Stibbe represents municipalities The Hague and Dordrecht in cases concerning inadequate funding of tasks under the Participation Act
Stibbe provides legal assistance to The Hague, Dordrecht and several other municipalities in ongoing cases concerning inadequate central government funding for social assistance tasks. This task is one of the responsibilities that municipalities are obligated to carry out under co-administration (in Dutch: medebewind). Since 2015, the central government applies a complex distribution model to allocate the annual national budget of approximately €7 billion to the municipalities. However, in order to fulfil their obligations, some municipalities must spend significantly more on the assigned social assistance tasks than the national government reimburses under the model.
Key themes in this dispute include inadequate municipal financing for tasks in co-administration, government algorithmic decision-making, and judicial review of regulations, particularly concerning proportionality and due care.
Stibbe won the case for The Hague for the years 2015-2016 with a ruling by the highest administrative court declaring the regulation governing the funding unlawful for outliers such as The Hague. The cases regarding the periods 2019-2022 for The Hague and 2018-2024 for Dordrecht are currently under appeal before the highest administrative court, where Stibbe continues to act on behalf of the municipalities.
