English: Thanks to the committee Chairman for bringing today's debate. Mike Hedges raised the issue of how much regulation we need in this part of the housing market, and of course we have to be careful not to overregulate, but I think he made a good case that we need a certain level of regulation to deal with the issue of old houses and their lack of energy efficiency. So, low-carbon housing is one way in which we can do that. Retrofitting is going to be a necessary part of the programme, as Mike Hedges pointed out, and we do need quality assurance, if we're going to bring in a retrofitting programme, to avoid problems that we've had in the past with cowboy contractors entering the market, as we saw with cavity wall insulation. So, we do have to be careful that we don't repeat mistakes that have been made in the past. Training is an issue. As Mike pointed out, we did have people that were involved in the inquiry raising issues about training. Now, new skills will be needed in the production of low-carbon homes in the future, because the sorts of skills that you need to build these are not traditional construction skills. Further education colleges could offer these kinds of courses. We heard evidence from witnesses stating this. But, of course, we need to know that there will be a market for these skills going forward, and we need to have some assurances that there will be, therefore, some kind of Government aid for the low-carbon housing schemes. Planning issues also arose in the inquiry. There was an issue raised about retrofitted walls in particular, because we were told that retrofitted walls, under a strict interpretation of planning rules - . They're not supposed to require planning permission, but we were told it's amazing how often planning inspectors decide that retrofitted walls do need planning consent, and it was suggested that this may be part of a system of local councils, who are allowed to charge their own planning fees, deciding to charge people for different things that, strictly speaking, they didn't need to be charged for, in order to raise extra revenue for their own cash-strapped local authority. I don't know how real an issue that is, but it was raised by a couple of people, so it's probably worthy of investigation, that. The issue of accepting recommendations in principle: yes, not a very good practice, which seems to be becoming more and more widespread with the Welsh Government. But other Members have - they've made their feelings known on that, and I'm very glad that Mike Hedges did as well, and that he continues to show strong independence of mind as the Chairman of the committee. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Welsh: Diolch i Gadeirydd y pwyllgor am gyflwyno'r ddadl heddiw. Cododd Mike Hedges y mater ynglŷn â faint o reoleiddio sydd ei angen arnom yn y rhan hon o'r farchnad dai, ac wrth gwrs rhaid inni fod yn ofalus i beidio â gor-reoleiddio, ond credaf iddo wneud achos da fod angen lefel benodol o reoleiddio er mwyn ymdrin â phroblem hen dai a'u diffyg effeithlonrwydd ynni. Felly, mae tai carbon isel yn un ffordd y gallwn wneud hynny. Mae ôl-osod yn mynd i fod yn rhan angenrheidiol o'r rhaglen, fel y nododd Mike Hedges, ac mae angen inni gael sicrwydd ansawdd os ydym yn mynd i gyflwyno rhaglen ôl-osod, er mwyn osgoi problemau a gawsom yn y gorffennol gyda chontractwyr anfedrus yn mynd i mewn i'r farchnad, fel y gwelsom gydag inswleiddio waliau ceudod. Felly, rhaid inni fod yn ofalus nad ydym yn ailadrodd camgymeriadau a wnaed yn y gorffennol. Mae hyfforddiant yn broblem. Fel y dywedodd Mike, roedd gennym bobl a gymerodd ran yn yr ymchwiliad yn crybwyll materion ynglŷn â hyfforddiant. Nawr, bydd angen sgiliau newydd yn y gwaith o gynhyrchu cartrefi carbon isel yn y dyfodol, oherwydd nid yw'r mathau o sgiliau sydd eu hangen arnoch i adeiladu'r rhain yn sgiliau adeiladu traddodiadol. Gallai colegau addysg bellach gynnig y mathau hyn o gyrsiau. Clywsom dystiolaeth gan dystion yn nodi hyn. Ond wrth gwrs, mae angen inni wybod y bydd yna farchnad ar gyfer y sgiliau hyn yn y dyfodol, ac mae angen inni gael rhywfaint o sicrwydd y bydd rhyw fath o gymorth gan y Llywodraeth tuag at gynlluniau tai carbon isel. Crybwyllwyd materion cynllunio yn yr ymchwiliad hefyd. Nodwyd materion yn ymwneud ag ôl-osod waliau'n benodol, oherwydd dywedwyd wrthym fod ôl-osod waliau, o dan ddehongliad llym o'r rheolau cynllunio - . Nid oedd caniatâd cynllunio i fod yn ofynnol, ond dywedwyd wrthym ei bod hi'n anhygoel pa mor aml y mae arolygwyr cynllunio'n penderfynu bod angen caniatâd cynllunio i ôl-osod waliau, ac awgrymwyd y gallai hyn fod yn rhan o system gan gynghorau lleol, sydd â hawl i godi eu ffioedd cynllunio eu hunain, i benderfynu codi tâl ar bobl am wahanol bethau nad oedd angen codi tâl amdanynt a bod yn fanwl gywir, er mwyn codi refeniw ychwanegol i'w hawdurdod lleol sy'n brin o arian. Nid wyf yn gwybod pa mor real yw'r broblem honno, ond soniodd un neu ddau o bobl amdani, felly mae'n werth ymchwilio i hynny mae'n debyg. Mater derbyn argymhellion mewn egwyddor: nid yw'n arfer da iawn, ac mae i'w weld yn cael ei ddefnyddio fwyfwy gan Lywodraeth Cymru. Ond mae Aelodau eraill wedi - maent wedi dangos eu teimladau ynglŷn â hynny, ac rwy'n falch fod Mike Hedges wedi gwneud hynny yn ogystal, a'i fod yn dal i ddangos annibyniaeth barn gref fel Cadeirydd y pwyllgor. Diolch yn fawr iawn.