Local councils on Wednesday refused to agree to a government plan which would give them responsibility for sheltered work schemes, saying the promised funding is inadequate.

Mayors and executives from more than 400 local authority areas were at the congress where plans to shift large parts of national government responsibility to the local level were debated.
Home affairs minister Piet Hein Donner, who is in charge of the policy shift, said by refusing to accept responsibility for special schemes to help the handicapped find work, local councils had rejected the entire agreement.
‘Not all means not at all,’ Donner told the conference.
Suggestions
The cabinet will now decide what to do next, but ‘the continuation of the policy does not dependent on this agreement,’ Donner said.
Officials will continue to flesh out the reassignment of national and local government responsibilities and Donner urged the VNG to come up with its own suggestions.
Parts of the deal which affect provincial government and the regional water boards will be implemented as planned.
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