English: Can I start by thanking those who participated in the inquiry, and thank the Welsh Government for its very positive response to the committee's recommendations? Inevitably, I think we will probably all be covering a number of the same areas, so please bear with me. But, for me, this inquiry clearly showed that the issue of school funding is not as straightforward as some would like to suggest. So, even if we start from the premise that we all accept that schools need more money, and we all do, there's certainly no straightforward answer to the question of how much do schools actually need, how much should that be. As the Minister said in her response, this is hugely complex and multi-layered, and is dependent on many factors. I think therefore that recommendation 1, which Siân has just referred to, of the report is very much framed to provide the evidence to help us answer that question and to provide a firmer basis for the discussion about school education and its funding in Wales. It's what we did around the NHS funding through the Nuffield report, and I think a similar study for education can only be helpful. During the inquiry, I felt there was considerable misunderstanding about education and schools, actually, the school system in Wales, or at least I felt that there were people that were using the system to present layers of mystery based on complexity. That included arguments over gross expenditure, per pupil expenditure, the purpose of indicator-based assessments. And some of those debates are very technical, and we heard conflicting arguments as to the importance of the data that was represented. So, I do welcome the agreement of Welsh Government to try to provide a clearer understanding and a greater consistency in the statistical gathering and reporting. Now, as we all know, there are at least four levels of financial decisions in the system. We start with the UK funding to Wales. I do have to support my colleague Hefin David here in challenging what Suzy Davies said, because this is set against a backdrop of a decade of Tory austerity. So, for every Welsh Conservative voice in this debate asking for more money for schools, reflect on the manifestos that you stood on -
Welsh: A gaf fi ddechrau drwy ddiolch i'r rhai a gymerodd ran yn yr ymchwiliad, a diolch i Lywodraeth Cymru am ei hymateb cadarnhaol iawn i argymhellion y pwyllgor? Yn anochel, rwy'n credu y byddwn i gyd, mae'n debyg, yn trafod nifer o'r un meysydd, felly byddwch yn amyneddgar. Ond i mi, roedd yr ymchwiliad hwn yn dangos yn glir nad yw ariannu ysgolion mor syml ag yr hoffai rhai ei awgrymu. Felly, hyd yn oed os dechreuwn o'r cynsail ein bod i gyd yn derbyn bod ysgolion angen mwy o arian, ac rydym i gyd yn derbyn hynny, yn sicr nid oes ateb syml i'r cwestiwn faint sydd ei angen ar ysgolion mewn gwirionedd, faint ddylai hynny fod. Fel y dywedodd y Gweinidog yn ei hymateb, mae hyn yn hynod gymhleth ac amlhaenog, ac mae'n dibynnu ar lawer o ffactorau. Credaf felly fod argymhelliad 1 y mae Siân newydd gyfeirio ato o'r adroddiad wedi'i fframio'n bendant iawn i ddarparu'r dystiolaeth i'n helpu i ateb y cwestiwn hwnnw ac i roi sail gadarnach i'r drafodaeth am addysg ysgolion a chyllid ar ei chyfer yng Nghymru. Dyna a wnaethom mewn perthynas â chyllid y GIG drwy adroddiad Nuffield, ac rwy'n credu y gall astudiaeth debyg ar gyfer addysg fod o gymorth mawr. Yn ystod yr ymchwiliad, teimlwn fod cryn gamddealltwriaeth ynglŷn ag addysg ac ysgolion, mewn gwirionedd, y system ysgolion yng Nghymru, neu o leiaf roeddwn yn teimlo bod yna bobl a oedd yn defnyddio'r system i gyflwyno haenau o ddirgelwch yn seiliedig ar gymhlethdod. Roedd hynny'n cynnwys dadleuon ynglŷn â gwariant gros, gwariant fesul disgybl, diben asesiadau wedi'u seilio ar ddangosyddion. Ac mae rhai o'r dadleuon hynny'n dechnegol iawn, a chlywsom ddadleuon a oedd yn gwrthdaro ynglŷn â phwysigrwydd y data a gafwyd. Felly, rwy'n croesawu'r ffaith bod Llywodraeth Cymru wedi cytuno i geisio darparu dealltwriaeth fwy eglur a mwy o gysondeb yn y broses o gasglu ystadegau a llunio adroddiadau. Nawr, fel y gŵyr pawb ohonom, ceir o leiaf bedair lefel o benderfyniadau ariannol yn y system. Dechreuwn gyda chyllid y DU i Gymru. Mae'n rhaid i mi gefnogi fy nghyd-Aelod Hefin David yma wrth herio'r hyn a ddywedodd Suzy Davies, oherwydd mae hyn wedi'i osod yn erbyn cefndir o ddegawd o gyni dan law'r Torïaid. Felly, i bob llais ar ran y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig yn y ddadl hon sy'n gofyn am fwy o arian i ysgolion, ystyriwch y maniffestos roeddech yn sefyll arnynt -