The Audit Office detects more than 167 million euros in improper payments for Social Rights benefits.

BarcelonaThe Department of Social Rights improperly paid €167.56 million in economic benefits during the 2016-2024 period. This is confirmed by a report from the Audit Office released this Wednesday, which indicates that these improper payments "are not only due to administrative errors" but also to "structural problems of transparency and governance." Some of these payments, unclaimed and time-barred due to the administration's inaction in monitoring and controlling them, have resulted in "effective damage to public finances" and, therefore, could give rise to "acts that are administratively and judicially prosecuted." In this case, which primarily affects the guaranteed citizen income and long-term care benefits, legal proceedings could be opened against those responsible for improperly authorizing these payments. For its part, the Department of Social Rights maintains that €156 million of the €167 million has already been claimed from the beneficiaries of these benefits.

Young people in care

One of the key points emphasized by the Office of the Comptroller General is the aid provided to young people who have left care by the Directorate General for the Care of Children and Adolescents (DGAIA). According to data collected by the auditing body, between September 2019 and December 2022, 4.7 million euros were improperly paid to these young people, which represents 11.8% of the payments ordered during this period for this type of benefit.

This is the case that denounced the ARA At the beginning of the year, the department pays a financial benefit to young people who are already working. Since no one supervises the young person or the entity in charge of monitoring the former ward reports it to the DGAIA, the young person receives a double payment: one as earned income because they have entered the labor market and the other as the benefit granted to them by the Generalitat (Catalan Government). Of the 4.7 million euros detected by the Office of the Comptroller, 804,384 euros are older than 4 years, and 2.7 million euros were allocated only to 2022. "It is observed that the situation of incompatibility is sustained over time, with an increasing trend in the period 2019-2022, without any corrective measures being taken," the text states.

The report was prepared by Ombudsman Maria Àngels Cabasés, who noted that the Department of Social Rights and Inclusion has not carried out "supervisory actions regarding the activities carried out, or regarding the allocation and use of the regional and European public funds received" by the collaborating for-profit entities. One of the examples cited in the report is the temporary joint venture (UTE) formed by the Mercè Fontanilles Foundation and the Resilis Foundation, which has been responsible for monitoring young people in former care since July 2022. During the audit of this UTE's work, a "sustained situation of incompatibilities affecting the beneficiaries' right to receive these benefits" and a "risk of conflict of interest" were detected.

From Parliament, the head of Social Rights and Inclusion, Mònica Martínez Bravo, has admitted that the conclusions of the report have not been a surprise and, proof of this - she replied - is that her team has already begun to modernize the system and the circuits of these benefits with the incorporation of artificial intelligence. In fact, she has assured that the thickness of the undue amount that the Ombudsman has detected refers to the guaranteed income, which is already going detected a few months ago and it was decided to grant amnesty to the affected families.

Regarding the benefit for former wards, the minister has denied that there has been any misappropriation of funds by the UTE Resilis and the Mercè Fontanilles Foundation, which until now were responsible for managing the aid in a service that, from now on, will once again be offered by the new general directorate of Prevention and

Outside Catalonia

One of the points detailed by the Ombudsman's Office is that a large number of beneficiaries of the guaranteed income granted by Social Rights had full-time contracts, something that is incompatible if they exceed 60 days continuously. Between March 2020 and December 2022, more than 75,000 people in Catalonia received this benefit, and of these, 10,285 also worked full-time in the same month, and in almost two thousand cases, this simultaneous work occurred for more than four consecutive months. Thus, during 2022 alone, 548 beneficiaries of the guaranteed income found work outside of Catalonia, which would lead—if they do not reside in the Principality—to the termination of the benefit.

The report also highlights that the amount allocated to economic benefits is insufficient and that the volume of resources needed is estimated to be nearly double that allocated to address the extreme poverty that exists in Catalonia. Furthermore, it is noted that the administration takes a long time to grant financial benefits, which can take seven months for the affected person to receive: disability pensions or almost eleven months for benefits for young people who have left care. However, once a decision is made, payment is made for the months elapsed since the request. The slowness of the administration's response is one of the shortcomings acknowledged by the regional ministry, but Martínez emphasized that digitalization has already meant, for example, that the processing of non-contributory benefits has decreased from 400 days to 18.

Ghost positions

A few months ago, this newspaper reported on the complaint filed by three workers in the sector. An organization in the province of Girona that had half-empty apartments for young people linked to job placement programs (PIL) was charging as if the apartments were completely full, thus receiving all the money provided by the Catalan government for these young people. This is what is known among workers in the sector as "ghost places." This was done, according to various witnesses, by "falsifying the young people's signatures" to confirm that they were "still in service," that is, that they were still living in the apartment and that the organization worked closely with them, although this was not true.

These complaints, which are still being investigated by the Anti-Fraud Office, along withThe scandal over the months-long sexual exploitation of a minor under administrative protection, led the Generalitat (Catalan Government) to reformulate the DGAIA (General Directorate of Public Administrations) and create a new agency, focused more on prevention to minimize the withdrawal of guardianships from minors. Financial aid, which until now was managed through a contract by third-sector entities and which appears in the Audit Office's report, will be transferred to the administration.

What will happen with undue payments? Is the guaranteed income a good answer, or not?