Government presents action plan against social fraud

The federal government is stepping up the fight against welfare abuses. A new action plan focuses on more data reconciliation, more controls and stricter rules. AI should also help. By Jan-Peter Bartels, Tim Aßmann It is a clear statement from the Minister of Labour: "We do not tolerate exploitation and social benefit abuse," says Bärbel Bas.

The SPD politician, on the other hand, wants to be tougher - namely "with all the means at my disposal". What she is planning, she has poured into an action plan together with the Minister of the Interior. The document, which is available to the ARD Capital Studio, has eight pages. In it: 37 points on how they want to get a grip on social benefit abuse in particular, which is related to EU immigration.

New powers for municipalities and job centres Already after the coalition committee at the beginning of July, the leaders of the black-red government had announced an action plan against social benefit abuse. "Anyone who abuses the system must also expect consequences," Bas said at the time. She will present a "consistent plan". A catalogue has now been drawn up together with the Ministry of the Interior.

Key points: Municipalities should be given opportunities to take better action against so-called scrap real estate. Employers who rely on undeclared work should also be held more liable, and those who are sought with an enforceable arrest warrant should no longer be able to receive basic security. Above all, an annoyance of many job centre employees is to be addressed: The previously limited data exchange between the authorities is to be improved. Such data matching can make it easier to track down unreported mini-jobs, for example.

AI analysis and data exchange Artificial intelligence should also help and comb through the data: By means of "secure, trustworthy and non-discriminatory AI-based analysis systems", the paper states, more cases of abuse will be detected. In order to simplify this, the identification number should be stored in all registers relevant for social benefits and the municipal job centres should be obliged to exchange data. More pressure on landlords of scrap real estate The fact that social fraudsters collect excessive rents for neglected scrap real estate from the job centres is also to come to an end. The Building Code is to be amended to make it easier for municipal employees to gain access to buildings that may be affected.

There should be new, limited possibilities for expropriation if owners do not modernize. In addition, the right to register should be clarified in order to avoid landlords overcrowding the rooms. Abuse in EU immigration is also to be restricted: "What is not possible is to exploit freedom of movement in order to exploit people and exploit their need for organised abuse," Bas says. It should therefore be avoided that immigrants from EU countries work to a very small extent or are registered in fictitious employment relationships in order to then claim social benefits.

Laws are to be changed here to prevent criminal structures and exploitation. Fight against professional gangs The action plan is awaited in the municipalities. Cities in the Ruhr area in particular, such as Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg, have been complaining about the problem for years and feel left alone by the federal government. They often report cases in which entire families from Bulgaria and Romania are registered in the Ruhr area and in some cases receive social benefits such as child benefit and housing allowance to a large extent.

During inspections, it turns out that those affected no longer live on site - and in some cases for years. In the background, professional gangs are seen bringing so-called poverty migrants from Eastern Europe to Germany in an organized manner, housing them in their own, partly run-down real estate, providing them with sham employment relationships and then skimming social benefits. Bärbel Bas, who comes from Duisburg, announced the fight to such gangs at the beginning of her term of office. However, their concrete plans then took a long time to come.

Later this month, the Cabinet is due to adopt the action plan of the Federal Ministry of Labour and the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The measures could then be implemented by the end of the year.