Diolch yn fawr, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Mae’n bleser gen i heddiw gyflwyno cyllideb gyntaf tymor y Senedd newydd yma, a’r un gyntaf erioed gan Lywodraeth Plaid Cymru. Fe ddywedon ni cyn yr etholiad y byddem ni’n cyhoeddi cyllideb o fewn ein 100 diwrnod cyntaf, a dyma ni’n cadw at yr addewid hynny. Rŷn ni’n Llywodraeth newydd, ac mae gennym ni flaenoriaethau ac uchelgeisiau newydd. Fe gawson ni ein hethol gyda mandad clir ar gyfer newid. Y gyllideb atodol hon yw’r cam cyntaf i sicrhau ein bod ni’n gallu gwireddu ein prif flaenoriaethau fel Llywodraeth.
Official English translation
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. It is my pleasure today to present the first budget of this new Senedd term and the first ever budget by a Plaid Cymru Welsh Government. We said before the election that we would publish a budget within our first 100 days, and here we are keeping to that promise. We are a new Government and we have new priorities and ambitions. We were elected with a clear mandate for change. This supplementary budget is the first step in making sure that we are able to deliver on our top priorities as a Government.
Rŷn ni wedi etifeddu sefyllfa ariannol heriol, ac rŷn ni’n wynebu pwysau sylweddol ar draws y sector cyhoeddus. Cyllideb atodol yw hon—cyllideb o fewn blwyddyn ariannol. Fe rydym felly wedi dewis anrhydeddu y gyllideb bleidleisiwyd drosti ym mis Ionawr, cyllideb sydd eisoes ar waith gan ein byrddau iechyd, ein cynghorau sir, ein cyrff cenedlaethol a’r sector wirfoddol a busnes. Nid dadsefydlogi yw pwrpas y gyllideb yma, ond cychwyn ar osod cyfeiriad newydd ar wariant cyhoeddus yng Nghymru, i gyd-fynd â’r blaenoriaethau bleidleisiodd pobol Cymru drostynt ym mis Mai.
Fel y soniais, mae’r sefyllfa ariannol yn heriol ac mae’r pwysau ariannol o fewn y cyllidebau yn sylweddol, yn enwedig y gwasanaeth iechyd. Dyna pam fod y gyllideb yma yn cadw arian heb ei neilltuo i’n caniatáu i reoli’r pwysau ariannol o fewn y flwyddyn. Mae’r arian canlyniadol i’r gyllideb o waredu dyledion addysg arbennig llywodraeth leol yn Lloegr, ynghyd â’r arian wrth gefn ar ddechrau blwyddyn ariannol, yn caniatáu i’r Llywodraeth yma glustnodi arian ychwanegol heddiw tra’n cadw golwg ar y pwysau ariannol sy’n parhau o fewn ein sector gyhoeddus.
Siaradais ag arweinydd llywodraeth leol yng Nghymru wythnos diwethaf i esbonio na fydd cynghorau yn derbyn yr arian un-tro i waredu dyledion addysg arbennig a gronnwyd gan lywodraeth leol yn Lloegr, gan nad yw’r dyledion hynny yn bodoli yn yr un modd yng Nghymru. Rŷn ni’n derbyn, wrth gwrs, y pwysau ariannol ar lywodraeth leol ac yr ydym yn arbennig o awyddus i weithio gyda chynghorau ac eraill i gynllunio gwasanaethau pwrpasol addysg arbennig sy’n cwrdd yn well ag anghenion y plant a’r teuluoedd, tra hefyd yn gynaliadwy yn ariannol i’r hirdymor. Bydd arian canlyniadol ar addysg arbennig yn dod i’r gyllideb o bosib yn 2028-29, ac yn wahanol i’r arian un-tro eleni, bydd hwnnw yn arian cylchol. Drwy weithio’n ofalus o fewn proses y gyllideb flynyddol y mae cynllunio addysg arbennig ar sylfaen fforddiadwy, gynaliadwy i’r dyfodol.
Dyw’r gyllideb atodol hon ddim wedi ei chynllunio i gyflawni popeth, ond fel cam cyntaf tuag at sicrhau bod ein cynlluniau gwario yn cyd-fynd â’n maniffesto. Rwyf heddiw yn cadarnhau £294 miliwn o arian ychwanegol: £164 miliwn o gyllid adnoddau a £130 miliwn o gyllid cyfalaf.
Rŷn ni’n blaenoriaethu arian ychwanegol i leihau amseroedd aros y gwasanaeth iechyd. Mae hyn yn cynnwys £100 miliwn o gyllid adnoddau, £25 miliwn o gyllid cyfalaf i ddatblygu hybiau llawfeddygol a diagnostig newydd ledled Cymru, ac £20 miliwn ychwanegol o gyfalaf i wneud gwaith cynnal a chadw yn y gwasanaeth iechyd. Mae hwn yn fuddsoddiad o £145 miliwn yn ein system iechyd i gyflymu triniaethau a gwella canlyniadau i bobl Cymru. Does dim amheuaeth bod angen mynd ati ar unwaith i leihau’r rhestrau aros sydd wedi cronni, ond rhaid inni hefyd sicrhau ein bod ni’n cadw'r rhestrau aros i lawr yn barhaol. Dyna pam rŷn ni hefyd am ddiwygio’r system yn strwythurol, i adeiladu capasiti hirdymor.
