On Monday, the interrogation committee will continue the search for what went wrong in the approach to fraud with the childcare allowance. After officials had to account for themselves last week, it is now the turn of the politicians who then turned the controls.
On Monday, the interrogation committee will continue the search into what went wrong in the approach to fraud with the childcare allowance. After officials had to account for themselves last week, it is now the turn of the politicians who turned the knobs at the time.
Last week (former) top civil servants and experts were summoned to be heard under oath.
In the second week it will be the turn of (former) politicians who were at the helm. What did they know?
Monday, November 23:
Frans Weekers – State Secretary for Finance 2010-2014 According to then director of the Tax Authorities Peter Veld, Weekers found the all-or-nothing approach too strict. But according to the tax official, he was not specifically involved in the CAF 11 case surrounding an Eindhoven childminder agency.
In any case, Weekers did not pursue his concerns politically. Possibly because he had to find a solution to the so-called Bulgarian fraud under great social and political pressure.
It now appears that this was the prelude to a far too strict policy for the detection of fraudsters. Weekers stepped down in 2014 due to a different issue.
Eric Wiebes – State Secretary for Finance 2014-2017Wiebes, now Minister of Economic Affairs, succeeded Weekers. Wiebes pays attention to the fight against fraud in general, because he knows how difficult it was for his predecessor.
In 2014, the Tax and Customs Administration and the Ministry of Social Affairs, which determines the policy for the benefits, discussed the tough stance of the tax authorities. According to former director of the Tax Authorities Veld, Wiebes considered the policy at the time “also punishment” and he saw that the rules should be changed. But no action was taken.
Lodewijk Asscher – Minister of Social Affairs 2012-2017 The benefits affair is often about the Tax and Customs Administration, but officially the Ministry of Social Affairs is the policymaker in this area. The tax authorities carry out and detect fraud. As a result, PvdA leader and former minister Asscher have been called up for questioning.
Up to the highest level within the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance work has been done on a different approach, because it was recognized that parents were getting into trouble.
Just before Christmas in 2014, Asscher was to be informed about this, but according to then top civil servant Marcelis Boereboom, the documents never ended up in the minister’s bag. Asscher stated that he could not remember the documents.
Incidentally, during a parliamentary debate in 2015, Asscher endorsed the approach of the Tax and Customs Administration, which reclaims full amounts if parents have made a mistake.
Wednesday, November 25:
Tamara van Ark – State Secretary for Social Affairs 2017-2020 Van Ark, now Minister for Medical Care, was, like Asscher, responsible for the childcare allowance.
When former State Secretary of Finance Menno Snel wanted to promise parents compensation in June 2019, Van Ark gave up. According to Social Affairs officials, she thought the plan had not been worked out properly.
Under Van Ark’s administration, a new allowance system for childcare was worked on for a long time, but that was blocked at the very last moment by the Ministry of Finance. Childcare director at Sociale Zaken Maaike van Tuyll says she is surprised about the change.
Menno Snel – State Secretary of Finance 2017-2019 Snel was State Secretary of Finance when Van Ark proposed to adjust the benefits system. The idea was that parents would be less likely to suffer from the tough approach of the tax authorities.
But Snel foresaw financial risks, according to Van Tuyll. Moreover, the Benefits department would be “the best running part” of the Tax and Customs Administration.
According to former director of the Tax Authorities Jaap Uijlenbroek, Snel realized on June 4, 2019 that the course had to be radically changed. He therefore announced that he would amend the law. However, the problems persisted and Snel stepped down in December of that year.
Thursday, November 26:
Wopke Hoekstra – Minister of Finance 2017-present Primarily, the State Secretary of Finance is charged with the Tax and Customs Administration and not the Minister of Finance, who, as the political leader of the department, has final responsibility. Hoekstra has stayed fairly out of the wind.
He did, however, commission an investigation that resulted in the Ministry of Finance filing a tax return against its own tax authorities. An unprecedented step. After Snel’s resignation, Hoekstra was briefly the face of the tax authorities, but that changed when D66, together with Alexandra van Huffelen, provided a new State Secretary.
Mark Rutte – Prime Minister 2010-present Prime Minister Rutte never became the face of the benefits affair either, although he compared the dossier in January of this year with regard to the air disaster with MH17 and the earthquakes in Groningen.
Rutte’s role lies mainly with the Ministerial Committee on Combating Fraud, which he headed in his previous cabinet. Between 2013 and 2016, this commission intensified the hunt for fraud.
The documents of this committee are secret. She also did not get to see the Chamber. The interrogation committee does have the documents in possession and can use them during the interrogation of Rutte.
