The illusion of control
Why local councils struggle with affiliated organisations — and why ownership is the only real answer.
There is a particular kind of frustration you recognise if you have worked in the public sector long enough. It is the frustration of a steering wheel that turns freely but is not connected to the wheels. Dutch local council members know this feeling intimately — especially when it comes to affiliated public organisations.
BMC published a sharp analysis at the end of 2025, based on audit chamber research. The conclusion is sobering: local councils live under an illusion of control. They receive stacks of documents, submit formal opinions, approve budgets. But the actual influence on what a regional health service, safety authority or waste processor does? Minimal.
The four frustrations BMC identifies are recognisable to anyone who has ever attended a council session on affiliated organisations. There is no compass — many municipalities lack an up-to-date policy framework. There is a paper avalanche — up to 125 documents per year, often too late and too detailed. There is a tunnel vision on money — while the real question should be about societal impact. And there is the democratic gap — the formal opinion as a toothless tiger.
What appeals to me in this piece is the acknowledgment that this is a wicked problem. Not something you solve with a new regulation or an extra committee. It is a governance question that demands a different attitude: from reactive box-ticking to active ownership.
The five solutions BMC proposes are sensible. Prioritise using a risk-based model. Shift focus from numbers to outcomes. Create council specialists. Collaborate regionally. Use dashboards instead of thick reports. But the real point runs deeper.
Control is an illusion if you are not willing to acknowledge the complexity of your own role. A local council is simultaneously owner and commissioner of an affiliated organisation. Those two hats require different skills and a different kind of conversation. As long as we do not say that out loud, we will keep producing rubber-stamped agenda items and wondering why nothing changes.
The steering wheel is there. You just have to be willing to grab it.
Source: Based on: Tom Plat, Marsha de Vries & Herman Uffen — "De illusie van grip: waarom verbonden partijen een wicked problem blijven", BMC, 19 December 2025. https://www.bmc.nl/actueel/de-illusie-van-grip-waarom-verbonden-partijen-een-wicked-problem-blijven---en-hoe-we-de-regie-kunnen-terugpakken