English: Our distinguished Chairman, in, I thought, a measured and matter-of-fact speech, exposed with deadly accuracy the failure of this Government to support what would have been a visionary project that could have transformed the whole of south-east Wales. When the Circuit of Wales promoters started out on their melancholy journey to obtain Government support for this project, I don't suppose they thought, at the end of the day, that they would be the only ones who would be given the run-around on the circuit, but that is exactly what happened. It's a shocking catalogue of political myopia, administrative incompetence, evasiveness and even duplicity. And, I agree with Adam Price in what he said, that the auditor general's report, and, indeed, the Public Accounts Committee's report could not be more damning of a Government in the way that it's handled this, or indeed, any project. This was going to be a major game changer for the northern Valleys and for the whole of south Wales, bringing in a huge amount of private sector money - £410 million - on the basis of a limited guarantee by the Welsh Government, which had a maximum commitment of £8 million a year, admittedly for a potential 30 years, sometime in the future, but, a guarantee that would be secured on assets, which, by then, would already be built. So, it would not just be money down the drain; there would be something in return. And, assuming the project were successful, the Government would actually get paid £3 million a year for its guarantee. So, given that the objections that have been produced by the Government at different stages have all been different themselves and have ended up with something that was never even thought of at the start, but ought to have been known in relation to the classification of the private sector debt as effectively on the Government balance sheet for reasons that still remain obscure, then I do think that this is a disgraceful story that requires to be the subject of a major apology by the Government, not that I'm sure we will get anything like that. There isn't time to go into detail about every criticism that is made in this report, but let's just look at the £9.3 million of project finance that was put in, right at the very start, to establish the development potential of this project. I supported that decision on the grounds that this was well worth a punt, but I would never have supported that decision if I had known, at the end of the day and two years' extra work and £50 million-worth of development costs that had been assumed by the private sector promoters, that the Government were going to pull the plug on the scheme because of an accounting device in the Treasury rule book. The Treasury rule book was there at the start. If there was a possibility that the project was going to be classified as Government debt, and obviously the Government could not assume a potential debt of £400 million, given the limitations on its borrowing powers, that ought have been on the table right from the very start. We've still had no explanation, even after all this, as to why it was that that private sector debt might be classified as on the Government's books. The one thing that we never ever got out of this project was any clear statement from the Government as to why they thought that this was a project that was not viable. The Cabinet Secretary, in various statements, has said that it didn't stack up in commercial terms, but there has never been any information emerging from the due-diligence process that the Government engaged in that was able to demonstrate that. Of course it's a speculative project, it's a project that starts from scratch with a bare site, but an exciting project that could have transformed the whole of Wales, actually, both as a tourist attraction and with the automotive park that the developers hoped to attract on the basis of the circuit. Instead of which, the risks that I've just alluded to were too much for the Government, but they found in the back pocket, when the scheme was murdered by the Cabinet decision - they found in the back pocket £100 million from nowhere to build a series of empty sheds for which there are no known customers. Now, that seems to me to be the most extraordinary paradox - that they weren't able to accept £400 million of private money to build a project for which there was a commercial rationale, but they were able to find £100 million of public money to build something for which there is, at the moment, at any rate, no demand. So, that is a pure speculation. So, this, I think, is an appalling example of Government mismanagement for all the reasons that are laid out in glorious Technicolor, or inglorious Technicolor, in the course of the report. But what a shocking indictment of the Government - what an appalling advertisement for Wales as a potential home for private sector investment. We desperately need to reduce the dependence of Wales on the public sector and to get private money in, because we need to increase the wealth-creating potential of the economy to raise the level of income in this country. Without that, we will carry on the story of poverty and decline over which the Welsh Government has presided for the last 20 years, extending what we've gone through in the last 100.
