On Monday, March 24, the Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) committee visited the Allowances Service in Utrecht. This visit was following an invitation from the then State Secretary for Allowances and Customs, Nora Achahbar, during last years debate on the bill Approach on Childcare Allowance Ukrainian Displaced Persons.
Committee members Mei Li Vos (committee chair SZW, GroenLinks-PvdA), Eugène Heijnen (BBB), Robert van Gasteren (BBB), Elly van Wijk (BBB), Artie Ramsodit (GroenLinks-PvdA), Roel van Gurp (GroenLinks-PvdA), Bastiaan van Apeldoorn (SP) and Martin van Rooijen (50PLUS) participated.
The Allowances Service is responsible for the distribution of the childcare allowance (KOT), child-related budget (KGB), healthcare allowance (ZT), and housing allowance (HT).
During the working visit, the development of the Allowances Service was central. Partly due to the Allowances Affair, this service has been separated from the Tax Administration and has developed into a public service provider within the social domain. Whereas previously the citizen was entirely responsible for applying for and receiving allowances, today much more work is done from the citizens perspective.
This also meant that processing times became longer, for example, because in cases of objections, contact with the citizen is always made first. The Allowances Service places the citizen central and continues to work on further improving their data position and service provision. This also helps to reduce the need to reclaim incorrectly paid advances.
In various discussions, the senators spoke with employees about the processes, services, and bottlenecks in daily work. This resulted in a discussion about why certain financial data from citizens, which the Allowances Service does receive for enforcement, cannot or may not be used preventively to adjust the advances.
Finally, the future of the Childcare Allowance was discussed, the arrangement where most money is awarded to citizens. The Allowances Service works closely with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in this area to realize new, feasible legislation.