English: Thank you. My first initiative on becoming the chair of the Valleys taskforce two years ago was to look across the Valleys for existing good practice to share. There was understandable scepticism when the taskforce was first set up in 2016, that people had seen initiatives to transform the Valleys come and go. There was no appetite for more well-meaning initiatives from outsiders, and great efforts were made for this initiative to be different. Building on the extensive programme of open meetings and consultation that my colleague Alun Davies and other Ministers undertook, I met with every local authority leader in the taskforce area to ask them to identify successful initiatives that had originated in their areas that we could spread across neighbouring authorities. Rhondda Cynon Taf had successfully developed a scheme to tackle the blight of empty properties. The taskforce decided to scale it across the Valleys. We set aside £10 million for people with houses that had been empty for more than six months to apply for a grant to bring them back into use as homes. We also decided to add to the original project by making an extra grant available for energy-saving measures. We co-designed a scheme that tackled blight, a lack of affordable homes, and helped achieve decarbonisation, and we did so in a way that supported the foundational economy, with small local building firms benefiting from the regeneration spend that this project has unleashed. So far, over 500 applications have been received. Inevitably, the pandemic has caused delays but I am pleased that the Valleys' local authorities are committed to making this scheme a success - a scheme designed and delivered in the Valleys, and one that offers an example for the rest of Wales.
Welsh: Diolch. Fy menter gyntaf ar ddod yn gadeirydd tasglu'r Cymoedd ddwy flynedd yn ôl oedd edrych ar draws y Cymoedd am yr arferion da presennol i'w rhannu. Roedd amheuaeth ddealladwy pan sefydlwyd y tasglu am y tro cyntaf yn 2016, bod pobl wedi gweld mentrau i drawsnewid y Cymoedd yn mynd a dod. Nid oedd unrhyw awydd am ragor o fentrau llawn bwriadau da gan bobl o'r tu allan, a gwnaed ymdrechion mawr i'r fenter hon fod yn wahanol. Gan adeiladu ar y rhaglen helaeth o gyfarfodydd agored ac ymgynghori a gynhaliwyd gan fy nghyd-Aelod Alun Davies a Gweinidogion eraill, cyfarfûm â phob arweinydd awdurdod lleol yn ardal y tasglu i ofyn iddyn nhw ddynodi mentrau llwyddiannus a oedd wedi tarddu o'u hardaloedd y gallem eu lledaenu ar draws awdurdodau cyfagos. Roedd Rhondda Cynon Taf wedi llwyddo i ddatblygu cynllun i fynd i'r afael â malltod eiddo gwag. Penderfynodd y tasglu ehangu'r fenter ar draws y Cymoedd. Neilltuwyd £10 miliwn gennym ni ar gyfer pobl â thai a oedd wedi bod yn wag am fwy na chwe mis i wneud cais am grant i'w hadfer yn gartrefi eto. Penderfynwyd hefyd ychwanegu at y prosiect gwreiddiol drwy sicrhau bod grant ychwanegol ar gael ar gyfer mesurau arbed ynni. Fe wnaethom ni gyd-ddylunio cynllun a oedd yn mynd i'r afael â malltod, diffyg tai fforddiadwy, ac a helpodd i sicrhau datgarboneiddio, ac fe wnaethom ni hynny mewn ffordd a oedd yn cefnogi'r economi sylfaenol, gyda chwmnïau adeiladu lleol bach yn elwa o'r gwariant adfywio y mae'r prosiect hwn wedi'i ryddhau. Hyd yn hyn, derbyniwyd dros 500 o geisiadau. Yn anochel, mae'r pandemig wedi achosi oedi ond rwy'n falch bod awdurdodau lleol y Cymoedd wedi ymrwymo i wneud y cynllun hwn yn llwyddiant - cynllun wedi'i gynllunio a'i ddarparu yn y Cymoedd, ac un sy'n cynnig esiampl i weddill Cymru.