English: Thanks to the Minister for bringing her Bill to this stage today. UKIP agrees with the general principles of the Bill. We've spoken in the past of our wish to ban unwarranted letting agency fees and this Bill does address that issue as part of its general thrust of making it easier for tenants in the private rented sector. Yes, there are currently many unwarranted fees. Leanne Wood mentioned the issue of disproportionate fees, where tenants are charged large amounts for tasks that cost comparatively little. Perhaps even worse than the disproportionate fees is the issue of the lack of transparency when tenants are sometimes charged for things and they don't even know what they're being charged for. So, we do need to address these issues, and this Bill should make the fees in the private rented sector a lot easier to police. We do have to be wary of excessive regulation, of course, and we do have to keep an eye on the possible unintended consequences. Other Members have mentioned the possibility of rents rising. We did hear from many different people on the local government committee in our inquiry, as our Chairman, John Griffiths, elucidated earlier. There was no clear evidence that arose during the inquiry that, after Scotland passed similar legislation in 2012, there was a rental increase that was connected to the abolition of the fees. There were a few issues that were kind of loose ends. There was an issue over passporting security deposits, which we raised with the Minister during the inquiry, with one problem facing tenants being that they may still be waiting to get back the security deposit from the property that they're vacating while at the same time being asked to come up with the security deposit for the property they're intending to move into. So, it was raised by at least one member of the committee that, if the intention of the Government was to make life easier for tenants in the private rented sector, then developing some kind of passporting scheme for the deposits would have been a welcome part of the Bill. I appreciate the Minister has said that the Welsh Government is looking at this, but it would be interesting if she could enlighten us further on that aspect today. We also could do with some clarity on a couple of the specific recommendations. David Melding, I thought, went into some of the shortcomings in the Bill very well, when he looked at the specific recommendations, and I agreed with him on each of those recommendations. The raising of the fixed-penalty notices - the doubling of them - is a welcome development, but, as David mentioned, that may not be enough, because if you have landlords or agents with many properties, they may not find that that's enough of a deterrent and they may deliberately carry on charging fees even if they face a possible £1,000 fine. I think recommendation 14 is perhaps the most baffling shortcoming of the Bill, as I see it. I can't remember, Minister, what you said the rationale was as to why we couldn't have a system enforcing the repayment of unwarranted letting agency fees. I imagine, or I vaguely recall, it was some legal issue, but perhaps you could enlighten us further as to that when you speak again at the end. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Welsh: Diolch i'r Gweinidog am ddod â'i Bil i'r cyfnod hwn heddiw. Mae UKIP yn cytuno ag egwyddorion cyffredinol y Bil. Rydym wedi siarad yn y gorffennol am ein dymuniad i wahardd ffioedd asiantaethau gosod diangen ac mae'r Bil hwn yn mynd i'r afael â'r mater hwnnw yn rhan o'r byrdwn cyffredinol o'i gwneud yn haws i denantiaid yn y sector rhentu preifat. Oes, mae llawer o ffioedd diangen ar hyn o bryd. Soniodd Leanne Wood am y ffioedd anghymesur, pan godir symiau mawr ar denantiaid am dasgau sy'n costio cymharol ychydig. Rhywbeth sydd efallai hyd yn oed yn waeth na'r ffioedd anghymesur yw'r broblem o ddiffyg tryloywder pan godir tâl ar denantiaid am bethau weithiau ac nid ydyn nhw hyd yn oed yn gwybod am beth y maen nhw'n ei dalu. Felly, mae angen inni fynd i'r afael â'r materion hyn, a dylai'r Bil hwn wneud y ffioedd yn y sector rhentu preifat yn llawer haws i'w rheoli. Mae'n rhaid inni fod yn wyliadwrus nad oes gormod o reoleiddio, wrth gwrs, ac mae'n rhaid inni gadw llygad ar y canlyniadau anfwriadol posibl. Mae Aelodau eraill wedi sôn am bosibilrwydd codi rhenti. Clywsom gan lawer o wahanol bobl ar y pwyllgor llywodraeth leol yn ein hymchwiliad, fel yr eglurodd ein cadeirydd, John Griffiths, yn gynharach. Ni chododd unrhyw dystiolaeth glir yn ystod yr ymchwiliad yn dangos y cafwyd cynnydd mewn rhent a oedd yn gysylltiedig â diddymu'r ffioedd, ar ôl i'r Alban basio deddfwriaeth debyg yn 2012. Roedd ychydig o faterion a oedd yn fanion yr oedd angen ymdrin â nhw. Roedd yna broblem ynghylch pasbortio bond sicrhad, a godwyd gennym gyda'r Gweinidog yn ystod yr ymchwiliad. Un broblem sy'n wynebu tenantiaid yw y byddant o bosibl yn dal i aros i'w bond sicrhad gael ei ddychwelyd o'r eiddo y maen nhw'n ei adael ac ar yr un pryd yn gorfod talu'r bond sicrhad ar gyfer yr eiddo y maen nhw'n symud i mewn iddo. Felly, fe'i codwyd gan o leiaf un aelod o'r pwyllgor sef, os mai bwriad y Llywodraeth oedd gwneud bywyd yn haws i denantiaid yn y sector rhentu preifat, yna byddai datblygu rhyw fath o gynllun pasbortio ar gyfer bondiau wedi bod yn rhan o'r Bil i'w chroesawu. Rwy'n gwerthfawrogi bod y Gweinidog wedi dweud bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn edrych ar hyn, ond byddai'n ddiddorol pe gallai ein goleuo ymhellach ar yr agwedd honno heddiw. Hefyd, hoffem gael rhywfaint o eglurder ar rai o'r argymhellion penodol. Trafododd David Melding, yn fy marn i, rai o'r diffygion yn y Bil yn dda iawn, pan edrychodd ar yr argymhellion penodol, ac roeddwn yn cytuno ag ef ar bob un o'r argymhellion hynny. Mae cynyddu hysbysiadau cosb benodedig - eu dyblu - yn ddatblygiad i'w groesawu, ond, fel y soniodd David, efallai na fydd hynny'n ddigon. Oherwydd os oes gennych landlordiaid neu asiantau â llawer o eiddo, efallai na fydd hynny'n ddigon o rwystr i'w hatal, ac efallai y byddant yn parhau i godi ffioedd yn fwriadol hyd yn oed os ydyn nhw'n wynebu dirwy bosibl o £1,000. Credaf o bosibl mai argymhelliad 14 yw'r diffyg mwyaf annealladwy yn y Bil, yn ôl yr hyn a welaf i. Ni allaf gofio, Gweinidog, beth ddywedasoch oedd y rheswm pam na allem gael system i orfodi ad-dalu ffioedd asiantaethau gosod diangen. Tybiaf, neu rwy'n cofio rhywbeth, fod rhyw broblem gyfreithiol, ond efallai y gallech chi ein goleuo ni ymhellach ynghylch hynny pan fyddwch yn siarad eto ar y diwedd. Diolch yn fawr iawn.