English: High-quality, safe and affordable housing is the cornerstone to better health, better educational outcomes and better well-being. We know from housing need estimates that we will need an additional 7,400 homes per year for the next five years, and we are doing everything in our power to deliver the housing Wales needs. But, with new tax powers to incentivise developers to progress stalled developments, we could do more. A vacant tax alone is not the solution to the housing crisis, of course, but it is an intervention we can make to bring forward timely development. As it stands, land owners benefit from an uplift in the value of their land when it's identified in the planning process for development. Where the land is then developed, providing much-needed homes, this system works. But, where the landowner holds on to that land and it's not developed, there is a private gain, but at a public cost. By increasing the cost of holding on to land that has been identified for development, a vacant land tax could help to encourage development and rebalance who bears the cost when development doesn't take place. A vacant land tax could also help contribute to regeneration, tackling the blight of idle sites and their impact on the well-being of those who live nearby. To begin to properly explore the opportunities of the vacant land tax for Wales, we first need the powers. We have always been clear that in seeking new powers for the first time, we will be testing the Wales Act 2014 mechanism, and we have never underestimated the challenge of navigating this process. Two years of work went into ensuring that the UK Government had the information it needed to consider the case for devolution, before we made a formal request for the transfer of powers. I had a constructive discussion with the Financial Secretary to the Treasury at a Joint Exchequer Committee meeting. We agreed it was for the Welsh Government to make policy decisions about how any new devolved tax would operate, and for this Senedd to decide whether to pass any new tax into law. The role of the UK Government and Parliament is in deciding to devolve new tax powers. However, when I made the formal request in March 2020, their response was to ask for yet more information on the operation of the tax. We have worked with the UK Government in good faith to determine and to provide the information that they will need, but it is not appropriate for the UK Government to get involved in matters that are, rightly, for the Welsh Government and this Senedd. The Conservatives' amendment calls on us to acknowledge that there are a number of reasons why developments may stall. Well, this is something that we've always acknowledged. We commissioned research into the reasons and their prevalence across Wales. We have also always been very clear that we're not looking to penalise those who are actively developing within the timescales of a normal process, nor those who are prevented from development by reasons that are outside their control. We know that to achieve our policy aims, we will need to carefully consider how such a tax would be set and structured, and we will work with stakeholders to design and approach that disincentivises the behaviours that we don't want, without creating unintended consequences. But, the powers must come before the detailed policy design can be undertaken. The continuing lack of progress in devolving new powers not only denies us a potentially significant lever in meeting housing need and supporting regeneration, it suggests that the process is unworkable. Yet, in the meantime, the UK Government is pressing ahead with its plans to introduce a UK-wide residential property development tax, which will include, within its scope, taxing the profits arising from holding on to land identified for development. A vacant land tax is a narrow and targeted tax. It is closely aligned to devolved responsibilities, and would have little interaction with non-devolved areas. It would apply only to land in Wales, and wouldn't reasonably be expected to have a material impact outside of Wales. If we cannot secure powers for such a tax, it is difficult to believe we could secure powers for any new tax under the current process. If the UK Government were so minded to progress our request in the spirit of what we have agreed, we could today be debating whether to accept the transfer of powers, rather than continuing to regret the lack of progress. Instead, in a process where UK Government can potentially endlessly request further information, we must question whether that process is fit for purpose. Diolch.
