– I am actually left with so little that there is no dinner for many days, she says to news. Earlier this year, she told news about expensive time and financial difficulties. Then the woman from Sortland in Nordland went on work clearance allowance. Now she has received disability benefits and struggles no less to make the money last. Photo: Private – I try to use the app “Too good to go”. Where you can get a bag of food, bread and cold cuts for NOK 39. Then I have various foods for a few days. Discs with a 50 percent discount due to date stamping are also good. It’s things like this that save me a little in everyday life, says Elde. Just over 97,000 households were paid housing benefit in March. Now she hopes that SV will be able to negotiate housing allowance and electricity allowance for the last three months of the year – in good time before Christmas. – There will probably be no great excesses in some ways, not a lot of Christmas treats, Christmas food and Christmas presents, she says. Hundreds of thousands At the Storting, SV and the government parties are now starting negotiations that could give hundreds of thousands of Norwegians something more to root for this autumn. The government’s budget partner SV demands more support for vulnerable groups who are struggling with increased expenses for housing and electricity. This does not only apply to the large group that receives social assistance, disability benefits and employment verification money. The country’s students also expect more help from the state. – The electricity subsidy that was given to the students this spring was a very important measure. But the need is no less now, says Maika Godal Dam of the Norwegian Student Organization to news. – The electricity price is still high. Many students struggle to make ends meet. STRUGGLING: Maika Godal Dam in the Norwegian Student Organization says many are struggling to make ends meet. Photo: William Jobling / news In addition to students and recipients of housing benefit, SV came out strongly against the government’s proposed cuts in the unemployment benefit scheme in Wednesday’s question time. Here, too, SV will have changes in place in the coming weeks. – With the government’s proposal, many people will receive less unemployment benefit. And many will not be able to get it at all, said SV deputy leader Kirsti Bergstø from the floor of the Storting. Heralds help From before, the second deputy leader of SV, Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes, has promised to fight for students and people who receive housing benefit, in the talks about changes in electricity support for households. – We want to get housing allowance and students in, Fylkesnes told VG on Monday. In the interview, he refers to a review carried out by Statistics Norway of the electricity subsidy in September. – It also showed that housing benefit has a lot to say about redistribution. The government has not touched it since the last time, Fylkesnes insists. DEALER: SV’s deputy chairman Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes. Photo: Torstein Bøe / Torstein Bøe In addition, due to the sky-high prices of electricity, an additional electricity subsidy has been established for those who receive housing benefit. This is in addition to the support all households receive. The extra support is set at NOK 0 in September, NOK 1,000 in October and NOK 1,500 for each of the months November and December. SV will now try to get the amount increased. Facts about housing allowance and extra electricity allowance Housing allowance is a government support scheme for people with low incomes and high housing costs. It is the municipality that registers applications and has all contact with applicants. Throughout 2022, the scheme has been temporarily strengthened, through a higher income limit and a lower deductible. This means that more people receive housing benefit, and that many receive more housing benefit. In addition, extra support is given for electricity expenses for the period October (NOK 1,000), November (NOK 1,500) and December (NOK 1,500). The support is paid out in November-January. An additional NOK 150 is given for each additional person in the household. The amount is independent of the actual expenditure on electricity. (Source: Husbanken) – It is probably difficult for those who are not in these situations to understand what it is like, says Elde. – They have no idea how bad it is Elde received housing benefit and extra electricity support earlier this year and will apply for this in the autumn as well. – What do you have to say to the politicians? – Try to live for a week on as little money as so many people actually do. They need to think about it. They have no idea how bad it is for many people, she says. – Food, electricity, fuel – everything increases. But there is no corresponding reasonable increase in Nav benefits, such as housing benefit, she says. It is true that the electricity price has been far lower in the north than in the south, but also in the north the price has increased in periods this autumn. And the general rise in prices also affects the northernmost parts of the country. – Must be continued On the same day that SV and the government parties begin the first of three rounds of negotiations with the government parties, the Norwegian Student Organization sent a letter to the finance committee at the Storting on Tuesday. In the letter, the student organization requests that the special support of 3,000 for electricity be continued this autumn. The support was given as a scholarship through Lånekassen this spring. – The students need this money right away, already this autumn. If the electricity price continues to be high through the winter, the scheme must also be continued next year, Godal Dam demands. More than 120,000 students and pupils over the age of 18 made use of the support scheme this spring. In the letter to the Storting, NSO points out that students who rent accommodation privately are not covered by the ordinary scheme of electricity support for households. In many cases, the students also do not get their electricity costs reduced by the home owner, according to the organisation. For many students, it will be a tough autumn, at least if new electricity support is not given, fears Godal Dam. She refers to the Students’ health and well-being survey, which, among other things, is behind the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. In this year’s edition, 28 per cent answered that they would have had problems managing an unforeseen expenditure of NOK 5,000. BUDGET: Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) presented a state budget without additional electricity support for students. Photo: Hanna Johre / NTB Three races The autumn negotiation marathon in the Storting will take place along three main tracks: Firstly, this week negotiations start in the finance committee on a combined proposal the government put forward on 30 September. It consists of a larger aid package for Ukraine, proposals for allocations to the CO₂ compensation scheme for industry and electricity support for businesses. The proposal from the government must be fully considered in the Storting’s finance committee by 20 October. This means that the negotiations between SV, Ap and Sp must be finished before that time. Secondly, the energy and environment committee meets to look at how the electricity subsidy scheme for Norwegian households can be changed. The scheme came into place before Christmas last year. SV wants the state to cover 100 per cent of an electricity price of over 50 øre per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the first 1,000 kWh you use within one month. In addition, the party will have 80 percent support for the next 2,000 kWh used per month. According to an agreement between SV and the government parties, these negotiations must be concluded by the end of October. The third round of negotiations concerns next year’s state budget: The government’s proposal was presented before the weekend, and SV has already come up with several demands. Aid, increased climate cuts, oil tax and precisely social benefits are just some of the issues SV has announced that the party will take up. At the end of October, SV presents its alternative budget for 2023, before the negotiations with the Center Party and the Labor Party start. It is expected that the negotiations will last until November and possibly also extend into December.
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– They have no idea how bad it is – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
