English: The importance of regeneration projects to improving the economy and social conditions in the area cannot be overstated. This is particularly true in my region of south-east Wales, which has many communities that have, sadly, experienced decades of decline. Successful regeneration schemes, bringing jobs and investment to blighted areas, can bring jobs and other benefits that can last for many years. The Welsh Government has a duty to the taxpayer to ensure that regeneration projects are viable and will provide cost-effective benefits in return for the investment. Unfortunately, in many cases, the Welsh Government has failed in its duty. The Circuit of Wales is one example of the Welsh Government's failure to adhere to simple processes of due diligence, governance, and accountability. I accept, of course, that the current Cabinet Secretary for the economy has only been in office for just over a year. However, it is the case that, over a period of seven years, the people of Ebbw Vale have had their hopes raised and then dashed by false starts and delays to this project. The years running up to the final decision on the Circuit of Wales have been dogged by the allegation of the misspending of public funds, inappropriate intervention by the Welsh Government, and due diligence concerns. In April this year, the Wales Audit Office published a report into the transfer of over £9 million of public funds to support the project. They found 'significant shortcomings' in the way Ministers had managed the risk to the taxpayers. They went on to say that funding decisions were based on 'flawed' decisions. The Cabinet statements issued when the final decision was reached not to guarantee the project left serious questions unanswered. Why did it take so long to realise that there was a significant risk that the full debt of the project could be classified against Welsh Government capital spending? Why did it take so long to determine that the estimate of the number of jobs that could be created was significantly overstated? The Welsh Government cannot distance itself from the failure of this project. Presiding Officer, there is another area that I think we are all ignoring. Right from the beginning, the media only saw one side of the coin. They only wanted this project to go ahead, but they did not look at the other objectives, which were very significant to clear off and to look at, but they totally ignored it. Even though I wrote personally to my local media and the national media, nothing was published. And it is not an isolated incident. The regeneration investment fund for Wales was the subject of criticism by the Public Accounts Committee in the last Assembly. RIFW sold 16 pieces of land to developers at a sum of significantly less than their market value. We found that RIFW was poorly executed due to the fundamental flaws in Welsh Government oversight and governance agreements. The Communities First programme was the Welsh Government's flagship anti-poverty scheme in Wales. Since its launch in 2001, Communities First has spent over £300 million trying to tackle poverty and deprivation in Wales. Yet, as the communities Secretary admitted, performance had been mixed, and, in his words, poverty remains a stubborn and persistent challenge.' In some cases, too much money was spent on staffing, instead of front-line projects. In the Communities First cluster in Caerphilly, more than £2 million was spent on staffing in 2015 and 2016. This was more than five times the amount spent on anti-poverty projects in Wales.
