A report by the Ombudsman shows that digital access is still not properly arranged for legal representatives and people who do digital business with the government on behalf of a loved one.
The problem has been going on for years and the State Secretary has already promised improvement. Unfortunately, so far without results.
Digital authorization
Due to the lack of a good digital authorization facility, legal representatives, such as a parent of a child, would still spend an unnecessary amount of time arranging things digitally. The Ombudsman writes that this often makes it ‘impossible’ to get anything done.
Although there is now a digital system that can authorize people, in practice this is only possible in 24 of the 342 municipalities.
“Sometimes they look for a solution by using the DigiD of a client or loved one, against the rules,” ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen writes in the report.
Rapport 2017
The report is a retrospective study of the report published in 2017 What do you mean MYGovernment of the National Ombudsman. Van Zutphen drew attention to specific groups that have problems doing business digitally.
The ombudsman acknowledges that improvements have been made since then, but nevertheless ‘the ombudsman still regularly receives signals and complaints about the digital accessibility of the government’.
Promises
The promise to increase digital accessibility has been around for more than ten years, writes the National Ombudsman. “It doesn’t seem to be a priority, even though it concerns a large group of people.” In the Netherlands, approximately 273,000 people are under administration. Another 2.6 million people are not digitally skilled and therefore want someone else’s help.
The Ombudsman now wants the State Secretary to come up with a ‘clear and feasible plan of action’ within three months. “The government must step up its game so that everyone can participate,” concludes Van Zutphen.
2023-12-12 05:01:13
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