Restoration of victims of benefits affair stalled due to bureaucratic chaos

Sandra Uittenbogaert

Jan Kleinnijenhuis

news reporter

Irene de Kruif

political reporter Nieuwsuur

Jan Kleinnijenhuis

news reporter

Irene de Kruif

political reporter Nieuwsuur

The organization that has to solve the problems of duped parents in the benefits scandal is in danger of coming to a complete standstill. Employees of the Implementing Organization for Recovery Allowances (UHT) get bogged down in internal rules and procedures, and staff turnover is enormous. In addition, there is a culture of fear: officials do not dare to raise problems internally.

In recent weeks, Nieuwsuur spoke with dozens of employees and former employees of the UHT, from the bottom of the organization to the top of the civil service. They want to remain anonymous, fearing the consequences if they speak publicly about the problems of the UHT. Together they paint a picture of an organization that, unintentionally, does not focus on the victimized parent, but on its own rules and procedures.

The Ministry of Finance has not yet responded.

Evidence is mainly sought to distrust the parent’s story.

UHT employee

The benefits affair revolves around thousands of parents who were wrongly labeled fraudsters by the tax authorities, and who sometimes had to pay sky-high fines. Many parents fell deeply into debt.

On Friday, State Secretary Aukje de Vries (Allowances, VVD) wants to announce that affected parents will be helped more quickly. Without measures, victims would have to wait until 2027 before the UHT has settled all cases. That should be no later than 2025, Nieuwsuur reported last week on the basis of a draft letter to Parliament.

The employees who spoke to Nieuwsuur reacted cynically to that message. “The pressure to handle more cases faster is very high. But how to do that, that is not said,” says one of them.

The personal case handlers, who maintain contact with parents, often have to wait weeks to months before their recommendations, for example a compensation proposal, are approved internally. “And then you sometimes get a file back with minimal adjustments, and everything starts all over again.”

At the beginning of 2021, the cabinet fell over the benefits scandal. NOS op 3 then explained how it could come to this:

The fear of making mistakes predominates within the UHT. Especially since the end of 2021 it became known that those involved in the so-called Bulgarian fraud had also received compensation. “That led to a lot of stress, and now nobody dares to make mistakes. And so everything comes to a standstill,” says a UHT employee.

If you criticize, you will be seen as a nuisance.

UHT employee

All (former) employees that Nieuwsuur spoke to say they have chosen the job to help parents who have been affected. But the management’s fear of making mistakes means that they cannot offer tailor-made solutions to parents. “The surcharge scandal was caused by a lack of human touch. And that is now missing again.”

Employees do not feel safe to raise the problems they encounter on a daily basis with management. “If you have criticism, even if it is constructive or if you propose solutions, you are seen as difficult.” People who do speak up will be told that their contract will not be renewed. “That is a signal to the rest: if you speak up, the same will happen to you.”

Fast course

It leads to an enormous turnover of personnel within the UHT, say almost all (former) employees. This is confirmed in confidential documents from the management of the UHT, which Nieuwsuur had access to. “The biggest current bottleneck is the fact that more than half of newly recruited and trained employees leave within six months,” it says.

Currently, the UHT employs nearly 1,400 full-time positions, but hundreds of employees left last year alone. This means that the ambition of State Secretary De Vries to help victims more quickly with more personnel is unfeasible, says an employee. “I don’t understand why UHT doesn’t focus on staff retention,” says another. “Embrace those people, keep them inside.”

‘Run away screaming’

At the start of the UHT, the majority of employees still consisted of personnel seconded from the regular Tax and Customs Administration. “They ran away screaming,” says a former employee. The UHT now consists of more than 300 FTE of ‘own’ staff. The rest is hired externally or consists of temporary workers. “They can’t speak up at all, because then they immediately fly out.”

According to current employees, there is a shift in the organization. “We are becoming stricter. The parent should be leading. Now the main thing is to look for evidence to distrust their story. And that search for evidence makes the process more viscous.”

Trade union FNV recognizes the signals at the UHT. “There is a very restless working climate at UHT,” says director Mieke van Vliet. “Many specialists work there, but they have no autonomy whatsoever. And there is no future perspective for the employees either, because it would be temporary work.” According to Van Vliet, the UHT itself should conduct more research into the working climate.

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