English: Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. I welcome the Finance Committee's report on their inquiry into a legislative budget process. It's provided a really valuable opportunity to reflect on the changes to the budget process over the course of this administration, and it's also demonstrated how the good working between the Welsh Government and the Finance Committee over many years has improved the budget process in Wales. We're all familiar with the increases in the fiscal responsibilities of the Senedd over this Senedd term. The most significant of these was the devolution of tax powers, which led to the jointly agreed budget process protocol in 2017. As part of this debate, it's also right that we consider the suitability of the current arrangements, particularly given the way in which these processes have needed to respond to the circumstances that have impacted our budget preparations in recent years. Before I respond to the points on legislation, I want to focus on flexibility, because flexibility is an important requirement for a budget process. It's a positive reflection on our existing approach that, despite the unprecedented circumstances, our jointly agreed 2017 protocol has provided us with sufficient flexibility. This has included ensuring that the increased scrutiny period that the protocol introduced - from five weeks to eight weeks - has not been unduly compromised, despite the circumstances that have affected our preparations. In contrast, a legislative process introduces additional time constraints, which could impact on flexibility and scrutiny. Given that Wales and Scotland have both faced the same circumstances, I read with interest the assessment of the Scottish legislative budget process and I would argue that our protocol has provided equivalent abilities to respond without the need for legislation. It is right, however, that as we continue the journey of devolution and seek greater fiscal responsibilities we should also consider the potential role of legislation such as a budget bill or a more comprehensive finance Bill. We're already committed to using legislation where there's a demonstrable need to do so. We're developing tax legislation at the moment to ensure that we have a mechanism for making changes to the Welsh tax Acts at short notice, as required, whilst allowing for proper scrutiny by the Senedd. Any consideration of a legislative budget process also needs to be balanced against the potential disadvantages, and I welcome the Finance Committee's recognition that these risks need to be fully explored to ensure that we don't adversely impact upon our ability to provide funding certainty to partners and to stakeholders. Alongside scrutiny, I recognise the importance of enabling the Senedd to have an opportunity to influence budget priorities and allocations earlier on in the process. We've already taken a number of steps that have been achieved without the need for legislation, and this includes the agreement to a Plenary debate before the summer recess to influence our early preparations, and I would welcome further discussions on what other improvements can be made to our current approach. We have also continued to improve transparency by providing a greater level of detail and supporting information. In this context, I welcome the Finance Committee's acknowledgement of the steps that we have taken to publish our tax and borrowing plans and forecasts. We also now publish the chief economist's report; the Welsh tax policy report; the Welsh taxes outlook; the children and young people's budget leaflet; the budget improvement plan; and consolidated written evidence to Senedd scrutiny committees. This is more than is provided in many other national budgets, including countries where they have legislative budget processes, but, of course, we are committed to exploring what more we can do. The issue of providing multi-year settlements is also something that we've discussed on many occasions. Unfortunately, our ability to provide longer term funding is largely dependent on the UK Government's budget cycle and the extent to which we can provide realistic and sensible planning assumptions given the current fiscal and economic climate. As such, a legislative budget process wouldn't impact on this issue. So, in summary, today's debate has shown that there are many benefits identified within this report that we can explore taking forward without the need for legislation. However, on the fundamental point of a legislative budget, we do not feel that the additional benefits of undertaking these reforms have yet been demonstrated, but, that said, in recognising the importance of this longer term agenda, we would be open to discussing the option of a review process, such as the Scottish budget process review group. With both Government, Senedd and invited external experts engaged, a review could be undertaken of the benefits and issues of introducing further reforms to our budget process, including the use of legislation. So, in closing, today's debate has provided an important opportunity to consider how we continue to ensure that our budget process is both transparent and inclusive. Diolch yn fawr.
