The government is poised to reach agreement on slashing the number of people in subsidised work schemes and transferring youth social work and other care-related activities to local councils in order to save €2.5bn, the Volkskrant reports.

The plans include reducing the number of subsidised jobs for people with handicaps by two-thirds to 30,000 from 2014.
Some €400m will be cut from the budget to help the long-term jobless find work.
Youth work
And local authorities have agreed to take over entire responsibility for youth social work – now split between national, provincial and local government. That measure will save €300m, ministers say.
Responsibility for helping the elderly, people with mental handicaps and other care needs will also be transferred from national government to local councils.
At the moment this care is paid for from the AWBZ exceptional medical expenses insurance scheme which everyone contributes to. The shift to local councils will save €140m, the government says.