Rŷn ni wedi bod yn gwbl glir mai un o’n prif flaenoriaethau yw mynd i’r afael â thlodi plant a chefnogi pobl yng Nghymru gyda chostau byw cynyddol. Bydd £55 miliwn ychwanegol yn golygu y gallwn ni wneud cynnydd buan ar ein hymrwymiad i drawsnewid gofal plant. Bydd y gyllideb ychwanegol yma yn cefnogi ein hamcan i gyflwyno 12 awr a hanner o ofal plant yr wythnos i bob plentyn dwy oed eleni.
Rŷn ni’n cyflwyno £2 filiwn er mwyn cychwyn ar weithredu peilot Cynnal, ein taliad plant o £10 yr wythnos ar gyfer aelwydydd sy’n hawlio credyd cynhwysol. Hwn fydd y cam cyntaf pwysig yn ein cenhadaeth ehangach i fynd ati o ddifrif i drechu tlodi sydd mor ddinistriol i blant.
Mae £15 miliwn o gyllid ychwanegol yn mynd tuag at brydau ysgol am ddim, wrth inni ddechrau cynnig prydau i ddisgyblion ysgol uwchradd o deuluoedd sy’n hawlio credyd cynhwysol o fis Medi ymlaen. Byddwn ni’n gweithio gydag ysgolion ac awdurdodau lleol i gyflawni hyn. Yn y gyllideb yma rydym hefyd yn clustnodi £40 miliwn o gyfalaf ychwanegol i wella ansawdd adeiladau ysgol. Hefyd, bydd £5 miliwn o gyfalaf ychwanegol i'r rhaglen cyfleusterau cymunedol—cynnydd o 50 y cant yn y gyllideb eleni.
Bydd £2 filiwn o gyllid adnoddau yn cefnogi cyflwyno rhaglen newydd, nofio ac addysg diogelwch dŵr i ysgolion. Bydd hyn yn cefnogi ein hamcan i sicrhau 20 o wersi nofio i blant ym mlynyddoedd 4 a 5 ymhob ysgol gynradd yng Nghymru.
Mae £8 miliwn yn ychwanegol yn y gyllideb hon i ddiogelu tocynnau bws am £1 i blant a phobl ifanc. Mae’n gynllun llwyddiannus, yn annog ein pobl ifanc i ddefnyddio bysus ac yn lleihau eu costau byw nhw. Ers degawdau, mae trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus Cymru wedi bod yn annigonol. Byddwn yn buddsoddi £2 filiwn mewn gwasanaeth bws o'r gogledd i’r de—neu o'r de i'r gogledd—rhwng Bangor a Chaerfyrddin, a fydd ar waith o’r hydref ymlaen. Cynllun yw hwn i gysylltu cymunedau gafodd eu hamddifadu o’u cysylltiad rheilffordd nôl ym 1960au y ganrif ddiwethaf.
Dim ond rhan o’r stori yw’r arian sy’n cael ei gyhoeddi heddiw. Dyw darparu arian ychwanegol ynddo’i hun ddim yn arwydd o lwyddiant. Mae’r ffordd rŷn ni’n defnyddio’r arian hwnnw yr un mor bwysig. Dyna pam mae'r gwaith amlinellodd y Gweinidog Cabinet dros Effeithiolrwydd Llywodraeth a’r Cyfansoddiad yn gynharach y prynhawn yma am bwysigrwydd troi blaenoriaethau yn ganlyniadau yn mynd law yn llaw â’r gyllideb atodol hon, ac yn enwedig cyllideb yr hydref, fel bod pob punt yn gweithio’n galetach i bobl Cymru.
Mae'r rhagolygon ariannol dros y blynyddoedd nesaf yn heriol. Mae’n amlwg bod angen model ariannu tecach arnon ni i Gymru. Ein bwriad fel Llywodraeth yw meithrin perthynas adeiladol â Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig—pwy bynnag fydd yn arwain y Llywodraeth honno—i ddadlau’n hachos a mynd i’r afael â’r diffyg buddsoddiad hanesyddol yng Nghymru.
Yn fy nghyfarfod i â Phrif Ysgrifennydd y Trysorlys yr wythnos diwethaf, fe wnes i godi’r angen am ddiwygio cyllidol, cyllid rheilffyrdd hanesyddol ac i’r dyfodol a delio ag etifeddiaeth ddiwydiannol y tomenni glo. Byddwn ni’n parhau i bwyso am degwch drwy ein perthynas â Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Gyfunol, gan gynnwys yn y Pwyllgor Sefydlog Rhyngweinidogol ar Gyllid, a fydd yn cael ei gynnal yma yng Nghaerdydd cyn bo hir, gobeithio.
Official English translation
We have inherited a challenging financial situation, and we face significant pressures across the public sector. This is a supplementary budget—a budget within a financial year. We have therefore chosen to honour the budget voted for in January, a budget that is already in place in our health boards, county councils, national bodies and the voluntary and business sectors. The purpose of this budget is not to destabilise, but to start setting a new direction for public spending in Wales, in line with the priorities the people of Wales voted for in May.
As I mentioned, the financial situation is challenging and the financial pressures within the budgets are significant, especially in the health service. That's why this budget keeps money unallocated to allow us to manage the financial pressures during the year. The consequential funding to the budget from the write-off of local government’s special educational needs debts in England, together with the reserves at the beginning of a financial year, allow this Government to earmark additional funding today while keeping an eye on the ongoing financial pressures that continue within our public sector.
