Hearing in the municipal and administrative committee

Today, deputy leader of Løvemammaene, Elin Gunnarsson, participated in an oral hearing in the municipal and administration committee regarding the state budget 2025. Elin spoke about the consequences of poor municipal finances and how it affects our children and young people. Below you can read what was said in the oral hearing, and what has been submitted as written input.

"Initially, I would like to say something about the consequences of poor municipal finances and lengthy case processing. Many municipalities are under such financial pressure that they struggle to provide necessary and statutory services. We know that when municipalities have to cut, it is also low-threshold offers and non-statutory offers that go first. This particularly applies to children and young people and people with disabilities, e.g. arranged free time services, support services for relatives, psychosocial measures and low-threshold mental health services. 

It is known that a municipality in this country has stepped in to put a cap on how many BPA hours you can get. We risk seeing more and more municipalities making illegal decisions to save money. This will affect the voiceless - children and young people with illness and/or disabilities. This target group already has it difficult in the form of additional care, coordination, isolation, lack of leisure facilities, unpredictable everyday life characterized by illness and they are at the mercy of good municipal decisions. The same target group faces long, endless application and appeal processes, which tragically can take several years. When a decision is finally made, the need for help may have changed dramatically, and in the worst case, the child dies in the appeal queue. 

A state budget that is so tight exceeds the municipality's ability to provide adequate and sound services, which will hit our members particularly hard. The lion mothers are very concerned about the services offered to our children and young people."

Written consultation input:

Hearing input for prop. 1 S (2024-2025) from Løvemammaene 

The lion mothers choose to give input to the Municipal and Administration Committee's chapters in the national budget.

The government's housing policy and priorities

Several times in the proposal, the government refers to Meld. St. 13 housing report – a comprehensive and active housing policy that was adopted in 2024, where one of the focus areas is that more people should be given the opportunity to own their own home. The Housing Report also indicates that municipalities must facilitate good and varied housing areas and take an active housing policy role in housing policy.

CRPD, The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 19 establishes the right to:  

• To live where one wants  

• To live with whoever you want  

• That one should not have to live in a special form of living  

• That you should get services where you live  

Several media reports recently document serious violations of the human rights of people with disabilities, and illustrate how far the municipalities have to go. Several families and young adults talk about forced relocations and indecent living conditions.  

The government flags that it is working to incorporate the CRPD into Norwegian law, a task that seems to be crawling backwards in pace. The fact that the government, in the budget proposal dealing with housing policy and the Housing Bank, does not mention the CRPD once in a presentation of 167 pages, shows how little priority this work has when it really comes down to it. Løvemammaene believes that the least that can be expected is that the CRPD is also used as a basis when referring to the housing notice and the Housing Bank's priorities.

Accompanying certificate

Many municipalities still practice the self-imposed lower age limit of 8 years.

On Bufdir's website, we can read in the guide:

Accompanying certificate – Indicative national guidelines 

5. Age limit  

There is no upper or lower age limit for obtaining a companion certificate, if the need is documented. For children under school age, it must be documented that the child has a greater need for a companion than would have been the case if the child did not have a disability, and that extra expenses are therefore incurred, compared to peers who participate in the same type of activities. This means that there are children with a particularly extensive need for assistance who will usually be able to be granted a companion certificate from an early age. 

It is very special that Bufdir is clear that there is no lower age limit for companion certificates, while at the same time the municipalities are allowed to continue giving refusals on the grounds of low age. The Løvemammaen have repeatedly recorded that companion certificates must be legalized in order to remove unfavorable differences in the municipalities for people with disabilities. The Løvemammaene's regional team has worked for a long time to inform the municipalities about the guide to Bufdir and why it is important that they remove the age limit. Many municipalities have now removed the lower age limit, while several do not respond to inquiries. If this is not enshrined in rights, then children are dependent on the municipality's goodwill to be able to be treated equally with their peers.  

By removing the age limit for companion certificates, the municipality's case management is also made easier, as the case manager only needs to assess the need. As is known, such a change will not have a financial effect for the state or the municipality, but will ensure that discrimination and segregation are prevented. 

With best regards  
The lion mothers