Existing laws and regulations provide the government with enough room to solve people’s problems yet too often officials introduce even more regulations and complex processes instead, according to the three Dutch ombudsman organisations.

The National Ombudsman, Ombudsman for Children and the Ombudsman for Veterans focus on the “citizens perspective” in their 2023 annual report, calling on government and officials to engage in more personal contact and listen to people’s direct needs

“It took 420 days, on average, for a law to be dealt with in parliament last year, excluding preparation time,” said national ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen. “This is valuable time for citizens who need a quicker solution. A lot is being said about improving the relationship between citizens and government and it is about time that citizens actually notice those improvements.”

The report points out that government departments make little use of the knowledge and experience gained when things have gone wrong previously and is “stubborn” in its approach.

For example, the focus on financial accountability in settling the childcare benefit scandal “slows down the process and makes it complicated, while citizens want clear, simple and quick settlements,” the report said.

“The government thinks in terms of problems rather than opportunities, which means officials themselves delay much-needed changes in the services they provide.”

The three agencies were contacted more 22,000 times last year.