I spoke to the leader of local government in Wales last week to explain that councils will not receive the one-off funding to write off special education debts accumulated by local government in England, as those debts do not exist in Wales in the same way. We of course accept the financial pressure that is on local government and are particularly keen to work with councils and others to plan bespoke special education services that better meet the needs of children and families, whilst also being financially sustainable for the long term. Consequential funding for special educational needs will come into our budget possibly in 2028-29, and unlike this year's one-off funding, that will be recurrent funding. Working closely within the annual budget process will put additional learning needs on a sustainable and affordable footing for the future.
This supplementary budget is not intended to deliver everything, but as a first step towards making sure that our spending plans align with our manifesto. Today, I am confirming £294 million of extra funding: £164 million of resource funding and £130 million of capital funding.
We are prioritising extra money to reduce NHS waiting times. This includes £100 million of resource funding, £25 million of capital funding to develop new surgical and diagnostic hubs across Wales, and £20 million of additional capital for maintenance work in the NHS. This is a total investment of £145 million in our health system to speed up treatment and improve outcomes for the people of Wales. There is no doubt that there is a need for immediate progress on reducing the waiting list backlog, but we must also ensure that we keep waiting times down permanently. This is why we are also reforming the structure of the system, to build long-term capacity.
We have been completely clear that one of our main priorities is to tackle child poverty and support people in Wales with the rising cost of living. An extra £55 million will mean we can make early headway on our commitment to transform childcare. This extra budget will support our intention to accelerate the roll-out of 12 and half hours of childcare per week to all two-year-olds this year.
We are introducing £2 million to begin the implementation of the Cynnal pilot, our child payment of £10 a week for households claiming universal credit. It represents an important first step in our broader mission to tackle the terrible scourge of poverty, which is so damaging to children.
There is £15 million of extra funding going towards free school meals, as we begin offering free meals to secondary school pupils from families claiming universal credit from September onwards. We will work with schools and local authorities to deliver this. In this budget we are also allocating £40 million of extra capital to improve the quality of our school buildings. Also, an extra £5 million of extra capital will also go to the community facilities programme—an increase of 50 per cent to this year’s budget.
There will be £2 million of resource funding to support the roll-out of the new swimming and water safety programme for schools. This will support our intention to ensure 20 swimming lessons for children in years 4 and 5 in every primary school in Wales.
There is an extra £8 million in this budget to safeguard £1 bus fares for children and young people. This is a successful scheme that encourages our young people to use buses and reduces their living costs. For decades, public transport in Wales has been insufficient. We will be investing £2 million in a north-south—or south to north—coach service, linking Bangor and Carmarthen, which will be in place from this autumn. This is a scheme that will link communities that were deprived of their rail connection back in the 1960s.
The money that's being announced today is only part of the story. Simply providing additional money, in and of itself, is not a mark of success. How we use that money is just as important. That is why the work that the Cabinet Minister for Government Effectiveness and the Constitution outlined earlier this afternoon about the importance of turning priorities into outcomes goes hand in hand with this supplementary budget, and especially the autumn budget, so that every pound works harder for the people of Wales.
The financial outlook over the next few years is challenging. It is clear that we need a fairer funding model for Wales. Our aim as a Government is to build a constructive relationship with the UK Government—whoever leads that Government—to argue our case and address the historical underinvestment in Wales.
In my meeting with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury last week, I raised the need for fiscal reform, historical and future rail funding and tackling the industrial legacy of coal tips. We will continue to press for fairness through our engagement with the UK Government, including at the next meeting of the Finance: Interministerial Standing Committee, which will hopefully take place here in Cardiff soon.
As I look around me in this Chamber today, I see Members and parties who voted for this financial year’s current budget, which is unchanged by my statement today. I see those who have advocated over the past months in election campaigns throughout Wales the need to invest to reduce NHS waiting lists, who have supported reducing childcare costs on families, helping tackle child poverty, continuing support for young people’s bus travel and improving bus connections in rural communities. These priorities are also those that were voted for by the people of Wales and we need to enable all our delivery partners in health boards, local authorities, schools, communities and business now to get on with the job of using this budget’s additional resource to improve public services and cut costs to families.
I present this budget today, yes, in the name of Plaid Cymru, but also as a budget that can work for this Senedd as a whole, because it’s a budget that works for Wales as a whole. This is a prudent budget—it is, after all, a Cardi's budget—using the funding available, spending it wisely on people’s priorities, with an eye to the pressures on the public purse that continue to face us this year and the real-terms downward trajectory of the Welsh block over the coming years.
Heddiw, felly, dwi’n gosod cyllideb atodol i ddechrau gwireddu ein blaenoriaethau a sicrhau sefydlogrwydd ar gyfer y tymor hir, nid jest atebion tymor byr. Mae’r gyllideb yn gosod y sylfaen ar gyfer ariannu ymrwymiadau’r Llywodraeth hon, a dwi’n falch o’i chyflwyno i’r Senedd.
Official English translation
Today, therefore, I lay a supplementary budget that starts to deliver on our priorities and ensure long-term stability, not just short-term fixes. This budget lays the foundation for how this Government will fund the commitments it has made, and I am proud to present it to the Senedd.