Welsh: Diolch, Lywydd dros dro. Rwy'n croesawu adroddiad y Pwyllgor Cyllid ar ei ymchwiliad i broses ddeddfwriaethol ar gyfer y gyllideb. Mae wedi rhoi cyfle gwerthfawr iawn i fyfyrio ar y newidiadau i broses y gyllideb yn ystod y weinyddiaeth hon, ac mae hefyd wedi dangos sut y mae'r gwaith da rhwng Llywodraeth Cymru a'r Pwyllgor Cyllid dros flynyddoedd lawer wedi gwella proses y gyllideb yng Nghymru. Rydym i gyd yn gyfarwydd â'r cynnydd yng nghyfrifoldebau cyllidol y Senedd dros dymor y Senedd hon. Y mwyaf arwyddocaol o'r rhain oedd datganoli pwerau treth, a arweiniodd at brotocol y broses gyllidebol y cytunwyd arno ar y cyd yn 2017. Fel rhan o'r ddadl hon, mae'n iawn hefyd ein bod yn ystyried addasrwydd y trefniadau presennol, yn enwedig o ystyried y ffordd y mae angen i'r prosesau hyn ymateb i'r amgylchiadau sydd wedi effeithio ar ein paratoadau ar gyfer y gyllideb yn ystod y blynyddoedd diwethaf. Cyn i mi ymateb i'r pwyntiau am ddeddfwriaeth, rwyf am ganolbwyntio ar hyblygrwydd, oherwydd mae hyblygrwydd yn ofyniad pwysig ar gyfer proses gyllidebol. Mae'n adlewyrchiad cadarnhaol o'n dull presennol o weithredu fod ein protocol 2017 y cytunwyd arno ar y cyd, er gwaethaf yr amgylchiadau digynsail, wedi rhoi digon o hyblygrwydd i ni. Mae hyn wedi cynnwys sicrhau nad yw'r cyfnod craffu cynyddol a gyflwynwyd gan y protocol - o bum wythnos i wyth wythnos - wedi'i beryglu'n ormodol, er gwaethaf yr amgylchiadau sydd wedi effeithio ar ein paratoadau. Mewn cyferbyniad, mae proses ddeddfwriaethol yn cyflwyno cyfyngiadau amser ychwanegol, a allai effeithio ar hyblygrwydd a chraffu. O gofio bod Cymru a'r Alban ill dwy wedi wynebu'r un amgylchiadau, darllenais gyda diddordeb yr asesiad o'r broses ddeddfwriaethol ar gyfer cyllideb yr Alban a byddwn yn dadlau bod ein protocol wedi darparu galluoedd cyfatebol i ymateb heb fod angen deddfwriaeth. Mae'n iawn, fodd bynnag, wrth i ni barhau â'r daith ddatganoli a cheisio mwy o gyfrifoldebau cyllidol, y dylem hefyd ystyried rôl bosibl deddfwriaeth megis Bil cyllideb neu Fil cyllid mwy cynhwysfawr. Rydym eisoes wedi ymrwymo i ddefnyddio deddfwriaeth lle mae'n amlwg fod angen gwneud hynny. Rydym yn datblygu deddfwriaeth treth ar hyn o bryd i sicrhau bod gennym fecanwaith ar gyfer gwneud newidiadau i Ddeddfau treth Cymru ar fyr rybudd yn ôl y gofyn, tra'n caniatáu i'r Senedd graffu'n briodol. Hefyd, mae angen cydbwyso unrhyw ystyriaeth o broses ddeddfwriaethol ar gyfer y gyllideb yn erbyn yr anfanteision posibl, ac rwy'n croesawu cydnabyddiaeth y Pwyllgor Cyllid fod angen archwilio'r risgiau hyn yn llawn er mwyn sicrhau nad ydym yn cael effaith andwyol ar ein gallu i roi sicrwydd ariannol i bartneriaid ac i randdeiliaid. Ochr yn ochr â chraffu, rwy'n cydnabod pwysigrwydd galluogi'r Senedd i gael cyfle i ddylanwadu ar flaenoriaethau a dyraniadau'r gyllideb yn gynharach yn y broses. Rydym eisoes wedi cymryd nifer o gamau a gyflawnwyd heb fod angen deddfwriaeth, ac mae hyn yn cynnwys y cytundeb i gael dadl yn y Cyfarfod Llawn cyn toriad yr haf i ddylanwadu ar ein paratoadau cynnar, a byddwn yn croesawu trafodaethau pellach ar ba welliannau eraill y gellir eu gwneud i'n dull presennol. Rydym hefyd wedi parhau i wella tryloywder drwy ddarparu mwy o fanylion a gwybodaeth ategol. Yn y cyd-destun hwn, rwy'n croesawu cydnabyddiaeth y Pwyllgor Cyllid o'r camau rydym wedi'u cymryd i gyhoeddi ein cynlluniau a'n rhagolygon treth a benthyca. Rydym hefyd yn awr yn cyhoeddi adroddiad y prif economegydd; adroddiad polisi treth Cymru; rhagolygon ar gyfer trethi Cymru; taflen y gyllideb plant a phobl ifanc; cynllun gwella'r gyllideb; a thystiolaeth ysgrifenedig wedi'i chydgrynhoi ar gyfer pwyllgorau craffu'r Senedd. Mae hyn yn fwy nag a ddarperir mewn llawer o gyllidebau cenedlaethol eraill, gan gynnwys gwledydd lle mae ganddynt brosesau deddfwriaethol ar gyfer cyllidebau, ond wrth gwrs, rydym wedi ymrwymo i archwilio beth arall y gallwn ei wneud. Mae darparu setliadau amlflwydd hefyd yn rhywbeth rydym wedi'i drafod droeon. Yn anffodus, mae ein gallu i ddarparu cyllid mwy hirdymor yn dibynnu i raddau helaeth ar gylch cyllideb Llywodraeth y DU ac i ba raddau y gallwn ddarparu rhagdybiaethau cynllunio realistig a synhwyrol o ystyried yr hinsawdd ariannol ac economaidd bresennol. Fel y cyfryw, ni fyddai proses ddeddfwriaethol ar gyfer y gyllideb yn effeithio ar y mater hwn. Felly, i grynhoi, mae'r ddadl heddiw wedi dangos bod llawer o fanteision wedi'u nodi yn yr adroddiad hwn y gallwn ystyried eu datblygu heb fod angen deddfwriaeth. Fodd bynnag, ar y pwynt sylfaenol ynglŷn â chyllideb ddeddfwriaethol, ni chredwn fod manteision ychwanegol i ymgymryd â'r diwygiadau hyn wedi'u dangos eto, ond wedi dweud hynny, wrth gydnabod pwysigrwydd yr agenda fwy hirdymor hon, byddem yn agored i drafod yr opsiwn o broses adolygu, megis grŵp adolygu proses cyllideb yr Alban. Gyda'r Llywodraeth, y Senedd ac arbenigwyr allanol gwadd yn cymryd rhan, gellid cynnal adolygiad o fanteision a materion sy'n codi mewn perthynas â chyflwyno diwygiadau pellach i'n proses gyllidebol, gan gynnwys defnyddio deddfwriaeth. Felly, wrth gloi, mae'r ddadl heddiw wedi rhoi cyfle pwysig i ystyried sut rydym yn parhau i sicrhau bod ein proses gyllidebol yn dryloyw ac yn gynhwysol. Diolch yn fawr.