Alarm Bell Rings Over Bloated State Government: Soaring Number of Top-Tier Officials
Ministry employees are under scrutiny due to a rising trend in criticism from the Audit Office. - Ministry Staff Under Scrutiny: Criticism on Expansion by Court of Auditors
Here's the scoop on that state government audit report you've been wondering about. In a nutshell, it's a damning indictment of the state's hiring practices, focusing especially on the excessive number of high-ranking officials.
Martina Johannsen, the big cheese at the state audit office in Schwerin, shook things up in her recent keynote, delivering the annual report for 2025. Her verdict? The government's payroll has seen an alarming 22% surge in top-tier positions over the past decade, bucking the downward trend of the last ten years. Mind you, this expansion comes amid a slight population decline in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, from 2014 to 2024.
Now, let's not forget that the upper and lower state authorities, considered the core activities of our state, experienced a 10.8% personnel increase between '14 and '24. A sizable chunk of this growth can be attributed to boosts in teaching staff and police numbers, as Johannsen pointed out.
But if we take the state police and educational staff out of the equation, the growth in the upper and lower state authorities falls to a modest 4.6%, paling in comparison to the ministerial level.
Teachers Leaving Schools for the Ministry
The report has sparked a buzz, particularly as it reveals the practice of moving teachers from schools to the Ministry of Education has come under fire, especially from conservative opposition party, the CDU, in the state parliament.
Education spokesman for the CDU faction, Torsten Renz, expresses his discontent: "Against our promises to the contrary, the number of teaching staff employed in the Ministry of Education has boosted – from 103 in 2023 to 115 in 2024." Instead of returning more teachers to the classrooms that are in dire need, it seems the Education Minister Simone Oldenburg (Left) continues to expand the ministry's roster.
Time for a Task Review, Says the Audit Office
Johannsen recommends the state government to take a long, hard look at the tasks it deems crucial and how they're carried out. "Who's doing what, what tasks even need to be done, how work is organized, where something might be duplicated by different departments – it's all got to be urgently reviewed and partly reorganized," remarks the highest auditor of the state.
The need for a task review has been neglected for the past decade, Johannsen laments. If this oversight isn't addressed, she warns, external assistance from a consulting firm might be required to fix the hornet's nest. If changes don't happen, she foresees a dim future for the state, as expenses could soon exceed revenues.
Gyms and Sports Facilities: Strategy Lacking
The audit office's report raises additional red flags. The state lacks a clear strategy for promoting investments in gyms and sports facilities, causing confusion, according to the report. Furthermore, there doesn't seem to be a comprehensive list of the state's sports facilities, leaving funding requirements unclear.
Questions Abound Regarding Integration Projects for Migrants
The auditors also uncovered a plethora of potential issues with integration projects for migrants. In a nutshell, there's a lot of money being spent, but with little accountability. The list of concerns includes fake invoices, missing receipts, incorrect work hours, overlapping programs, and a lack of transparency. Consequently, the ministry is encouraged to probe whether funds should be recovered.
The opposition AfD called for "audits of all dubious books of associations supporting migrants." The party's budget spokesman, Martin Schmidt, expressed disappointment in the state's failure to scrutinize these associations in the past. "It appears that many of these associations have been able to operate with self-serving bookkeeping for years," Schmidt lamented.
The State's Structure, the Audit Office, Schwerin, Teachers, CDU, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Police, Ministry of Education, AfD
[1] Shifts in state government employment structure over the past decade, with a focus on ministries[2] Additional concerns about the expansion of the upper and lower state authorities, specifically regarding education[3] Criticisms from the opposition party regarding increased educational administrative staff[4] Economic context, including potential financial pressures from national policies, as a factor in concerns about governmental expansions.
- The state audit office in Schwerin, led by Martina Johannsen, has highlighted the need for a comprehensive review of the state government's policy-and-legislation, particularly focusing on the excessive growth in ministries through vocational training programmes, as part of their annual report for 2025.
- Politics and general news have been abuzz with discussions about the state government's practices, following the release of the audit report. The conservative opposition party, the CDU, has expressed concern over the increasing number of teacher positions in the Ministry of Education, as opposed to the classrooms, which they argue are in dire need of more teaching staff.
