Senator adamantly disagrees with the accusation
In a recent statement, Social and Labor Senator Dr. Claudia Schilling revealed that Bremen, one of Germany's three city-states, is facing challenges in recovering a significant portion of maintenance claims. Despite increased efforts, the majority of these unrecoverable claims would also be unrecoverable in any other federal state, according to the senator.
Senator Schilling further explained that in all federal states, including those with a balanced social structure, the majority of maintenance advance payments must be written off. A recovery rate of 100% is considered an illusion, she added.
Over the past decade, 64 million euros of the current claims have accumulated due to the expansion of legal claims by the federal legislature. However, the senator did not provide any information on the impact of these unrecoverable claims on Bremen's budget.
The senator also did not mention any specific plans or proposals to address the issue in Bremen. Nevertheless, common best practices for improving recovery rates in such contexts might include strengthening administrative processes and data management for claims handling, enhancing coordination with judicial or enforcement authorities, implementing digital systems to track and expedite claims, and public awareness campaigns to ensure timely and complete submission of claims.
In 2024, the income from the recovery increased by around 20 percent from 4.4 to 5.2 million euros compared to the previous year. This improvement could be a step towards addressing the issue, although the senator did not provide any comparison between Bremen and other federal states in terms of social structure or other relevant factors.
The recovery rate competition between Bremen and Hamburg has been ongoing for years, and Bremen aims to improve its performance. The recovery process is based on the potential income of the obligated parties, even when the actual recoverable amount is less.
It's worth noting that the outstanding maintenance claims in Bremen by the end of 2024 amount to 69 million euros, with 46 million in the city of Bremen and 23 million in Bremerhaven. Bremen, with its higher number of recipients of transfer payments, can currently recover only 10.4% of UVG expenses.
In contrast, the recovery rates of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, with their favourable social structures, are currently 20%. The high sum of 69 million euros, however, is based on a fictitious income that the obligated parties could potentially earn, rather than their actual income. The senator did not specify the exact nature of the maintenance claims or the UVG expenses.
In conclusion, Bremen faces challenges in recovering a significant portion of maintenance claims, with a recovery rate that is significantly lower than some other federal states. While the senator did not provide specific plans or proposals to address this issue, common best practices suggest that strengthening administrative processes, enhancing coordination with authorities, implementing digital systems, and public awareness campaigns could potentially help improve the recovery rate. For definitive answers and concrete details, one may need to consult Bremen's official governmental releases or social welfare department reports.
- The senator's statement on Bremen's maintenance claim recovery challenges highlights the need for policy-and-legislation changes to address this issue, given the unrecoverable claims that exceed 64 million euros over the past decade.
- In the pursuit of improving Bremen's recovery rate, strategies such as strengthening administrative processes, coordinating with enforcement authorities, implementing digital systems, and public awareness campaigns should be considered – aspects often found in general-news discussions related to similar problems in politics.
