It is completely unclear if the 403 Dutch local councils will be able to cope when residential care responsibilities are handed over to them next year, the national audit office says.

This October there needs to be a quick scan to determine if the decentralisation of long-term care, youth care and disabled work schemes is ‘achievable and responsible’, the audit office says in its latest report.

In addition, there should be a special independent commission set up to oversee the operation, which involves €8bn.

Far-reaching

The changeover will affect some 800,000 people but it is still unclear how much money will be given to local councils to do the job and if the councils can work within the ‘far-reaching changes’ to the system, the audit office says.

Home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk has dismissed the audit office suggestions, saying the handover will be assessed mid 2016.

The government’s macro-economic planning agency CPB, patient organisations and the Council of State – the government’s most senior advisory body – have all issued warnings about the change being made too quickly.

By shifting care duties from central government to the local authorities, ministers say they can cut spending and boost efficiency.