Externals cash in at ministries | Inland

According to the so-called ‘Roemer standard’, once devised by the then SP leader Emile Roemer, ministries are allowed to spend a maximum of ten percent of their total personnel costs on external parties. But they’ve been above that limit for years. In 2017, 1.3 billion euros went to external parties: that amount has now almost doubled. At some ministries, even more than twenty percent is spent on hiring, according to recent annual figures from the government.

At the same time, the civil service is expanding considerably. While Prime Minister Mark Rutte argued for the smallest possible government when he took office in 2010, tens of thousands of civil servants have been added in recent years. In his fourth cabinet, the VVD leader goes a step further with five new ministers: these cost a total of 7.5 million euros extra per year.

“The central government has recently been needing more and more staff because of the energy transition, the allowance affair, corona and other major social problems,” says labor market professor Ton Wilthagen. “But in these times of shortage, that is” extremely difficult and expensive.”

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