As mayor of Steinkjer municipality, Gram received NOK 839,475 in salary in 2018 and NOK 862,189 in 2019. At the same time, he received around NOK 70,000 for having met as a deputy representative in the Storting. It shows figures that Dagbladet has had access to.
Gram has answered Dagbladet’s information in writing:
«During the period you refer to, I was mayor and locally elected in Steinkjer municipality. I was also a deputy to the Storting, and had to meet in Oslo several times for shorter periods. Because these were such short periods, I chose to continue in my position and serve as mayor without applying for an exemption. It was important for me during these periods to follow up my position and the cases that went locally in the municipality “, Gram says to Dagbladet.
Now he states that he has repaid money to the municipality.
MINISTER OF DEFENSE: Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp). Photo: Kristin Svorte
sea view
“I have always been very concerned with following all the rules that apply, and I think I have done the same in this case. However, I do not want it to be possible to cast doubt on my integrity, and I have therefore refunded Steinkjer municipality for the remuneration I received from the municipality on the days I met in the Storting ».
Disclosure
Gram met as a deputy representative in the Storting for 18 days in October 2018, and was paid NOK 47,823 for it. This is shown by Dagbladet’s surveys.
Many deputy representatives who attend the Storting choose to apply for leave or exemption from their municipal or county municipal positions in order to avoid receiving double remuneration. Gram did not do that in the cases that Dagbladet mentions. As a result, he received NOK 71,496 from Steinkjer municipality the same month as he received NOK 47,823 from the Storting.
In 2019, Gram met six days as a deputy representative in the Storting, three days in April and three days in October. He received 7971 and 8233 kroner for that, respectively. At the same time, he received 73,499 per month from Steinkjer municipality.
Participated in a controversial cabin trip
In addition, Gram received NOK 7,683 from the Storting in holiday pay for the periods mentioned as deputy representative.
Remuneration Committee
In January 2021, the Remuneration Committee submitted its report to the Storting. Among other things, they recommended that “remuneration to elected representatives who hold elected positions at several levels should be coordinated so that the overall level is not perceived as unreasonably high”.
Committee leader Ådne Cappelen tells Dagbladet that there are many similar cases as Gram’s case, and that they did not consider it a problem when they prepared the report.
A crisis solution
– There are many such cases where a mayor or a deputy representative takes on positions that require a few hours of extra work. For example, there are many municipal representatives who have a normal salary and who do a lot of evening work, and we have not considered this a problem. The committee was concerned with cases that included completely different sums than this, says Cappelen to Dagbladet.
The main point of view
The committee leader says that the problem primarily – but not exclusively – arises when people hold positions at both municipal and county municipal level.
– This can mean that politicians end up with very high salaries in the context of politicians, for example at the level of the prime minister. In some places it has been considered unfortunate, says Cappelen and continues:
– This is an issue that the municipalities and not least the party groups must deal with and assess what they perceive as reasonable. The committee’s main view was that it would be strange if people were paid to take on a heavy position that required full-time work, and individuals have two such positions.
No guidelines
The Remuneration Committee did not consider it a comprehensive problem, but rather individual situations that received a great deal of attention in the press.
– Why did you not recommend specific guidelines related to this?
– We consider it most appropriate to start by recommending the party groups to handle this on their own, instead of recommending specific guidelines.
In recent years, the parliamentary representatives’ schemes have been in the spotlight, including commuter housing, travel expenses and double holiday pay. As a result, a committee has been tasked with conducting an external review of the Storting’s financial arrangements by 31 January 2023.
The committee has already formulated some general principles, and will in its further work assume that the Storting’s schemes for the Storting representatives shall “be reasonable compared with benefits and welfare schemes in society in general” and “be subject to good administration with reassuring control and reaction methods”.
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