Benefits agency UWV has paid millions in STAP subsidies to students who did not complete their training or who never showed up. The UWV did not claim back 2.6 million euros for unfinished courses. That reported radio station BNR Friday after asking the UWV. The UWV paid out a total of 184 million euros in subsidies.
Since the beginning of last year, EU citizens (their partners or children) over the age of 18 and not yet entitled to state pension can apply for 1,000 euros for a retraining or refresher course via the Stimulation Labor Market Position (STAP) scheme.
The STAP budget should help workers or jobseekers to improve their position on the labor market. In 2022, 214,000 people did this. The UWV can reclaim the subsidy if the student did not complete the course, or attended less than 80 percent. Those who do not complete the training through their own fault must repay the 1,000 euros. If the student could not follow the course because the provider canceled or moved it, for example, the provider must refund.
The UWV decided to be lenient towards those who did not complete the training through their own fault. They did not have to repay the 1,000 euros. Providers who canceled a course had to do so, it involved a subsidy of 3.3 million. By reclaiming the subsidy from students, the UWV would saddle them with a debt for money that they never had on their account, says a spokesperson. The UWV pays the 1,000 euros to the course provider. According to the UWV, it would be unfair to reclaim that money from the provider. He has often already incurred costs for the location or materials. “But we also wanted to prevent students from becoming indebted to the government if they were unable to complete a course due to personal circumstances such as the death of a family member.” Moreover, the scheme is fairly new and the rules according to the UWV are not known to many. The benefits agency says it has acted in consultation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.
It is also not the case, says the spokesperson, that a training has been of no use if attendance is less than 80 percent. In addition, 94 percent of the courses were successfully completed, he says. According to the UWV, these are common results. “There are always people who don’t make it.”
In case of signals of abuse of the STAP subsidy – from both the student and the provider – the UWV can report this to the so-called STAP Assessment Chamber of Social Affairs. Research by research platform Follow the Money showed in February that providers increased their prices because the government pays the costs anyway. Such matters may be a reason for the Testing Chamber to proceed to an investigation. Last year, the UWV made almost five hundred reports. The ministry could not say this Friday how often an investigation was actually launched.
2,000 courses cancelled
The subsidy is extremely popular among users. In application rounds, which have taken place every three months since the beginning of 2022, the available budget often ran out within a few hours. In the last application round, in April, almost 160,000 people wanted to make use of the subsidy. Only 38,000 people were able to apply.
But the scheme has also been criticized for some time. Public money would disappear in courses that are not sufficiently related to the labor market, such as cryptocurrency trading or dropshipping courses. At the end of last year, Minister Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs, CDA) already introduced an application freeze to reduce abuse and improper use of the scheme. Since March, a total of about 2,000 courses have been removed from the STAP training register, because they do not necessarily strengthen the position of course participants on the labor market, but are, for example, more focused on their own financial gain.
In 2024, the government will scrap the subsidy completely in order to free up extra money for the national budget. Experts regretted the end of the scheme earlier NRC. They hope that the cabinet will come up with an alternative. In July, September and November, prospective students can register one last time. The UWV says that it will also remain lenient towards students who do not complete their education.