English: I'd like to say a big 'thank you' to Lee Waters and Jenny Rathbone for making the journey to Preston; I couldn't make it myself, for family reasons. But the great thing is, they produced a report, as you'd expect, as a result of their journey, and I've read it with interest. What it reveals is that there are things there that can be transferred from the Preston model to our communities, without too much trouble. I take the point about having local specific needs as well, but there are certain principles that we could transfer. Professor Kevin Morgan has singled out, often, Caerphilly County Borough Council for praise, with regard to their procurement, and has named Liz Lucas and her team there as specialists and exemplars in procurement. So, I took the opportunity this afternoon to speak to the team in Caerphilly council, and one of the things that rang true was the line from Lee and Jenny's report on Preston: 'The council deputy chief executive in Preston told us that, having been told EU procurement rules were a barrier, they had found it easier than expected.' And this is borne out by the experience in Caerphilly council, because what they did with the Welsh housing quality standard programme was that they developed their own Caerphilly version of a dynamic purchasing system, which allowed simplified access - something they called a passport to trade - for local contractors to access the work for the WHQS. This was something that fits very much in line with what I've read in the Preston report from Lee Waters and Jenny Rathbone. One of the other things that Caerphilly said they do well is collaborate with other local authorities. And they felt that the National Procurement Service didn't allow that, or it wasn't built into the principles of the National Procurement Service, yet they maintained that collaboration locally. However, what I would say is that looking at the anchor institutions that are identified in the report that Lee and Jenny produced, as a result of the visit to Preston, there is not the level of systemisation and structuralisation that is present there in Caerphilly, and I think there are lessons to be learnt there: how do we make the most of the understanding of our immediate environment? I think that's something that we still fall some way short on. I've talked before about Mark Granovetter's work, 'The Strength of Weak Ties' and the fact that weak ties to social capital are those that enable growth. So, not relying as a business on your family and friends, but relying on collaborative arrangements with other businesses in your immediate social network - that strength of weak ties in social capital. One of the things Caerphilly found was that along with those weak ties come some very strong characters. Small firms that try and collaborate can't sustain the collaboration when they're applying and bidding for contracts. Sometimes, it's because of disputes over who should be paid what for what, and it becomes a difficulty in sustaining collaboration in small firms across contracts. They may succeed in delivering one contract, but then will not re-collaborate again to deliver another contract. That requires a degree of education in our small firms, in our SME community, and I think that's important. Finally, the other issue that Caerphilly council raised with me is the link to social care. I'm pleased to see that one of our candidates for the Welsh Labour leadership is here and has identified the need for a national care service. I think a national care service is vital in helping us to deliver social care. Too often, we've outsourced our social care without thinking who we are outsourcing it to. The Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods - WISERD - has produced a report, which said that we should be building social enterprises into our care delivery systems, into how we deliver social care. We haven't succeeded in that in Wales and I think we need to relook at how we deliver social care. I think that framework national care service will be key in allowing that. So, I think this is an important debate at this point in time. We've had debates on the foundational economy before. One thing I'd say: the Cabinet Secretary has listened because we've seen it delivered in the Welsh Government's economic action plan, but now we need to see it actioned. I think that some of the discussion in this debate today will give the Cabinet Secretary further motivation to take these ideas forward, and I look forward to hearing his response to the debate today as well.
