The Hague presents new coalition

The Municipality of The Hague presented its new coalition agreement for the coming four years on 21 May. The new Hague Municipal Executive (college van burgemeester en wethouders) will be made up of coalition partners PvdA (Labour Party), VVD (conservative Liberal Party), D66 (Social-Liberal Party) and CDA (centre-right Christian Democratic Party).

The eight nominated aldermen with Mayor Jozias van Aartsen. Photo by Richard Mulder

Budget cuts

The new Municipal Executive aims to reduce spending by € 150 million. It plans to make drastic cuts in the municipal organisation by hiring fewer external consultants, working more efficiently and reducing staff, leading to savings of  € 54 million. Fewer subsidies will be given to culture (€ 37 million less) and welfare. The organisations working in these areas should expect cuts of 10%. The new Municipal Executive has now done away with the ‘30% regulation’ whereby 30% of major construction projects must be reserved for social housing.

Changes at the top

Because the PvdA and VVD each will have to give up one alderman post following the previous term of office, Deputy Mayor Marieke Bolle (Finance and Culture) and Deputy Mayor Frits Huffnagel (City Marketing, International Affairs and ICT) will not be returning to the new Municipal Executive. The new aldermen are Marjolein de Jong (Culture, International Profile) and Ingrid van Engelshoven (Education, City Districts) from the D66 and Karsten Klein (Sport, Welfare and Youth) from the CDA.  It was already known that GroenLinks would not be participating in the coalition and that Deputy Mayor Bert van Alphen (Public Health, Welfare and Equal Opportunity) would be leaving politics.

Spending plans

The new coalition will appropriate € 50 million annually plus an additional one-off amount of € 165 million towards education, the local economy, work, poverty policy, sustainability, urban development, mobility and safety. Residents of The Hague will not be faced with higher taxes. Property taxes will be lowered to 10% of the 2009 rate and  parking fees will not be raised.

Cleaner and safer neighbourhoods

The aim is to make the city’s neighbourhoods cleaner and safer. Some 100 special neighbourhood service teams, each with ten men and women, will be created to assist the city’s street cleaners. About 1,500 additional underground rubbish containers (€ 5.1 million) will be put into place, first and foremost in areas with apartments and where there are problems with seagulls.

Neighbourhood surveillance teams will be boosted from 100 people to 150. The number of inspectors in The Hague’s buses and trams will be doubled. Some € 5 million will be appropriated to tidy up public areas, including planting 4,000 trees to line the streets. The coalition will also invest heavily in better street lighting (€ 4.3 million) and better maintenance of parks (€ 2.5 million). The city will be made more colourful with flower boxes. And good news for car owners: some 2,500 additional parking spots will be created in neighbourhoods where parking is scarce (€ 4.5 million). Income from paid parking will go towards the construction of parking garages.

Sustainability, urban development

A one-time investment of € 9 million and an addition € 1 million will be spent towards making the city more environmentally sustainable, including on the use of solar panels and sustainable energy. The new coalition has given priority to developing the areas of Scheveningen Harbour, the City Centre, International Zone and Binckhorst. Some € 16 million will be invested in the coming years to construct 2,500 new homes and upgrade 1,000 homes annually. To accommodate the growth of Leiden University Campus The Hague and The Hague University, 1,500 dorm rooms will be built for students. A total of € 36.5 million extra will be invested in mobility and the city’s cycling policy.

Education

Education will also get a bigger boost (a one-time investment of € 22 million and € 5 million annually) in order to provide 25 problematic primary schools with extra school hours and to create six vocational schools (for health care, catering, security and technical jobs). Mandatory participation in integration courses (inburgering) will be monitored more closely.

Economy

With a view to the economic recession, the municipality will invest in an attractive business climate and employment. The coalition will appropriate € 20 million on reinforcing the economic policy and city marketing. Residents who are unemployed will be actively encouraged to participate in the labour market and the number of work-study jobs will be expanded from 1,200 to 2,000.

International profile

The new coalition will work to expand the International City of Peace and Justice further and to reinforce The Hague’s international knowledge and research cluster. The Institute for Global Justice (IGJ) should become an authoritative top institute in the area of peace, justice, security and development and make an important contribution to promoting international law. The Hague is also a candidate for the hockey World Cup in 2014 and for the European Cultural Capital in 2018.

‘Aan de slag’

All of these plans are elaborated upon in the 2010-2014 coalition agreement entitled 'Aan de slag' ('To work'). You can read all about the new Municipal Executive’s plans on the Dutch-language municipal website.

The new coalition aims to see The Hague grow further as a city which is well accessible, where everyone is active and which is an attractive city in which to live and work. The coalition will work on its future together with residents, businesses and organisations. New forms of participation will be introduced.

8 nominated aldermen

For the coming four years the Municipal Executive will again be made up of eight aldermen, each with his or her own portfolio and city district. The nominated aldermen (subject to confirmation by the Municipal Council) are:

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