English: I thank Sam Rowlands for those comments, and just to reiterate what I said in my statement, that this statement today is very much the sister statement of the statement I made on the reform of council tax back in December. And of course, this is a significant undertaking and there are many elements to it, which is why it is a longer term piece of work than just simply introducing regulations to make very short-term changes. In regard to the comments made about the level of tax paid here in Wales, I'm open to having all kinds of discussions, but I do think that if there is a call to just do away with business rates completely then I think that it does come with an encumbrance to provide detail as to how you would raise £1.1 billion to fund local government and police services. I don't think that it is a reasonable thing to ask for them to be scrapped without being able to come forward with ideas as to how other funding could be raised. And it's important to recognise as well that every single penny of non-domestic rates is reinvested in local authorities. It just goes back to local authorities to help fund those local services. And we do recognise the pressure that it does put on businesses, which is why we've provided over £620 million of rate relief to ratepayers in Wales this year, of course fully funded by Welsh Government, which is different to the situation across the border in England. And also we need to remember that three quarters of ratepayers across Wales are receiving rate relief this year. That's more than 70,000 businesses paying no rates at all. And I think also we need to recognise that the tax base here in Wales is different to that in England. The average rateable value in Wales is around £19,000 - in England, it's around £32,000 - and so it is right that our rates system and the reliefs attached to them do reflect the unique circumstances that we do have here in Wales. There were some questions in relation to the land value tax work, and a request for further information. Well, I did publish a very, very detailed report provided by Bangor University in March of 2020. I appreciate the Member wasn't in the Senedd at that point, but I'm happy to recirculate it to colleagues. The objective really of us exploring a land value tax as a replacement for either one or both of the local taxes is primarily to raise stable revenue for local services in the fairest way possible whilst obviously looking for other advantageous outcomes where possible. Bangor University did conclude that a local LVT could raise sufficient revenues to replace the current local taxes, and the distribution of liability could be more progressive, and significantly so, than the existing local tax regime. But it also highlights areas of future work that we would need to do to assess more fully whether it would be evidently better than our existing arrangements, and that's the kind of work that we need to be taking forward as we move forward with this important agenda. The question was raised in regard to the multiplier, but of course in 2021-22 we opted to freeze the multiplier, and that's to prevent increases in bills for ratepayers and to provide continued support to businesses during what we still recognise to be very challenging times. I can confirm that for 2022-23 we're maintaining this approach, recognising the prolonged impact of the coronavirus pandemic on businesses and on other organisations. I'm grateful to the FSB for the work that they've been doing in this area. We find our discussions with them extremely productive. They are excellent stakeholders in terms of representing the views of small businesses and they do recognise, I think, themselves that there's a challenging balance to be struck in terms of raising revenue fairly and funding local services. They do recognise as well that it will take some significant work to move away from any system that's evolved and become embedded over 30 years. This is a major undertaking, and that's why I've outlined in the statement today some of the important elements of that work - revaluation and our approach to that will be vital. The appeals system will be vital. But I've also reflected on some of the significant progress that we've already made, particularly, I think, in the areas of tax avoidance and fraud, where we can say that we've absolutely made important steps in recent times. So, this is an ongoing piece of work. It is a huge piece of work, but I'm really keen to attack it in a very collaborative way, and I look forward to future discussions with all colleagues.
