# UWV scraps €55m IT system after five years; MPs question minister

> The Employee Insurance Agency has scrapped its Bemiddelingsservice project, and two MPs have asked the social affairs minister who is responsible for the €55m cost.

Politics · published 2026-10-15 12:53 · updated 2026-10-15 14:30 · https://nlnow.nl/a/uwv-scraps-55m-it-system-five-years-after-project-began/

The Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) has definitively stopped developing and introducing its Bemiddelingsservice (BMS), five years after the project began. The project has cost €55m.

In a statement, UWV said there is "insufficient confidence" that the BMS can be introduced successfully "within an acceptable period and at justifiable cost".

On 15 October, Ergin of DENK and Heutink of Groep Markuszower submitted written questions to the minister of Social Affairs and Employment about the scrapped project.

Heutink asks whether the minister finds it acceptable that €55m of taxpayers' money was wasted. He also asks what follows for UWV's board (Raad van Bestuur) and what scrapping the project means for job seekers and employers.

Ergin asks when UWV knew that the quality of the data in its systems was not good enough for the application to work as intended. He also asks why a sharp rise in the value of the contract did not lead to a new tender, and whether the evaluation will cover the decision to award the contract.

## Background

- **UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen)**: The Employee Insurance Agency, which pays unemployment and disability benefits and helps people back into work.
- **DENK**: A Dutch political party founded in 2014 by two former PvdA members of parliament. It focuses on anti-discrimination and integration, and draws much of its support from voters with a migration background.
- **Groep Markuszower**: The Groep Markuszower is a parliamentary group in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch States General. It is made up of MPs who sit together under this name and, like other groups, can put questions to ministers and take part in debates. Its MPs act as a group when they table questions on government policy.

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