Annual Report 2024 Court of Auditors

This is the 2024 Annual Report of the joint audit office of the municipalities of Laarbeek and Gemert-Bakel.
The Audit Office would like to express its gratitude for the support received from the registries of both municipalities and for the professional cooperation of the administrative staff of both municipalities.
Frits van Vugt
Chair
March 31, 2025

The Gemert-Bakel–Laarbeek Audit Committee had the following membership throughout the year 2024.

• ✓ Mr. Frits van Vugt (chairman)
• ✓ Mr. Rob Malag (member)
• ✓ Mr. Laurens Elzinga (member)

Through March 26, 2024, the Audit Office received technical and advisory support from Mr. René van Heijnsbergen, clerk of the municipality of Laarbeek. From that date onward, support was provided by Ms. Antje van den Berg, a staff member of the Gemert-Bakel municipal clerk’s office.
The support and advice received from both of them have been of great value to the Audit Office. The Audit Office considers the collaboration to be constructive and positive.

The Audit Office is an independent body whose duties and powers are set forth in the Municipalities Act, the “Municipal Audit Office Ordinance,” and the “Agreement on the Joint Audit Office of the Municipalities of Gemert-Bakel and Laarbeek.” In addition, the Audit Office has rules of procedure and an audit protocol.
The Audit Office conducts audits into the effects of municipal policy and into the efficiency and effectiveness of municipal policy, municipal administration, and the municipal organization, as well as into the legality of municipal administration, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of institutions whose activities are funded entirely or to a significant extent by the municipality.
Steering Group Composed of Members from Both Municipal Councils
A steering group has been established for the audit office. Its composition was as follows:

• Mr. Jos Gruijters (chairman) and Mr. Bas van Sinten, both representing Laarbeek, and
• Ms. Frances Dekker (until April 11), Mr. Chris Remmers (as of April 11), and Mr. W. van de Heuvel, representing Gemert-Bakel.

The steering committee was supported by Mr. René van Heijnsbergen, clerk of the Municipality of Gemert-Bakel.
The steering committee is involved in selecting new topics, serves as a sounding board for the Court of Audit, and acts as a liaison between the municipal councils and the Court of Audit.

Meetings in 2024

Audit Committee meetings were held both in person and online. During the reporting year, the Audit Committee held 15 meetings, including an in-person meeting on May 28 with the steering group. This meeting focused on the planning and progress of the audits.
In addition, there was an in-person meeting for the sounding board group on the topic of “Aging in Laarbeek.” There were also two separate (virtual) sounding board meetings with council members from both Laarbeek and Gemert-Bakel on the topic of “Resident Participation.”
In addition, there were individual interactions among the members themselves, as well as between the members and the clerks, civil servants, and third parties.

Selection of New Topics

In a letter dated February 26, the Audit Office notified both municipal councils of the new topics that would be addressed in 2024 (and 2025). The responses to all proposals for investigations received were also explained at that time, following consultation with the steering group. The new investigation topics were:

• For Laarbeek: Responding to the Aging Population (or: Growing Old in Laarbeek);
• For Gemert-Bakel: Policy and Vision;
• For both municipalities: a study on resident participation.

1. Study: Aging in Laarbeek

On April 9, our member Rob Malag met with the advisory group.
This resulted in a research plan, based on which the Audit Office selected a number of research firms.
On July 2, meetings were held with three firms, after which XpertiseZorg was selected.
This firm began work after the summer break and subsequently conducted desk research, developed an analytical framework, and conducted a large number of interviews with the alderman, policy officials, and various stakeholders.
(Subsequent developments)
In 2025, a large-scale survey was distributed through the municipality’s resident panel. In addition, 28 street interviews were conducted.
The preliminary findings of the study were discussed with the Court of Auditors on February 14, 2025, and feedback was provided to the focus group on March 26.

2. Resident Participation Surveys for Gemert-Bakel and Laarbeek

On November 27, our members Frits van Vugt and Laurens Elzinga met with the advisory group from Gemert-Bakel, partly in response to a preliminary investigation into this issue. A similar meeting took place on December 3 with the advisory group from Laarbeek.
This led to the development of an audit plan for both municipalities, based on which the Court of Audit selected five audit firms. On December 19, meetings were held with two firms, after which the firm PBLQ was selected.

(subsequent developments)

2.a Resident Participation in Gemert-Bakel

PBLQ began its desk research in early 2025, and on February 6, the initial meeting with the municipal administration took place, in consultation with the Court of Audit.
Subsequently, meetings with administrative staff (policy officers) took place on March 20, followed by meetings with the portfolio holder and the municipal secretary on March 25. In early April, surveys will be distributed to residents who participated in certain projects (the same applies to Laarbeek).

