English: Can I begin just by thanking my fellow members of the committee and also the Chair for, as always, his excellent stewardship of this? It was great that the Chair and the committee decided to return to this, rather than park previous reports and leave them sit, but to actually come back with the intention of encouraging, assisting, showing the Government where we still need to make progress. And I think it's worthwhile committees doing that as a matter of practice - revisiting work that they've done. I'd also like to thank all the witnesses who did come in front of us and gave so much of their time and expertise as well. Vikki, my colleague - we share a local authority in Rhondda Cynon Taf - went through the good practice that has been carried out there and the fact that Rhondda Cynon Taf now is seen as an exemplar by Welsh Government. And, in fact, the work that it's done will be rolled out now across the south Wales Valleys taskforce area. In fact, it's probably slightly ahead of the curve here. A lot of the things are referred to in the report about that expert-led approach, the community engagement, including with, I have to say, elements such as co-operative and community-led housing initiatives as well. They've gone ahead of us here, and they do point the way very well. So, we know it can be done, and they've used every tool at their disposal, not simply enforcement powers, not simply grant funding and other financial mechanisms, but actually working with the owners of the properties and the occupiers as well to say, 'Right, how do we use this, not only to regenerate homes but to regenerate communities on a much wider scale?' I really do welcome the report and the positive response from the Government to this as well - all but one recommendation have been accepted. One has been rejected, which I'll come back to in a moment, and a couple accepted on principle. But the first basic one, this call for a national action plan - I very much welcome the fact you've agreed to bring that forward, and to bring it forward by what I think and - we had some discussion in committee - we thought was a challenging date. We pinned it down to October next year and we thought, 'Can the Government do this?' Now, you've agreed to bring forward the draft by then, which I think we can probably live with. And then, two months later, by December - October, November, December - two months later, actually bringing forward the final one. That's quite ambitious, but I think we're content with that, and particularly the fact that you've agreed to do it. On these community-based approaches, can I recommend to the Minister, as she seeks to both respond to what the committee has said and look forward - ? There was an excellent presentation here in the Senedd buildings the other day, which was organised, in fact, by my colleague, in her role as chair in the co-operatives and mutuals organisation of the Tai Fechan housing initiative in the Gellideg estate. That's the ultimate, actually, in community engagement there, because those people are not simply involved in the regeneration of their homes, they are managing the regeneration of their homes in concert with the local authority, and have set themselves up as a collective. Now, there is much more potential in this, so I would be interested in hearing from the Minister, in line with our support for the co-operative movement and also community-led housing initiatives, how much more we could do on this. We have got 137 co-operative homes in six different local authorities in Wales. It seems to me that this could be a significant part of the solution in communities where properties have lain empty for not just months, but years and years and years - empowering them to step up and actually take control over the regeneration of homes and affordable homes in their areas. I want to turn to the issue of the