New Secretary General of the House of Representatives sworn in
On Thursday, 7 June 2018, Ms S.M. (Simone) Roos was sworn in as Secretary General of the House of Representatives, at the beginning of the afternoon sitting of the House. In its sitting of 29 May 2018, the House of Representatives had approved Simone Roos' appointment as Secretary General, with effect from 11 June 2018.
Commenting on her appointment, Ms Roos said: "I am looking forward to setting to work as Secretary General, to advising the President and the Presidium and to heading the administrative body of the House of Representatives. I consider it an honour to jointly support the 150 Members of the House in their task as representatives of the people, so that we can continuously respond to the needs of politicians and to developments in society."
Simone Roos has been director general as well as deputy secretary general at the ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations since September 2014. Ms Roos studied law at the University of Amsterdam. In 1987, she started her career at the ministry of the Interior. Subsequently, she worked for nearly ten years at the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG). After one year in the private sector, Simone Roos returned to the central government sector, where she held several posts at the ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and the ministry of Education, Culture and Science, including the post of deputy secretary general of the ministry of Education, Culture and Science. From 1 September 2009 until 1 September 2014, she was also a member of the Council for the Judiciary.
What does the Secretary General do?
The Secretary General advises the House, the President and the Presidium on procedural and constitutional aspects of the House's business. Moreover, the Secretary General heads the administrative body of the House of Representatives. During plenary sittings, the Secretary General is often seated to the right of the President.
The Rules of Procedure assign a number of duties and rights directly to the Secretary General. These are laid down in sections 10, 13, 14 and 15.
