Still questioning billions in corona expenditure VWS Inland

The Court of Audit found ‘serious shortcomings’ in the ministry’s financial statements for 2020, the year in which the corona virus emerged in the Netherlands. Of the 5.1 billion euros spent on fighting the virus, 2.1 billion did not go according to the rules. Of the commitments entered into, totaling 7.9 billion euros, 5.4 billion was “unlawful.”

At 8.1 billion euros, corona-related expenditure was considerably higher than in 2020, but the amount involving errors and uncertainties has decreased to 1.7 billion euros. Liabilities have risen to 9.9 billion euros, of which 3.7 billion cannot be adequately justified. Most of the money was spent on testing and vaccinations.

Unpredictable Gradient

Also last year, the unpredictable course of the pandemic meant that the ministry sometimes had to act quickly, and therefore “forced” to deviate from, for example, procurement rules. This was the case, for example, when purchasing self-tests that were made available free of charge in education.

Improving financial management is a long-term task, Kuipers acknowledges. He emphasizes that steps have been taken in a year in which corona was still “quite hectic”. According to him, the ministry continues to work hard to get the procedures in order permanently.

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