expertise that resides within an authority. This is a common theme that we picked up, and that's why we brought forward recommendations to actually have an officer with an authority. Now, I think that the Minister in the Government's response has accepted that, of course, but I'm not sure that they've pinned down that there should be an officer within each local authority, that all the tools should be available. So, I'd be interested in the Minister's thoughts on that: if not an officer, how do we make sure that the good practice that we've heard about is happening in every single local authority? The legal expertise is a critical recommendation. We heard repeatedly that, in some local authorities, there was a concern that their officers were not able to draw upon in-house sufficient legal expertise when they were using some of the more stringent enforcement powers, and I'm glad that the Welsh Government has accepted that recommendation. I'm also glad that we've not turned down the idea of exploring further the compulsory sales orders that they're trying in Scotland. I'm intrigued by the Government's response: 'We are content to review the Compulsory Sales Order in consultation with our planning colleagues and ascertain if the implementation in Wales is feasible.' I know, Minister, that you've got to look at whether it works effectively in Scotland, but we were told that this has real potential, because it strips out the bureaucracy and the costs and the risks to local authorities of going down compulsory purchase order lines. My final question to the Minister is: how does this lead us as well to deal with commercial non-residential properties - those equally eyesores within communities that are commercial properties that have been left empty for year after year after year, often on the gateways to communities, and they really do drag it down. Are there lessons to be learned from this that we can apply to those as well?
Welsh: A gaf fi ddechrau drwy ddiolch i fy nghyd-Aelodau ar y pwyllgor a hefyd i'r Cadeirydd am ei stiwardiaeth ragorol ar hyn, fel bob amser? Roedd yn wych fod y Cadeirydd a'r pwyllgor wedi penderfynu dychwelyd at y mater hwn yn hytrach na gwthio adroddiadau blaenorol i'r naill ochr a gadael iddynt, ond yn hytrach, eu bod wedi dychwelyd ato gyda'r bwriad o annog, cynorthwyo, dangos i'r Llywodraeth lle mae angen inni wneud cynnydd o hyd. Ac rwy'n credu ei bod yn werth i bwyllgorau wneud hynny'n arfer - ailedrych ar y gwaith y maent wedi'i wneud. Hoffwn ddiolch hefyd i'r holl dystion a ddaeth ger ein bron a rhoi gymaint o'u hamser a'u harbenigedd hefyd. Aeth Vikki, fy nghyd-Aelod - rydym yn rhannu awdurdod lleol yn Rhondda Cynon Taf - drwy'r arferion da a gyflawnwyd yno, a'r ffaith bod Rhondda Cynon Taf yn cael ei weld yn awr fel esiampl i'w dilyn gan Lywodraeth Cymru. Ac mewn gwirionedd, caiff y gwaith y mae wedi'i wneud ei gyflwyno bellach ar draws ardal tasglu Cymoedd de Cymru. Yn wir, mae'n debyg ei fod ychydig ar y blaen yn hyn o beth. Cyfeirir at lawer o bethau yn yr adroddiad mewn perthynas â'r dull o weithredu dan arweiniad arbenigwyr, y cyswllt â'r gymuned, gan gynnwys gydag elfennau megis mentrau tai cydweithredol a mentrau dan arweiniad y gymuned hefyd. Maent wedi mynd o'n blaenau ni yma, ac maent yn dangos y ffordd yn dda iawn. Felly, gwyddom y gellir ei wneud, ac maent wedi defnyddio pob arf sydd ar gael iddynt, nid pwerau gorfodi yn unig, nid cyllid grant a mecanweithiau ariannol eraill yn unig, ond gweithio gyda pherchnogion yr eiddo a'r perchen-feddianwyr yn ogystal i ddweud, 'Iawn, sut y defnyddiwn hyn, nid yn unig i adfywio cartrefi ond i adfywio cymunedau ar raddfa lawer ehangach?' Rwy'n croesawu'r adroddiad yn fawr a'r ymateb cadarnhaol gan y Llywodraeth i hyn hefyd - mae pob un ond un o'r argymhellion wedi'u derbyn. Mae un wedi'i wrthod, a dof yn ôl at hwnnw mewn munud, ac un neu ddau wedi'u derbyn