Extra cash for education, health does not always improve services

Years of extra investment in education, healthcare and public safety have not always resulted in better performances, so government cuts may not have the serious effects some expect, a government advice group said on Wednesday.


The socio-cultural advice bureau SCP looked at the effect of government spending between 1995 and 2010 on primary and secondary education, hospital care, home nursing and nursing homes, the police and the legal system.
Although costs have risen faster than quality and ‘production’, there have been some improvements, the SCP says. Police detection rates have gone up, hospital waiting lists have gone down and patient safety has improved, the report shows.
For example, the likelihood of dying in hospital went down by 25% between 2003 and 2008 as home nursing was seen as a cheaper option.
Inflation-busting
Nevertheless, the price paid for these public services has risen a couple of percentage points more than inflation while the productivity of those working in the sector fell. This is largely due to an increase in the size of the workforce, the SCP said.
In education, for example, primary school classes were made smaller – but there has been no relevant increase in performance by pupils, the SCP says.
Ordinary citizens and people working in healthcare and education told the SCP they did not see much improvement in quality. This is partly correct and partly because the media tends to focus on things that go wrong, the SCP said.

More cuts

However, the results of the research put ‘the serious negative impact of planned cuts on public services which many expect into perspective,’ the report said.
The Volkskrant says the report will be welcome news for the government, which is already making spending cuts and savings totalling €18bn, and will be forced to take new measures later this year.
SCP researcher Bob Kuhry told the Financieele Dagblad the government should be more careful about what happens with its money. ‘If lots of importance is attached to a given sector, the idea is; lets put in lots of money and it will be okay,’ he said. ‘But that idea does not always hold water.’
Criticism
The chairman of the school head teachers’ association and police union ACP have already criticised the report’s findings.
‘You could almost say that this paves the way for new cuts,’ said head teachers’ spokesman Ton Duif.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation