Deep red PCSW Brussels deficits are untenable

“The budget of the PCSW of the City of Brussels is coloured deep red. In 2022, the deficit will be around EUR 83 million. This must be fully replenished by the City of Brussels. The deficit is increasing year after year. It has increased by as much as EUR 11 million since 2018. This is untenable,” said Mathias Vanden Borre, councillor for the N-VA in the City of Brussels.

When a PCSW has a deficit, the municipality has to step in. In Belgium, that is an average of EUR 285 per inhabitant. For Brussels, this will even amount to EUR 444 in 2022. That is money that the city cannot spend on other policies.

PCSW consumes half of its own budget

The largest item at the PCSW Brussels is personnel expenditure. “In 2022, the number of FTEs will rise by 20% for no apparent reason. As a result, personnel costs will increase from EUR 137 million in 2020 to EUR 153 million next year. Personnel expenditure represents almost half of the total PCSW budget. A poverty organisation that consumes half of its budget itself is far too greedy,” Mathias Vanden Borre states.

Painful story

“The redistribution expenditure will increase next year by no less than EUR 14 million to EUR 130.7 million. At the end of 2020, the threshold of 27,000 beneficiaries was exceeded. A real drama is that about 39% of the beneficiaries are between 18 and 24 years old. This is incomprehensible when we consider that there is a shortage on the labour market. Youth unemployment in Brussels is and remains a sore point,” Mathias Vanden Borre notes.

2,391 properties owned

“In the meantime, the property portfolio of the PCSW continues to grow. The PCSW owns no fewer than 2,391 premises, including some 1,900 dwellings, 173 commercial businesses, 49 office buildings, etc. Poor people, a wealthy government: this is absolutely not my model of society. It is time for far-reaching reform. That is why I recently submitted a draft ordinance to the Brussels Parliament that should integrate the PCSW into the municipal administration, similar to the Flemish Region. In this way, the 19 municipal authorities can jointly save at least EUR 30 million in a single legislature, including on the many mandates,” Mathias Vanden Borre concludes.