Welsh: Mae tai diogel a fforddiadwy o ansawdd uchel yn gonglfaen i well iechyd, gwell canlyniadau addysgol a gwell lles. Gwyddom o amcangyfrifon angen tai y bydd arnom angen 7,400 o gartrefi ychwanegol y flwyddyn am y pum mlynedd nesaf, ac rydym yn gwneud popeth o fewn ein gallu i ddarparu anghenion tai Cymru. Ond, gyda phwerau treth newydd i gymell datblygwyr i fwrw ymlaen â datblygiadau sydd wedi'u gohirio, gallem ni wneud mwy. Nid yw treth ar dir gwag yn unig yn ateb i'r argyfwng tai, wrth gwrs, ond mae'n ymyriad y gallwn ni ei wneud i gyflwyno datblygiad amserol. Fel y mae, mae perchnogion tir yn elwa ar gynnydd yng ngwerth eu tir pan gaiff ei nodi yn y broses gynllunio ar gyfer datblygu. Pan fo'r tir wedyn yn cael ei ddatblygu, gan ddarparu cartrefi y mae mawr eu hangen, mae'r system hon yn gweithio. Ond, pan fo'r perchnogion tir yn dal y tir hwnnw ac nad yw/n cael ei ddatblygu, mae enillion preifat, ond ar gost gyhoeddus. Drwy gynyddu'r gost o ddal gafael ar dir sydd wedi'i nodi i'w ddatblygu, gallai treth ar dir gwag helpu i annog datblygiad ac ail-gydbwyso pwy sy'n ysgwyddo'r gost pan na fydd datblygiad yn digwydd. Gallai treth ar dir gwag hefyd helpu i gyfrannu at adfywio, mynd i'r afael â golwg wael safleoedd segur a'u heffaith ar les y rhai sy'n byw gerllaw. Er mwyn dechrau archwilio'n briodol cyfleoedd y dreth ar dir gwag i Gymru, mae angen y pwerau arnom yn gyntaf. Rydym bob amser wedi bod yn glir, wrth geisio pwerau newydd am y tro cyntaf, y byddwn yn profi dull Deddf Cymru 2014, ac nid ydym erioed wedi tanamcangyfrif yr her o lywio'r broses hon. Aeth dwy flynedd o waith i sicrhau bod gan Lywodraeth y DU yr wybodaeth yr oedd ei hangen arni i ystyried yr achos dros ddatganoli, cyn i ni wneud cais ffurfiol am drosglwyddo pwerau. Cefais drafodaeth adeiladol gydag Ysgrifennydd Ariannol y Trysorlys mewn cyfarfod Cydbwyllgor y Trysorlys. Cytunwyd mai Mater i Lywodraeth Cymru oedd gwneud penderfyniadau polisi ynghylch sut y byddai unrhyw dreth ddatganoledig newydd yn gweithredu, ac i'r Senedd hon benderfynu a ddylid trosglwyddo unrhyw dreth newydd i gyfraith. Swyddogaeth Llywodraeth a Senedd y DU yw penderfynu datganoli pwerau treth newydd. Fodd bynnag, pan wnes i'r cais ffurfiol ym mis Mawrth 2020, eu hymateb oedd gofyn am ragor o wybodaeth eto am weithrediad y dreth. Rydym wedi gweithio gyda Llywodraeth y DU yn ddidwyll i benderfynu a darparu'r wybodaeth y bydd ei hangen arnynt, ond nid yw'n briodol i Lywodraeth y DU gymryd rhan mewn materion sydd, yn briodol, i Lywodraeth Cymru a'r Senedd hon. Mae gwelliant y Ceidwadwyr yn galw arnom i gydnabod bod nifer o resymau pam y gallai fod oedi mewn datblygiadau. Wel, mae hyn yn rhywbeth yr ydym ni bob amser wedi'i gydnabod. Gwnaethom gomisiynu ymchwil i'r rhesymau a'u mynychder ledled Cymru. Rydym bob amser wedi bod yn glir iawn nad ydym yn ceisio cosbi'r rhai sy'n mynd ati i ddatblygu o fewn amserlenni proses arferol, na'r rhai sy'n cael eu hatal rhag cael eu datblygu gan resymau sydd y tu hwnt i'w rheolaeth. Er mwyn cyflawni ein hamcanion polisi, gwyddom y bydd angen i ni ystyried yn ofalus sut y byddai treth o'r fath yn cael ei phennu a'i strwythuro, a byddwn yn gweithio gyda rhanddeiliaid i gynllunio dull sy'n datgymell yr ymddygiadau nad ydym eu heisiau, heb greu canlyniadau anfwriadol. Ond, mae'n rhaid i'r pwerau ddod cyn y gellir ymgymryd â'r dyluniad polisi manwl. Mae'r diffyg cynnydd parhaus o ran datganoli pwerau newydd nid yn unig yn gwadu ysgogiad sylweddol i ni o ran diwallu'r angen am dai a chefnogi adfywio, mae'n awgrymu nad yw'r broses yn ymarferol. Ac eto, yn y cyfamser, mae Llywodraeth y DU yn bwrw ymlaen â'i chynlluniau i gyflwyno treth datblygu eiddo preswyl ledled y DU, a fydd yn cynnwys, o fewn ei chwmpas, trethu'r elw sy'n deillio o ddal gafael ar dir a nodwyd i'w ddatblygu. Mae treth ar dir gwag yn dreth gul wedi'i thargedu. Mae'n cyd-fynd yn agos â chyfrifoldebau datganoledig, ac ni fyddai ganddi fawr o ryngweithio â meysydd nad ydyn nhw wedi'u datganoli. Byddai'n berthnasol i dir yng Nghymru yn unig, ac ni fyddai disgwyl yn rhesymol iddi gael effaith sylweddol y tu allan i Gymru. Os na allwn sicrhau pwerau ar gyfer treth o'r fath, mae'n anodd credu y gallem ni sicrhau pwerau ar gyfer unrhyw dreth newydd o dan y broses bresennol. Pe bai Llywodraeth y DU yn cytuno i fwrw ymlaen â'n cais yn ysbryd yr hyn yr ydym ni wedi cytuno arno, gallem ni heddiw fod yn trafod a ddylid derbyn trosglwyddo pwerau, yn hytrach na pharhau i edifarhau am y diffyg cynnydd. Yn hytrach, mewn proses lle y gall Llywodraeth y DU ofyn am ragor o wybodaeth, mae'n rhaid i ni gwestiynu a yw'r broses honno'n addas i'r diben. Diolch.