Høgre is worried that many municipalities in the future will not be able to deliver the services they are supposed to, because they are too small. – Then we think the most important thing to do going forward, in addition to strengthening the municipal economy, is for several municipalities to join forces and get a more robust professional environment, says municipal political spokesperson Mudassar Kapur to news. Senior leader Erna Solberg redrew the municipal and county map during her eight years as prime minister: 428 municipalities became 356, and the number of counties was greatly reduced. But it didn’t happen without a great deal of noise and political noise, both nationally and locally – an unrest that still characterizes the news picture half a year after the change of government. These days, the new large municipality of Kristiansand is waiting for its fate: Should Søgne and Songdalen be separated and once again become independent municipalities? “Neighbour talk” But Kapur was not intimidated by noise. He fears that many municipalities in the future will not be able to deliver statutory services within child protection, psychiatry, health and school, “simply because they are so small that they do not have a good enough competence environment.” Concretely, he asks Høgre-governed municipalities to have the “neighborly conversation” and discuss amalgamation. However, Høgre-toppen will not say what kind of economic measures can be used to get several municipalities to merge. Nor can he clarify whether Høgre envisages using coercion. – Force is not on the table now. We have decided that it is the neighborly talk that will apply in the future, and that has also been our line mainly in the past. COMBINATION: Høre’s municipal political spokesperson Mudassar Kapur. Photo: William Jobling / news – Has Høgre also realized that voluntary amalgamation is the best thing? – We must bear in mind that over 96 per cent of those who live in an amalgamated municipality today live in a voluntary amalgamated municipality, says Kapur. Høgre fears fewer residents, but more elderly people will make it even more difficult for small municipalities in the districts to deliver the services they are supposed to. Then the difference between Norwegian municipalities will increase, the party fears. Kapur has led the party’s work on municipal policy until the national meeting at the end of March. It is important to “continue municipal reform in order to have larger and more robust municipalities with access to good specialist expertise”, the resolution states. – Høgre will continue municipal reform and liquidate the county council, it says simply in the text. – Should be put away In opposition, the Center Party made opposition to regional and municipal reform one of its most important issues. The party promised before the 2021 election the reversal of forced decisions, where this was a wish, if the party gained power. – Great resources were used when Høgre was in government last time on so-called neighbor talk and heavy processes. It was expensive, it created a lot of uncertainty, a lot of unrest, says Sp leader and finance minister Vedum. He has no doubts about what Høgre should do with the proposal: – They should put it away. PRESS: SP leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum and the government have struggled to achieve a division of the new large municipality of Kristiansand. Namely, there are strongly divided opinions locally about what should happen. Photo: Lars Nehru Sand / Lars Nehru Sand It has nevertheless not been an easy job for the new government to split up merged municipalities. For now, the only concrete result after the election is that Haram has been separated from Ålesund. Among the counties, however, more has happened: Viken is split into the old counties of Østfold, Akershus and Buskerud, and both Vestfold and Telemark and Troms and Finnmark are split in two again. – Høgre’s idea that it is cheaper only if it gets bigger is wrong. It often becomes more bureaucratic and longer distances, says Vedum. – But a voluntary neighborhood talk about merging, isn’t that a good idea for the Center Party as well? – Everyone can talk to their neighbor anyway. You don’t need to start big, heavy processes on it. It sounds nice, but we remember what happened last time. It was a kind of “forced neighbor talk” and forced merging, says the Sp leader.
ttn-69
Noise does not frighten Høgre – wants to merge several municipalities – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
