Opinion: Response to the 2025 Spring Memorandum

Administrative secretariat
PO Box 9033
7300 ES Apeldoorn

T: 06 2831 4935
E: adviesraadsociaaldomein@apeldoorn.nl

Date: 2 June 2025
Our reference: ASDA 2025-05

To: The Municipal Executive of Apeldoorn
CC: Marieke Seip, Anka Buunk

Subject: Response to the 2025 Spring Memorandum

Dear Council,

In response to the 2025 Spring Memorandum – with Apeldoorn 2040 as a goal on the horizon – the Apeldoorn Social Domain Advisory Council has decided to issue a response.

With regard to the procedure followed, the Advisory Board wishes to make the following comments.

The Executive Committee has decided to allow the Municipal Council to take a decision on the 2025 Spring Memorandum in July 2025 without all the supporting documents having been released. The Advisory Council had also previously asked the Executive Committee to be informed about the documents underpinning the proposal to achieve cost savings within the civil service. Whilst the documents relating to the other areas have indeed been released, they are limited to the proposed cost-cutting measures and do not address the consequences for users or recipients of municipal services. Whilst this does achieve the objective of cost-cutting, the effects on service provision remain unknown.

The advisory board anticipates that a problem may arise for users of facilities and services if measures are piled up across the various municipal departments. For example,
At first glance, it appears that a cost-saving measure has no significant impact, but it is not known whether, for residents who rely on more services and facilities,
make use of, although the cumulative effect of the measures could well pose a problem. The advisory council wonders whether all the proposed cuts are actually legally permissible. The current
The Youth Act does not provide for a personal contribution towards youth support.

The advisory board is asking the council to consider the impact of budget cuts on volunteers and voluntary organisations. After all, the council’s policy is aimed at
to make greater use of volunteers at the start of the process, thereby taking some of the pressure off professional service providers. By making fewer resources available
For the volunteers, the result may be that greater use will have to be made of professional services. An example of this is the deployment of
informal carers who take the strain off professional care services. This also includes organisations such as De Kap, Humanitas and Mee, amongst others. Cutting funding for these organisations is likely to result in people having to rely on more expensive care.

The Advisory Council asks the Executive Committee to give due consideration, within the available financial scope, to the integrated nature of policy within the social sector. By making separate adjustments within the
With these services, there is a risk that each service will tend to pursue its own objectives rather than ensuring that barriers between the various services are broken down.

The Advisory Council recognises that, in view of the reduction in funding for 2027 and subsequent years, cutbacks are inevitable. In this regard, the Advisory Council advocates that the
to minimise the burden on vulnerable residents as much as possible. This will also prevent additional costs from arising in the future. The Advisory Council looks forward with interest to the policy proposals arising from the
Spring Memorandum. It should also be noted that, for the Advisory Council too, adequate administrative support is a prerequisite for its effective functioning.

Kind regards,

Ewoud Remmelts
Chair of the Apeldoorn Social Services Advisory Board