Unreasonable amounts of money were demanded to pay GMI benefits over several years

During the targeted compliance audit, the State Audit Office concluded that the additional funding requested by the Ministry of Welfare for the targeted grant for paying the guaranteed income benefit (GMI) is not to local governments in 2023 and 2024 justified. Large and widespread inconsistencies were identified in the planning of additional funding requested to pay the targeted grant. The Ministry of Welfare has calculated the additional funding required to co-finance GMI’s welfare costs in an amount significantly greater than required. The reason is both the number of wrongly determined benefit recipients and the calculation method used. Although significant errors have been identified in funding planning, cities have generally used the allocated funding in accordance with regulatory enactments.

THE GAILD

• The GMI benefit is one of the basic social assistance benefits provided by law – material assistance in monetary terms to pay minimum daily expenses, which is granted by the municipal social service to low-income households .
• The additional funding requested by the Ministry of Welfare for the payment of GMI benefits in 2023 and 2024 was not justified, as it was calculated in a much larger amount than necessary. The main reason is the wrong number of wrongly assessed GMI benefit recipients.
• Additional funding has been allocated to the Ministry of Welfare for the payment of targeted grants to local governments: for the six months of 2023 – 2.376 million. euros, for 2024 – 6.128 million EUR, but for 2025 – 7.232 million. euros per year. Of this, only 996,538 thousand were used in the six months of 2023. EUR, but in the first half of 2024 – 1.359 million. euro.

“At a time when the state budget funds are limited for development costs, the State Audit Office urges the Ministry of Peace and other state administrative institutions to look more responsibly at the justification and use of every extra euro spent request for development costs. The benefits industry has many needs. During the development of the state budget for 2023, the Ministry of Welfare prepared 27 applications for business priority measures, but the Cabinet of Ministers supported only eight, including the targeted grant of the state budget to cities for payment of the GMI contribution in a larger amount from 1 July 2023. In the study, we found that the Ministry of Welfare for 2023 has calculated the additional funding required for the co-financing of the GMI benefit by 58% or 1.38 million. EUR in an amount greater than necessary. On the other hand, only in the first half of 2024, the non-performance of funding is already 56% or 1.70 million. euro,” names member of the State Research Council Maija Āboliņa.

The default funding rate is largely due to the incorrect number of GMI benefit recipients being incorrectly assessed.

Although it was already in 2022, compared to 2021, 10% less people received the benefit of GMI, the Ministry of Welfare at the beginning of 2023, when developing the state budget request for 2023-2025. for 2015, without taking into account the actual trends, the number of GMI benefit recipients was projected with a trend that increased significantly for each subsequent year. In addition, although the planned funding increase took into account the already planned increase in GMI thresholds, the estimated funding was further increased by the Ministry’s consumer price index forecasts of Finance for 2022 and 2023 – 25.8% in total. The funding request also included support for the Ukrainian civilian population, assuming that 531 people (1.33% of the planned number of Ukrainian civilian population – 40,000) will be assisted, although funding was for paying GMI benefit to this target group as well. planned in the budget of the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development.

Also in July 2023, when the state budget 2024-2026 is being developed. for 2024, the Ministry of Welfare used the same approach in calculating the funding required to co-finance GMI welfare costs, updating it with the GMI thresholds planned for 2024 and subsequent years and the projected consumer price index for the relevant cases. year. This time, the calculation of the funding did not include the aid needed by the civilians of Ukraine.

The State Audit Office confirms: if the approach used so far in funding planning is not changed, for 2025 and 2026, funding for targeted grants will be paid to municipalities for co -funding the welfare costs of GMI to be allocated for at least 7.8 million. in a larger amount of euros than necessary.

State Audit Office Recommendations #AfterAudit

In the study, two recommendations were made to the Ministry of Welfare, the implementation of which (1) will change the method of calculation of GMI welfare costs, that is, the actual performance will be taken into account, and as that creates the opportunity to finance other current needs; (2) local government social services specialists will be notified and trained more quickly about changes in the legal framework and will work with the SOPA application, thus eliminating inconsistencies in the allocation of GMI benefits found in the study, which was not significant. compared to the total funding allocated.