Yes, in opposition, Plaid Cymru scrutinised the budget that was proposed by the previous Government, and we sought and received further additional resource as part of that budgetary process for both the NHS and local authorities. And, yes, of course we knew the allocation, but in opposition you don't get to see the books, and that's something you will learn. Therefore, the significant pressures within the budget line, the unallocated funding—the funding plans that had no allocation for them—of course, those weren't visible to Plaid Cymru or anybody else at the time. But the most important thing to say here is that there are significant NHS pressures in the budget. That's no surprise to any of us in this room, as we see an NHS that continues to struggle with the quantum of public funding it has available to it.
I don't recognise the narrative on capital reserves or the sums and figures that you've given. For clarity to the Chamber, then, and to dismiss the narrative that you've just given, this budget has an approximation or total of over £400 million revenue and £80 million capital [correction: £50 million capital] FootnoteLink that is in both the Welsh reserve and unallocated resource. As it outlines in the budget, there is £246 million unallocated resource as a result of this supplementary budget, and £29,000 unallocated general capital as a result has been retained in reserves as a result of this first supplementary budget. And that is in order to enable us, as we progress during this financial year, to meet some of the pressures that need to be met in the NHS and in other aspects of public services, and we will do that prudently.
The consequential to the Welsh budget of over £300 million that has resulted as a result of the debt write-off for local authorities on ALN provision in England is available to this budget. It is, as I said, not being seen as a way of providing a one-off contribution to local authorities as a result of that debt write-off; those debts have not existed or been allowed to exist in Wales in the same way as they have been in England. No extra provision in England will happen for additional learning needs as a result of the allocation in England. And therefore I think what this discussion on the consequential has resulted in is that it's brought us as a Government into early focus on the pressures on ALN budgets in Wales. As a Government—and we have communicated this to local authorities and we're doing so today as well—we are not in the business of one-off quick fixes; we are in the business of planning for a proper, sustainable footing for additional learning needs in Wales, and therefore the annual budget discussions that I will have with the Ministers for education and local government will result in a far more comprehensive assessment of where we are with ALN funding in Wales and how we can plan a service that delivers better for parents and children, and does so equally throughout Wales and in a way that is sustainable for the future.
This Government will have a numeracy and literacy plan. This Government wants to improve numeracy and literacy within our schools. Our intention is to develop that and to work with schools and others. Our intention is not to belittle the young people and children of Wales for what they are achieving. We don't find it an easy hit to get a quick laugh in this Chamber that we do that. We're serious about the job of work we want to do in order to improve the opportunities our young people have.
Diolch am y cyfraniad, a chroeso i'r portffolio—cardi yn sgrwtineiddio cardi yn fan hyn, neu gardi o fagwraeth beth bynnag. Ie, mae'r Gweinidogion wedi clywed, a dwi wedi clywed, y feirniadaeth, a dwi wedi'i chlywed hi cyn y prynhawn yma hefyd, ynglŷn â chyhoeddi ar gyllidebau ac ar y gwaith y mae'r Gweinidogion yn mynd i neilltuo y cyllidebau ychwanegol yma ar eu cyfer nhw. Mae rhywfaint o'r gwaith yna wedi cael ei gyflwyno i'w drafod yr wythnos diwethaf. Mae'r Gweinidogion yn rhy awyddus i gychwyn ar y gwaith, mae'n amlwg, ond dwi'n ymddiheuro bod hynny wedi digwydd o flaen llaw a chyn bod y drafodaeth yma yn digwydd yn y Senedd ei hunan.
Official English translation
I thank the Member for the contribution, and I welcome him to his portfolio—a cardi scrutinising a cardi here, or at least a cardi by upbringing. Yes, the Ministers have heard, and I've heard, the criticism, and I've heard it before this afternoon, in terms of announcements made on budgets and on the work that the Ministers are going to set aside budgets for. Some of that work has been presented for discussion last week. Ministers are, clearly, too eager to start on that work, but I do apologise that that has happened beforehand and before this discussion is held in the Senedd itself.
The capital allocation available to the Welsh Government, to this Welsh Government, is carried over from a capital allocation that was clearly outlined by Mark Drakeford, my predecessor, as something that he thought, and we agreed, should be allocated by the next Welsh Government. I did reference that in my statement, and it is part of the portfolio of funding that is available to enable this supplementary budget to be made.
I do need to say once more, though, that, in the scrutiny of a budget and in Plaid Cymru's decision to support allocating additional funds to the NHS and to local authorities in January of this year for this financial year, what is available to us as an opposition party is the allocation and the detail of the budget allocation. It is not a deep insight into the financial pressures within Government that that budget could lead to. That's what's new about what Plaid Cymru is seeing and what I've seen as a result of coming into Government. Those pressures are real, they are significant, and that's why this supplementary budget today is not allocating all its revenue or capital, is keeping some of that revenue and capital unallocated in order to meet those pressures and meet any additional issues that will come to pass, possibly, during this year.
The £145 million to the NHS for reducing waiting lists and for capital works as well is something that the people of Wales voted for in voting for a Plaid Cymru Government. It has been advocated by many around this Chamber that this is a priority for so many of us, because they are priorities that our constituents tell us about in our work as their representatives. But this allocation does differ from the allocations that were made by previous Governments. It doesn't just focus on bearing down on those waiting lists. It's not that sticking plaster that Darren Millar referred to earlier, but it does actually start the work also on creating a system that best deals with meeting the pressures that are ongoing, and to stop those waiting lists from increasing year on year, as they have done most recently. You'll have an opportunity, if you choose to, to question the health Minister immediately after this statement.
