Annual report 2024 Annual plan 2025

Court of Auditors municipality of Nuenen c.a.

Annual Report 2024
Annual plan 2025

Chapter 1 - General

Introduction

We hereby present the Annual Report 2024 and Annual Plan 2025 of the Court of Auditors municipality of Nuenen c.a.. After appointment on February 7, 2024, we started as new members of the Court of Auditors.

Mission

The Court wants to contribute to the quality of public administration in the municipality of Nuenen c.a..

Vision

The Court of Audit aims to improve the quality of policy formation, decision-making, policy implementation and accountability by or on behalf of the local public administration wherever possible. The Court does this by conducting independent and high-quality research to support the framework-setting and controlling role of the council of the municipality of Nuenen. The research focuses on the effectiveness, efficiency and lawfulness of the policy of the municipality of Nuenen.

  • Lawfulness: the degree to which the actions of the municipal organization and organizations with which the municipality is financially and/or administratively connected are in accordance with the municipal budget and applicable laws, ordinances and regulations;
  • Efficiency: the degree to which the municipal organization succeeds in achieving the desired result with the least possible use of available resources;
  • Effectiveness: the degree to which the municipal organization succeeds in achieving the stated goals or desired social effects with the performance it provides.

Composition court of auditors municipality of Nuenen c.a.

The Court of Auditors Municipality of Nuenen c.a. consists of two external members:

  • Drs. ing. A.M.A. (Nol) van Drunen MSc (chairman);
  • Drs. A.H.M. (Ton) van Bree RA (deputy chairman).

Acting as an intermediary between the City Council and the Court during 2024, Councilman Mr. C. Meijvis served. Official support was provided from the Municipal Clerk’s Office by Ms. J. Peterse.

Method of consultation

The working method of the Court of Auditors is anchored in the Municipal Law and the Regulation for the Audit Chamber of the Municipality of Nuenen c.a. (2024). The meetings of the Court of Auditors are not public. Summaries of the meetings are made in the form of a report and an action list.

Association of Courts of Audit

The Court is a member of the Dutch Interest Association of Audit Institutes, the VR.

Chapter 2 - Work 2024

Introduction

After the appointment on February 7, 2024, the Court first updated the Rules of Procedure and the Research Protocol of the Court of Auditors municipality of Nuenen c.a.. An infographic was also created, based on an example from the VR (see attachment), to clarify the work of the Court. In addition, the information about the Court on the website of the municipality of Nuenen has been updated.

The deputy chairman and the support person from the Municipal Clerk’s Office attended a three-day "Introduction to Accountancy" course offered by the VR.

The Court had an initial meeting with B&W, the group chairs (through Presidium) and the Audit Committee.

Research

In consultation with the liaison from the council, it was determined that a project called "Grip on Major Projects" was initiated by the previous court of auditors in late 2022. However, in 2023 this project did not actually materialize. In consultation with the group chairmen, it was decided to implement this project after all, also considering that an advance invoice had already been paid to the external consulting firm in 2022. The choice of the 3 major projects to be specifically scrutinized (the Klooster, the Hongerman and the Bosweg caravan site) was made in consultation with the group chairmen. In April 2024 the implementation of the study "Grip op grote projecten" was started.

The fact-finding on the three aforementioned projects is being carried out by the external agency Adlasz, with members of the Court of Auditors directly involved in the interviews conducted with aldermen, council members, project leaders and supporting municipal staff. This was chosen to allow the members to become directly acquainted with those involved and working methods within the municipality as quickly as possible. The members found this very useful and informative. The report on "Grip op grote projecten" is being written by the Court of Auditors itself given the budgetary constraints of the involvement of the external consulting firm.

The survey was delayed. When the research was introduced to the aldermen and town clerk, the original research questions were critically reviewed and adjusted. The request for documents and making appointments for interviews with project leaders were delayed: the Monastery had to be moved and there was little time to deliver the documents and conduct the interviews. As a result, the external researchers from Adlasz were sometimes not readily available. Members of the Court therefore stepped in to assist the progress of the study.

At the end of the first quarter of 2025, the study report will be presented to the council. The goal is to do so at the April 10, 2025 council meeting.

Chapter 3 - Financial statements 2024 and budget 2025

Budget

The Court has its own budget. The budget for 2024 was EUR 15,000.