Welsh: Roeddwn i'n meddwl bod ein Cadeirydd nodedig, mewn araith bwyllog a digyffro, wedi dangos gyda chywirdeb angheuol fethiant y Llywodraeth hon i gefnogi'r hyn a fyddai wedi bod yn brosiect ysbrydoledig a allai fod wedi trawsnewid de-ddwyrain Cymru gyfan. Pan ddechreuodd hyrwyddwyr Cylchffordd Cymru ar eu taith felancolaidd i gael cefnogaeth y Llywodraeth ar gyfer y prosiect hwn, nid wyf yn tybio eu bod wedi meddwl, yn y pen draw, mai hwy fyddai'r unig rai a fyddai'n cael tro o gwmpas y gylchffordd, a hwnnw'n dro trwstan, ond dyna'n union a ddigwyddodd. Mae'n hanes brawychus o fyopia gwleidyddol, anghymhwysedd gweinyddol, gochelgarwch a dauwynebogrwydd hyd yn oed. A chytunaf ag Adam Price yn yr hyn a ddywedodd, na allai adroddiad yr archwilydd cyffredinol, ac yn wir, adroddiad y Pwyllgor Cyfrifon Cyhoeddus fod yn fwy damniol o Lywodraeth yn y ffordd y mae wedi ymdrin â hyn, neu unrhyw brosiect yn wir. Roedd hyn yn mynd i sicrhau newid sylfaenol i'r Cymoedd gogleddol ac i dde Cymru yn ei gyfanrwydd, gan ddod â swm enfawr o arian y sector preifat - £410 miliwn - ar sail gwarant gyfyngedig gan Lywodraeth Cymru, a oedd wedi ymrwymo uchafswm o £8 miliwn y flwyddyn, am 30 mlynedd bosibl rhaid cyfaddef, rywbryd yn y dyfodol, ond gwarant a fyddai wedi'i diogelu ar asedau a fyddai, erbyn hynny, eisoes wedi cael eu hadeiladu. Felly, ni fyddai'n arian gwastraff; byddai rhywbeth i'w gael yn gyfnewid amdano. A chan dybio y byddai'r prosiect yn llwyddiannus, byddai'r Llywodraeth yn cael £3 miliwn y flwyddyn am ei gwarant. Felly, o ystyried bod y gwrthwynebiadau sydd wedi'u cynhyrchu gan y Llywodraeth ar wahanol gamau i gyd wedi bod yn wahanol eu hunain ac wedi cael rhywbeth yn y pen draw na fyddai neb wedi meddwl amdano ar y cychwyn hyd yn oed, ond a ddylai fod wedi bod yn hysbys mewn perthynas â dosbarthu dyled y sector preifat mor effeithiol ar fantolen y Llywodraeth am resymau sy'n parhau i fod yn aneglur, credaf fod hon yn stori warthus a ddylai fod yn destun ymddiheuriad mawr gan y Llywodraeth, er nad wyf yn siŵr y cawn unrhyw beth tebyg i hynny. Nid oes amser i fanylu ar bob beirniadaeth a wnaed yn yr adroddiad hwn, ond gadewch inni edrych ar y £9.3 miliwn o gyllid prosiect a ddarparwyd, ar y cychwyn cyntaf, i sefydlu potensial datblygu'r prosiect hwn. Cefnogais y penderfyniad ar y sail fod hwn yn syniad gwerth ei gefnogi, ond ni fyddwn byth wedi cefnogi'r penderfyniad hwnnw pe bawn yn gwybod, yn y pen draw ac wedi dwy flynedd o waith ychwanegol a gwerth £50 miliwn o gostau datblygu a ysgwyddwyd gan hyrwyddwyr y sector preifat, fod y Llywodraeth yn mynd i roi diwedd ar y cynllun oherwydd dyfais gyfrifyddu yn llyfr rheolau'r Trysorlys. Roedd llyfr rheolau'r Trysorlys yno ar y dechrau. Os oedd posibilrwydd y byddai'r prosiect yn cael ei ddosbarthu fel dyled Llywodraeth, ac yn amlwg, os na allai'r Llywodraeth ysgwyddo dyled bosibl o £400 miliwn, o ystyried y cyfyngiadau ar ei phwerau benthyca, dylai hynny fod ar y bwrdd o'r dechrau un. Nid ydym wedi cael unrhyw esboniad o hyd, hyd yn oed ar ôl hyn i gyd, pam na chafodd y ddyled sector preifat honno ei dosbarthu fel un a oedd ar lyfrau'r Llywodraeth. Un peth na chawsom gan y prosiect hwn oedd unrhyw ddatganiad clir gan y Llywodraeth ynglŷn â pham y credent fod hwn yn brosiect nad oedd yn hyfyw. Mae Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, mewn datganiadau amrywiol, wedi dweud nad oedd yn gwneud synnwyr o safbwynt masnachol, ond ni chafwyd unrhyw wybodaeth yn deillio o'r broses diwydrwydd dyladwy a wnaed gan y Llywodraeth a allai ddangos hynny. Wrth gwrs mae'n brosiect hapfasnachol, mae'n brosiect sy'n dechrau o'r dechrau gyda safle moel, ond prosiect cyffrous a allai fod wedi trawsnewid Cymru gyfan, mewn gwirionedd, fel atyniad i dwristiaid a chyda'r parc modurol y gobeithiai'r datblygwyr ei ddenu ar sail y gylchffordd. Yn lle hynny, roedd y risgiau y cyfeiriais atynt yn awr yn ormod i'r Llywodraeth, ond yn y boced ôl, pan gafodd y cynllun ei lofruddio gan benderfyniad Cabinet - cawsant hyd i £100 miliwn yn y boced ôl o unman i adeiladu cyfres o siediau gwag heb unrhyw gwsmeriaid y gwyddys amdanynt ar eu cyfer. Nawr, mae hynny i'w weld yn baradocs rhyfeddol iawn - nad oeddent yn gallu derbyn £400 miliwn o arian preifat i adeiladu prosiect heb sail resymegol masnachol drosto, ond roeddent yn gallu dod o hyd i £100 miliwn o arian cyhoeddus i adeiladu rhywbeth nad oes unrhyw alw amdano, ar hyn o bryd o leiaf. Felly, dyfalu pur yw hynny. Felly, credaf fod hon yn enghraifft warthus o gamreoli gan y Llywodraeth am yr holl resymau a nodwyd yn ogoneddus o amlwg, neu fel arall, yng nghwrs yr adroddiad. Ond am gyhuddiad ysgytiol yn erbyn y Llywodraeth - am hysbyseb echrydus i Gymru fel cartref posibl ar gyfer buddsoddiad sector preifat. Mae taer angen lleihau dibyniaeth Cymru ar y sector cyhoeddus a chael arian preifat i mewn, oherwydd mae angen inni gynyddu potensial creu cyfoeth yr economi i godi lefel incwm yn y wlad hon. Heb hynny, byddwn yn parhau â stori tlodi a dirywiad o dan Lywodraeth Cymru dros yr 20 mlynedd diwethaf, gan ymestyn yr hyn yr aethom drwyddo yn y 100 mlynedd diwethaf.