News item | 18-11-2022 | 2:30 pm
The government wants to base its implementation of social security more on trust in people. This is what Ministers Van Gennip of Social Affairs and Employment and Schouten of Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions write in the government’s response to the report ‘Hard damp effects of government actions on citizens within social security’ by Panteia, Muzus, VU University Amsterdam and Hogeschool Utrecht. . According to both ministers, the balance in regulation has tipped in recent years towards enforcement and fraud prevention. They are therefore announcing several measures to look more closely at individual circumstances.
The study concludes that a regulation that may turn out to be harsh for one person need not be so for another. It really depends on what’s going on with the person in question. Both ministers are therefore writing to the House that they want to put people first again.
It is announced that various social security schemes will be adjusted. Much has already been set in motion. The Participation Act will be simplified and the balance between human scale and rights and obligations will be restored. Together with trade unions and employers, we are looking at what can be done about hardships in disability legislation in the short and medium term. A committee has also been announced to review the entire WIA system.
The ministers also write that the enforcement of social security will be adjusted so that more is based on trust. The UWV is committed to more personal contact with benefit recipients and the Social Insurance Bank actively contacts when major decisions are made, paying attention to signals that indicate special personal circumstances. Both organizations are also looking more at what the intention of legislation is. In addition, it is being examined where more discretionary powers and hardship clauses should be introduced in legislation, so that rules can be deviated from in distressing cases. These points will be worked out in more detail so that the House can be informed about them as soon as possible.