Local government and administrative structure in Norway

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Local government and administrative structure in
Norway an introduction

• Øyvind Glosvik
• Associate Professor
• Sogn og Fjordane University College

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Constitutional foundation

• Norway is a unitary state with no formal,
  constitutional role of local
  selfgovernment!
• Strong central gov. control over local government
• Do not focus too much on the formal side of
  our system

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• Local government is a consequence of a
  difficult geography, political traditions (1837),
  social norms and expectations)

• A strong feeling of independece and
  expectations of participation in national
  matters, creates the idea of local self-government

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Political and adminstrative structure
Political system
Administrative system
Government PM17 Ministers
Ministry of local government and regional
development
169 members
Managed trough legislation and budget
Directorates
Independent agencies
County Governors (18)
Parliament - Storting
County Councils
18 (19) Counties
Government staff on local level
19 Counties
Communes
Service providers
General election
Local election
431 Communes (2007)
2005-2009
2003-2007
Elections
2-4 year Cycles
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Levels and institutions
Central government County councils County councils Communes
National level Minstries, directorates, special agencies The Municipal and CC-interest organisation. Important functions towards sentral government and employee-service.. The Municipal and CC-interest organisation. Important functions towards sentral government and employee-service.. The Municipal and CC-interest organisation. Important functions towards sentral government and employee-service..
Regional level County governor, Labour market, Hospitals, Development, The 18 county councils and their administrations Inter-municipality bodies (i.e Renovation) Inter-municipality bodies (i.e Renovation)
Local level I.e Police, Welfare, Universities, colleges Custom service, Secondary education, Dentist services, Transport services, Theatres
Communes (Municipalitis)
Service providers
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What is a commune?

• An independent political unity direct elections
  every 4. year. Council, Mayor, The Executive
• Responsible for compulsory service provision
• Primary schools, primary health services, nursery
  schools, libraries, local roads, fire
  protection, social service, child protection, old
  age care
• Voluntary service provision Cinema, sports
  arenas,
• Planning (social, but first of all LAND
  PLANNING!!!)
• A general public authority with legislative power
  in some matters
• The most important implementor of Central
  Government policies in land plannning and
  management, welfare, education, transport.. ?
  The large rural policy

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The communes are deeply rooted in our community
as an organising concept..
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The communes are

• Communites (kommune)
• The lowest functional level in political and
  social sense
• Main arenas for participation
• cultural activites
• sport
• politics (the role as citizen)
• production and consumption of public services
  (where the welfare state meets the customer)

Villages
Communes
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The central local relationship

• Communes are financed through
• Designated grants from central government
• General grants on objective criteria (centrality,
  age structure, size and so on..)
• Income from own property (power companies,
  transport companies (usually subsidised..))
• Parking fines! Cinemas,, beer sale monopolies,
• Communes are controlled through
• Legislation!! Other legal instruments (National
  guidelines)
• Communes are parts of the political system
• Dialogues, planning, research initiatives,
  educational intiaitives, partnerships ?
  Politics, Initiatives drives

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The communal role in land planning and land use

• THE land-use planning authority
• The Planning and Building Act (1985)
• Land use is political questions
• Land use vs. conservation - difficult

Local
National
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Trend

• On a formal level the PBA and the local role
  is stronger than ever but is it so in practise?
  
• Is partnerships where communes as political
  entrepreneurs connevct with private owners
  undermining the participatory and democratic
  dimentions in the PBA?
• Who is actually governing on local level?

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Power and influence in land-use
Changes in the PBA over time
Central government
Private initiative
Public initiative
Initiatives moved to private actors (owners,
contractors
Decison making moved to communes
Local government (communes)
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Total population 2006 4 600 000
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Norway is NOT a rural sanctuary!!
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Omtrentlege bu- og arbeids- marknadsregionar
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Born Died Moving in Moving in Moving out Moving out Net in- out Pop. growth Total Oktober 2006
Born Died Total Immi- gration Total Emig- ration Net in- out Pop. growth Total Oktober 2006
Sogn og Fjordane  106 488  327  240  815  236 1 157  173 -342 -255  106 233
Førde 11 370 55 16  250 31  229 8 21 60 11 430
2005 106 899 2006 106 233
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A commune Førde

• Biggest in our county
• Growing fastest
• In the middle of the county
• Services
• Could have been Inverness..
• 590 km2
• 11430 inhabitants

