It is clear that the government makes too many mistakes. But that should not be a reason to further increase distrust in the government.
National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen started the new year by proclaiming a gloomy message. “The government has failed and simply does not keep its promise,” he says in an interview that this newspaper printed on Monday.
Van Zutphen is not just anyone, he has been appointed by the House of Representatives to deal with complaints from citizens about improper government action. To illustrate what he is doing, the most recent annual report features a photo of a queue of Groningen residents with earthquake damage.
He has been doing his job for seven years now, together with about two hundred colleagues, including Children’s Ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer. Judging by the interview, they achieve too little result. Many advices are ignored. “Then you sometimes become despondent and wonder why parliament actually appointed you. There is still little evidence of the new administrative culture,” says Van Zutphen.
By way of nuance, it can be noted that the government is not a machine with a dial, rather a mammoth tanker in a channel that has become too narrow. The call for a new administrative culture in the Netherlands, arising from the investigation into the benefits affair, has been heard since 2021. However necessary that call is, it seems too short to see any actual drastic changes now.
This does not detract from the seriousness of the nearly 30,000 complaints, questions and signals that reached the ombudsman in 2021; more than 4200 more than the year before. These numbers say a lot about the functioning of the government. But they tell just as much about the functioning of Van Zutphen and his service as about dissatisfaction, assertiveness and the patience of citizens.
No doubt about the usefulness of the National Ombudsman. Nevertheless, it is not acceptable that the gloomy Van Zutphen contributes to a mood that increases distrust in the government. Desire and expectation is simply easier than changing and solving something.