English: Leighton Andrews lost his seat in Rhondda in May 2016, given the substantial victory of my friend Leanne Wood, the leader of Plaid Cymru. Mark Drakeford became Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, and there were new proposals on the table. Merging councils through legislation had been scrapped, and mandatory regionalisation of certain services was a central option to the Drakeford vision. And here we are, almost three years later, and under the stewardship of a new Cabinet Secretary yet again - the third Cabinet Secretary for local government in three years. And we are back to a map very similar to the Leighton Andrews map. He had eight or nine new councils; today, we have 10. Therefore, I would like to ask: why will council mergers attract support this time when it failed last time to do so? Can you confirm that the timetable in option 2 would mean that councils will have until 2027 to merge? I think Janet Finch-Saunders asked that question, but I didn't hear any response to it. Mark Drakeford had g uaranteed that there wouldn't be change for 10 years. I'm already receiving messages asking for confirmation of that, so I would be grateful if you could confirm that. In terms of the new powers to be devolved to these new councils, what will those powers be? And will funding follow those new powers? Finally, will your Government carry out an analysis of how much the option of merging councils will cost? To conclude, there are three things that have become clear. Once again, local government is in limbo. Once again, staff are uncertain about their own futures. And once again, we're going round and round in circles recycling proposals and restarting conversations that have been held unsuccessfully in the past, and there is no sign of progress from this ineffective Government.
Welsh: Fe gollodd Leighton Andrews ei sedd yn y Rhondda ym Mai 2016, yn sgîl buddugoliaeth swmpus fy ffrind Leanne Wood, arweinydd Plaid Cymru. Daeth Mark Drakeford yn Ysgrifennydd Cabinet dros Gyllid a Llywodraeth Leol ac roedd yna gynigion newydd ar y bwrdd. Roedd uno cynghorau, drwy Ddeddf, wedi mynd, ac roedd rhanbartholi mandadol o rai gwasanaethau yn opsiwn canolog i weledigaeth Drakeford. A dyma ni, bron i dair blynedd yn ddiweddarach, ac o dan oruchwyliaeth Ysgrifennydd Cabinet newydd eto - y trydydd Ysgrifennydd Cabinet Llywodraeth Leol mewn tair blynedd. A dyma ni, yn ôl i fap tebyg iawn i un Leighton Andrews. Roedd ganddo fo wyth neu naw cyngor newydd; heddiw, 10 cyngor newydd sydd ar y bwrdd. Felly, mi hoffwn i ofyn: pam fydd uno cynghorau yn mynd i ddenu cefnogaeth y tro yma pan fethwyd y tro diwethaf? A fedrwch chi gadarnhau bod yr amserlen yn opsiwn 2 yn golygu bod gan gynghorau tan 2027 i uno? Rydw i'n meddwl bod Janet Finch-Saunders wedi gofyn y cwestiwn, ond wnes i ddim clywed yr ateb. Roedd Mark Drakeford wedi gwarantu na fyddai yna newid am 10 mlynedd. Eisoes, rydw i'n cael negeseuon yn gofyn am gadarnhad o hynny, felly mi fuaswn i'n falch iawn petaech chi'n gallu cadarnhau hynny. Ynglŷn â'r pwerau newydd a fydd yn cael eu datganoli i'r cynghorau newydd yma, beth fydd y pwerau yma? Ac a fydd yna gyllid yn mynd efo'r pwerau hynny? Ac yn olaf, a fydd eich Llywodraeth yn gwneud dadansoddiad o faint fydd yr opsiwn o uno cynghorau yn ei gostio? I gloi, mae yna dri pheth yn glir. Unwaith eto, mae llywodraeth leol mewn limbo. Unwaith eto, mae gweithwyr yn ansicr am eu dyfodol. Unwaith eto, rydym ni'n mynd rownd a rownd mewn cylchoedd yn ailgylchu cynigion, yn ailgychwyn sgwrs sydd wedi ei chynnal yn aflwyddiannus o'r blaen, a dim arwydd o gynnydd o du'r Llywodraeth aneffeithiol yma.