And yes, on transport, thank you for your welcome for the provisions that we've made for the young person's travel, continuing on the successful scheme that was introduced by the previous Government. And yes, I fully acknowledge that I heard him talk about this scheme often when he was the transport Minister. I was listening to him; he's not listening to me at this point. [Laughter.] I'm going to mention you, Ken, because this is your bus. I'm happy to say that this bus connection between Bangor and Carmarthen was started and developed in your Government with our support as an opposition party. I'm happy for us to call it Bus Ken, if need be, because it is a bus that meets the needs of the communities along the western seaboard that are not met by a rail connection that was taken away.
On ALN, the additional learning needs consequential is provided by the UK Treasury in England to write off historical debts accrued by councils in providing ALN services. It is not money to be used for providing more ALN services in England this year. It is a one-off debt, one-off write-off, so it's not money for service provision. However, as I said earlier, the discussion, the challenge around this consequential has focused our minds as a Government in our early days on the need to work with local authorities and schools to put ALN on a sustainable financial footing. A recurrent consequential for ALN may reach the Welsh block for 2028-29. Therefore, the work to deliver ALN services better for families concerned and more financially sustainable for the authorities delivering the services has already begun. We need to get on top of ALN expenditure. It has grown 2.5 times faster than overall educational spend in the last 10 years, and it is on a trajectory to reach a £1 billion spend within a few years. But this issue is best dealt with on a sustainable, recurrent basis, and properly planned for, and that is the work that I am going to be doing in the context of the annual budget with the Minister for education. We'll work with others, others in this Chamber, to ensure that we find a place where our additional learning needs, and those people who need the services, are better served, equally served throughout Wales, and that it is on a sustainable footing.
Thank you, Sam Rowlands, and thank you for those questions and comments. This Government is keen to ensure that it is both business friendly and keen to make sure that we support business and economic growth here in Wales. Our top priority for doing that is to establish the national economic development agency in Wales, and we are already in the process of developing that and ensuring that we will have the budgetary requirements for that agency as it needs to come on stream, and those are discussions that I'll continue to have with the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy as we move now to start the annual budget process for establishing next year's annual budget.
There are measures, of course, in this supplementary allocation today that will enable more people to take part in the workplace and contribute to the economy. Our childcare offer is, if not primarily, quite significantly argued for and will see benefit for those people who want to have childcare in order to enable them to either re-enter or re-enter more fully the jobs market. That's an important contribution to our economy. Reducing the travel costs for young people: young people are disincentivised from being able to reach employment opportunities because of significant travel costs, so that in itself as well enables that flexibility within the economic workplace. Tackling child poverty is another priority of this Government. The Cynnal payment and the pilot to establish that is something that we have committed to and we are funding in this supplementary budget. The Minister has established her taskforce to develop the detail of this, and in that detail as well, there will be the need to assess the work that this payment can contribute to, but we do need to be ensuring that more of our children are raised out of poverty.
Thank you for acknowledging the significant £40 million school capital funding allocation. There is no doubt—I've heard it mentioned by many here in the previous Senedd—that the standards of our school buildings are not where our young people or teachers deserve them to be, and so making an inroad and a significant part of the contribution of capital funding here, making an inroad into improving our schools is important.
Moving on, then, to the ALN consequential issue, you do make an important issue around school deficits. We do know that there are deficits that are held by schools, by more schools now than it used to be. The figures that I have show that 27 per cent of schools in Wales have a deficit, and we can also know that some of that deficit is created as a result of the pressures on ALN, but not exclusively ALN; there are other pressures that schools have faced as well. Therefore, these issues are ones that we will want to investigate as we move on now to think about how we ensure that schools are able to budget in a way that enables ALN to be delivered effectively in the school setting and beyond, so that we can get to a place where we are able to have a budgetary position and allocation for ALN, and a service that is planned for in a way that is better value for money, but also meets the needs better of those parents and children that depend on it.
Diolch, gyn-Gadeirydd y Pwyllgor Cyllid. Mi oedd e’n benderfyniad bwriadol gan y Llywodraeth yma i anrhydeddu’r gyllideb a basiwyd gan y Senedd ddiwethaf, ac i wneud hynny oherwydd bod y gyllideb yna eisoes yn weithredol gan ein byrddau iechyd, ein cynghorau sir a'n grwpiau gwirfoddol sydd yn dibynnu ar gyllid oddi wrth y Llywodraeth yma. Mae cymaint o wahanol agweddau o fywyd cyhoeddus Cymru wedi cynllunio ar gyfer gwariant ar sail y gyllideb a basiwyd ym mis Ionawr eleni, ac felly mae’r sicrwydd yna’n cael ei roi o’r gyllideb atodol fod y gyllideb yna’n parhau am y flwyddyn ariannol yma.
Oes, mae yna gyflymder wedi bod gan y Llywodraeth yma i symud i gyflwyno’r gyllideb atodol hon er mwyn caniatáu i’r Gweinidogion yma i fod yn medru cychwyn ar y gwaith o wireddu rhai o’r blaenoriaethau a bleidleisiodd pobl Cymru amdanyn nhw. Wrth i fi wrando ar gwestiynau a chyfraniadau yn y Senedd yma dros y bythefnos ddiwethaf yma, dwi wedi clywed lot fawr o feirniadaeth bod y Llywodraeth ddim yn symud yn ddigon cyflym, bod gormod o gynlluniau a gormod o feddwl amboutu beth i’w wneud. Mae’r gyllideb yma’n caniatáu i Weinidogion Cymru symud yn gyflym ac i’r cyrff cyhoeddus fedru cyllido a gwireddu’r cynlluniau sydd yn derbyn cyllid o’r setliad yma heddiw.
