English: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. We heard from several small-business owners who are telling us, as politicians, to listen to them, and organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses and the Welsh Retail Consortium have also joined in calling for fundamental reform of what I would say is an outdated business rates system. Megan in Newtown talked about the potential of having to move her business to Shropshire, where she'd be able to get full rate relief, and Alex in Wrexham talked about borrowing money off family in order to pay the business rates. And Chris and Katia questioned the immediate imposition of business rates on start-up businesses, which are, of course, playing their important part in reducing shop vacancies in an attempt to reverse the trend on high-street decline. Now, a tax cut for small business was a much-touted pledge by Labour candidates before the Assembly election - a pledge that has been, I would say, broken in the first year. The Labour Member for Mid and West Wales, Eluned Morgan - I appreciate she's not in her place today - went to the Hours cafe and bookshop in Brecon promising that businesses would, and I quote a Labour press release, 'breathe a sigh of relief if Labour is returned on May 5' because a Welsh Labour Government would cut the amount of business rates paid by small businesses in Powys. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. The Welsh Government has broken this promise of a tax cut to SMEs and claimed that continuing with a scheme that's already been in place for a number of years is the tax cut. Now, this is what the FSB has said about this, and I quote them: 'to describe such a move as a tax cut for small businesses is blatantly misleading and the worst form of spin-doctoring.' Instead of the tax cut they promised, rate relief for small businesses in 2017-18 would remain exactly the same as in 2016-17, and many small firms now face a dramatic rise, of course, in their bills following rates revaluations. This is in contrast to the situation in England, where the UK Government has announced plans to increase rate relief for small businesses to ensure that no business with a rateable value of under £12,000 would pay rates at all. Now, I'd like to say to the Cabinet Secretary, please follow and take the lead of the UK Government, but, actually, I'd prefer to say, please let's have a better system in Wales to increase and support small businesses in Wales. Let's be ambitious. Let's have the best system of all the nations of the UK to support small business. I appreciate the Cabinet Secretary and I will have different views on what a tax cut is, but I do appreciate that the Cabinet Secretary is open to reform and I look forward to hearing his comments. I hope that there will be areas of common ground on which we can agree, and I do look forward to contributions from other Members during the debate this afternoon.
Welsh: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Clywsom gan nifer o berchnogion busnesau bach sy'n dweud wrthym, fel gwleidyddion, i wrando arnynt, ac mae sefydliadau fel y Ffederasiwn Busnesau Bach a Chonsortiwm Manwerthu Cymru hefyd wedi ymuno i alw am ddiwygio'n sylfaenol yr hyn y buaswn yn ei ddweud sy'n system ardrethi busnes hen ffasiwn. Siaradodd Megan yn y Drenewydd am y posibilrwydd o orfod symud ei busnes i Swydd Amwythig, lle y buasai'n gallu cael rhyddhad ardrethi llawn, a siaradodd Alex yn Wrecsam am fenthyca arian gan y teulu er mwyn talu'r ardrethi busnes. A holodd Chris a Katia a ddylid gosod ardrethi busnes ar unwaith wrth i fusnesau gychwyn, busnesau sydd, wrth gwrs, yn chwarae eu rhan bwysig yn lleihau nifer y siopau gwag mewn ymgais i wrthdroi dirywiad y stryd fawr. Nawr, roedd toriad treth ar gyfer busnesau bach yn addewid a bedlerwyd yn helaeth gan ymgeiswyr Llafur cyn etholiad y Cynulliad - addewid a dorwyd yn y flwyddyn gyntaf, byddwn yn dweud. Aeth yr Aelod Llafur dros Ganolbarth a Gorllewin Cymru, Eluned Morgan - rwy'n sylweddoli nad yw yn ei lle heddiw - i gaffi a siop lyfrau Hours yn Aberhonddu gan addo y byddai busnesau, ac rwy'n dyfynnu datganiad i'r wasg y Blaid Lafur, yn anadlu ochenaid o ryddhad os dychwelir Llafur i rym ar Fai 5 gan y byddai Llywodraeth Lafur Cymru yn cwtogi'r ardrethi busnes a delir gan fusnesau bach ym Mhowys. Mewn gwirionedd, ni allai dim fod ymhellach o'r gwir. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi torri'r addewid hwn o doriad treth i fusnesau bach a chanolig a honnodd mai parhau â chynllun sydd eisoes wedi bod ar waith ers nifer o flynyddoedd yw'r toriad treth. Nawr, dyma beth y mae'r Ffederasiwn Busnesau Bach wedi'i ddweud am hyn, ac rwy'n eu dyfynnu hwy: mae disgrifio penderfyniad o'r fath fel toriad treth ar gyfer busnesau bach yn gwbl gamarweiniol a dyma'r ffurf waethaf ar sbinddoctora. Yn lle'r toriad treth a addawyd ganddynt, byddai rhyddhad ardrethi i fusnesau bach yn 2017-18 yn aros yn union yr un fath ag yn 2016-17, ac mae llawer o gwmnïau bach bellach yn wynebu cynnydd dramatig yn eu biliau, wrth gwrs, yn dilyn ailbrisio ardrethi. Mae hyn yn wahanol i'r sefyllfa yn Lloegr, lle y mae Llywodraeth y DU wedi cyhoeddi cynlluniau i gynyddu'r rhyddhad ardrethi i fusnesau bach er mwyn sicrhau na fuasai unrhyw fusnes sydd â gwerth ardrethol o dan £12,000 yn talu ardrethi o gwbl. Nawr, hoffwn ddweud wrth Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, dilynwch arweiniad Llywodraeth y DU, ond mewn gwirionedd, buasai'n well gennyf ddweud, os gwelwch yn dda gadewch i ni gael gwell system yng Nghymru er mwyn cynyddu a chefnogi busnesau bach yng Nghymru. Gadewch i ni fod yn uchelgeisiol. Gadewch i ni gael y system orau o blith holl wledydd y DU er mwyn cefnogi busnesau bach. Rwy'n sylweddoli y bydd gan Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet a minnau farn wahanol ar beth yw toriad treth, ond rwy'n gwerthfawrogi bod Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet yn agored i ddiwygio ac edrychaf ymlaen at glywed ei sylwadau. Gobeithiaf y bydd yna dir cyffredin y gallwn gytuno arno, ac edrychaf ymlaen at gyfraniadau'r Aelodau eraill yn ystod y ddadl y prynhawn yma.