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Change 1994-2005 Change 1994-2005 Change 1994-2005
What do we do for a living ? Employed (jobs) Førde Jølster
Agriculture, forestry, fishing 203 27 -136
Crude oil, natural gas, exploration, pipelines
Manufacturing and mining 527 -49 -11
Power and water supply 73 15 -6
Building and construction 520 164 38
Trade, shops, hotel- and restaurants 1660 475 76
Transport og communicatons 589 -32 -11
Financial and business oriented services 717 354 -5
Public administration and other services 3540 854 45
Not known 11 -71 -5
Total 7840 1737 -15
Re-classified
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Førde kommune

• Total spending
• 441 mill NOK
• ( 38 684 210)
• Number of people employed 884
• Man year 610

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Central administration

• Office of the Chief Exec.Officer
• (32 operational units responsble to the CEO)

Accounting Tax Office Land Planning Agricultural
Office The Service Market
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Education and nursery schools

• 9 Primary schools (1-4 or 1-7)
• 1 Secondary school (5-10)
• Norwegian-for- immigrants-centre
• Adult training centre
• The music and culture school
• 6 Municipal nursery schools ( 8 private)

• 188 Teachers (qualified pedagical..)
• 40 Assistants to special care pupils
• 39 Nursing school teachers 40 assistants
• Total of 376 employed

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Culture and sport

• Most of the activities trough voluntary
  organisations
• The municipality
• Running of Førdehuset (Library, cinema, sports
  arenas, theatre, art facilities, concert hall).
  Parks
• Supporting organisations (festivals, museums,
  youth activities, the theatre)

• Total budget
• 8 476 204,-

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Building and technical

• In-door-section
• 11 emplyoyed
• Mapping of building sites
• Building regulations
• Building permissions!
• Project management of municipal property
  development

• Out-door-section
• 18 employed
• Fire chief
• Chimney sweepers
• Water supply
• Sewer system
• Municipal roads
• The Fire Brigade Part time

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Social services

• 410 inhabitants needed economical support (down
  from 462)
• 15 addicted sent to institutions. 22 in open
  care
• 95 children in some kind of care or
  action-required

• Social services
• Child care (5,4 man year)
• Immigration service
• Activity centre for Mentally disabled (?)
• Psyciatric Day Centre
• Support service

(Numbers and services close to national average
for this kind of municipality)
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Nursing and care

• 1 Nursing hospital (69 beds)
• Special care homes (79) (22 senior appartments)
• Home nursing (332 patients)
• Home care (259)
• Practical home service (ca 500 users in 2004)

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Health care

• 10 1 GP at the MHC
• 24 hour regional acute (?) medical service
• The Health station (children, pregnant, family
  planning, innoculations (11 nurses and mid-wifes)
  
• School health service
• Physioterapy/rehabili-tation (8)

• 22000 routine medical consultations
• 9000 non-routine
• 162 patients in rehabilitation

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On the side..

• The Church self governed but parts of the
  religious services are financed over the
  municipal budget
• Renovation trough inter-municipal service
  organised as a ltd.
• Business development organised trough
  an inter-municipal organisation
• Transport An inter-municipal
  bus-company

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Tension in the system
Freedom Democracy Efficiency
A Consequense of Freedom from Central Government is inequality in access to welfare Is democracy in small communities of a higher quality than in bigger communities? Are decisions to be taken close or distant from the problem? General vs. special problem solving?
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What is different
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Some historical facts

• Our civil wars are 1000 years behind us. The
  relationship between us, Denmark and Sweden was
  never as brutal as between the English, the Scots
  and the Irish
• The Norwegian nobility was killed or died out in
  the middle ages (The Black Plague)
• The farmers never lost their right to their own
  land (odal law still exist). A strong power base
  for the individual farmer and a political force
• Norway extremely diffcult for a centre of power
  to control due to climate and transport problems.

• Poor land (agriculture). Difficult to
  exploit..low tax base!!
• The Union between Norway and Denmark 1200-1814
  was important culturally and administrative. The
  one between Sweden and Norway between 1814-1905
  was not.
• The story of each county and municipality reaches
  far back - into to this period. Our county
  Nordre Bergenhus amt Set up in 1776

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Personal observations..

• Housing newer heard of it!
• The commune level is important but we
  (Norwegians) dont see it!
• There is a stronger local dimension in Norwegian
  social and political life creating a higher
  level of local dynamics..
• There is something about the big and the
  small rural policy..?