Welsh: Diolch i Sam Rowlands am y sylwadau hynny, ac i ailadrodd yr hyn a ddywedais yn fy natganiad, mai'r datganiad hwn heddiw yw chwaer ddatganiad y datganiad y gwnes i ar ddiwygio'r dreth gyngor yn ôl ym mis Rhagfyr. Ac wrth gwrs, mae hwn yn ymgymeriad sylweddol ac mae llawer o elfennau iddo, a dyna pam y mae'n ddarn o waith tymor hirach na dim ond cyflwyno rheoliadau i wneud newidiadau tymor byr iawn. O ran y sylwadau a wnaed am lefel y dreth a delir yma yng Nghymru, rwy'n agored i gael pob math o drafodaeth, ond rwyf i yn credu os oes galwad i ddileu ardrethi busnes yn llwyr, yna rwy'n credu bod yn rhaid iddi ddod gyda'r baich o roi manylion am sut y byddech chi'n codi £1.1 biliwn i ariannu llywodraeth leol a gwasanaethau'r heddlu. Nid wyf i'n credu ei bod yn beth rhesymol gofyn iddyn nhw gael eu dileu heb allu cyflwyno syniadau ynghylch sut y gellid codi arian arall. Ac mae'n bwysig cydnabod hefyd fod pob un geiniog o ardrethi annomestig yn cael ei hailfuddsoddi mewn awdurdodau lleol. Mae'n mynd yn ôl i awdurdodau lleol i helpu i ariannu'r gwasanaethau lleol hynny. Ac rydym ni yn cydnabod y pwysau y mae'n ei roi ar fusnesau, a dyna pam yr ydym wedi darparu dros £620 miliwn o ryddhad ardrethi i drethdalwyr yng Nghymru eleni, wedi ei ariannu'n llawn gan Lywodraeth Cymru wrth gwrs, sy'n wahanol i'r sefyllfa dros y ffin yn Lloegr. Ac mae angen i ni gofio hefyd fod tri chwarter y trethdalwyr ledled Cymru yn cael rhyddhad ardrethi eleni. Mae hynny'n fwy na 70,000 o fusnesau nad ydyn nhw'n talu unrhyw ardrethi o gwbl. Ac rwy'n credu hefyd fod angen i ni gydnabod bod y sylfaen drethi yma yng Nghymru yn wahanol i'r sylfaen yn Lloegr. Y gwerth ardrethol cyfartalog yng Nghymru yw tua £19,000 - yn Lloegr, mae tua £32,000 - felly mae'n iawn bod ein system ardrethi a'r rhyddhad sydd ynghlwm wrthyn nhw yn adlewyrchu'r amgylchiadau unigryw sydd gennym ni yma yng Nghymru. Roedd cwestiynau ynglŷn â'r gwaith ar drethi gwerth tir, a chais am ragor o wybodaeth. Wel, fe wnes i gyhoeddi adroddiad manwl iawn iawn a ddarparwyd gan Brifysgol Bangor ym mis Mawrth 2020. Rwy'n gwerthfawrogi nad oedd yr Aelod yn y Senedd bryd hynny, ond rwy'n hapus i'w ailddosbarthu i gyd-Aelodau. Ein hamcan mewn gwirionedd wrth archwilio treth gwerth tir yn lle un neu'r ddau o'r trethi lleol yn bennaf yw codi refeniw sefydlog ar gyfer gwasanaethau lleol yn y ffordd decaf bosibl wrth chwilio, yn amlwg, am ganlyniadau manteisiol eraill lle bo hynny'n bosibl. Fe wnaeth Prifysgol Bangor ddod i'r casgliad y gallai trethi gwerth tir lleol godi digon o refeniw i ddisodli'r trethi lleol presennol, ac y gallai dosbarthu atebolrwydd fod yn fwy blaengar, a hynny i raddau sylweddol, na'r drefn trethi lleol bresennol. Ond mae hefyd yn tynnu sylw at feysydd gwaith y byddai angen i ni eu gwneud yn y dyfodol i asesu'n llawnach a fyddai'n amlwg yn well na'n trefniadau presennol, a dyna'r math o waith y mae angen i ni fod yn ei wneud wrth i ni symud ymlaen ar yr agenda bwysig hon. Codwyd y cwestiwn ynglŷn â'r lluosydd, ond wrth gwrs yn 2021-22 fe wnaethom ni ddewis rhewi'r lluosydd, a hynny er mwyn atal cynnydd mewn biliau i drethdalwyr a darparu cymorth parhaus i fusnesau yn ystod yr hyn yr ydym yn dal i'w gydnabod yn gyfnod heriol iawn. Gallaf gadarnhau ein bod yn cynnal y dull hwn ar gyfer 2022-23, gan gydnabod effaith estynedig pandemig y coronafeirws ar fusnesau ac ar sefydliadau eraill. Rwy'n ddiolchgar i'r Ffederasiwn Busnesau Bach am y gwaith y maen nhw wedi bod yn ei wneud yn y maes hwn. Rydym o'r farn bod ein trafodaethau gyda nhw yn hynod gynhyrchiol. Maen nhw'n rhanddeiliaid rhagorol o ran cynrychioli barn busnesau bach ac maen nhw'n cydnabod eu hunain, rwy'n credu, fod cydbwysedd heriol i'w sicrhau o ran codi refeniw'n deg ac ariannu gwasanaethau lleol. Maen nhw hefyd yn cydnabod y bydd angen gwneud gwaith sylweddol i symud i ffwrdd o unrhyw system sydd wedi esblygu ac sydd wedi ei hymgorffori dros 30 mlynedd. Mae hwn yn dasg enfawr, a dyna pam yr wyf i wedi amlinellu yn y datganiad heddiw rai o elfennau pwysig y gwaith hwnnw - bydd ailbrisio a'n dull o wneud hynny yn hollbwysig. Bydd y system apelio yn hollbwysig. Ond rwyf i hefyd wedi myfyrio ar rywfaint o'r cynnydd sylweddol yr ydym ni wedi ei wneud eisoes, yn enwedig, yn fy marn i, ym meysydd osgoi trethi a thwyll, lle gallwn ddweud yn sicr ein bod ni wedi cymryd camau pwysig yn ddiweddar. Felly, mae hwn yn ddarn parhaus o waith. Mae'n ddarn enfawr o waith, ond rwy'n awyddus iawn i fynd ati mewn ffordd gydweithredol iawn, ac edrychaf ymlaen at drafodaethau gyda'r holl gyd-Aelodau yn y dyfodol.