Local councils have slated the government’s decision to scrap a plan to actively approach people who are living below the poverty line because they are not getting the welfare benefits they are entitled to, the NRC reports.

The plan, which had overall parliamentary support and had been in the making for years, would cost €30 million a year to implement. That money will now be used to plug holes elsewhere in the budget, the cabinet said in its spring financial statement or Voorjaarsnota, which was published last week.

“This looks like a convenient cutback but it is an extremely unwise one,” Marianne van der Sloot from the local councils association VNG and an alderman in Den Bosch, told the paper.

Around one in three people who qualify for benefits do not claim all they are entitled to, either because they do not know, or because they feel it’s too complicated to apply. Others fear the strict rules surrounding income-related benefits.

The plan would have helped 150,000 people currently living below the poverty line unnecessarily, including the working poor, its backers say.

“They are in low-paid jobs and don’t know they can get a top-up benefit. It is difficult for local councils to get a grip on this group. But when we do, there are often other issues such as debts or mental health problems we can help with,” Van der Sloot said.

The cutback will cost more in the long term, she said, because people will be “deep in debt by the time they call on the local council for help”.

The national authorities do have access to data to find people who are entitled to benefits but these are not shared with the local councils for privacy reasons. That is about to change but will now not help this particular group.

Social affairs minister Thierry Aartsen said in a reaction to concerns about the change in policy said the money “needed” to go elsewhere but could perhaps be found at a later stage.