The Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) calls on the House of Representatives not to agree to the new cabinet plans for the settlement of the allowance affair. A letter from the VNG to the House states that the approach of the cabinet “does more harm than good”, writes Fidelity.
In the letter, the VNG refers to a new scheme for victims who are not yet being helped. This scheme is intended for three additional target groups: children and ex-partners of affected parents, and people who ran into problems with benefits other than the childcare allowance.
The association believes that with the addition, the cabinet is once again making promises that it cannot fulfill, the newspaper writes. The municipalities therefore have “fundamental objections” and say that they “cannot or do not want to bear the responsibility” for the new regulations.
In recent months, the municipalities have urged the caretaker government to first get the ongoing recovery operation, the so-called Catshuis arrangement, in order. “Tens of thousands of affected parents are waiting for an integral assessment, with no perspective on how long they will have to wait,” writes the VNG.
According to the association, each new arrangement leads to unrest among the victims, which municipal employees are often unable to remove because a lot is unclear.
Criticism from Council of State and National Ombudsman
Earlier, the Council of State and the National Ombudsman were very critical of the handling of the allowance affair. The Council of State, the highest administrative court, said earlier about: the extra arrangements that these are ill-considered and that mistakes are lurking. There would be talk of “a jumble of regulations”.
Earlier, the cabinet came up with the so-called Catshuis scheme, which means that victims in the affair are entitled to 30,000 euros in compensation. The settlement of the Catshuis scheme has so far been very difficult.
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