Van Hijum: “Making mistakes is human. It does not suit the government to immediately see malicious intent. Especially since we have a complicated system of social benefits. It can sometimes happen that someone makes a mistake. The benefits scandal has painfully made it clear that we should not overreact with fines or recoveries. Of course, we tackle real fraud. But when you as a government give trust, you also receive trust in return.”
The bill aims to ensure that the execution has more room for the personal situation of individuals. This means that the UWV, SVB, and municipalities can determine themselves not to impose a penalty if they see that doing so would only lead someone into greater (financial) trouble. Furthermore, individuals should not be automatically punished when they make a mistake while applying for a benefit.
More Trust
Since this year, UWV and SVB already have the ability to take into account the individual situation of someone with a payment debt. The minister also wants more attention to errors made by the government in recovery cases. The bill focuses much more on prevention: preventing violations is more sensible than strictly punishing when things go wrong. The bill is based on more trust in people and understanding of their situation.