Welsh: Hoffwn ddweud 'diolch' wrth Lee Waters a Jenny Rathbone am wneud y daith i Preston; ni allwn wneud hynny fy hun, am resymau teuluol. Ond mae'n wych eu bod wedi cynhyrchu adroddiad, fel y byddech yn ei ddisgwyl, o ganlyniad i'w taith, ac rwyf wedi ei ddarllen gyda diddordeb. Mae'n datgelu bod yna bethau y gellir eu trosglwyddo o fodel Preston i'n cymunedau, heb ormod o drafferth. Rwy'n derbyn y pwynt am fod ag anghenion lleol penodol yn ogystal, ond mae yna rai egwyddorion y gallem eu trosglwyddo. Mae'r Athro Kevin Morgan yn aml wedi canmol Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Caerffili yn benodol am eu gwaith caffael, ac mae wedi enwi Liz Lucas a'i thîm yno fel arbenigwyr ac esiamplau ym maes caffael. Felly, achubais ar y cyfle y prynhawn yma i siarad â'r tîm yng nghyngor Caerffili, ac un o'r pethau a atseiniai'n glir oedd y llinell o adroddiad Lee a Jenny ar Preston: Dywedodd y dirprwy brif weithredwr yn Preston wrthym eu bod wedi cael rheolau caffael yr UE yn haws na'r disgwyl ar ôl cael clywed eu bod yn rhwystr. Ac fe ategir hyn gan brofiad cyngor Caerffili, oherwydd yr hyn a wnaethant â rhaglen safon ansawdd tai Cymru oedd datblygu eu fersiwn eu hunain o system brynu ddynamig ar gyfer Caerffili, fersiwn sy'n caniatáu mynediad wedi'i symleiddio - rhywbeth a alwent yn basbort i fasnach - er mwyn i gontractwyr lleol allu cael mynediad at waith ar gyfer safon ansawdd tai Cymru. Roedd yn rhywbeth sy'n cyd-fynd yn bendant iawn â'r hyn a darllenais yn yr adroddiad Preston gan Lee Waters a Jenny Rathbone. Un o'r pethau eraill y dywedodd Caerffili eu bod yn gwneud yn dda yw cydweithio ag awdurdodau lleol eraill. Ac roeddent yn teimlo nad oedd y Gwasanaeth Caffael Cenedlaethol yn caniatáu hynny, neu nad oedd wedi'i ymgorffori yn egwyddorion y Gwasanaeth Caffael Cenedlaethol, ond eu bod er hynny yn cynnal y cydweithio hwnnw'n lleol. Fodd bynnag, yr hyn a ddywedwn wrth edrych ar y sefydliadau angori a nodir yn yr adroddiad a gynhyrchodd Lee a Jenny o ganlyniad i'r ymweliad â Preston, yw nad oes gan Gaerffili yr un lefel o systemeiddio a strwythuro ag a welir yno, ac rwy'n credu bod gwersi i'w dysgu yno: sut y mae gwneud y mwyaf o'r ddealltwriaeth o'n hamgylchedd uniongyrchol? Credaf fod hynny'n rhywbeth rydym yn parhau i fod yn eithaf pell o'i gyflawni. Rwyf wedi sôn cyn hyn am waith Mark Granovetter, 'The Strength of Weak Ties' a'r ffaith mai cysylltiadau gwan â chyfalaf cymdeithasol yw'r rhai sy'n galluogi twf. Felly, heb ddibynnu fel busnes ar eich teulu a'ch ffrindiau, ond dibynnu ar y trefniadau cydweithredol gyda busnesau eraill yn eich rhwydwaith cymdeithasol uniongyrchol - cryfder cysylltiadau gwan o'r fath mewn cyfalaf cymdeithasol. Un o'r pethau y gwelodd Caerffili oedd bod cymeriadau cryf iawn yn dod gyda'r cysylltiadau gwan hynny. Ni all cwmnïau bach sy'n ceisio cydweithio gynnal cydweithio o'r fath pan fyddant yn gwneud ceisiadau ac yn ymgeisio am gontractau. Weithiau, mae'n deillio o anghydfod ynglŷn â phwy y dylid ei dalu faint ac am beth, ac mae'n dod yn anhawster wrth gynnal cydweithio mewn cwmnïau bach ar draws contractau. Efallai eu bod yn llwyddo i gyflawni un contract, ond ni fyddant yn cydweithio drachefn ar gyflawni contract arall. Mae hynny'n golygu rhywfaint o addysg yn ein cwmnïau bach, yn ein cymuned BBaCh, ac rwy'n credu bod hynny'n bwysig. Yn olaf, y mater arall a dynnodd cyngor Caerffili i fy sylw oedd y cysylltiad â gofal cymdeithasol. Rwy'n falch o weld bod un o'n hymgeiswyr am arweinyddiaeth Llafur Cymru yma ac wedi nodi'r angen am wasanaeth gofal gwladol. Credaf fod gwasanaeth gofal gwladol yn hanfodol ar gyfer ein helpu i ddarparu gofal cymdeithasol. Yn rhy aml, rydym wedi rhoi ein gofal cymdeithasol ar gontract allanol heb feddwl i bwy rydym yn ei roi. Mae Sefydliad Ymchwil, Data a Methodoleg Gymdeithasol ac Economaidd Cymru wedi cynhyrchu adroddiad a ddywedai y dylem fod yn adeiladu mentrau cymdeithasol i mewn i'n systemau darparu gofal, i mewn i'r modd rydym yn darparu gofal cymdeithasol. Nid ydym wedi llwyddo yn hynny o beth yng Nghymru, a chredaf fod angen inni ailedrych ar sut rydym yn darparu gofal cymdeithasol. Credaf y bydd y fframwaith gwasanaeth gofal gwladol hwnnw'n allweddol ar gyfer caniatáu hynny. Felly, credaf fod hon yn ddadl bwysig ar yr adeg hon. Cawsom ddadleuon ar yr economi sylfaenol cyn hyn. Buaswn yn dweud un peth: mae Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet wedi gwrando oherwydd fe'i gwelsom yn cael ei gyflwyno yng nghynllun gweithredu economaidd Llywodraeth Cymru, ond bellach mae angen inni ei weld yn cael ei roi ar waith. Credaf y bydd peth o'r drafodaeth yn y ddadl hon heddiw yn rhoi cymhelliant pellach i Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet fwrw ymlaen â'r syniadau hyn, ac edrychaf ymlaen at glywed ei ymateb i'r ddadl heddiw hefyd.