ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN MUNICIPAL EFFICIENCY (Dagens Næringsliv)

According to a report on efficiency in the municipal sector, municipal health services could handle 17,000 more patients requiring care than they do at present without increasing costs by a single krone. Another 4,000 could be housed in single rooms, and another 14,000 could receive home care services. This study is based solely on comparisons between municipalities; the researchers present no conclusions regarding the theoretic efficiency potential. The report was commissioned by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance.

NEW INCENTIVE FOR CONFESSION PROPOSED (Dagsavisen)

Police believe they are obtaining fewer criminal confessions because confessions are seldom rewarded with leniency. A Government-appointed working group now proposes that the courts should grant substantial reductions in punitive reactions for "honest" criminals who open up. The working group also suggests that a full confession should qualify for a one-third reduction in a sentence that would otherwise be passed, and that under special circumstances, the courts could reduce sentences by up to one-half.

ASYLUM CHURCHES ON FIRM LEGAL GROUND (Vårt Land)

Parishes and independent churches do not violate Norwegian law by accepting people who seek asylum, according to a set of guidelines formulated by law student Camilla Bernt for distribution to Norwegian churches. Her work, which focuses on the legal, practical and ethical issues of church asylum, was funded by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs. There are currently 51 church refugees in Norway, of which 18 are children. Most are from Russia, Serbia, Iraq and Sri Lanka.

MINORITY NURSING HOMES NOT IMPOSSIBLE (Aftenposten)

A number of politicians are open to the idea of establishing special nursing homes for certain minorities, or separate wards in existing institutions, though they are aware of practical problems this would involve. Minister of Social Affairs Guri Ingebrigtsen does not rule out this possibility. So far, few elderly immigrants have indicated that they do not wish to live in Norwegian nursing homes for reasons of religion, language or culture. The few nursing and old-age homes that have been established for minority groups have been paid for by their founding groups, though operations are funded to some extent by public grants.

BERNTSEN ADMONISHES LABOUR (Dagbladet)

Labour Party veteran Thorbjørn Berntsen is concerned that Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s campaign to streamline the public sector will lead to privatization and reductions. "The Labour Party is marketing policies I have combatted for an entire generation, and this is hard to watch. Labour will lose if we cannot convince people that we are cutting down in some places in order to expand elsewhere. We must put down the view that modernization means privatization. The party must make itself clearer. We need new forms of expression in many ways. We cannot have Labour politicians sounding like Conservatives," says Mr. Berntsen.

FULL SPLIT IN LABOUR ON FUTURE OF COUNTIES (Dagsavisen)

Labour Party leaders will be hard put to it to unite the national convention on a proposal to reorganize the counties to form large regions. Labour’s parliamentary specialists in municipal policy have highly diverging views. At the national convention in November, Labour will have to make up its mind on whether Norway’s counties should continue to function or whether hospitals, upper secondary schools and other county responsibilities should be turned over to the national and local governments. The stand taken at the Labour national convention could decide which way the Storting goes.

WORTH NOTING

• The Automatic Train Stop system (ATS) has been installed on the Røros line, but it will not be put into service this year. The National Rail Administration will not activate it until the report from the Åsta accident investigation has been completed. Passengers on the Røros line are irritated over the fact that it takes so long to take new safety systems into use. (Aftenposten)
• Historical buildings are allowed to rot where they stand. The Central Office of Historic Monuments has demanded the allocation of NOK 4 billion to save historical monuments in Norway, but private owners must still bear most of the costs. (Nationen)
• The Directorate of Public Roads will help police double their speed check capacity. They will also perform certain police duties, such as issuing citations for minor speeding infractions. (Dagsavisen)
• Labour is so befuddled that it lags behind the rest of modern society, says former Labour minister Anne-Lise Bakken, who has not paid her party membership dues for the past two years. (Aftenposten)
• Den norske Bank (DnB) has indirectly increased its loans to Kjell Inge Røkke by NOK 300 million. By holding Aker Maritime’s Kværner stock acquisition in interim, the DnB is in effect loaning Mr. Røkke the amount of the purchase. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Over five million shares in the Storebrand insurance company changed hands yesterday. Most were probably sold by Stein Erik Hagen at a profit of over NOK 40 million. (Dagens Næringsliv)

TODAY’S COMMENT from Aftenposten

The recent proposal to establish separate care and nursing homes for immigrants is another example of the issues confronting public authorities now that Norway’s population is no longer homogeneous—if it ever was. For now, the suggestion applies primarily to Pakistanis. Spokesmen for this minority point out the differences in culture and lifestyle, especially for first-generation immigrants, which speak in favour of taking such a step. Some people react, insisting that anyone moving to a new country should make do with the institutions normally available in that country. But taking a practical look at the issues from the point of view, not only of senior Pakistanis but also of elderly Norwegians, the management of nursing and care homes could conceivably be made simpler by accommodating groups with differing customs, norms and dietary practices separately. That is, if this is what the old folks really want—and it is not unlikely that this is the case for the majority of aging Pakistanis and Norwegians. But in calling for separate arrangements for their elderly, Pakistanis and other immigrant groups would do well to take advantage of solutions which are already available: they can operate their own institutions, undertaking the same responsibilities and meeting the same requirements that Jews and Adventists, for instance, must comply with in the institutions they run. Separate divisions in individual public institutions are also a possibility. In a society which respects the individual, separate can actually be equal.

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