News item | 21-02-2025 | 14:30
Minister Van Hijum of Social Affairs and Employment wants to ensure that when maintaining the rules in social security, more trust in people are assumed and there is more room for customization. Also, a mistake when applying for social regulations should not immediately lead to a fine. The minister now finds the rules too strict. The Enforcement Social Security Bill goes to the Council of State for advice today.
Van Hijum: “Missing is human. It does not fit the government immediately to see evil intentions. Certainly because we have a complicated system of social regulations. Then it can sometimes happen that someone makes a mistake. The allowance affair has made it painfully clear that we should not break through with fines or recoveries. We naturally tackle real fraud. But if you give confidence as a government, you will also get trust back. ”
The bill must ensure that the implementation is given more room for the personal situation of people. This means that UWV, SVB and municipalities are allowed to determine, for example, not to carry out a punishment if they see that someone is therefore only getting more in (financial) problems. Also, people no longer have to be punished automatically when they make a mistake while applying for a scheme.
More trust
Since this year, UWV and SVB have already had the opportunity to take more account of the individual situation of someone with a payment debt. The minister also wants more attention to errors by the government when recovery. The bill also focuses much more on prevention: the prevention of violations is more meaningful than strict punishment when things go wrong. The bill is based on more confidence in people and understanding their situation.