English: I welcome the opportunity to engage in the debate today, and I commend the opener for the comments that he made in setting the scene as to the way Wales faces the new environment, the new era of tax rates, and the competitive edge - or not, as the case may be - that Wales finds itself in with the rates that the Government sets. It is quite right and proper that the Government does set the rates. We live in a democracy, and based on the evidence that they have, and the demands on their public services and protecting the public revenues, that's obviously what the Finance Minister's role is all about, as he highlighted in his letter to me on 21 March. We don't dispute that whatsoever. The point we are making in today's debate is that, actually, the level of taxation that the Minister's chosen to set has put Wales at a competitive disadvantage, and that's not the Conservatives who are making that point, that is the industry itself making that point from virtually every leading commercial surveyor who, I know, have obviously lobbied the finance Secretary on this particular issue. It is an important consideration, when you look at the economic benefits that Wales has benefited from over the last 10 years, for projects in the superleague of projects that have been in excess of £50 million, such as the Swansea University bay campus, Cardiff Waterside development, 2 Central Square, Government property units at Central Square, Friars Walk in Newport, the Aston Martin development, and Bridgend designer outlet village. All, I would suggest, are key projects that have helped stimulate and develop economic opportunities here in Wales, and all with tags of £50 million and above in investment. When you go to the commercial sector and you seek that level investment, it's not unreasonable that the sector looks at the yield that they will get from the money it is investing. We, in Wales, face a very competitive environment to try and bring those developers over this side of the water to make those key decisions and key investments. And especially now, with the development of local democracy in England, such as the mayor in Bristol, the mayors in Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, there is a particular focus in their mayoral mandates to develop an exciting and dynamic environment for investment and investment opportunities. Because, obviously, when they come before the electorate in their four-yearly cycle, that is one of the areas that they will be marked against as to whether they've given their particular area a competitive edge. What we're seeing here in Wales is the sector clearly highlighting that they do believe that the rate of tax that the Minister has set, via the Welsh Government's tax-raising powers, will put Wales - . And that's not politicians saying that, that's the sector themselves saying that, and it's important to listen to the experts in the field who ultimately are dealing with the big investment funds and the pension funds when they're looking to attract that level of investment into Wales. Again, what is really concerning is that, when the finance Secretary focuses on the evidence from the Bangor University report, 'Independent Scrutiny and Assurance of Devolved Tax Forecasts for Wales', which he commissioned, the sector indicate quite clearly - and I read from the letter that they sent to the Minister - that they had no consultation with the sector whatsoever when it came to the formation of this report. Now, again, I appreciate, in the letter that the Minister sent to me in March, that he says that the Bangor Business School's report was about the level of forecast of tax revenues - it wasn't exactly about the policy. But, surely, you need to be linking the policy with the forecast, because if you get the policy wrong, then whatever you're forecasting potentially could go wrong as well, and the revenues you expect could deplete the public purse. As we've seen in Scotland, where they've gone for a lower rate of tax, there's been a considerable uplift in the level of taxation that's come into Scottish public services - I think in the region of £13.5 million - because they chose to set their land transaction tax rate at 4.5 per cent to give themselves that competitive advantage over other parts of the United Kingdom.
