Administratieve lasten zijn uren / kosten voor burgers en bedrijven om te voldoen aan informatieverplichtingen voortvloeiend uit wet- en regelgeving van de overheid.

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How to communicate on Administrative
Burdens? Jacqueline Rutjens
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Example Gert, disability benefit claimant

An example
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Target groups
Mother on social security (Maria)
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25
Volunteer (Henk)
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Handicapped child (Bart)
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Old person in need (Thea)
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Average family (Verstappen)
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Vital old person (Mikel)
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Chronically ill (Pauline)
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Benefit claimant (Gert)
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Unemployed (Johan)
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These target groups are used for internal
andexternal communication
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• Presentation
• Origins Dutch AB programmes
• Approach to communication
• World bank conclusions on communication
• Response to World Bank conclusions
• Communication on AB citizens in the future
• Recommendations on communication

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• Origins
• Government of Balkenende II
• Citizens feel that the government has
  insufficient comprehension of the problems of
  citizens
• People complain about the quality of public
  services. The distance between government and
  citizens is too large
• The Government wants less rules to provide more
  space to citizens and organizations

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• Origins
• AB leads tot high costs for companies and
  citizens
• Companies 16 bln /yr 3.6 of Dutch GDP
• Citizens 1,27 bln/yr out-of-pocket-costs
  
• and 112 mln hours/yr
• AB leads to much irritation among companies and
• citizens They want comfort and trust in their
  
• relationship with government

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• Programme Administrative Burdens
• Two interdepartemental programmes
• Businesses coordinated by Ministry of Economic
  Affairs and Ministry of Finance
• Citizens coordinated by the Ministry of the
  Interior
• Reduction target companies and citizens 25 in
  december 2007 compared to 2002
• Infrastructure all new regulation has to be
  measured and checked by Actal
• Ministries have their ceilings

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• Programme Administrative Burdens
• So
• 140 proposals for less regulation on citizens
• Best rewarded votingsystem and less
  informationpolicy
• 25 seems to be a reasonable goal
• Infrastrucure takes care of the backdoor
• But
• Not all proposals are equally innovative
• Not all citizens benefit equally
• New cabinet makes new regulations
• Some IT backfired

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• New Programme AB Citizens
• Not only quantative, but also qualitatieve
  reductions a noticable reduction of
  administrative burdens
• New programme focusses around ten bottlenecks
  i.e. waiting lists, plain Dutch, more trust,
  quality of government services, mediation
• Focus on target groups elderly people, benefit
  claimants, handicapped and chronically ill,
  unemployed and volunteers
• Stronger connection with E-government
• Strong focus on local government (25 goal)

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• Approach to Communication
• Citizen in the central position
• Goal to receive the compliments of the Citizen!
• Dialogue with target groups.
• Questionnaire about highest irritations
• regarding Administrative Burdens
• Pamphlet with recommendations
• Panels of citizens that judge the
• measurement aimed at reducing
• Administrative Burdens

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• Channels of communication
• Reports on progress and specific publications
• Complaints office and website for citizens
• www.lastvandeoverheid.nl
• Website for professionals where news,
• documentation and meetings are presented
• along the nine role models
• www.burgercentraal.nl
• Conferences and seminars
• Electronic news letter 6 times a year
• Media

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• Some of our products
• Booklets nine routes along Dutch bureaucracy
• nr. 1 and update (nr. 2)
• Booklet on how to write simpler forms
• Booklet a different approach on reaching
• noticeable results
• Courses for policy officers
• National conferences and meetings
• International conference in 2007
• Articles in specialist journals
• New sources of communication museum, short
  films on the internet

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• Innovative instruments
• Kafka brigade
• For specific from pillar to post cases
• Looking from a citizens perspective to a
• problem
• Aimed at a general solution and not only
• this specific case
• Complaints office that contact complaintives
• within two day and coordinates the answers
• from goverment
• Museum of abundant policies

