English: I thank the Deputy Minister very much for her statement. As she says, our towns are very important to us, and I'm sure that she'd agree with me that the crisis has highlighted just how important local communities are, but that we will also be perhaps using our towns and our town centres in different ways, partly as a result of the crisis. The Deputy Minister mentions in her statement opportunities for more local shopping, and, while I'm sure that that is the case, it's also true, for example, that many people have moved towards online shopping rather than shopping directly at all. So, I'm wondering what assessment the Deputy Minister has made or could make of the sorts of businesses that people are currently using more of in our town centres and might be persuaded to use more of as we move forward, because I think it's important that we target encouragement and support at those businesses that are most likely to be successful. The Deputy Minister mentioned local working hubs. I was very glad to hear her mention those. I wonder if she can say a little bit more in her response to me about how that work is developing. Who does she see developing those hubs? Is that a job for local authorities, is it local co-operatives? I wonder if she has had any discussions with some of the large employers. We've seen big employers in Cardiff, for example, like Admiral and Lloyds, have their staff working from home. For some people, they'll want to continue working from home; many of them would like to work more locally. Is there a role for those big companies, potentially, in investing in that kind of local working hub in some of our Valleys towns, for example? The Minister makes some references to re-purposing of public spaces that has already happened, but I know that she's very aware that there's a very complex regulatory regime around changing how public spaces are used, and I wonder if she can reassure us that she is working with colleagues across Government to make it easier for local authorities to make those changes, always bearing in mind, of course, the caveat that Mark Isherwood has mentioned about needing to make sure that any of those changes do not create difficulties for disabled people, or, indeed, parents with prams. I wonder if she's given any consideration to what further might be able to be done to enable more people to actually live in our town centres. She'll be aware of the work that was done recently, in the last couple of years, by Carmarthenshire County Council, where they purchased some disused big shops in the town centre, broke them into smaller units and then converted the spaces above those shops into flats that are now used, and, of course, that means that people are in the town centre, they're using local shops when they can, using local pubs and cafes, and I wonder if the Minister would join me in congratulating Carmarthenshire for that and whether she thinks that's an approach that might be used further. Finally, and with thanks for your indulgence, acting Presiding Officer, I wonder what further consideration the Deputy Minister and her colleagues have given to the impact of the business rates regime on, particularly, small businesses in the town centres and whether any further work needs to be done to encourage particularly new and innovative small businesses to get off the ground, some of which might be deterred by the business rates regime as it is, and whether there is further work that she and her colleagues across Government could do in that regard.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr iawn i'r Dirprwy Weinidog am ei datganiad. Fel y dywed, mae ein trefi'n bwysig iawn i ni, ac rwy'n siŵr y byddai'n cytuno â mi fod yr argyfwng wedi tynnu sylw at ba mor bwysig yw cymunedau lleol, ond y byddwn hefyd efallai'n defnyddio ein trefi a chanol ein trefi mewn gwahanol ffyrdd, yn rhannol o ganlyniad i'r argyfwng. Mae'r Dirprwy Weinidog yn sôn yn ei datganiad am gyfleoedd i siopa mwy lleol, ac, er fy mod yn siŵr bod hynny'n wir, mae hefyd yn wir, er enghraifft, fod llawer o bobl wedi newid i siopa ar-lein yn hytrach na siopa'n uniongyrchol. Felly, tybed pa asesiad y mae'r Dirprwy Weinidog wedi'i wneud neu y gallai ei wneud o'r mathau o fusnesau y mae pobl yn defnyddio mwy ohonynt ar hyn o bryd yng nghanol ein trefi ac y gellid eu perswadio i ddefnyddio mwy ohonynt yn y dyfodol, oherwydd rwy'n credu ei bod hi'n bwysig ein bod yn rhoi anogaeth a chefnogaeth yn benodol i'r busnesau hynny sydd fwyaf tebygol o fod yn llwyddiannus. Soniodd y Dirprwy Weinidog am ganolfannau gweithio lleol. Roeddwn yn falch iawn o'i chlywed yn sôn am y rheini. Tybed a all ddweud ychydig mwy yn ei hymateb i mi am y ffordd y mae'r gwaith hwnnw'n datblygu. Pwy mae hi'n tybio fydd yn datblygu'r canolfannau hynny? A yw hynny'n waith i awdurdodau lleol, neu i fentrau cydweithredol lleol? Tybed a yw hi wedi cael unrhyw drafodaethau gyda rhai o'r cyflogwyr mawr. Rydym ni wedi gweld cyflogwyr mawr yng Nghaerdydd, er enghraifft, fel Admiral a Lloyds, y bu eu staff yn gweithio gartref. I rai pobl, byddant eisiau parhau i weithio gartref; byddai llawer ohonynt yn hoffi gweithio'n fwy lleol. A oes rhan i'r cwmnïau mawr hynny, o bosib, o ran buddsoddi yn y math yna o ganolfan weithio lleol yn rhai o drefi ein Cymoedd, er enghraifft? Mae'r Gweinidog yn cyfeirio at yr addasu a fu ar fannau cyhoeddus at ddibenion gwahanol, ond gwn ei bod yn ymwybodol iawn bod cyfundrefn reoleiddio gymhleth iawn ynghylch newid y ffordd y defnyddir mannau cyhoeddus, a tybed a wnaiff hi ein sicrhau ei bod yn gweithio gyda chyd-Aelodau ym mhob rhan o'r Llywodraeth i'w gwneud hi'n haws i awdurdodau lleol wneud y newidiadau hynny, o gofio bob amser, wrth gwrs, yr amod y mae Mark Isherwood wedi sôn amdano ynghylch yr angen i sicrhau nad yw unrhyw un o'r newidiadau hynny'n creu anawsterau i bobl anabl, nac, yn wir, i rieni â phramiau. Tybed a yw hi wedi ystyried beth arall y gellid ei wneud i alluogi mwy o bobl i fyw yng nghanol ein trefi. Bydd yn ymwybodol o'r gwaith a wnaed yn ddiweddar, yn ystod yr ychydig flynyddoedd diwethaf, gan Gyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin, lle maen nhw wedi prynnu rhai siopau mawr gwag yng nghanol y dref, eu rhannu'n unedau llai ac yna troi'r mannau uwchben y siopau hynny'n fflatiau a ddefnyddir bellach, ac, wrth gwrs, mae hynny'n golygu bod pobl yng nghanol y dref, maen nhw'n defnyddio siopau lleol pan fyddan nhw'n gallu, gan ddefnyddio tafarndai a chaffis lleol, a tybed a wnaiff y Gweinidog ymuno â mi i longyfarch Sir Gaerfyrddin am hynny ac a yw hi'n credu bod hynny'n ddull y gellid ei ddefnyddio ymhellach. Yn olaf, a chyda diolch am eich goddefgarwch, Llywydd dros dro, tybed pa ystyriaeth bellach y mae'r Dirprwy Weinidog a'i chyd-Aelodau wedi'i rhoi i effaith y gyfundrefn ardrethi busnes ar fusnesau bach yng nghanol y dref, yn enwedig, a pha un a oes angen gwneud unrhyw waith pellach i annog busnesau bach newydd ac arloesol yn arbennig i ymsefydlu, y gallai rhai ohonynt gael eu rhwystro gan y gyfundrefn ardrethi busnes fel y mae, ac a oes gwaith pellach y gallai hi a'i chyd-Aelodau ar draws y Llywodraeth ei wneud yn hynny o beth.