No cash benefit cut for immigrant mothers (Dagsavisen)

The rules governing the additional cash benefit for children under three will probably be changed to make it easier for immigrant mothers to attend Norwegian classes. The Storting is united in its wish to find a solution to the problem. It therefore seems likely that immigrant mothers will no longer have their additional cash benefits cut because they choose to learn Norwegian. One solution could be to offer children places at a playgroup while their mothers are in class.

Councils will be forced to provide better nursing home care (Aftenposten)

Social Affairs Minister Ingjerd Schou is fed up with the poor quality of local authority nursing and old people’s homes, and plans to force local councils to provide an acceptable standard of care. From next January local councils will have to provide decent care for the elderly. The Norwegian Association of Local Authorities (KS) has attacked the proposal. "The Government must provide more money. The situation will only be made worse if stringent rules are imposed by central government," said KS chief executive Olav Ulleren.

Minister set to approve 24 hr shopping (Vårt Land)

Children and Family Affairs Minister Laila Dåvøy is set to allow shops to stay open round the clock. The aim is to make Norway easier. The Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals, who make up the governing coalition, believe Norway has too many rules and regulations. Vårt Land understands that Ms Dåvøy will issue a consultation paper on the issue next week. But Sundays will remain a day of rest.

Fat cats cheated Finance Minister over dividend tax (Aftenposten)

Former Finance Minister Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen’s introduction of an 11 per cent tax on last year’s dividends carried enormous symbolic weight. But Norway’s richest people were smarter than the Minister. On the whole the country’s fat cats declined Mr Schjøtt-Pedersen’s short-lived offer of paying 11 per cent tax on their dividends, by not taking a dividend at all. Dividend payments plunged from NOK 29 billion in 2000 to less than NOK 9 billion last year.

Steensnæs still under fire from Labour (Aftenposten)

Labour spokesperson Sylvia Brustad is still not satisfied with Petroleum and Energy Minister Einar Steensnæs’s clarification of his position on the gas-fired power station issue. "I feel in some ways he is saying two different things here. I am happy that he has now said he will abide by the will of the parliamentary majority. So far he has backed down. But if his final decision goes against the majority in the Storting, there will be trouble," she said.

Socialist Left Party wants less choice (NTB)

The Socialist Left Party does not want students to have the right to choose for themselves where to study, if they choose to study outside Norway. Some universities and colleges abroad have up to 200 Norwegian students, which the party thinks is far too many. To prevent this, students should only be able to study at educational establishments with which Norway has a specific agreement, says the Socialist Left Party’s Rolf Reikvan, chairman of the Storting’s education committee.

Worth Noting

• "Compared to other Nato countries we have been quicker to express our reservations to the USA," said Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. Yesterday he met with the leaders of the coalition partners’ youth wings. (Aftenposten)
• Conservative MP Afshan Rafiq has proposed the establishment of a neutral mediation service to prevent forced marriages. Her proposal has received the backing of fellow Conservative, Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister Erna Solberg. (Dagsavisen)
• The main recommendations in the Government’s new report to the Storting on teacher training are that it should include more compulsory maths and Norwegian. The report will be presented to the Storting just before Easter. (Verdens Gang)
• The number of patients who had been waiting more than a year for surgery at a Norwegian hospital fell by 30 per cent last year. The drop was partly due to the fact that some patients were sent abroad for treatment, according to figures collated by the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF) on behalf of the Ministry of Health. However, more than 250,000 patients are still waiting for surgery. (NTB)
• In March the Copenhagen-based airline, Sterling, is to start cut-price flights from Gardermoen Airport to Copenhagen in Denmark, and Malaga and Alicante in Spain. Prices start at NOK 998 for a return ticket, including taxes. Cheap flights to Trondheim, Bergen and Bodø could be next. (Dagbladet)
• Social Affairs Minister Ingjerd Schou has demanded better figures showing the effect of the ‘active sick leave’ scheme and other social security schemes. Last year the National Insurance Administration paid out around NOK 1.3 billion in connection with the ‘active sick leave’ scheme. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Health Minister Dagfinn Høybråten is to step up the battle against tobacco. He wants to ban the use of ‘mild’ in cigarette names and supports the printing of shock photos on cigarette packets. (Dagsavisen)
• Culture and Church Affairs Minister Valgerd Svarstad Haugland would prefer the Church of Norway not to be completely disestablished. The most important thing for the chairman of the Christian Democratic Party is for the Church to develop its theological position on an independent basis and appoint its own leaders. (Vårt Land)
• A number of veterans in the fields of energy supply and politics have initiated a campaign to prevent the privatization of Statkraft, the state-owned power utility. They claim the issue is more important than Statoil’s stock market listing. (Dagsavisen)

Today’s comment from Aftenposten

The Socialist Left Party’s education policy spokesman, MP Rolf Reikvam, has in his wisdom arrived at the conclusion that students need help so they do not find out for themselves which college or university they should study at. This sounds like the sort of dirigisme which guided both educational and other policies in certain parts of Europe right up until the end of the 1980s. Mr Reikvam’s desire to resuscitate the principle in Norway is fascinating – but unwise. The MP has cast his eyes upon educational establishments abroad which have as many as 200 Norwegian students. And according to him, that is not the sort of exchange we want. Who ‘we’ are in this instance, Mr Reikvam does not make clear, but it is possible it is not even his entire party. Throughout its history the Socialist Left Party has been divided between those who want to build on a democratic leftist tradition and those who believe so strongly in the authoritarian power of the state that they never managed to say a critical word about even the most brutal of eastern dictatorships.