Ever since its announcement in March, the energy allowance has caused a lot of commotion. The cabinet advised municipalities to exclude students from the allowance. Too expensive, said the responsible minister Carola Schouten recently. Discrimination, people said throughout the country as well as members of various political parties in Parliament.
A judge in Nijmegen ruled after a court case that was initiated by a student against the city that the city council cannot make a distinction between students and non-students. Various city councils – including those of Tilburg, Zwolle, Sittard-Geleen and Delft – have started to compensate students after all.
Maastricht politicians have had the subject on the table for some months now, but so far no decision has been taken. It is a matter of too little money, said the responsible alderman Alex Meij during the council meeting mid-July. The allowance is 1,300 euro per household. During the same meeting, he said that he would do all he could to “also help students with this energy poverty issue”.
By now, three months have passed without a decision having been taken. The student fractions of the University Council and the faculty councils are also becoming impatient. They sent and open letter to the mayor and aldermen last week. They are disappointed that the above-mentioned municipalities have allocated compensation, but Maastricht has not. It is high time, according to the student fractions. Students are having a “hard time keeping their heads above water”, they write. Some have received letters “from their landlords informing them that the rent will be raised by 200 euro or more per month”.
That is taking too long, feels also a large part of the city council. Six parties therefore submitted written questions to the mayor and aldermen last Thursday. “Maastricht is probably the only university city left that has not made arrangements,” says Martin van Rooij, council member on behalf of M:OED and one of the main signatories to the questions. “The alderman keeps saying he wants to wait on a central government arrangement, but why would the municipal executive not choose to start with the implementation of its own arrangement?”
On Wednesday 19 October, after an earlier version of this article was published, Alderman Meij informed Observant that the municipality is going to investigate how many students have independent accommodation with their own energy contract. They may still receive an energy allowance. “The results will be expected in November/December.” It is not clear how the councilor will obtain this information. If there is no money from the government, residents of student houses will miss out. There will be no Maastricht arrangement for this group, the alderman reports. “However, these students can apply for individual special assistance (IBB).” The municipality checks on a case-by-case basis whether someone is eligible for this allowance.
Councilor Van Rooij fears that this will not be a good solution for students. “There are conditions attached to the IBB. For example, that you may not earn more than 120 percent of the minimum wage. With a student loan and a few hours in a side job, you are already above that.” Lowering your student loan will not help. “Then the government says that you must first use the loan. Those conditions are very important. They can be adjusted, but the municipality does not seem to want that.”