News item | 22-01-2024 | 11:45
Two years and one week ago today, State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief made his first working visit to Groningen. A lot has happened since then and many changes have been initiated. During the Nij Begun kick-off meeting in Bad Nieuweschans in Groningen, the Vijlbrief briefly looked back on the past period, but mainly looked ahead. He did this in front of a full room with administrators from the region and province, social organizations, government and regional officials and a number of young people.
The meeting was the official kick-off of the process that the government and the region have entered into around Nij Begun, in which they are working together to restore the future of Groningen. In parallel, Vijlbrief also sent a letter to the House of Representatives in which he reports the progress of the 50 measures from Nij Begun.
Vijlbrief emphasized in his speech that policy, implementation and administration must deliver in the near future. And he called for administrative courage. “People expect us to deliver. The path of least resistance is the path to stagnation. Not everything is possible, not everything works at the same time. People understand that very well. To stand for that, for the difficult choices that are sometimes necessary, is also to be reliable,” says Vijlbrief.
Implementation of 50 measures as a priority from 2024
In a letter to the House of Representatives, the State Secretary provides an update for the third time on the progress of the announced measures. Vijlbrief emphasizes that the priority in 2024 is the implementation of these fifty measures. This is not just a task for the government, but is done together with regional authorities, social organizations, implementation organizations and other regional partners.
Better claims handling
One of the measures that have recently been started is the payment of increased compensation for non-material damage. There is no longer any difference within families or between adults and children. In addition, residents in the reinforcement assignment are eligible for the highest compensation.
The claim settlement according to actual recovery will be available to all residents in the affected area by the end of June 2024 at the latest. Residents with damage will be given the opportunity to have all damage in their home up to €60,000, which may be mining damage in nature and has not previously been dealt with, repaired without a causality process. In addition, the IMG will double the fixed one-off compensation (VES) to €10,000. It will also be IMG from
The SME task force, the Complex (private) situations task force and the Manure Cellars Working Group were started at the end of 2023. The task forces are an intensive collaboration between the NCG, the IMG, the province (MKB) and Stut & Steun (MKB). They examine the more complex processes of entrepreneurs and residents.
Strengthening entire streets, neighborhoods or villages
Once the reinforcement in a neighborhood or street has been completed, municipalities incur costs to restore the public space in the area. This concerns, for example, repaving, replacing sewerage and water pipes, or the construction of new green areas. Money has been made available to municipalities for this purpose in the 2020 administrative agreements. In Nij Begun extra money has been released because the resources are no longer sufficient due to inflation. The region therefore received more than €4 million at the end of 2023.
The region will start using the municipal bottleneck fund in the first quarter of 2024. More than €14.4 million has been made available for this at the end of 2023. This money is intended for solving socio-economic and psychosocial bottlenecks in reinforcement and claims settlement. Such as in households where, due to persistent stress and tension surrounding the strengthening process, the parents of a family with three children are in serious psychological distress.
Building well-being and social recovery
As of December 6, Henk Nijboer has been appointed as quartermaster for the social agenda. This agenda must contribute to ensuring that within one generation the gas extraction area scores at least at the national average on indicators of broad prosperity such as a good starting position on the labor market, training offer, school dropout, social security, satisfaction with life and perceived health. Nijboer has been tasked with developing the social agenda with a broad coalition from the region.
A Youth Summit was organized in the last months of 2023. Young people, varying in age, place of residence and education, discussed themes that they consider important for their future in Groningen. For example, housing, facilities, climate, mental health and education were central.
Building economic perspective
A quartermaster will be appointed for the economic agenda. The economic agenda aims to ensure that Groningen and North Drenthe will be and remain attractive regions for working, learning, studying and investing. To this end, a joint Start-up Document has been drawn up by the region and the government, describing the main points. The future leader must, together with the leader of the social agenda, ensure that there is coherence between both agendas.
Sustainability
Differences in sustainability must be prevented as much as possible. That is why the elaboration of the two measures in this regard from Nij Begun requires a careful approach. This elaboration will be further developed together with the region, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) and the NCG. There will be more clarity about this at the beginning of February.