English: Can I thank the Chair of the Finance Committee for his statement today? As one of the three members of the committee who visited Edinburgh, and the only one who unwisely took the train and ended up taking a lot longer than everyone else, I found it extremely useful when I got there, particularly the meetings with the Scottish Parliament's Finance and Constitution Committee, the Scottish Fiscal Commission and Revenue Scotland. I think it's worth stating as well that the Chair and myself - I think we were the only ones - also visited the Auditor General for Scotland, Caroline Gardner, who had an invaluable insight and oversight into the way the different organisations worked together in the new fiscal landscape that is developing. As you said, Simon, Scotland demonstrates the importance of building expertise in devolved fiscal arrangements and we can learn from both good practice and, indeed, mistakes that have been made north of the border. So, turning to my main question: what role do you see the Finance Committee being able to play in aiding in this process over the rest of the Assembly term as fiscal devolution progresses? It strikes me that, never in the history of the Assembly has the Finance Committee really been potentially in such a pivotal and influential role in terms of deepening devolution and I think there's a chance for the committee to really come into its own during this process. In terms of the development of the Welsh Treasury and economic forecasting capacity, these are huge areas, and although Dafydd Elis-Thomas would say that these are issues for the Welsh Government primarily to be concerned about, I think it's a huge task for any Government to have to deal with. So, I think there is an important role both for this Assembly and the Assembly committees, including our committee, to do what we can to influence, to provide guidance and to feed back to the Welsh Government on where we think that good practice can be built upon. The Chair mentioned Revenue Scotland and the importance of stakeholder engagement in framing the system to the benefit of the Welsh taxpayer. Our committee has a wealth of experience in stakeholder engagement, so, again, it can play a valuable role in engagement and pressing for what I think we need, which is a bespoke Welsh tax-raising framework that people in Wales can feel comfortable with and can be proud of. We've spoken about this in committee, Chair, but we don't want an adequate WRA; we want a world-class Welsh Revenue Authority. We want something that really can pave the way - not an easy goal, I know, but I think that's what we should be aspiring to. Personally, I would have preferred the organisation to have been 'revenue Wales', a point that I made in the previous Assembly. I think I was outvoted by every other Member in this Chamber. But I think that, certainly looking at the way that Revenue Scotland has developed, then 'revenue Wales' can certainly learn from that organisation north of the border. Just briefly, Deputy Presiding Officer, and turning to the Scottish Fiscal Commission, I tend to agree, the evidence that we took seemed to suggest that it wasn't necessary for Wales, or it wasn't the best value for money for Wales to necessarily go down the route of having a fiscal commission. However, we do need to make sure that the Welsh Government does have access to the best possible and timely data. That has not always been the case in the past, but in the case of fiscal devolution, it's going to be really important that we get up to speed on that area as quickly as possible, and I know that the Chair of the Finance Committee will say that the committee wants to assist the Welsh Government and the finance Cabinet Secretary as much as possible in this process.
