Peter Omtzigt

Renske Leijten and Pieter Omtzigt got stuck in the childcare allowance affair. “The rule of law no longer feels like the rule of law'

Some MPs stand out with bold plans and great influence. allegiance talk to six politicians in this category during recess. Today (final): Renske Leijten (SP) and Pieter Omtzigt (CDA), who were stuck in the childcare allowance affair. “Over the past year, I've sometimes felt like more of a detective.”

Niels MarkusAugust 28, 2020, 1:00 AM

Four thick files are on the table; in the corner of Renske Leijten's office, there are three more bags with parents' files. When the SP MP browses through the black-painted files, stories from the childcare allowance affair bubble up by themselves.

“I had another mother on the phone this morning who has already been promised six times that she will be compensated this year, but it just doesn't happen. She is now going to court to claim a penalty payment. I get that. Is it also wise, can I give her good advice? I don't know. So I say: just do it, but talk to so and so.” There is a lot of pain for parents affected by the benefits affair, says Leijten. “Even with people you've spoken to a hundred times. That pain over and over again.”

Through the persistent work of Leijten and CDA member Pieter Omtzigt, in combination with publications by allegiance and “RTL News”, the childcare allowance affair came to light. The MPs still have a day job doing it. They are in an app group with 55 parents who got into trouble after they were wrongly suspected of fraud. The MPs hardly get around to other topics.

'The parents in the app group didn't have it anymore'

Omtzigt, who calls in with a video connection from his home office in Enschede: “Part of the other work has been in trouble. I would have loved to spend more time on Europe and pensions. Over the past year, I've sometimes felt like more of a detective. Then I spent a day and a half trying to uncover information that the government should have provided immediately.”

The two became emotionally involved. Omtzigt: “I think Renske has even more contact with parents than me, but I can also get really mad. Last week, the Secretary of State said that only a limited number of damages will be paid out over the next two months. While more than 40 million euros will go to the implementing organization of the tax authorities, 2 million will go to consultants. In all these months, only one million was transferred to these people. So who are we working for?” The parents in the app group no longer had it during the debate, says Omtzigt: “They wonder what to eat from in the coming weeks. The government must come up with an interim solution.”

Smart lawyer

The two see a parallel with Groningen, where many residents affected by earthquakes are still waiting for redress. Leijten: “The problem is that everything is structured around the Donner Commission report. He only writes about the first case that came to light, Caf 11, that the tax authorities “acted biased”.

“But in other cases, too, there were black lists and risk models with indicators that you should not use. If a parent submitted documents incorrectly or incompletely, they received a check mark after the name. From that moment on, the treatment was also biased.

“Donner is a smart lawyer. Because he made it so complicated, you now have all kinds of border discussions. You can also see that in Groningen. They are making it smaller. You can also pull off the band-aid all at once and say: we're compensating a very large group, no doubt someone gets too much, but so be it. Then we'll be rid of it in a year. This not only makes it even more traumatic for the parents, it has shocked the entire society.”

'In this file, everyone gave gas'

Leijten and Omtzigt are a remarkable duo, one from the opposition, the other as members of a ruling party. Leijten never had the feeling that she was working with a coalition politician: “On other issues, the coalition is on the brakes. Then I accelerate. In this file, everyone gave gas. When I asked for a debate, the first person to support it was someone from Enschede.”

The collaboration grew naturally. Initially, Omtzigt mainly asked Parliamentary questions about the tax authorities, which could count on Leijten's tacit approval. “That changed once I heard the rumor, that spin can be very persistent here in The Hague, that Omtzigt would be working on this, so that he could also play opposition from the coalition. “What the hell,” I thought. Aside from the fact that opposition is not something you play, it is very important for the essence of democracy that there are opposition parties. After everything I had read, I already knew that there was really something wrong with the tax authorities. That's when I got into it too.”

Over time, they hung out more together. Leijten: “Last summer, out of sheer frustration, I opened a hotline. If the government didn't provide information, I went to pick it up myself. We already knew it was wrong with Caf 11, but then it turned out to be even bigger. That insight has been crucial. The government has tried to keep it small by hiding it in committees of inquiry. Through that hotline, the parents became visible.”

At Omtzigt, the size got through bit by bit. “When it became clear that Caf 11 was not the only thing, I asked for an overview. I received a document; completely unstructured and unorganized, without a table of contents.” He sums up: “Caf 23, Caf 2, Caf 18. If you send that to us like that, I know it's very wrong.”

'The cesspool is far from empty, it's not even fully open yet'

The oil slick got bigger. Omtzigt: “Hundreds of thousands of people were illegally blacklisted. We don't have the beginning of an idea what effect this has had on their lives.” The case also seems to extend to other parts of the tax authorities. “I'm currently working on a side street that could expand the affair to another one. In a not so nice way, I can assure you.”

The cesspool is far from empty, says Omtzigt. “It's not even fully open. There are many ramifications to it. We are constantly opposed. I've already asked for a factual report five times to find out who approved the CAF approach.”

A mini-survey, in which MPs can hear those involved under oath, should show who is politically responsible. The current responsible administrators, Prime Minister Rutte, former minister Lodewijk Asscher and former Secretary of State Eric Wiebes are likely to be heard. Omtzigt: “I want to know who made that decision. It is not wrong to act against fraud, but this has gone far beyond the rule of law. Those involved did not comply with the law, they lied to the Ombudsman, to the Data Protection Authority, to the court.” Leijten adds: “Against the House of Representatives.”

Leijten: “The cabinet continues to say that the House of Representatives wanted to take such tough action against fraud. No one in the House said: go ahead and discriminate, create a blacklist and label people without evidence as fraudsters.”

“Hundreds of thousands of calls must have come in from desperate parents”

In their analyses of the underlying causes, the Christian Democrat and the Socialist agree remarkably often. About the fact that something is profoundly wrong in the relationship between government and citizens, for example. Leijten: “A lot has been automated. You can't look someone in the eye anymore and say: I'll fix it, I'm going to help you. The human dimension is lost. Different departments are busy with one person, it's much easier when one employee has everything in hand.”

Omtzigt: “It must have been hell for tax office employees, because a number of parents called hundreds of times. Hundreds of thousands of calls must have come in from desperate parents. Nine times out of ten when you call the Tax Telephone, your problem will be solved. Really, those people are there to help you. But if you are blacklisted, and the employee sees at the bottom of the screen that he is not allowed to say something, you will be sent from cabinet to wall.”

Putting the benefits affair on the map is, according to a EenVandaag panel, the Political Performance of 2019.

ANPDecember 16, 2019, 10:44 PM

This award, presented to SP MP Renske Leijten and her CDA colleague Pieter Omtzigt, is a recognition for all affected parents, according to Leijten. Avoid calls from “an encouragement”. Both MPs have given a lot of attention to the issue.

The case concerns childcare allowance that was unlawfully stopped for hundreds of parents. Parents were labeled as fraudsters and had to repay a lot of money. In doing so, the tax authorities used all kinds of resources. As a result, families ended up in “financial hell”, said a committee that investigated the affair.

More than 25,000 people participated in the study. They were able to choose from fifteen achievements, including the conclusion of the pension agreement, turning off the gas supply in Groningen in 2022 and Forum for Democracy's victory in the provincial elections. The Political Performance is the successor to the Politician of the Year.

October 21, 2020

Victims of the child allowance affair in Brummen?