Felly, mae symud yn gyflym yn bwysig, ond mae’r pwynt olaf rydych chi’n ei wneud, Peredur, yn bwysig hefyd, sef bod yna 27 mlynedd o lywodraethu wedi digwydd cyn i Blaid Cymru ddod mewn yn llawn i lywodraethu yng Nghymru, ac felly mae eisiau i ni fel Plaid Cymru edrych ar yr haenau yna sydd wedi datblygu o fewn cyllido cyhoeddus yng Nghymru ac ail-lunio hwnnw fel ei fod e’n adlewyrchu’n well beth rŷn ni’n meddwl sy’n flaenoriaethau erbyn hyn i Lywodraeth Cymru, sef y rhai wnaeth pobl Cymru bleidleisio drostynt yn yr etholiad sydd newydd fod, a’r rhai, dwi’n credu, sydd hefyd yn cael eu gofyn amdanynt ar draws nifer o’r pleidiau sy’n cael eu cynrychioli yn y Senedd yma. Felly, job o waith yw hynny ar gyfer y broses o ddatblygu’r gyllideb ar gyfer y flwyddyn ariannol y flwyddyn nesaf.
Official English translation
Thank you very much to the former Chair of the Finance Committee. Yes, it was a deliberate decision by this Government to honour the budget passed by the previous Senedd, and to do that because that budget was already operational within our health boards, our local authorities and our voluntary groups who are reliant on Government funding. There are so many different aspects of Welsh public life that will have made plans for expenditure based on the budget passed in January of this year, and therefore that reassurance is provided through the supplementary budget that that budget remains in place for this financial year.
Yes, there has been some pace within this Government to move to introduce this supplementary budget in order to allow Ministers here to begin the work of delivering some of the priorities that the people of Wales voted for. As I've listened to questions and contributions in this Senedd over the past fortnight, I've heard a great deal of criticism that the Government isn't moving swiftly enough and that there are too many plans and too much thought being given to what should be done. This budget allows Welsh Ministers to move quickly and for public bodies to be able to budget and deliver the plans that are being funded as a result of this settlement today.
Therefore, moving apace is important, but the final point that you make, Peredur, is also important, namely that there have been 27 years of Government that happened before Plaid Cymru came in to fully govern in Wales, and therefore we as Plaid Cymru need to look at all of those layers that have developed within public budgeting in Wales and realign that so that it better reflects what we think are the priorities now for the Welsh Government, namely those that the people of Wales voted for in the election that's just taken place, and those that I think have been requested across many of the parties represented in this Senedd. So, there's a job of work to be done there in terms of the process of developing the budget for the next financial year.
To reiterate the point I've made several times now, yes, Plaid Cymru, as would all Members in that last Senedd, would have seen and known the allocations that the previous Government were allocating to various budgets as a result of that budget process and leading up to the vote. We did not have an insight into what pressures those allocations would lead into in the context of the public services that are delivered in Wales. That insight has been insightful to me as the Minister in bringing forward this budget today. That's why we are still needing to keep over £200 million unallocated as a result of this budget, because of those pressures that continue to exist. Yes, it is a difficult budget to bring to this Senedd today. It has various challenges that have been articulated across this Chamber as to where the priorities should be. But I suspect that budgets that are brought in the future over the coming years of this Senedd will be even more difficult, because the trajectory on real-terms revenue and capital allocations for the Welsh Government is down—9 per cent less real-terms capital expenditure available to us in two years' time. So, I suspect it's going to get worse, not better.
This budget today, this supplementary budget, honours the budget that the previous Government allocated to all public funding in Wales, including ALN. I don't need to point out to you that you were the Minister for education responsible for making the case within the previous budget for an allocation for ALN—greater, if it needed to be, as you've outlined here.
As I've said, we are genuine in our understanding. We know that we need, as a Government, to do more to develop a service that is sustainable and serves the users better than what we've inherited. I don't mean that in an adversarial way. I want to work with people like you, who have the expertise to provide to this Government and across this Chamber, and to the committee that will be established as well, to see that we can get to a place where we have a better system of funding additional learning needs, where it doesn't put the pressure it's putting on the third, as you say, of our schools currently. But I don't want to do that in a way where we are providing a one-off contribution this year that has to end at the end of this year. I want to plan it properly, so that it's done in a way that delivers the best value for both the people who are served by it and for the people who pay taxes in Wales.
As I said, this is on a trajectory to get to £1 billion in a few years in terms of spend on additional learning needs. If we are going to be spending £1 billion of our Welsh budget on additional learning needs, we need to absolutely make sure that it is spent in the best way. Because at the moment, we still have constituents complaining to us about the service that we have, even though there is two and a half times as much budget spent now on additional learning needs than there would have been three or four years ago. This is growing exponentially, and we need to plan for better delivery on this. I am genuine in wanting to get to that solution. I am not persuaded that the quick fix of this allocation in this year is the way to do that best. I know you have a different view on that. But I do want to ensure that we use this spotlight in this Chamber at this point on additional learning needs to get to a place where we have a better solution on how ALN is funded, how much it needs and how better it can deliver for our young people.
