2023-08-16 16:04:00
The federal police are facing several tens of millions of euros in unpaid bills, reports Le Soir on Wednesday, which relies on various sources. The police confirm that it faces a serious cash flow problem, without detailing the extent.
Late payments sometimes go back several weeks and concern IT consultancy assignments, energy bills, or even bills for the purchase of new vehicles “which are therefore blocked in the garage until the police do not honor their debt”, adds the daily.
Spokeswoman An Berger clarified that the federal police “will obviously honor all its invoices, even if delays exist”. The supervising ministers have been informed of the difficulties encountered. A request for additional funding has been submitted to the Council of Ministers. The federal police do not know, however, when this request will be on the government table.
In this absolute vagueness, it is up to Eric Snoeck to generate short-term savings margins.
Eric Snoeck, acting commissioner general, in office since mid-June. ©PhotoNews
It was he, the acting commissioner general, in office since mid-June, who took the bull by the horns. “As soon as he arrived, noticing serious liquidity problems, he asked for an in-depth examination of the financial health of the organization for which he is responsible”, addresses An Berger. “He commissioned a photograph of the budget situation and he dedicated several meetings of the executive committee of the federal police to this subject.”
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We will not touch the staff
Personnel costs are by far the majority (approximately 85% of the budget). We won’t touch it. It remains to find, in the remaining 15%, the possible margins to be released and to make, to this end, structural and organizational modifications. For example, the former commissioner general, Marc De Mesmaeker, had already said stop to overtime, which had no impact on the operation in the broad sense of the federal police.
In the short term, there is a guarantee that the police will still be able to fulfill their missions. “But we must look for adequate solutions to guarantee the operation and the missions, both in the short and medium term. The medium-term solutions are currently being studied and will be discussed with the supervisory ministers from September. Nevertheless, we are not waiting and are already putting in place strict budget management mechanisms, in particular by creating a dedicated budget unit at the level of the Commissioner General”, further addresses An Berger.
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According to the federal police, the budgetary difficulties are linked to different causes.
”Geopolitical and macro-economic developments have caused an increase in prices (inflation), an increase in energy costs and delays in deliveries which imply postponements of payments to the following years. These are general problems which are linked in particular to the followingmath of the health crisis and the consequences of the war in Ukraine on the industry”, indicates in particular the spokesperson.
In addition, the federal police have had to invest massively in digitalization in recent years to keep up with technological developments. “In particular, there is the need to reinvest in certain functionalities to deal with changes in security phenomena, such as organized crime linked to drugs or cybercrime. In 20 years, the profession has undergone profound changes and has become more complex, involving additional tasks, activities and/or resources. Budgets have not necessarily been adjusted accordingly.”
Problems with heating, electricity, cleanliness, collapsing ceilings: the federal police suffer and this affects work
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