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Museum of unnecessary policies
People from outside the EU who want to settle in
the Netherlands for more than 3 months need to
obtain an authorization for temporary settlement
before entering the Netherlands. Whenever
entering the Netherlands with this authorization
you also need to obtain a residence permit within
three days. For both documents the same
information is needed.
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• What worked and what didnt work
• (that well) in communication?
• Some positive results
• 25 target works for civil servants and Actal
• Museum has had 10 expositions in half a year
• 2 of the 10 cases of the Kafka brigade solved
• within 4 months
• Of the last 400 complaints at the complaints
• office 158 have been solved
• A citizens panel complimented the programme
• on 10 of the 13 presented reductions
• From September 2007 all governemental
• forms must comply to a norm of simplicity
• Reactions on the profiles are very positive
• they are appealing and recognizable

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• What worked and what didnt work
• (that well)? (2)
• Didnt work as planned
• Communication about 25 target is
• problematic
• Website for professionals the page didnt get
• as much pageviews as hoped for an it was
• difficult to make it a interactive platform
• We dont receive as much complaints from
• citizens as we would like to receive
• We learned that citizens dont recognize the
• concept of administrative burdens so we now
  
• use concepts they know bureaucracy, red
• tape, etc.

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• World Bank Review (1)
• Conclusions concerning communication
• Consult with relevant target groups in order
• to target the programme towards problems
• perceived as most important and to test the
• feasibility of proposed solutions
• (2) Improve communication in relation to
• expectation management of stakeholders
• involve stakeholders
• (3) Communicate results better to the public!
• (compare kafka.be)
• (4) Be aware of making the operation to
• technical and neutral its not! (risk
  analysis)

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• World Bank Review (2)
• Response to conclusions
• Conclusions (1) and (2) particularly apply to
• the business programme. The citizen
• programme extensively consults target groups
• via citizens panels, stakeholder groups and
• questionnaires
• Conclusion (3)The department who achieved
• the result (AB reduction), should get the
• credits not the coordinating body. In Belgium
  
• the coordinating body gets all the credits.
• Conclusion (4) It is good to have a political
• discussion about administrative burdens only
  
• then it is possible to deal with the difficult
  AB

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• World Bank Review (3)
• Response to conclusions
• programme AB businesses strategy
• IPAL is working on its strategical vision on
• communication
• Central
• The government makes it easier
• Room for the entrepeneur
• Most important starting points
• Entrepeneurs in the central position look
• from their point of view
• Management of expectations there always
• will be some rules
• Best practices will act as proof of results

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• World Bank Review (4)
• Response to conclusions
• programme AB businesses (2)
• Communication via central platform the
• companies counter
• One motto with a design that appeal to target
• group
• Channels
• Selective use of radio, internet and paper
• media
• Round tables
• Use stakeholders in the development of
• solutions hopefully this will also lead to
• important spokesmen for the programme

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• Ideas for further strengthening communication
  citizens
• New profiles real people which tell their story
  
• and who can also be present at meetings or
• conferences real stakeholders
• Internalization plans employment agency
• for civil servants. Civil servants will solve
• complaints of citizens themselves
• Courses for civil servants on kafka
• methodology, plain Dutch, etc.
• Better communication with the target groups
• make use of their communication channels,
• i.e. magazines, websites.

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• Recommendations
• Personify the AB for citizens and companies
• this will make AB tangible, recognizable and
• personal for people -gt profiles
• Work outside in start with the signals of
• citizens and companies and not with policies.
• Show that you take them serious
• Bring the communication personnel into action
• as soon as possible and involve them also in
• the process to come to a solution
• And Make it fun!

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• Thank you for you attention!
• Jacqueline Rutjens
• Jacqueline.rutjens_at_minbzk.nl
• 31 70 426 6085
• Peter Rem
• Peter.rem_at_minbzk.nl
• 31 70 426 7487