For Flemish Minister of Work Hilde Crevits (CD&V) the report was a shock, “because it was not the first time that the alarm bells went off”. Nevertheless, the minister also sees that in the month and a half since they saw the report, an action plan has already been drawn up to solve the problems.
“That makes me feel positive,” says Crevits. She hopes that a transparent framework will soon be established within which the choices for external partners by the Flemish employment service will become clear. In the long run, this unambiguous framework should be a plus, but in the meantime she wonders why it wasn’t there sooner.
The legal errors that have come to light during the audit by the Court of Audit show that the VDAB’s outsourcing policy has been insufficiently professional in recent years. “You can see here that in the past 15 years the VDAB has not succeeded in taking on its role as director of the labor market,” says Minister Crevits. While that is precisely the role that the Flemish government wants to see of the VDAB. she also emphasizes that the Court of Audit’s criticism is not about the quality of the service provided by the employment agency, which is performing well.
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