Welsh: Ni ellir gorbwysleisio pwysigrwydd prosiectau adfywio i wella'r economi ac amodau cymdeithasol yn yr ardal. Mae hyn yn arbennig o wir yn fy rhanbarth sef de-ddwyrain Cymru, sydd â llawer o gymunedau a wynebodd ddegawdau o ddirywiad, yn anffodus. Gall cynlluniau adfywio llwyddiannus, sy'n dod â swyddi a buddsoddiad i ardaloedd sydd wedi dirywio, sicrhau swyddi a manteision eraill a all bara am flynyddoedd lawer. Mae gan Lywodraeth Cymru ddyletswydd i'r trethdalwr i sicrhau bod prosiectau adfywio yn hyfyw ac y byddant yn darparu manteision costeffeithiol yn gyfnewid am y buddsoddiad. Yn anffodus, mewn llawer o achosion, mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi methu yn ei dyletswydd. Mae Cylchffordd Cymru yn un enghraifft o fethiant Llywodraeth Cymru i lynu at brosesau diwydrwydd dyladwy, llywodraethu ac atebolrwydd syml. Rwy'n derbyn, wrth gwrs, fod yr Ysgrifennydd Cabinet cyfredol dros yr economi ond wedi bod yn ei swydd ers ychydig dros flwyddyn. Fodd bynnag, mae'n wir fod pobl Glynebwy, dros gyfnod o saith mlynedd, wedi gweld eu gobeithion yn cael eu codi a'u chwalu gan gamgychwyniadau ac oedi i'r prosiect hwn. Mae'r honiadau am gamwario arian cyhoeddus, ymyrraeth amhriodol gan Lywodraeth Cymru, a phryderon ynghylch diwydrwydd dyladwy wedi bwrw eu cysgod dros y blynyddoedd cyn i'r penderfyniad terfynol gael ei wneud ar Gylchffordd Cymru. Ym mis Ebrill eleni, cyhoeddodd Swyddfa Archwilio Cymru adroddiad ar drosglwyddo dros £9 miliwn o arian cyhoeddus i gefnogi'r prosiect. Canfu'r adroddiad fod 'diffygion sylweddol' yn y modd roedd Gweinidogion wedi rheoli'r risg i'r trethdalwyr. Aethant ymlaen i ddweud bod penderfyniadau ariannu'n seiliedig ar benderfyniadau 'diffygiol'. Roedd y datganiadau a gyhoeddwyd gan y Cabinet pan wnaed y penderfyniad terfynol i beidio â gwarantu'r prosiect yn gadael cwestiynau difrifol heb eu hateb. Pam ei bod wedi cymryd cymaint o amser i sylweddoli bod yna berygl sylweddol y gallai dyled lawn y prosiect gael ei gosod yn erbyn gwariant cyfalaf Llywodraeth Cymru? Pam ei bod wedi cymryd cymaint o amser i benderfynu bod yr amcangyfrif o nifer y swyddi y gellid eu creu wedi'i gorddatgan yn sylweddol? Ni all Llywodraeth Cymru ymbellhau oddi wrth fethiant y prosiect hwn. Llywydd, mae yna faes arall rwy'n meddwl ein bod i gyd yn ei anwybyddu. O'r dechrau, un ochr i'r geiniog yn unig a welai'r cyfryngau. Roeddent eisiau i'r prosiect hwn fynd yn ei flaen, ac ni wnaethant edrych ar yr amcanion eraill, a oedd yn sylweddol iawn i'w clirio ac i edrych arnynt, ond anwybyddwyd hynny'n llwyr ganddynt. Er fy mod wedi ysgrifennu'n bersonol at y cyfryngau'n lleol a'r cyfryngau cenedlaethol, ni chyhoeddwyd dim. Ac nid un digwyddiad ar ei ben ei hun ydyw. Roedd Cronfa Buddsoddi Cymru mewn Adfywio yn destun beirniadaeth gan y Pwyllgor Cyfrifon Cyhoeddus yn y Cynulliad diwethaf. Gwerthodd CBCA 16 darn o dir i ddatblygwyr am swm cryn dipyn yn llai na'u gwerth marchnadol. Canfuom fod CBCA yn cael ei weithredu'n wael oherwydd y diffygion sylfaenol yng nghytundebau trosolwg a llywodraethu Llywodraeth Cymru. Y rhaglen Cymunedau yn Gyntaf oedd cynllun gwrthdlodi blaenllaw Llywodraeth Cymru yng Nghymru. Ers ei lansio yn 2001, mae Cymunedau yn Gyntaf wedi gwario dros £300 miliwn yn ceisio trechu tlodi ac amddifadedd yng Nghymru. Eto i gyd, fel y cyfaddefodd yr Ysgrifennydd dros gymunedau, cymysg fu'r perfformiad, ac yn ei eiriau ef, 'mae tlodi yn parhau i fod yn her ystyfnig a pharhaus.' Mewn rhai achosion, gwariwyd gormod o arian ar staffio yn hytrach na phrosiectau rheng flaen. Yn y clwstwr Cymunedau yn Gyntaf yng Nghaerffili, gwariwyd dros £2 filiwn ar staffio yn 2015 a 2016. Roedd hyn yn fwy na phum gwaith y swm a wariwyd ar brosiectau gwrthdlodi yng Nghymru.