The Hessian Court of Audit criticizes the country's financial conduct in the refugee crisis.

In particular, personnel expenses came into the focus of the auditors.

They started their work in spring 2016 and have now presented a special report.

Ewald Hetrodt

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung in Wiesbaden.

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    The influx of newcomers reached its peak with 80,000 people in 2015. After that, the numbers fell significantly.

    In 2016 it was 25,000.

    In 2020 there were 6,700. Originally, the state government had increased the number of relevant posts required from 135 to 300.

    However, in autumn 2015, parliament decided to increase the number to a total of 900 posts.

    490 of the 900 positions blocked

    The Court of Auditors pointed to the immigration curve, which is now flattening out again.

    The Ministry of Finance then temporarily blocked up to 490 of the 900 jobs.

    The Court of Auditors considers only 300 posts to be necessary.

    The ministries have announced that they want to achieve this figure again “in the medium term”.

    In addition to its own staff, the country also used external workers. It accepted time sheets written and signed by service providers for up to 325 hours per month. For example, retired civil servants received monthly payments of up to 8,100 euros.

    Even after the number of refugees to be admitted had decreased significantly, according to the information provided by the Court of Auditors, for example, in the second half of 2016, the state paid more than 30 service providers, some of them unusually high monthly working hours of up to 270 hours. Even in unusual times, time sheets, especially with a volume of more than 300 hours per month, should not simply be accepted unchecked, warns Walter Wallmann, the President of the Court of Auditors. The country has now responded. The examination of the time sheets is guaranteed.

    The report by the Court of Auditors states that only one new position was created in November 2016 for the integration of the initial reception facility into the Giessen Regional Council.

    In return, however, the number and value of the management positions have been increased significantly.

    In addition, the salary levels have been raised.

    This has led to an increase in personnel costs by around 400,000 euros per year.

    Overcapacity in emergency shelters

    "The Court of Auditors doubts the necessity of these personnel management measures, since the legal tasks in this area have not changed significantly." The meritorious work of the employees of the initial reception facility should be recognized, says Court of Auditors President Wallmann. "But we cannot understand the restructuring associated with enormous increases in personnel costs on this scale."

    Wallmann concedes that the influx of refugees was “not really calculable”. That is why one had to keep overcapacities at emergency shelters. However, they were enormous. Of the 21,000 places, 12,000 were never taken. "Even if you subtract half of these 12,000 spaces as a 'forecast buffer', the result is an avoidable overcapacity of 6,000 spaces," says von Wallmann. "If this overcapacity had been avoided, around 46 million euros would theoretically have been saved."

    The auditors also noticed the approach of the municipalities negatively. The country reimbursed them with monthly lump sums for the expenses they incurred as a result of the refugees. Some municipalities did not accommodate the assigned refugees in their own accommodation, but in the emergency accommodation in the country intended for initial reception - without making any financial contributions. This resulted in further overspending for the country. Following an intervention by the Court of Auditors, the municipalities have now returned around five million euros to the state.

    "We rate state management as appropriate overall during the large influx of refugees," says the President of the Court of Auditors. Because crises are extraordinary times, the necessary judgment has been tried to point out aspects from which lessons can be drawn for the future. Wallmann sees many parallels to the corona pandemic. "The key words are the same: personnel requirements, procurement, data basis, digitization."