Welsh: Croesawaf y cyfle i gymryd rhan yn y ddadl heddiw, ac rwy'n canmol y sawl a'i hagorodd am y sylwadau a wnaeth yn gosod y cefndir ynglŷn â'r ffordd y mae Cymru'n wynebu'r amgylchedd newydd, cyfnod newydd o gyfraddau treth, a'r fantais gystadleuol - neu fel arall, fel y bo'n berthnasol - y mae Cymru ynddo gyda'r cyfraddau y mae'r Llywodraeth yn eu gosod. Mae'n hollol iawn a phriodol i'r Llywodraeth osod y cyfraddau. Rydym yn byw mewn democratiaeth, ac yn seiliedig ar y dystiolaeth sydd ganddynt, a'r galwadau am eu gwasanaethau cyhoeddus a diogelu refeniw cyhoeddus, dyna'n amlwg yw rôl y Gweinidog Cyllid, fel yr amlygodd yn ei lythyr ataf ar 21 Mawrth. Nid ydym yn anghytuno â hynny o gwbl. Y pwynt yr ydym yn ei wneud yn y ddadl heddiw mewn gwirionedd yw bod lefel y trethiant y mae'r Gweinidog wedi dewis ei gosod wedi rhoi Cymru dan anfantais gystadleuol, ac nid y Ceidwadwyr sy'n gwneud y pwynt hwnnw, y diwydiant ei hun sy'n gwneud y pwynt hwnnw gan bron bob syrfëwr masnachol blaenllaw sydd, yn amlwg, wedi bod yn lobïo'r Ysgrifennydd Cyllid ar y mater penodol hwn. Pan edrychwch ar y manteision economaidd y mae Cymru wedi elwa ohonynt dros y 10 mlynedd diwethaf, mae'n ystyriaeth bwysig i brosiectau yn yr uwch gynghrair o brosiectau dros £50 miliwn, megis campws y bae Prifysgol Abertawe, datblygiad Waterside Caerdydd, 2 Sgwâr Canolog, unedau eiddo'r Llywodraeth yn y Sgwâr Canolog, Friars Walk yng Nghasnewydd, datblygiad Aston Martin, a phentref manwerthu Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr. Buaswn yn awgrymu bod y rhain oll yn brosiectau allweddol sydd wedi helpu i ysgogi a datblygu cyfleoedd economaidd yma yng Nghymru, a'r cyfan â thagiau o £50 miliwn a mwy o fuddsoddiad. Pan ewch i'r sector masnachol i edrych am y lefel honno o fuddsoddiad, nid yw'n afresymol fod y sector yn edrych ar y cynnyrch a gaiff o'r arian y mae'n ei fuddsoddi. Yng Nghymru, rydym yn wynebu amgylchedd cystadleuol iawn i geisio dod â'r datblygwyr hyn draw yr ochr hon i'r dŵr i wneud y penderfyniadau allweddol a'r buddsoddiadau allweddol hynny. Ac yn enwedig nawr, gyda datblygiad democratiaeth leol yn Lloegr, megis y maer ym Mryste, meiri yn Birmingham, Lerpwl a Manceinion, mae yna ffocws penodol yn eu mandadau fel meiri ar ddatblygu amgylchedd cyffrous a deinamig ar gyfer buddsoddi a chyfleoedd i fuddsoddi. Oherwydd, yn amlwg, pan fyddant yn dod gerbron yr etholwyr yn eu cylch pedair blynedd, dyna un o'r meysydd y cânt eu marcio yn eu herbyn i weld a ydynt wedi rhoi mantais gystadleuol i'w cyfryw ardaloedd. Yr hyn a welwn yma yng Nghymru yw'r sector yn amlwg yn dangos nad ydynt yn credu y bydd y gyfradd dreth a bennwyd gan y Gweinidog, drwy bwerau codi treth Llywodraeth Cymru, yn rhoi Cymru - . Ac nid gwleidyddion sy'n dweud hynny, y sector eu hunain sy'n dweud hynny, ac mae'n bwysig gwrando ar yr arbenigwyr yn y maes sydd, yn y pen draw, yn ymdrin â'r cronfeydd buddsoddi mawr a'r cronfeydd pensiwn pan fyddant yn ceisio denu'r lefel honno o fuddsoddiad i Gymru. Unwaith eto, pan fo'r Ysgrifennydd Cyllid yn canolbwyntio ar y dystiolaeth o adroddiad Prifysgol Bangor, 'Gwaith Craffu Annibynnol ar Ragolygon Refeniw Trethi Datganoledig ar gyfer Cymru' a gomisiynwyd ganddo, yr hyn sy'n destun pryder gwirioneddol yw bod y sector yn dangos yn glir iawn - a darllenais o'r llythyr a anfonasant at y Gweinidog - nad oeddent wedi ymgynghori gyda'r sector o gwbl ar lunio'r adroddiad hwn. Nawr, unwaith eto, rwy'n sylweddoli, yn y llythyr yr anfonodd y Gweinidog ataf ym mis Mawrth, ei fod yn dweud mai ymwneud â lefel y rhagolwg o refeniw trethi oedd adroddiad Ysgol Fusnes Bangor - nid y polisi fel y cyfryw. Ond yn sicr, mae angen i chi gysylltu'r polisi â'r rhagolwg, oherwydd os yw'r polisi'n anghywir, gallai beth bynnag rydych yn ei ragweld fynd o chwith yn ogystal, a gallai'r refeniw yr ydych yn ei ddisgwyl leihau'r pwrs cyhoeddus. Fel y gwelsom yn yr Alban, lle maent wedi mynd am gyfradd is o dreth, bu cynnydd sylweddol yn lefel y dreth a ddaeth i'r gwasanaethau cyhoeddus yn yr Alban - credaf ei fod oddeutu £13.5 miliwn - oherwydd eu bod wedi dewis gosod eu cyfradd dreth trafodiadau tir ar 4.5 y cant er mwyn rhoi mantais gystadleuol iddynt eu hunain dros rannau eraill o'r Deyrnas Unedig.