Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:50 pm on 18 July 2017.
Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I thank Sian Gwenllian for the comments this afternoon. Thank you also for being so willing to talk to us over time in discussing ideas, and this afternoon saying where we can agree on some important things—extending the right to register and to vote to the people who are 16 and 17 years old, and also the right for people who live in Wales to be part of our democratic process. That’s a very important message for people who come to Wales and who live here and work here and study here. They are part of our communities here in Wales, and we want to extend the right to them to be part of that democratic process at a local level as well.
Could I say I share the concerns that Sian Gwenllian has about the complexity and accountability? We are trying, in what we’ve presented, to plan a way in which we can help people to understand the system we are going to create in the future, and also make sure that people are accountable for the decisions that they make.
Dyma pam yn rhannol, Llywydd, y mae gennym ni ofyniad yn y Papur Gwyn bod gan awdurdodau lleol strategaethau ymgysylltu statudol. Dyma pam yr ydym ni’n dweud y bydd yn rhaid i awdurdodau lleol ddarlledu eu trafodion. Rydym ni eisiau gwneud yn siŵr bod dinasyddion lleol yn gwybod beth sy'n digwydd yn ein hawdurdodau lleol. Dyma pam yr wyf i’n credu bod swyddogaeth cynghorwyr lleol, yn y ffordd y byddwn ni’n sefydlu’r system newydd, yn gwbl ganolog. Dyma pam yn rhannol nad oeddwn i’n cytuno â Janet Finch-Saunders yn ei barn y dylem ni gael gostyngiad sylweddol yn y nifer o gynghorwyr lleol. Os oes mwy o —.[Torri ar draws.] Mae'n ddrwg gen i, rwy’n gobeithio na wnes i gam-gynrychioli’r hyn a ddywedasoch chi. [Torri ar draws.]