– Closing down the county council is the biggest and most effective measure we can take to reduce bureaucracy, says Bjørnafjorden mayor Terje Søviknes (Frp) to NRK.
The Conservative Party and FRP have agreed to close down what they believe is an irrelevant and redundant level of administration. It will be an important issue for next autumn’s election, says Søviknes.
They would rather that larger municipalities should take over county council tasks. In addition, they will merge a number of counties, which should help to ease the pressure.
– We don’t need the county council if we get 100-150 municipalities, says Tore Opdal Hansen (H), who is currently county mayor in Buskerud.
County mayor Jon Askeland (Sp) in Vestland is among those who believe that Norway needs three levels of administration. He points out that no other country in Europe that it is natural to compare with Norway has only two levels of administration.
– A system of governance with two levels of administration will weaken the local level and lead to a stronger state central management of our country, he says.
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