Diolch i chi, a chydnabyddiaeth lwyr am eich rôl chi fel Aelod yn y Senedd ddiwethaf, yn gweithio ar y cyd â'r Llywodraeth i gyflwyno teithio bws am £1 i bobl ifanc. Mae wedi bod, mae'n ymddangos, yn gynllun llwyddiannus iawn, a dyna pam mae'r Llywodraeth yma wedi'i pherswadio i barhau â'r cynllun yna. Yn yr un modd, y gydnabyddiaeth gennych chi am yr angen yna i edrych am fesurau sydd yn mynd i helpu Llywodraeth a'n helpu ni fel cymdeithas i daclo tlodi plant. Mae'r gwaith sydd wedi cychwyn yn waith cynnar, ond mae e'n waith sydd eisiau mynd i'r afael â thlodi plant. Ond fel ŷch chi'n ei ddweud, mae yna nifer o agweddau sydd yn mynd i sicrhau bod plant yn cael eu codi allan o dlodi, ac nid jest taliad uniongyrchol yw hynny.
Sonioch chi am dai. Wrth gwrs, mae £20 miliwn o gyllid cyfalaf yn y gyllideb yma ar gyfer buddsoddi mewn tai newydd, tai cymdeithasol newydd. Wedyn, o ran y pwynt wnaethoch chi ar y diwedd, yr hyn sydd yn ein galluogi ni fel Llywodraeth i fod yn fwy blaengar, i anelu hyd yn oed yn uwch yn sut rŷn ni'n defnyddio'r bunt Gymreig i ddelifro gwasanaethau'n well ac i fuddsoddi mwy yng Nghymru, yw os ydyn ni'n cael mwy o hyblygrwydd ar y pwerau yna, ar fenthyg yn enwedig. Mae'r setliad ariannol sydd gyda ni, y setliad ffisgal yna sydd gyda ni gyda Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Gyfunol, angen ei ddiwygio.
Dyw nifer fawr o'r pwerau sydd eisoes ar waith yn yr Alban ddim ar gael at bwrpas sefydlu cyllideb fel hyn heddiw. Felly, bydd y drafodaeth a gychwynnais i yr wythnos diwethaf gyda Phrif Ysgrifennydd y Trysorlys, pan gwrddais i â hi, ar yr anghenion i fynd i'r afael â nifer o'r materion yma—sydd ddim yn faterion datganoli enfawr, maen nhw'n bethau rhwydd i'w hadnabod ac mae yna werth penodol o fod yn eu cyflawni nhw—yn parhau gyda Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Gyfunol. Pwy a ŵyr, efallai bydd digwyddiadau'r diwrnod diwethaf yma'n arwain at well canlyniadau na'r hyn rŷn ni wedi ei weld dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf.
Official English translation
Thank you, and full recognition of your role as a Member in the last Senedd, working collaboratively with the Government to introduce the £1 bus fares for young people. It appears to be a very successful scheme, and that's why this Government has been persuaded to continue with that scheme. In the same way, the recognition from you of that need to look at measures that are going to help the Government and us as a society to tackle child poverty. The work that has started is early work, but it’s work that needs to tackle child poverty. But as you said, there are a number of different elements that will ensure that children are lifted out of child poverty, and it's not just about a direct payment.
You mentioned housing. Of course, there is £20 million of capital funding in this budget for investing in new housing, new social housing. Then, on the point that you made at the end, what does allow us as the Government to be more progressive, to aim even higher in how we use the Welsh pound to deliver services better and to invest more in Wales is, if we have more flexibility in terms of those borrowing powers in particular. The fiscal settlement that we have with the UK Government needs to be reformed.
A great number of powers that are already in place in Scotland aren't available in terms of our budgetary purposes today here. So, the discussion that I started with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, when I met her, on the need to tackle many of these issues—which aren't huge devolved issues, they are easy to identify and there is specific value in delivering them—will continue with the UK Government. And who knows, maybe the events of the last few days will lead to better outcomes than what we've seen over recent years.
Thank you for outlining the benefit and the good that will come from the £55 million on extending the childcare provision that's outlined in this supplementary budget. As you've outlined very clearly, childcare costs are a disincentive for people to be in the workplace. We need to have a more vibrant economy in Wales, and in order to enable us to do that we need more people taking part in that economy and contributing to creating wealth.
Childcare is good for the children too—that is something I've heard the Minister talk about often. Multiple studies show that improved access to affordable childcare supports higher employment, particularly among parents and carers, helping more people to enter work and increase their hours. There is a serious job of work that this Government wants to do to make the lives of young families easier, tackle their cost-of-living pressures and enable them to contribute to the economy for the wider public good, as you described it. I'm really pleased that we are able to put additional funding into this and to develop our full childcare policy as we roll that out over the next three years.
For the avoidance of doubt and for the public record, this budget that was published at 10 o'clock this morning has a balance of £246 million unallocated resource and £29 million [correction: £29,000] FootnoteLink unallocated general capital. That provides us with the flexibility to meet all the in-year pressures and possible events that you've doomed about and what this Government needs to do, and we're confident that this budget can deliver for the people of Wales.
Prynhawn da a chroeso, bawb, i'r Cyfarfod Llawn. Hwn yw'r cyfarfod cyntaf o seithfed Senedd Cymru. Gaf i gychwyn drwy ddweud pa mor hyfryd yw hi i weld y Siambr yma yn llawn? Gaf i estyn llongyfarchiadau i'r 95 ohonoch ar gael eich ethol i wasanaethu pobl Cymru yn ein Senedd genedlaethol? Bydd disgwyliadau'r etholwyr yn uchel o bob un ohonom, a'r cyfrifoldeb ar ein hysgwyddau i wireddu'r disgwyliadau hynny, a gwneud hynny gydag urddas, parch a twtsh bach o hwyl hefyd.