Spending budget

Expenditures from this budget during 2024 were:

  

EUR

   

1

Fixed remuneration

4.950

2

Travel costs

310

3

Hiring external agency

5.750

4

Own hours of members of court of auditors

3.080

 Membership VR

425

5

Training VR

300

   
 Total

14.815

Explanation

  1. The average time commitment of the members of the Court was 10 to 12 hours per month, partly because of settling in, getting to know the municipality, training and also developing Rules of Procedure and Research Protocol.
  2. In total, the Court met 17 times in 2024 at the town hall in Nuenen. In addition, frequent telephone/ZOOM contact took place.
  3. Already in 2022, Bureau Adlasz was hired by the previous audit committee to support the study on "Grip on large projects. In 2022, half of their quote (EUR 11,500 in total) was paid by the municipality, but work had not yet taken place. In 2024 the project was supported by them and the2nd half of the tender amount was paid.
  4. Some of the own hours incurred by the members of the Court regarding the writing of the report Grip op grote projecten was declared within budget.
  5. The President of the Court has extensive experience in auditing. The deputy chairman and the support person from the Municipal Clerk’s Office have attended a three-day course on "Introduction to Accounting.

Budget 2025

For 2025, at the request of the Court, the budget has been increased to EUR 25,000. Without this increase, it is not possible to conduct the desired 2 investigations per year. With this budget, the costs are still below the average in the Netherlands (EUR 1.30 per inhabitant - information website VR).

The Court allocated this budget as follows:

  

EUR

   

1

Fixed remuneration

5.800

 Travel costs

400

2

Finalizing Grip on Major Projects

1.100

3

1st examination

6.000

3

2nd survey

11.000

 Membership VR

440

 Unforeseen costs

260

   
 Total

25.000

  1. Fixed remuneration and the hourly rate for own research have been taken into account the indexation that also applies to council members.

  2. A total of 16 hours is budgeted for the completion of the report by the members of the Court. If Adlasz does not use its entire budget for the "Grip on Large Projects" study, the remaining hours will be used in the 2025 studies.
  3. See next section on these two investigations. As soon as it becomes clear what these investigations will look like, a quotation will be made by the members of the Court of Auditors in which the hours for investigations will be budgeted more specifically. This will be based on an hourly rate of €75. This quotation will be submitted to the council's intermediary for information. The allocation of the budget between the two investigations may differ from the above budget.

Chapter 4 - Annual plan 2025/ Selection of research topics

Method of selecting topics

The Court operates from independence, impartiality and objectivity. On the one hand, it wants its investigations not to become a factor in a current, political discussion; on the other hand, it wants to be open to important, social developments.

The Court itself weighs the choice of its research topics as well as the manner in which investigations are conducted. In doing so, it takes into account questions raised by the council or by Nuenen's society. The Court wants to conduct research that meets the needs of the council. Therefore, it invests in communication with the council and an intermediary has been appointed from within the council.

When selecting topics, the aim is to maximize their contribution to the Court's mission and objective, taking into account the Court's available research capacity and budget.

In accordance with Article 2 of the Court's Research Protocol, the following criteria shall be observed in the subject selection:

  • Appropriateness: the topic falls within the Court's remit and powers.
  • Proportionality: there is a substantial interest in financial, organizational, managerial or social terms.
  • Subsidiarity: the research question cannot be answered in any other, more straightforward way.
  • Added value: learning effects are expected from the study.
  • Independence: the Court does not interfere in political discussions.

Investigations in 2025

Grip on major projects

The study on "Grip on Major Projects" will be completed in the first quarter of 2025.

1st survey of 2025 - Underspending

Each year, the VR offers member courts of auditors the opportunity to participate in a Doe Mee study. The Court of Audit Nuenen c.a. decided to participate in the 2025 survey on underspending. Underspending can indicate, for example, that budgets are not realistically allocated, that activities have not been implemented or that additional funds become available so late in the year that spending is no longer feasible.

The main question of this study is:

Does the manner in which, in the municipality participating in this study, budgeting is done, the

elected representatives a good understanding of income and expenses and can this be improved?

The costs for this research are limited (EUR 500) because this national research is subsidized by VR/Ministry of the Interior. However, the members of the Court of Auditors will have to supervise the research themselves, conduct the interviews and produce a Court of Auditors report based on the fact sheet provided by the research firm.

2nd survey of 2025

Based on a survey of council groups in the first quarter of 2025, the Court intends to arrive at a2nd research topic. In the 2022 report, the previous Court listed topics that were mentioned at that time. The Court will include these topics in the inventory to see if, and to what extent, these topics are still relevant.

On behalf of the Court of Auditors Nuenen c.a.
A.M.A. (Nol) van Drunen

President