Petter Sortland, Høyanger municipality – We do not have a decision on guidelines that elected representatives must inform the director of the municipality before they visit municipal units. But I have clear expectations that a unit owner will notify the line when they receive such enquiries. And we have just had an example of how it works in Høyanger municipality. We have a decision in the municipal council that we will put a communication strategy and plan in place. Such a plan will make us safer in handling such situations. Per Kristian Vareide, Stavanger municipality – We currently do not have any established guidelines for visits/events at our businesses. We had it a few years ago. These were primarily not aimed at public authorities, but at business managers. It is each individual business manager who primarily has to make a concrete assessment of when and how there should be a visit/event. They can, of course, confer with superior managers if necessary. These guidelines were based on reassuring the business managers about the decisions they could make. We have no routine that requires the director of the municipality to be informed. Camilla Dunsæd, Kristiansand municipality – We have not adopted guidelines that people’s representatives must inform the director of the municipality before they visit municipal units. In practice, it is a little different. Some local authorities contact the director for the area, who can then pass on the contact to relevant units for visits, other local authorities contact municipal managers/unit leaders directly. As is usually the case, the director of the area is briefed by his managers. It is rare that the municipal director is contacted. In connection with the election campaign, it was discussed in the chairmanship and we based it on a practice that in the months leading up to the election campaign, elected officials can contact the director for the area. This is to coordinate and spread the visits out so that a certain unit/department does not receive many visits. Preparations and arrangements are required in advance of the visit, and during the visit, to ensure that the visit has value for the elected representative and does not hamper the day-to-day operations of the units. Gunnar Silden, Stad kommune – We do not adopt direct guidelines for local authorities who wish to visit units. But it has been discussed that the administration wishes to be informed in advance of any visits. Heidi Lippestad, Lillestrøm municipality – In our municipality, this is discussed orally, so that the political parties in between handle this quite similarly and so that different administrative units handle it equally. We have a verbal agreement that the municipal director and the director of the relevant service area will be informed about the visit in advance. The aim is (as stated above) that administration and politics handle this in the same way. Christian Fotland, Bjørnafjorden municipality – We have no written down routines as to whether politicians can visit municipal service stations, but the municipal council has a general opinion that they take care of the municipal director. The practice is that there is good dialogue between the politicians and the municipal director in relation to any visits to the service centers. With us, this works very well, without there being any need to create guidelines that limit the politicians in any way. According to the new Municipal Act from 2018, it is specified that the ongoing personnel responsibility rests with the municipal director, and my opinion is that the politicians have great respect for the day-to-day operations being handled by the administration and the services. Øyvind Bang-Olsen, Kinn municipality – I appreciated knowing about the contact between our leaders and local politicians, but until now I have not felt the need to formalize this. I would also like to know how staff and managers experience everyday life, and through the dialogues we have internally, this is important. Correspondingly, political committees and local politicians need information. Formally, the point of contact between the political body and the administration is via the municipal director. We try to facilitate meetings and information from different levels in the organization to ensure that the political level also gets the detailed knowledge they need. Stig Tore Johnsen, Tromsø municipality – We do not have such guidelines, nor do we consider it necessary. From the administration’s side, we have good cooperation with all political circles and arrange visits to municipal units at the request of political parties as far as possible. We do not wish to place any guidelines or limitations on this, on the contrary. Tom Georg Indrevik, Øygarden municipality – We have not adopted such guidelines. But at a political level, we have a long tradition of informing about such visits. In addition, we also have a tradition of informing political leadership. We also try where there is interest to set up an official part, but I think perhaps the framework in Sunnfjord goes too far. Per Lerøy, Austrheim municipality – I have never seen that there has been a need for such rules. In a small municipality, there will always be representatives from various departments who are either members of the municipal council or active in the party that is represented in the municipal council. Thus, information will always flow from the various municipal departments to the politicians in the municipality. At times this is demanding, but there has never been any question of putting a band on those responsible to prevent such a flow of information. Elisabeth Enger, Drammen municipality – With us, it is the local leader who decides on visits by the municipality’s elected representatives. We do not have a rule that the director of the municipality must be notified, neither by the local leader nor by the elected officials. Anders Skipenes, Gloppen municipality – In my opinion, this is to a small extent about rules and law, but is rather a question of what I would define as normal folk custom. I don’t think it is the case that neither politicians nor others interfere in a private business with a media following, and hold meetings on purpose without the day-to-day manager being briefed about this in advance. It seems to me that this would be a completely natural way to act also when you want to visit a public enterprise.
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Dispute over politicians roaming around in the election campaign – news Vestland