Welsh: A gaf fi ddiolch i Gadeirydd y Pwyllgor Cyllid am ei ddatganiad heddiw? Fel un o dri aelod o'r pwyllgor a ymwelodd â Chaeredin, a'r unig un a fu mor annoeth â mynd ar y trên a chymryd llawer mwy o amser na phawb arall, fe'i cefais yn hynod ddefnyddiol pan gyrhaeddais yno, yn enwedig y cyfarfodydd gyda Phwyllgor Cyllid a Chyfansoddiad Senedd yr Alban, Comisiwn Cyllidol yr Alban a Revenue Scotland. Rwy'n credu ei bod yn werth nodi yn ogystal fod y Cadeirydd a minnau - credaf mai ni oedd yr unig rai - wedi ymweld hefyd ag Archwilydd Cyffredinol yr Alban, Caroline Gardner, a oedd â dealltwriaeth a throsolwg gwerthfawr o'r ffordd roedd y sefydliadau gwahanol yn gweithio gyda'i gilydd mewn tirwedd gyllidol newydd sy'n datblygu. Fel y dywedoch, Simon, mae'r Alban yn dangos pwysigrwydd adeiladu arbenigedd mewn trefniadau cyllidol datganoledig a gallwn ddysgu o arferion da, a chamgymeriadau a wnaed, yn wir, i'r gogledd o'r ffin. Felly, i droi at fy mhrif gwestiwn: pa rôl y gwelwch y Pwyllgor Cyllid yn gallu ei chwarae yn cynorthwyo yn y broses hon dros weddill tymor y Cynulliad wrth i ddatganoli cyllidol fynd rhagddo? Mae'n fy nharo nad yw'r Pwyllgor Cyllid erioed yn hanes y Cynulliad wedi bod mewn rôl mor allweddol a dylanwadol mewn gwirionedd o ran dyfnhau datganoli, ac rwy'n meddwl bod yna gyfle i'r pwyllgor fod yn wirioneddol effeithiol yn ystod y broses hon. O ran datblygiad Trysorlys Cymru a gallu darogan economaidd, mae'r rhain yn feysydd enfawr, ac er y byddai Dafydd Elis-Thomas yn dweud eu bod yn faterion i Lywodraeth Cymru yn bennaf ymhel â hwy, rwy'n credu ei bod yn dasg enfawr i unrhyw Lywodraeth orfod ymdrin â hi. Felly, rwy'n credu bod rôl bwysig ar gyfer y Cynulliad hwn a phwyllgorau'r Cynulliad, gan gynnwys ein pwyllgor, i wneud yr hyn a allwn i ddylanwadu, i roi arweiniad ac i adrodd yn ôl i Lywodraeth Cymru ynglŷn â ble y credwn y gellir datblygu arferion da. Soniodd y Cadeirydd am Revenue Scotland a phwysigrwydd ymgysylltu â rhanddeiliaid wrth lunio'r system er budd trethdalwyr Cymru. Mae gan ein pwyllgor gyfoeth o brofiad mewn ymgysylltu â rhanddeiliaid, felly, unwaith eto, gall chwarae rhan werthfawr yn ymgysylltu ac yn pwyso am yr hyn y credaf sydd ei angen arnom, sef fframwaith codi treth pwrpasol y gall pobl yng Nghymru deimlo'n gyfforddus ag ef a bod yn falch ohono. Rydym wedi siarad am hyn yn y pwyllgor, Cadeirydd, ond nid ydym am gael Awdurdod Cyllid Cymru sy'n ddigonol; rydym am gael Awdurdod Cyllid Cymru o safon fyd-eang. Rydym eisiau rhywbeth a all baratoi'r ffordd o ddifrif - ac nid yw hwnnw'n nod hawdd, rwy'n gwybod, ond credaf mai at hynny y dylem anelu. Yn bersonol, byddai wedi bod yn well gennyf i'r sefydliad fod wedi bod yn 'refeniw Cymru', pwynt a wneuthum yn y Cynulliad blaenorol. Rwy'n credu bod pob Aelod arall yn y Siambr wedi pleidleisio yn fy erbyn. Ond rwy'n credu, yn sicr wrth edrych ar y ffordd y mae Revenue Scotland wedi datblygu, y gall 'refeniw Cymru' yn sicr ddysgu gan y sefydliad hwnnw i'r gogledd o'r ffin. Yn fyr iawn, Dirprwy Lywydd, a chan droi at Gomisiwn Cyllidol yr Alban, rwy'n tueddu i gytuno, roedd y dystiolaeth a gymerwyd gennym i'w gweld yn awgrymu nad oedd ei angen ar Gymru, neu nad oedd mynd ar drywydd cael comisiwn cyllidol yn cynnig y gwerth gorau am arian i Gymru o reidrwydd. Fodd bynnag, mae angen i ni wneud yn siŵr fod Llywodraeth Cymru yn cael gweld y data gorau posibl a mwyaf amserol. Nid yw hynny wedi bod yn wir bob amser yn y gorffennol, ond yn achos datganoli cyllidol, mae'n mynd i fod yn wirioneddol bwysig ein bod yn gwybod beth yw beth yn y maes hwnnw cyn gynted ag y bo modd, a gwn y bydd Cadeirydd y Pwyllgor Cyllid yn dweud bod y pwyllgor yn awyddus i gynorthwyo Llywodraeth Cymru ac Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros gyllid cymaint ag y bo modd yn y broses hon.