mewn egwyddor. Ond yr un sylfaenol cyntaf, yr alwad hon am gynllun gweithredu cenedlaethol - rwy'n croesawu'n fawr eich bod wedi cytuno i gyflwyno hwnnw'n gynt, ac i'w gyflwyno erbyn dyddiad - cawsom rywfaint o drafodaeth yn y pwyllgor - y credem y byddai'n un heriol. Llwyddwyd i gytuno ar fis Hydref y flwyddyn nesaf, ac roeddem yn meddwl, 'A all y Llywodraeth wneud hyn?' Nawr, rydych wedi cytuno i gyflwyno'r drafft erbyn hynny, ac rwy'n credu y gallwn fyw gyda hynny. Ac yna, ddeufis yn ddiweddarach, erbyn mis Rhagfyr - Hydref, Tachwedd, Rhagfyr - ddau fis yn ddiweddarach, cyflwyno'r un terfynol. Mae hynny'n eithaf uchelgeisiol, ond rwy'n credu ein bod yn hapus ynglŷn â hynny, ac yn enwedig ynglŷn â'r ffaith eich bod wedi cytuno i'w wneud. O ran y dulliau dan arweiniad y gymuned, a gaf fi argymell i'r Gweinidog, wrth iddi geisio ymateb i'r hyn y mae'r pwyllgor wedi'i ddweud ac edrych ymlaen - ? Cafwyd cyflwyniad rhagorol yma yn adeiladau'r Senedd y diwrnod o'r blaen, a drefnwyd, mewn gwirionedd, gan fy nghyd-Aelod, yn ei rôl fel cadeirydd yn sefydliad cwmnïau cydweithredol a chydfuddiannol y fenter tai Tai Fechan ar ystâd Gellideg. Dyna enghraifft o'r radd flaenaf o ymgysylltu â'r gymuned, oherwydd mae'r bobl hynny'n ymwneud â llawer mwy nag adfywio eu cartrefi, maent yn rheoli'r gwaith o adfywio eu cartrefi ar y cyd â'r awdurdod lleol, ac maent wedi sefydlu eu hunain fel cydweithfa. Nawr, mae llawer mwy o botensial yn hyn, felly byddai gennyf ddiddordeb mewn clywed gan y Gweinidog, yn unol â'n cefnogaeth i'r mudiad cydweithredol a hefyd i fentrau tai dan arweiniad y gymuned, faint yn fwy y gallem ei wneud ar hyn. Mae gennym 137 o gartrefi cydweithredol mewn chwe awdurdod lleol gwahanol yng Nghymru. Ymddengys i mi y gallai hyn fod yn rhan sylweddol o'r ateb mewn cymunedau lle mae eiddo wedi bod yn wag nid yn unig ers misoedd, ond ers blynyddoedd lawer - eu galluogi i gamu ymlaen a chymryd rheolaeth dros adfywio cartrefi a chartrefi fforddiadwy yn eu hardaloedd. Hoffwn droi at yr arbenigedd sy'n bodoli mewn awdurdod. Mae hon yn thema gyffredin a nodwyd gennym, a dyna pam y gwnaethom gyflwyno argymhellion i gael swyddog o fewn awdurdod. Nawr, rwy'n meddwl bod y Gweinidog yn ymateb y Llywodraeth wedi derbyn hynny wrth gwrs, ond nid wyf yn siŵr eu bod wedi nodi y dylid cael swyddog ym mhob awdurdod lleol, y dylai'r holl offer fod ar gael. Felly, hoffwn wybod beth yw barn y Gweinidog ar hynny: os nad swyddog, sut y gwnawn yn siŵr fod yr arferion da y clywsom amdanynt yn digwydd ym mhob awdurdod lleol? Mae'r arbenigedd cyfreithiol yn argymhelliad hollbwysig. Clywsom dro ar ôl tro fod pryder mewn rhai awdurdodau lleol nad oedd eu swyddogion yn gallu manteisio ar arbenigedd cyfreithiol digonol yn fewnol pan oeddent yn defnyddio rhai o'r pwerau gorfodi llymach, ac rwy'n falch fod Llywodraeth Cymru wedi derbyn yr argymhelliad hwnnw. Rwyf hefyd yn falch nad ydym wedi gwrthod y syniad o archwilio ymhellach y gorchmynion gwerthu gorfodol y maent yn eu treialu yn yr Alban. Mae ymateb y Llywodraeth yn peri penbleth i mi: 'Rydym yn hapus i adolygu'r Gorchymyn Gwerthu Gorfodol mewn ymgynghoriad â'n cydweithwyr yn y maes cynllunio, gan ystyried a fyddai'n ymarferol ei weithredu yng Nghymru.' Rwy'n gwybod, Weinidog, fod yn rhaid i chi edrych i weld a yw'n gweithio'n effeithiol yn yr Alban, ond dywedwyd wrthym fod potensial gwirioneddol i hyn, am ei fod yn cael gwared ar y fiwrocratiaeth a'r costau a'r risgiau i awdurdodau lleol o ddilyn trywydd y gorchmynion prynu gorfodol. Dyma fy nghwestiwn olaf i'r Gweinidog: sut y mae hyn yn ein harwain i ymdrin ag eiddo masnachol amhreswyl hefyd - yr adeiladau lawn mor hyll hynny mewn cymunedau sy'n eiddo masnachol a adawyd yn wag flwyddyn ar ôl blwyddyn, yn aml ar y ffordd i mewn i gymunedau, ac maent yn falltod go iawn ar y cymunedau hynny. A oes gwersi i'w dysgu o hyn y gallwn eu cymhwyso ar gyfer y rheini hefyd?