Part of the debate – Senedd Cymru am 3:28 pm ar 24 Hydref 2017.
Mae ychydig o bwyntiau gennyf i. Mi wnaf i gyfeirio at yr hyn glywsom ni gan Dai Lloyd, wrth gwrs, ynglŷn ag amseru cyflwyno hyn rŵan. Y ffaith ydy na fyddai hyn yn gallu cael ei wneud ar ôl i’r newidiadau ddod i rym dan y Ddeddf Cymru newydd, sy’n codi’r cwestiwn pam bod pleidiau eraill yn y lle yma wedi pleidleisio dros y Ddeddf honno. Mae Plaid Cymru, mewn sawl maniffesto, wedi cynnwys cyfeiriad tuag at gyflwyno trefn o’r fath yma, felly mae’n cefnogaeth ni yno.
Rydw i hefyd yn ymwybodol o’r pryderon sydd yna, ac mi ddylem ni i gyd fod yn sensitif i’r pryderon yna y gallai hwn, o beidio â’i gael o’n iawn, o bosib, gael effaith anghymesur neu ‘disproportionate’ ar yfwyr cymedrol gyda llai o arian i’w wario. Rydw i yn edrych ymlaen i glywed tystiolaeth wrth i hwn fynd drwy’r Senedd er mwyn tawelu pryderon pobl y tu allan yn bennaf, ond hefyd pobl i mewn yma yn y Senedd.
A couple of questions—. We’ve talked a lot about how, hopefully, this can drive a change of behaviour amongst consumers. We know from evidence relating to sugar levies—pop taxes, if you like—globally, that manufacturers have often responded by reducing the sugar content of their drinks, for example. Can I just ask what assessment has been made by Government of the possibility, the likelihood, that some manufacturers will actually try to achieve a lower alcohol content within their drinks? Because we’re a market of 3 million—if Scotland does this, that’s another market of 5 million. It’s not a tiny market, and, certainly, in Singapore, I think, all the major drinks manufacturers came together to reduce sugar content in response to changes in legislation on sugary drinks. So, I wonder if the Government has made an assessment of that, because lowering the alcohol content of drinks would also have a beneficial effect.
Secondly, what assessment has been made of what happens if consumer behaviour doesn’t change as much as the Government envisages? Because you will know that, in Scotland, the Labour Party refused to support legislation on minimum alcohol pricing. So, politics does play a part in this, and the reason given by Scottish Labour, as I understand, is their concern about what would happen to a possible windfall for retailers or manufacturers of alcoholic drinks because they were charging more, because of legislation, for their product. So, what assessment, again, has the Government made of that and what would be the monitoring process? And what would be the actions that the Government would wish to see if, suddenly, retailers or manufacturers have a windfall?