According to a Court of Auditors report presented yesterday, it is not possible to say exactly how many people were reached, as the data is “insufficient”. The Court of Auditors (RH) therefore also recommends a concept for the subsequent control. In the period from March 2020 to March 2021 examined by the Court of Auditors, the federal government provided around 200 million euros in subsidies and subsidies to deal with the corona crisis in the art and culture sector. Around 114,300 applications were approved by three bodies during the review period: the Artists’ Social Insurance Fund (KSVF), the Social Insurance Agency for the Self-Employed (SVS) and the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKÖ). It was possible to switch between the funds, but there were different regulations as to whether aid that had already been received was counted or not. Due to a lack of data, it is not possible to say how many people were reached with the three funds examined.
No test concept for control
Due to the possibility of requesting support from several agencies, a subsequent control “plays a special role”. The Court of Appeal criticized the fact that the Ministry of Culture “did not have a test concept for control and that the specifications in the guidelines and settlement agreements were not sufficiently clear”. The ministry is recommended to “create a clearly defined concept for the downstream control at the KSVF and the SVS with the institutions involved in order to uncover inadmissible multiple funding or unjustly obtained subsidies or subsidies”. In general, the Ministry of Culture should continue to advance “its considerations on improving the statistical data situation”.
Source: Nachrichten
