The year 2023 saw several changes at the Netherlands Court of Audit. They included the appointment of Pieter Duisenberg as president and the announcement for the first time of the number of classified audit reports we published, including one on the intelligence and security services.
Activity Report on 2023: Insights into public money and government performance
At the government’s request, the Netherlands Court of Audit has assessed in detail the cost to government organisations and institutions of the 2014 downing of Flight MH17 with a Russian Buk missile in eastern Ukraine.
Cost to the Netherlands government of Flight MH17 disaster at least €166 million.
On the whole, COVID-19 vaccines were procured efficiently during the pandemic. The Netherlands played an active role in the vaccine negotiations, kept public interests in mind and ultimately procured 102 million vaccines at a cost of €1.8 billion.
Health ministry responded quickly and served public interests when procuring COVID-19 vaccines
Supply teachers hired through an agency cost secondary schools considerably more than the teachers they employ directly. The total salary costs of an employed teacher in the common salary scale of grade 12 is €58 per hour.
Secondary school supply teachers considerably more expensive than employed teachers
Many people are trapped by government rules. One cause is the complexity of the regulations they have to deal with and government bodies have to implement.
Carbon dioxide captured by industrial companies and pumped through a pipeline from Rotterdam to a depleted natural gas field under the North Sea is expected to make a significant contribution to the Netherlands’ climate goal for 2023.
If CO2 prices go up, industry benefits most from Porthos’s carbon storage under the North Sea
Students’ results could be improved by concrete agreements between the Minister of Education, Culture and Science and the boards of secondary vocational education institutions (MBO) on boosting equal opportunities.
MBO students would benefit from clearer support: existing agreements still often unpredictable
During the corona pandemic, businesses and the self-employed were granted tax payment deferrals totalling €40 billion that helped many of them to survive.
Businesses pay off €26 billion of corona tax debts, but €5.7 billion at risk
Between 2016 and 2022 the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation spent some €670 million on projects to secure access to clean drinking water and sanitation for people in developing countries.
Geert van den Goor has been appointed to the Netherlands Court of Audit’s Audit Advisory Committee effective 1 January 2024.
Kim van Berkel (Erasmus University Rotterdam) has won the Netherlands Court of Audit’s 2024 Thesis Prize for her thesis on social assistance in the Netherlands.
