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Integrity should be at the heart of all council activity. When the public puts its trust in elected officials and those working for local government organisations are responsible for spending citizens’ taxes in an appropriate manner, it is essential that they uphold the highest standards of integrity at all times.  This means having frameworks in place to reduce instances of unethical behaviour and clear governance integrity procedures for dealing with any episodes of misconduct that do occur. In the 2024 Monitor Integriteit en Veiligheid, 37% of local government officers said they had witnessed, or thought they had witnessed, misconduct by...

On 1 January 2027, the Archiefwet 2026 replaces the Dutch Archives Act of 1995. That is only months away, and it is no longer a target date. The Eerste Kamer approved the bill on 12 May 2026 and the act was published in the Staatsblad on 19 June 2026, which formalised both the citation title and the commencement date. The 1995 act was written for a paper reality. Today, emails, chat messages, collaboration files and datasets together form your organisation's institutional memory. The new act reflects that and requires you to manage digital information sustainably from the moment it is...

In the Netherlands, the Temporary Act on Digital Deliberation and Decision-Making provided the necessary legal basis for digital decision-making at a time when it was not possible to hold physical gatherings. Now that law has expired, the Tweede Kamer has adopted a permanent replacement – the Digital Meetings Act.  At the time of this writing, the Senate still needs to scrutinise and vote on the bill. However, if it becomes law, it will provide a permanent legal basis for decentralised authorities to hold meetings and vote electronically during exceptional circumstances. Where it is not possible to hold a physical meeting...

Since the 2023 financial year, under Wet versterking decentrale rekenkamers, Dutch municipalities have been obliged to include a statement in their annual accounts explaining whether their income, spending and balance-sheet transactions followed the relevant financial rules.  However, only 37% of the Dutch municipalities assessed in a 2025 report concluded that their financial activities were compliant, down from 45% the previous year. The same research found that none of the 86 municipalities studied used the required accountability model correctly: These findings suggest that the compliance accountability statement for local government has exposed weaknesses in financial controls, procurement, budget management and the...

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that having a say over the actions of governing bodies increases trust in those bodies by 3.1%. However, less than half of Dutch citizens (39%) believed they were able to contribute to decision-making.  The current status of participation in Dutch municipalities is mixed. For example, in Leiden in South Holland, around 10% of citizens engage in decision-making. However, this tends to skew towards residents from wealthy neighbourhoods.  To increase engagement, the Dutch government has introduced laws, such as: Whilst citizen participation brings the benefits of a more trusting and constructive relationship...

Civic participation can be beneficial to both residents and municipalities and other public bodies. The European Commission reports that it can improve resource efficiency and build transparency, whilst fostering “inclusivity, ensuring that all voices are heard in decision-making processes. It builds public trust in government institutions by providing residents with the opportunity to directly influence decisions that affect their lives.” However, there is evidence that many citizens do not engage in the democratic process. In the municipality elections in 2026, turnout stood at 53.75% of eligible voters. Nearly half of the electorate did not vote, despite the outcome having a...