A woman living abroad, 4 homeless people and even a deceased woman: all have received energy support from the Anderlecht social services this year. These cases have come to light after journalists on VRT’s current affairs flagship Pano gained access to hundreds of anonymised files.
More revelations from Anderlecht: ‘Homeless paid energy support to pay energy bills’
Colin Clapson
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Updated:
In total, more than 5,000 people received energy support for no apparent reason and without a thorough investigation of their case. ‘It’s an attempt to make sure money for subsidies that was still available after the energy crisis was used,’ 5 employees at Anderlecht social services explain. Anderlecht social services has so far refused to provide an official explanation for what has been going on.
Two weeks ago VRT’s Pano revealed the OCMW (local social services, known as CPAS by its French acronym) in the Brussels borough of Anderlecht was granting financial support to people who are not entitled to it. Two members of the Pano team successful applied for the guaranteed minimum income allowance (termed ‘living wage’ in Belgium), even though they do not live in Anderlecht and have no financial problems.
Five social assistants at Anderlecht social services are now also questioning the granting of energy support. Anderlecht social services distributed this aid on a ‘systematic’ basis, they say, ‘without investigating whether the people in question were entitled to it’.
To back up their story, they have shown Pano a series of anonymised files that raise a particularly large number of questions. For example, Anderlecht social services grants money for energy bills to four men domiciled at the local social services office. They have no permanent address. ‘They are homeless,’ the staff explain. ‘So why do they have energy bills?’
The same applies to a woman who died in early December last year. ‘Her death is reported to social services at the end of last year and in January her ‘living wage’ allowance is stopped. Yet on March 1, 2024, the OCMW OKs energy support for her.’
Another woman receives money for her energy bill in January. It is later revealed that she had already moved to Rwanda in November last year. ‘Had the files been examined as they should have been, this would have been noticed,’ the employees argue.