According to Abdeluheb Choho, who represents the group, the policy and its implementation are becoming increasingly complex. This would be at the expense of citizens’ trust in the government.
The conclusions that the group writes about are in line with the findings of the parliamentary committee that investigated the implementation problems in spring 2021.
Sensitive to errors
Choho, who today handed over the report to President of the House of Representatives Vera Bergkamp, says: “It is precisely the people who depend on the government that are getting stuck more and more often because of this, can no longer see the wood for the trees and do not receive the help they need.”
“This is not because our people don’t work hard enough, certainly not. But because the policy is becoming increasingly complex and because we increasingly lack the time, people and resources to actually deliver on everything that is promised in The Hague. make,” says Choho.
The implementation of laws and policy has recently received a great deal of attention in The Hague, partly in response to the benefits scandal. Implementers are the counters where citizens come into contact with the government. They are therefore important for people’s confidence in the same government.
Complicated laws
In some cases, citizens get stuck and can no longer see the wood for the trees. This would mainly be due to complicated laws and the increase in the number of rules. This gives civil servants more work, while there is a shortage of people. In many cases, things are going well, the officials emphasize.
The group writes that there is ‘earlier and better cooperation between politics, policy and implementation’. The group was set up in response to the report of the parliamentary committee, led by then VVD member of parliament André Bosman.
Although the cabinet has taken good steps since then, the members are ‘seriously concerned about the future-proofness of our services’.
Towering ambitions
Where the complexity of laws is increasing and politicians have ‘sky-high ambitions’, too little money is released to improve implementation and services, says the group. Moreover, the provision of information is still not in order. “IT systems are outdated and the data exchange is insufficient to properly help citizens and entrepreneurs.”
