How to communicate on Administrative Burdens? Jacqueline Rutjens

Example : Gert, disability benefit claimant An example:

Target groups Mother on social security (Maria) Volunteer (Henk) Handicapped child (Bart) Old person in need (Thea) Average family (Verstappen) Vital old person (Mikel) Chronically ill (Pauline) Benefit claimant (Gert) Unemployed (Johan) These target groups are used for internal and external communication 0% 25% 0% 25% 0% 25% 0% 25% 0% 25% 0% 25% 0% 25% 39% 16% 26% 19% 12% 11% 14% 20% 30% 25%

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

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”

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

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’

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

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)

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

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

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

Innovative instruments Kafka brigade For specific “from pillar to post” cases Looking from a citizen’s 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

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. Museum of unnecessary policies

What worked and what didn’t 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

What worked and what didn’t work (that well)? (2) Didn’t work as planned: Communication about 25% target is problematic Website for professionals: the page didn’t get as much pageviews as hoped for an it was difficult to make it a interactive platform We don’t receive as much complaints from citizens as we would like to receive We learned that citizens don’t recognize the concept of administrative burdens; so we now use concepts they know: bureaucracy, red tape, etc.

World Bank Review (1) Conclusions concerning communication: (1) 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: it’s not! (risk analysis)

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

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

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

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.

Recommendations Personify the AB for citizens and companies: this will make AB tangible, recognizable and personal for people -> 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!

Thank you for you attention! Jacqueline Rutjens Peter Rem