2.b Resident Participation in Laarbeek

On February 6, the initial meeting with the administrative staff of Laarbeek also took place, in coordination with the Court of Auditors.
Subsequently, on March 12, meetings were held with administrative staff (policy officers) and the portfolio holder, and the meeting with the municipal secretary will take place on April 3.

3. Policy and Vision Review (Gemert-Bakel)

In a letter dated October 10, 2024, we asked the Gemert-Bakel Executive Committee to hold further consultations to determine the exact terms of reference and scope of the desired audit. However, no meeting was subsequently scheduled. The scheduled Executive Committee meeting on December 19 was canceled. Following the Executive Committee meeting on February 20, 2025, the Audit Office was asked to develop its own ideas and options and, if a meeting is still needed, to arrange one at that time.

4. Investigation into Gemert-Bakel’s Subsidy Policy

The Audit Office had intended to investigate the issue of grant awards (regarding professional organizations) for the Municipality of Gemert-Bakel—in parallel with the municipality’s review of its grant policy. During the investigation process, the Audit Office decided to postpone this topic to a later date (see also: 2022 Annual Report). It turned out that the municipality had suspended the review of its subsidy policy. As a result, continuing the investigation at that time was not advisable. The findings of the preliminary investigation that was conducted can be incorporated into the investigation, which can be resumed once the municipality resumes its review of the subsidy policy. We will follow up on this again.

5. Further Development of the Gemert-Bakel SMART Budget

In 2022, the court of auditors examined the programmatic part (the programs) of the 2023 budget, of both municipalities, more specifically, the extent to which the three key w questions were developed therein:

• a. What does the municipality aim to achieve?
• b. What will she be doing there?
• c. How much will that cost?

The focus was on assessing how SMART this process was. Based on this review, the Gemert-Bakel municipal executive decided to launch an initiative to make the 2024 budget much more SMART. A sample policy budget format was used for this purpose.
The Audit Office monitored this process in 2023 and conducted a sort of second opinion on the 2024 budget to assess the extent to which this further development had yielded sufficient results. When, in mid-2024, the report was ready for review, it became apparent that the 2025 budget had changed significantly compared to the previous year’s budget. This prompted the Audit Office to revise its report, which will be presented to the Executive Board and the City Council in the second quarter of 2025.

6. Review of provisions; both municipalities

In August 2023, a research plan was drawn up, which was developed in part based on input from the steering committee and other council members who participated in the sounding board group.
Subsequently, in the fall, it became apparent that collecting financial information from benchmark municipalities in a similar manner led to problems; their operating budgets were not structured for that purpose. The Audit Office then decided to collect this information (and information on public services) from the municipalities involved via a questionnaire. That did not happen. A tool for comparing financial data is now available. We are now awaiting the results of the Gemert-Bakel citizen survey, which has been delayed by two years. The results are expected shortly. The other necessary information (housing cost burden and housing attractiveness indicators) is already available.
We expect to be able to deliver the study in Q2 of 2025.

7. Impact studies; both municipalities

In the fall of 2023, preparations began for both follow-up studies. These studies concern the implementation of Court of Audit reports published for the period 2019–2022. For Gemert-Bakel, this involves six studies, and for Laarbeek, seven.
The Court of Audit created templates containing the relevant information about these studies and requested follow-up actions through the municipal administration. This took place in 2024/Q1. For various reasons, the study has been delayed.
The draft report for Gemert-Bakel was submitted in Q4 2024 for administrative review; based on the response to that draft (and updates), the final report will be submitted in April 2025 for administrative review. Due to the same delay, the draft report for Laarbeek will be submitted for administrative review in April 2025.

In response to a motion by the Gemert-Bakel City Council, in which the City Audit Office was asked to launch an investigation into the rates charged by ProZero (July 4), decided to ask the other audit offices in the Blink region whether they would like to participate in such an investigation.
On November 29, the Audit Office attended the annual conference of the Association of Audit Offices (VvR). On that occasion, the handbook “The Inside and Outside of Audit Offices” was also published.
Based on the experiences described in the handbook, the audit office is considering to what extent its activities can be improved.

The Audit Office carries out its work within the budget allocated by the councils for this purpose. The “Agreement on the Joint Audit Office of the Municipalities of Gemert-Bakel and Laarbeek” stipulates that the participating municipalities allocate an annual budget of €1.00 per resident. The committee has an administrative secretary and conducts its audits either in-house or in collaboration with external experts. This results in the following financial report for 2024.

*) Includes: monthly stipend + hourly rate for research + travel expenses