English: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm just wanting to thank Members for their interest and their contributions. Just responding to the specific points that Members raised, just for a moment, I'm almost speechless at the brass neck of Laura Jones, who tried to accuse the Welsh Government of the kind of pork barrel politics that she has obviously come to expect in a local government settlement, as she represents a party that has been accused by a professor in Cambridge, Professor Diane Coyle, the Bennett professor of public policy at Cambridge University, of being pretty blatant in their pork barrel politics in directing £4.8 million of funding to Tory seats with no justification whatsoever. You can tell that that's what she expects of others, but I am here to tell her that we do not behave like that in Wales. As Mike Hedges pointed out, you can look at the amount-per-capita spend in an entirely different way, and the increase year on year, and you can see that there is absolutely no bias towards Labour authorities or towards any particular region. The distribution settlement works fairly and well, and it's why we have such a good relationship with local authorities, which is also not the case across the border, where the assumption on the level of funding available for local authorities assumes a council tax increase of 4.99 per cent across the board. Turning to what Delyth said, I agree with a large percentage of what Delyth said. I did actually say, though, in my opening remarks, Delyth, that we were absolutely appalled at the UK Government stance on public sector pay. They're reneging on the promises they made to the NHS staff, and there is absolute naked disregard of the work that people have put into public service over the pandemic, both in England and indeed across Wales, where of course we have kept all of our response services in the public sector and people have absolutely stepped up to that challenge in a way that I am extremely grateful for. I say again, with no apology whatsoever, that without local government employees we could not have made it through the pandemic in the order that we have, and I am very grateful to them. However, we are not funded to provide that settlement, and it is dreadful that we are not funded to provide the settlement that we would have liked to have provided, because of course we will not get a consequential from the pay settlement in England, because they are not going to do it. It's outrageous, really. In terms of the comments on the sufficiency of the settlement, the Government does recognise the priorities and pressures we and local government are facing through the settlement and the wider funding available to local government. As is set out in the Welsh budget by my colleague and friend Rebecca Evans, the Minister for finance, our funding priorities continue to be health and local government services. This financial settlement is a significant continued improvement in funding for local government and delivers on that priority. Just to reflect what Mike Hedges said, it reflects our commitment to supporting those who need it most, and we know that that can mostly be delivered via our local councils. As he said, the range of things that local authorities are able to deliver across Wales, because of this excellent settlement, is something that will benefit us all. Of course we would have liked to have done a longer term settlement, but of course we are ourselves not given that longer term settlement, and so we cannot give onwards to the authorities that which we are not given ourselves. We've had that discussion on a number of occasions with local government and I know that they have made that point directly to the Secretary of State themselves that this is something we all need, and the Minister for finance said earlier that it would be much better if we had a multi-year settlement so that we could all plan for the future in a much more reflective way.
