News item | 6/16/2023 | 3:45 pm
Having an eye for the implementation and feasibility is essential for the effectiveness of the policy. This is what Minister Schouten of Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions and Minister Bruins Slot of the Interior and Kingdom Relations write in the government’s response to the State of Implementation, the annual report of the various implementing organizations in which they inform politicians about bottlenecks in public services and possible solutions.
The quality of public services largely determines the trust that society has in government. The common thread in many analyzes in recent years is that public services often go well, but that in many situations things also need to be improved. Some people get lost in a dense forest of complex regulations that are decorated with the best of intentions. To prevent systems and rules from getting in the way of suitable solutions for people and companies, there must be more room for individual circumstances and the human dimension. Only then will laws and regulations really work in the way they are intended.
Get started with the five calls
In the government response, the government discusses how the five calls from the State of Implementation are being responded to to work towards future-proof public services. The government recognizes the picture outlined in the State of Implementation and also endorses the importance of implementing the five calls:
- Make it less complex for citizens and entrepreneurs through better and less policy.
- Involve implementation in policy-making from the very beginning.
- No longer focus the political debate on incidents, but develop a joint picture of trends and dilemmas in public services.
- Subsequently, let the duty of accountability make way for an open discussion about how the implementation practice should be improved or different.
- Get data exchange between public service providers really going now.
Next steps
The Work on Implementation (WaU) program was set up by the government to better align public services with the needs of people and businesses. Several improvements have already been initiated in this context. For example, with the development and introduction of the Policy Compass, which helps to make good legislation and policy. The perspectives of people and companies are the starting point, and implementation is involved from the start.
At the same time, there is also room for further improvement and the government is looking at how it can further boost these specific tasks in the coming period on the basis of the calls. Before the end of this year, the Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions will reassess the work program of the WaU program because the State of Implementation has established that more is needed than the current improvement proposals and improvements already initiated by the ministries. The government will also present a proposal for further detailing and concretising a simplification agenda.