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Privatisation policy a mess, says senate commissionTuesday 30 October 2012 Successive governments made a mess of selling off and semi-privatising state companies such as post and telecommunications company PTT, Dutch Railways (NS) and the benefit agency UWV, according to a senate inquiry. The senate commission, led by ChristenUnie senator Roel Kuiper was set up to investigate how privatisation has been handled since the 1980s when the government began hiving off state companies. The lack of well-defined management frameworks or a coordinated vision have not led to desired effects such as greater efficiency, the commission's report says. Where simplification and smaller government was the goal, increasing management complexity has been the result. Political decision-making is capricious and politicians have lost sight of how privatisation is being carried out. 'There was no coordination of policies, no common road map but there were many differences in the implementation of decisions by ministries,' the report states. The commission recommends an overhaul of the whole system to bring government, services and the public back together. Railways The decision to turn the railways into an arms-length government company and divide it into train company NS and track operator ProRail is of particular concern, says the commission. That decision should be overturned if there is no improvement in cooperation between the two companies, the report says. Privatisation has increased the distance between government and people, says the commission. A recent survey by the socio-cultural policy unit SCP for the commission found 41% of the population thinks privatisation is damaging to public interests. Has privatisation improved services? Have your say using the comment box below. © DutchNews.nl
especially when it snows... By Alessandro I | October 30, 2012 4:44 PM They should deepen privatization. For instance, NS should be broken in several smaller companies and sold to the highest bidders. By Andre L. | October 30, 2012 5:55 PM I cannot understand why anyone would want to increase privatization after reading this article, especially for the train system which is clearly already having serious problems due to just splitting it in 2, much less splitting it in many parts. By Z | October 31, 2012 7:29 AM
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No, it has not. Government privatized these services with the idea that they would pass the burden of rising costs onto the private sector with little regard to the fact that the private sector cares only about making money, and, in that effort will cut the quality of the services. Add to that the fact that government ministers had little responsibility, or oversight, nor did they care, in protecting the public's interest. You can't blame it solely on the greed and incompetence of the private sector.
By Quince | October 30, 2012 4:03 PM