The dissolution of the large county of Viken will be an expensive affair. according to the county municipality’s own report about the split, the bill could be NOK 440 million.
The money will, among other things, go to hiring external consultants, who will work to dissolve the county.
“A rough estimate indicates that a significant number of external consultants must be engaged in the period 2023-2025 to establish the three new county municipalities”, it says in the report.
The use of consultants is now causing the Conservatives in the Storting to react.
– The Center Party will thus spend money on its own reversal consultants. It is quite ironic, says the Conservatives’ municipal political spokesman, Mudassar Kapur, to Nettavisen.
Also read: The Labor Party can stop the dissolution of Viken
– On inhalation and exhalation
I the government platform to the Center Party and the Labor Party, it is stated that they will “cut the use of consultants in the state by developing their own competence”. An issue that especially Center Party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum fought for in the election campaign last year.
– Vedum has run quite hard on this, so the parody is complete when he has to drive on with a reversal to almost half a billion kroner – and it ends up that you have to bring in a lot of consultants, says Kapur.
Vedum himself has warned strongly against the large use of consultants in the public sector, because he believes “power is transferred out of the ministry and into the consulting companies”.
– The use of state consultants has become very, very high. There is far too little political debate about this use of money, he added Aftenposten in March last year.
Also read: Vedum is set to take the bill to dissolve the large county
Kapur therefore does not understand why it is okay with consultants this time.
– Consultants have been the Center Party’s big thing on both inhaling and exhaling, and then they end up spending money on their own reversal consultants. This is money that could have been spent on developing good services for the inhabitants, he says.
– This is paused
The Conservative politician now hopes that the reversal of the giant county is put on ice, and that we will not see a comeback of the counties of Østfold, Akershus and Buskerud.
– It is not really a reversal, it is not something to reverse to. What this is about is closing down Viken as it is today, and then you have to spend a lot of money on setting up three new counties and three new county administrations, he says.
He points out that the report from Viken’s county administration states that a dissolution will go beyond the services to the inhabitants – and stop necessary development.
– This work will be put on pause, and then they will hire lots of consultants who will work with the reversal and division instead of them being able to spend the same money on developing good services for people, says Kapur.
The report also states that “the dependence on external consultants has been sharply reduced, which means better utilization of the budgets …” – in the new county of Viken.
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– Vedum does not take the bill
– But Vedum has said that he will take the whole bill for the dissolution, so then it will not go beyond the service offer to the inhabitants?
– Firstly, the bill is not taken by Vedum privately, but by the community’s funds. The report has stated that this will happen anyway, because you spend time and resources on splitting instead of on further development. So no matter who pays the bill, this will go beyond the service offer, he claims.
Kapur believes that Vedum, who is also the Minister of Finance, should rather spend his time on something other than county resolutions.
– The country needs the Minister of Finance to spend time and resources on dealing with the electricity crisis, the job crisis and the pandemic. There, the government has been constantly behind. Instead, Vedum wants to impose a cost of almost half a billion on the community to dissolve Viken, he sighs.
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– Stop the consulting party
The next few weeks will be decisive for what happens to Viken, and whether we get three new counties. Recently, the Akershus Labor Party decided to oppose a dissolution, and thus it is up to the rest of the party’s county council in the county to decide the matter.
– Now we hope that the rest of the Labor Party listens to Akershus Labor Party, and that this consultancy party at Vedum will not become a reality, says Kapur.
– You merged the three counties of Viken when you were in government, and the opposition has been great. Do you still see the big county as successful?
– Things must be allowed to work before we see the results. I think it is too early to state that it does not work, because Viken has not existed for so long, he says, and points out:
– Our primary position is that it holds with two levels, state and municipality. Therefore, we are at least opposed to spending time and money now on creating three new counties.
Will not comment
The online newspaper has asked for a comment on the matter from the Center Party’s leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, but the Ministry of Finance refers us further to the Ministry of Local Government and District – which is also led by the Center Party.
– The Conservatives and the previous government are responsible for Viken being forcibly merged. That forced merger cost significantly more than what the government set up at the time. This government will contribute to local democracy being taken seriously, even if it has some costs with it, writes Minister of Local Government and District Bjørn Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) in an email to Nettavisen.
Gram, however, does not wish to comment on the use of consulting in a resolution:
– I also refer to Viken county municipality when it comes to the county municipalities’ own report on division, the minister writes.
The decision on Viken’s fate will be made by the county council in Viken on 23 and 24 February, and if there is a majority for a resolution, the three new counties will be in place in 2024.
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