ochr neu'r llall o £51,000, mae e'n gwneud 30 y cant o wahaniaeth i chi o ran faint o dreth rŷch chi'n ei dalu—mae hwnna'n un o'r ystyriaethau yn sicr sydd angen edrych arnyn nhw yn y dyfodol. Felly, mae yna newidiadau pellach, dwi'n credu, y gall y Llywodraeth edrych i'w gwneud, gyda chefnogaeth yn y Siambr yma, ac wedyn mae yna gwestiwn mwy ynglŷn â mynd i'r afael â diwygio'r gyfundrefn yn ei chyfanrwydd. Mae'n siŵr y bydd y drafodaeth ar hynny yn parhau.
Official English translation
Thank you for those comments and the welcome and the challenges that you set out there in your contribution. Of course, one of the advantages, hopefully, that the businesses that are eligible for this support will see is that it will be a 30 per cent reduction that will be permanent for them. The reduction that's in place for pubs at the moment is discretionary and is only 15 per cent, and therefore, this will excel compared to that and it will be automatic for those businesses. It will allow those businesses that are eligible to be able to plan on the basis of the guarantee that they will have that, if the regulations on this measure pass, this will be something that they can plan for ahead of time. Of course, we are adding to the system that's already in place for shops, that system that was introduced by the previous finance Minister under the Labour Government, so the use of the multiplier, the different multipliers, was introduced by my predecessor in that context. So what I'm doing is expanding the number of businesses that are eligible for this cut in non-domestic rates.
And it is a first step, as I mentioned, as we start to think about how we can go further with the town centre taskforce that has been set up in terms of developing the high street and supporting the high street as the heart of a number of communities. But also the challenge you set forward is a challenge that is about the system as a whole, of course. You speak particularly about city centres, which have large shops and have important anchor stores in the middle of those cities. It is important, of course, that we think about striking the right balance in terms of supporting the smaller businesses, which is a continuous call coming from Members in this Chamber, but with an eye to not disadvantaging the larger businesses too much. So striking that balance is important. In terms of publishing the exact multipliers that will be operational for 2027, that will have to wait until we have the budget for next year, when that is introduced. That is when that will become operational, will become known.
And then on the point about the full reform of this system that is needed, I think, as a Senedd—. I hear it from different parties and from different Members: rather than making small changes here and there and sometimes making them in a reactive way, reacting to whatever issue is affecting the economy, we need to look at this area as a whole, in its entirety. I would hope, as we discuss and test out more of the ideas relating to business rates, we will come to a consensus across this Chamber with regard to the political appetite that there is to address this work. I would be happy to be part of that discussion.
On these cliff edges you mentioned—when £51,000 is the limit and if you're one side or the other of that, it's a 30 per cent difference in how much tax you pay—this is one of the considerations certainly that needs to be looked at in the future. So, there are further changes that I think the Government could look into making, with support from this Chamber, and then there is a broader question about addressing and reforming the system as a whole. I'm sure that the discussion on that will continue.
I was obviously too keen to go to the pub to prepare for this statement, so I'll reflect on what everybody has united upon in thinking about the timing of statements. But just very genuinely from me, I could have made this statement during the summer recess, in the peak of the tourism season, but I quite deliberately left it until the first day back. But, yes, I'll consider the timing, and getting back in to the rhythm of the work of this place is something that I need to do.
Yes, just on the issue around a cliff edge, I do recognise that this is a very difficult issue for some businesses who fall the wrong side of a support package of this kind, and only very closely. So, the tapering issue is something that I will be interested in looking at, but I didn't want to delay the simplicity and the ability to make this statement and to move on this level of support of 30 per cent reduction for the hospitality and leisure sectors in this way by trying to do everything at the same time in one go. So, these are issues that I will be returning to, and they are issues, of course, that the high-street taskforce will also want to look at, I'm sure, as are many of the issues that you raise. The issue around whether new start-ups on the high street should be given a holiday period for that first six months to a year of trading as a kind of incentive for them to take up, quite often, empty shops, making local authorities more proactive in their local area to support business growth as well by incentivising growth of businesses and growth of business rate collection, with some payback back to local authorities—. I'm always interested in how we can make these systems include more incentives to do better all the time and to have more economic activity. So, those are some things that I hope the town-centres taskforce will look at, but also that we do in response to the issues that are raised in the Chamber here today and at other times.
On mixed businesses, I've come across this as an issue in my own constituency at different times as well, so I'm aware that it's an issue in the system and a tension. I will need to go back to my officials and see whether there is anything in the greater extent of the categorisation that we're now bringing into the 30 per cent reduction that will enable mixed businesses of the kinds you've described to qualify for this. But I can't give a guarantee on the floor here in any individual case or generally on mixed businesses, but I will look at it to see what is possible.
Thank you for your contribution, and thank you for stretching the discussion to other areas that this Senedd will be interested in over the next months and years. As I've said, this is very much a first step to support businesses on our high street. It's a reasonably straightforward support package that we can offer at this time. But there are very many aspects of business rate support that need to be looked at and many ideas here this afternoon. The use of differential multipliers, as you've suggested, is new to the way we do our business rate support in this context. It was first introduced on retail properties and on shops by the predecessor Government; we're extending that today. But we need to, again, think about extending the categorisation and possibly categorising some for the first time, as new businesses and new properties develop within our economy. So, there is much still to do on this. This is a first step. For those businesses that will benefit from this, it is most definitely welcome in very challenging times. But there are an array of different measures that the Government currently works on to support businesses, and there is much that both this Government and the UK Government can do to support businesses in what is a very challenging time.
The points you've made and the illustrations you've given as to how important the hospitality sector is in our various communities, and how important it is for different aspects of the economy, how many of our young people have their first jobs in pubs—. I had my first job in a pub, and I pulled my last pint in a pub in 1987. So, I hadn't done it until I pulled a pint just recently, and it showed that 30 years and more had passed since I pulled a pint.
But to be serious and to respond to the points that you've made, this will be a contribution that alleviates some of the pressure on our hospitality and leisure sector. It is more than just pubs, it is cafes and restaurants, and it is gyms and museums and libraries. So, it's the widest possible array, and when you add that to shops as well, it's the widest possible array of many of the businesses that feature in our town centres and some of our villages as well. So, it goes further than Government has done before in Wales. So, that's the important contribution of today. But I'm sure, as some have said already, that there are a myriad of different other issues that face our hospitality and leisure sectors. There are many pressures in our economy. The inflationary pressure that we are feeling today and will possibly be increasing again is something that puts particular pressure on so many of our high-street businesses. There are actions that the UK Government as well as the Welsh Government can take. But, hopefully, today will have been a strong signal that this Government and this Senedd believe that our small businesses that are trying to work so hard to keep going in our communities right throughout Wales in difficult times—this Government has their back and will try and take all initiatives that it can to support them in these testing times.