Publications

Last audits

• State of Central Government Accounts 2012

  Audit | 15 May 2013

  Operational management in central government as a whole is satisfactory, despite the current spending cuts and reorganisations. A similar positive view cannot be drawn, however, regarding the information value of the government's accounts for 2012. The government does not explain whether it actually achieved its intended spending cuts of approximately €8 billion in 2012. An in-depth audit by the Court of Audit of five specific goals found that the government often did not state whether its policy had had the desired results. The government has also made little progress realising the intended savings of the Compact Civil Service programme. The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) and the Minister for Housing and the Central Government Sector have primary responsibility for this programme. The programme was introduced two years ago yet more than half the savings still have to be substantiated. The allocation of responsibilities at shared services for, for example, procure

• Report on the national declaration 2013

  Audit | 15 May 2013

  The accounts rendered by the Netherlands for the €1,276.4 million in expenditure it claimed from the European Commission are in order. In the Court of Audit's opinion, the national declaration 2013 gives a good view of the Netherlands' management and use of European funds. However, information on Dutch remittances to the EU is lacking, as is information on the efficiency of EU funding in the Netherlands. The government does not want to disclose this information, despite the Court of Audit's repeated recommendations that it do so. The Court of Audit also notes that there is a risk of underspending: if the Netherlands does not use all the EU funds allocated to it, the European Commission may reallocate them.

• Lessons Learned from Government ICT Projects 2012

  Audit | 28 March 2013

  This report considers central government's approach to ICT projects. The efficiency of ICT projects is a recurring source of concern. ICT projects do not always deliver the desired results, take longer than planned and cost more than budgeted. In response to earlier reports we published on ICT projects in 2007 and 2008, the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) has announced measures. We determined whether the lesson learned from our earlier reports had been incorporated in the measures. The financial cost of ICT projects is huge. At the end of 2011, central government was carrying out 49 large and high risk ICT projects. The total multiyear cost of these projects has been estimated at more then €2.4 billion.

• Quality Indicators in the Care Sector

  Audit | 28 March 2013

  The quality of care provision must be transparent. Transparency helps patients choose what care they receive, care insurers procure care and the Health Inspectorate supervise care provision. Indicators are a means to make the quality of care transparent. The Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) is seeking a limited set of indicators that provide the greatest possible information on the outcome of care. The Court of Audit has analysed the minister's success in enhancing the transparency of care quality.
  
  

• EU Trend Report 2013

  Audit | 7 February 2013

  The EU Trend Report 2013 is the 11th edition of an annual report in which the Netherlands Court of Audit examines developments in the financial management of the European Union. It concentrates on the supervision and control of the use of EU funds, both in the Netherlands and in the EU as a whole.

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