Welsh: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. Hoffwn i ddiolch i'r Aelodau am eu diddordeb a'u cyfraniadau. Wrth ymateb i'r pwyntiau penodol a gododd yr Aelodau, am eiliad, bron nad oes gen i'r geiriau ar gyfer haerllugrwydd Laura Jones, a geisiodd gyhuddo Llywodraeth Cymru o'r math o wleidyddiaeth pot mêl y mae'n amlwg wedi dod i'w ddisgwyl mewn setliad llywodraeth leol, gan ei bod yn cynrychioli plaid sydd wedi'i chyhuddo gan athro yng Nghaergrawnt, yr Athro Diane Coyle, athro polisi cyhoeddus Bennett ym Mhrifysgol Caergrawnt, o fod yn eithaf amlwg o ran eu gwleidyddiaeth pot mêl wrth gyfeirio £4.8 miliwn o gyllid i seddi'r Torïaid heb unrhyw gyfiawnhad o gwbl. Gallwch chi ddweud mai dyna y mae'n ei ddisgwyl gan eraill, ond rwyf i yma i ddweud wrthi nad ydym ni'n ymddwyn yn y modd hwnnw yng Nghymru. Fel y nododd Mike Hedges, gallwch edrych ar y gwariant fesul pen mewn ffordd gwbl wahanol, a'r cynnydd bob blwyddyn, a gallwch chi weld nad oes unrhyw duedd o gwbl tuag at awdurdodau Llafur nac at unrhyw ranbarth penodol. Mae'r setliad dosbarthu yn gweithio'n deg ac yn dda, a dyna pam mae gennym ni berthynas cystal gydag awdurdodau lleol, ac nid yw hynny ychwaith yn wir dros y ffin, lle mae'r dybiaeth ar lefel y cyllid sydd ar gael i awdurdodau lleol yn rhagdybio cynnydd o 4.99 y cant yn y dreth gyngor yn gyffredinol. Gan droi at yr hyn a ddywedodd Delyth, rwy'n cytuno â chanran fawr o'r hyn a ddywedodd Delyth. Fe wnes i ddweud mewn gwirionedd, serch hynny, yn fy sylwadau agoriadol, Delyth, ein bod ni wedi ein harswydo yn llwyr gan safbwynt Llywodraeth y DU ar gyflogau'r sector cyhoeddus. Maen nhw'n cefnu ar yr addewidion a wnaethon nhw i staff y GIG, a cheir diffyg parch llwyr i'r gwaith y mae pobl wedi ei wneud mewn gwasanaeth cyhoeddus yn ystod y pandemig, yn Lloegr ac yn wir ledled Cymru, lle'r ydym ni, wrth gwrs, wedi cadw ein holl wasanaethau ymateb yn y sector cyhoeddus ac mae pobl wedi ymateb yn llwyr i'r her honno mewn ffordd yr wyf i'n hynod ddiolchgar amdani. Rwy'n dweud unwaith eto, heb unrhyw ymddiheuriad o gwbl, na fyddem ni wedi gallu dod trwy'r pandemig yn y modd yr ydym ni wedi ei wneud heb weithwyr llywodraeth leol, ac rwyf i'n hynod ddiolchgar iddyn nhw. Fodd bynnag, nid ydym yn cael ein hariannu i ddarparu'r setliad hwnnw, ac mae'n warthus nad ydym ni'n cael ein hariannu i ddarparu'r setliad y byddem ni wedi hoffi ei ddarparu, oherwydd wrth gwrs ni fyddwn yn cael swm canlyniadol o'r setliad cyflog yn Lloegr, gan nad ydyn nhw'n mynd i wneud hynny. Mae'n waradwyddus, a dweud y gwir. O ran y sylwadau ynghylch digonolrwydd y setliad, mae'r Llywodraeth yn cydnabod y blaenoriaethau a'r pwysau yr ydym ni a llywodraeth leol yn eu hwynebu trwy'r setliad a'r cyllid ehangach sydd ar gael i lywodraeth leol. Fel y nodir yng nghyllideb Cymru gan fy nghyd-Aelod a'm cyfaill Rebecca Evans, y Gweinidog cyllid, ein blaenoriaethau cyllid o hyd yw gwasanaethau iechyd a llywodraeth leol. Mae'r setliad ariannol hwn yn welliant parhaus sylweddol mewn cyllid ar gyfer llywodraeth leol ac mae'n cyflawni o ran yr flaenoriaeth honno. I fyfyrio ar yr hyn a ddywedodd Mike Hedges, mae'n adlewyrchu ein hymrwymiad i gefnogi'r rhai sydd ei angen fwyaf, ac rydym yn gwybod mai trwy ein cynghorau lleol y gellir cyflawni hynny'n bennaf. Fel y dywedodd ef, mae'r amrywiaeth o bethau y gall awdurdodau lleol eu cyflawni ledled Cymru, oherwydd y setliad rhagorol hwn, yn rhywbeth a fydd er lles bob un ohonom. Wrth gwrs, byddem ni wedi hoffi gwneud setliad tymor hwy, ond wrth gwrs nid ydym ni ein hunain yn cael y setliad tymor hwy hwnnw, ac felly ni allwn drosglwyddo ymlaen i'r awdurdodau yr hyn nad ydym ni'n ei gael ein hunain. Rydym ni wedi cael y drafodaeth honno lawer gwaith gyda llywodraeth leol ac rwy'n gwybod eu bod wedi gwneud y pwynt hwnnw yn uniongyrchol i'r Ysgrifennydd Gwladol eu hunain fod hyn yn rhywbeth y mae bob un ohonom ei angen, a dywedodd y Gweinidog cyllid yn gynharach y byddai'n well o lawer pe byddai gennym ni setliad aml-flwyddyn fel y gallem i gyd gynllunio ar gyfer y dyfodol mewn modd llawer mwy myfyriol.