News item | 5/17/2023 | 13:15
Not the rules, but putting people first. That is the starting point of the Participation Act in Balance bill. This bill will be open for internet consultation to all interested parties from midnight. Until 28 June they can provide their input for further improvement.
Last year, Minister Schouten for Poverty Reduction, Participation and Pensions presented both the Participation Act in Balance policy plan and the further elaboration of the aforementioned measures.
With this, the government wants to take concrete steps to put people first and not the rules, thereby removing experienced hardships. The aim is to increase legal certainty for people entitled to social assistance and to give professionals sufficient scope to help them with this. We worked on this with municipalities, other professionals from the profession and, of course, people entitled to social assistance themselves. The bill offers a cohesive package of more than twenty measures and is now open for consultation.
Human size, trust and simplicity
These measures include more room to provide informal care without consequences for the benefit. When someone temporarily lives with the person in need of care due to intensive informal care, he retains his own right to assistance in that temporary situation. In addition, people entitled to social assistance will soon be able to receive up to € 1,200 in gifts without having to declare this and they will be allowed to keep extra earnings of up to 15% as a stepping stone to work.
Anyone who finds work, but has greater fluctuations in their income, can claim a budget from a new buffer budget to be formed. Large blows are thus absorbed for more certainty. It will also be possible to offer retroactive assistance on an individual basis and there will be more scope for customization where the four-week search term is concerned for young people.
If someone demonstrably lives temporarily with a person entitled to social assistance, the cost-sharing standard does not yet apply.
Practical adjustments have also been included. For example, it will be possible to establish identity on the basis of a driver’s license instead of just a passport or ID card when applying for assistance, and the settlement of holiday pay with assistance will be simplified. All proposals are aimed at human size, trust and simplicity.
These and all other proposals can be found in the Bill Participation Act in Balance. This can be consulted from midnight until June 28. Subsequently, the input received will be used to prepare a bill that will enter into force on 1 January 2025.