Wrth i fi baratoi i adael y swydd yma, gaf i ddymuno pob llwyddiant i chi i gyd yn eich gwaith pwysig dros y pedair blynedd nesaf? Felly, fel Llywydd, fy nyletswydd i o dan Reol Sefydlog 6.4 yw cadeirio'r trafodion ar gyfer ethol Llywydd newydd. Rwy'n gwahodd enwebiadau o dan Reol Sefydlog 6.6. A oes yna Aelod yn cael ei enwebu?
Official English translation
Good afternoon and welcome, all, to this Plenary meeting, which is the first meeting of the seventh Senedd. May I start by saying how wonderful it is to see this Chamber full? May I congratulate the 95 of you elected to serve the people of Wales in our national Parliament? The expectations of constituents of us all will be very great, and we have a responsibility to deliver against those expectations, and to do so with dignity, respect and some hwyl too.
As I prepare to leave this role, may I wish you all every success in your important work over the next four years? So, as Llywydd, it's my duty, under Standing Order 6.4, to chair proceedings for the election of a new Presiding Officer. I therefore invite nominations under Standing Order 6.6. Are there any nominations?
Na. Gan nad oes yna eilydd i'r enwebiad hynny, dim ond un enwebiad, felly, sydd wedi'i gynnig yn ffurfiol ac yn llawn, a chynigiaf felly, yn unol â Rheol Sefydlog 6.8, fod Huw Irranca-Davies yn cael ei ethol yn Llywydd. A oes unrhyw Aelod yn gwrthwynebu hynny? [Gwrthwynebiad.] Mae yna wrthwynebiad i hynny. Felly, gan fod yna wrthwynebiad, dwi nawr yn gofyn i'r ymgeisydd wneud cyfraniad byr i'r Siambr—Huw Irranca-Davies.
Official English translation
There is not. As there is no seconder for that nomination, there is just one nomination that is put forward formally and fully, and I therefore propose, in accordance with Standing Order 6.8, that Huw Irranca-Davies be elected Llywydd. Does any Member object? [Objection.] There is objection to that. As there is an objection, I now ask the candidate to make a brief contribution to the Chamber—Huw Irranca-Davies.
Byddwn ni nawr yn symud at y bleidlais gyfrinachol, a byddaf i'n atal y cyfarfod, er mwyn hwyluso hynny, dros dro. Bydd y pleidleisio yn digwydd yn ystafell friffio 13, sydd jest y tu allan i'r Siambr yma. Ni fydd y balot yn cau tan fod pob Aelod sy'n bwriadu pleidleisio wedi gwneud hynny.
Rwyf i wedi cytuno y caiff Sarah Murphy bleidleisio drwy ddirprwy am ei bod hi ar absenoldeb rhiant, a bydd Vikki Howells yn bwrw'r bleidlais honno ar ei rhan hi fel dirprwy.
Y clerc fydd yn gyfrifol am oruchwylio'r pleidleisio a'r cyfrif, ac ar ôl cyfri'r pleidleisiau a gaiff eu bwrw yn y bleidlais gyfrinachol, bydd y gloch yn cael ei chanu fel y gallwn ailymgynnull ar gyfer cyhoeddi'r canlyniad. Felly, dwi'n atal y cyfarfod dros dro am nawr.
Official English translation
We will now move to the secret ballot, and I will suspend the meeting to conduct that secret ballot. Voting will take place in briefing room 13, which is just outside this Chamber. The ballot will not close until all Members intending to vote have done so.
I have agreed that Sarah Murphy may vote by proxy for reasons of parental leave, and Vikki Howells will exercise the vote on her behalf as a proxy.
The clerk will be responsible for overseeing the voting and the count, and, once the votes cast have been counted from the secret ballot, the bell will be rung so that we may reconvene to announce the result. So, I suspend the meeting.
Rydyn ni'n ailgydio yn y cyfarfod. Mae gyda fi ganlyniad ichi yn dilyn y bleidlais gyfrinachol. Mae 95 o bleidleisiau wedi eu bwrw ar gyfer Huw Irranca-Davies. O blaid Huw Irranca-Davies 85 o bleidleisiau, yn erbyn naw, yn ymatal un. Difethwyd ddim un pleidlais. Felly, dwi'n gallu datgan, yn unol â Rheol Sefydlog 6.9, fod Huw Irranca-Davies wedi cael ei ethol yn Llywydd y Senedd. Llongyfarchiadau mawr. [Cymeradwyaeth.] Fe fyddwn ni nawr yn atal y cyfarfod dros dro am eiliad neu ddwy, tra bod y Llywydd newydd yn dod i'r Gadair.
Official English translation
We reconvene. I have a result for you following that secret ballot. There were 95 votes cast for Huw Irranca-Davies. In favour there were 85 votes, against nine, and one abstention. There were no spoilt ballot papers. So, I declare, in accordance with Standing Order 6.9, that Huw Irranca-Davies is elected as Presiding Officer of the Senedd. Many congratulations. [Applause.] We will now suspend the meeting for a second or two before the Presiding Officer takes the Chair.