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«For the Best of All Living in the County»

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«For the Best of All Living in the County» «for the best of all living in the county» www.fylkesmannen.no/oppland The County Governor is the chief activities, advise and instruct – with due representative of King and Government respect to the political judgement of the in the county, and shall work for the local government. implementation of the Storting (Parliament) and central government Today, the county governors have a wide decisions. The County Governor is not authority to work for the best of their elected, but appointed by the King and county, balancing the national goals and survives any government. the local democracy. The County Governor is both a person - In the delicate position between national usually an experienced politician, former goals and regulations, and the day-to- cabinet minister or MP - and an office. day dealings of the municipalities, the In Oppland county, about 135 persons County Governor may act as trouble- work in this office, «for the best of all shooter, mediator and ombudsman. living in the county» as stated in the Conflicts between individuals and instructions. municipal bureaucracy may end up at the governor’s desk for final decision. In In Norway, people meet the public sector handling complaints from individuals the in most walks of life. The most important governor also suggests how the administrative level, being responsible municipalities should behave in similar for the basic services of society, is the cases. municipality. Elected every fourth year, the municipal council is free to organize its services to the people as they see fit, as long as it is according to laws and regulations. County Governor Sigurd Tremoen The County Governor explains central policy documents in the local context, being aware of each municipality’s ability to provide. Experts from the Deputy County Governor County Governor’s office supervise local Eli Blakstad HEALTH, SOCIAL AND FAMILY AFFAIRS The family is still If the municipality the most important fails to provide the social unit in this necessary help, country. Sometimes, users of the public the family needs services may com- help. There will plain to the County always be individu- Governor, who may als that cannot take order a change care of themselves. for the better. At By law, the the same time, the municipalities are County Governor responsible for gives the munici- helping old or palities advice in disabled people, fields like kinder- either by institu- gartens, social tions or preferably work among by nurses and helpers driving home to children, and other parts of the welfare them. The general policy is to avoid a web. widespread use of institutions, and enable people to live in their private Several times a year, officials from the homes. This also applies to mentally or County Governor inspect local physically disabled people, needing institutions for the old, juvenile homes extensive help to master the activities of and institutions for alcohol- and drug daily life. addicts to see if they are run properly. Local municipality is obliged by law to Every municipality shall have a social provide necessary health care to all care service capable of rendering residents. All GP doctors, nurses and service to those who are unable to care other health personell are parts of the for themselves. The County Governor local system, while hospitals are state can look into complaints from citizens run or private. The County Governor, claiming to be unfairly treated by the acting on behalf of the Norwegian local social service. Board of Health, supervises all health care services, looks into complaints about health services, and advises on a Dep. of Health and wide range of questions. Social Care Affairs Chief Medical Officer Erlend Aasheim EDUCATION The County Quality standard Governor’s supervision of the Department of primary and Education is the secondary long arm of the education and Ministry of Edu- training is an cation and Research important task for in Oppland County. the Department of This Department Education. It is contributes to the carried out by implementation of different methods of national education evaluation, reviews policies in schools and reports to at all levels and central authorities. promotes coopera- tion between school The Department of owners: the municipalities (1st to 10th Education also follows up the training in grade), the county authority and the state- Norwegian language for minority groups, run universities and colleges. organised by the municipalities. This is done by supervision, The County Governor’s Department of training of teachers and distribution of an Education supports governmental earmarked state grant. development efforts in the county and may be regarded as a service The basic legal elements of the education institution and competence centre for the sector are the Education Act, the Adult entire education sector in Oppland, in- Education Act and the Private School Act. cluding private schools, adult education The County Governor’s Department of Ed- organisations and non-exam academies ucation supervises that private and public (folk high schools). school owners follow these acts and the regulations derived from them. Pupils, students, apprentices, parents and those who take part in adult education programmes have certain rights accord- ing to law. The Department of Education can review any individual decision made by the school owners regarding these Department of Education County director rights, and may act as an ombudsman. Ingrid Bøe ENVIRONMENT A key task for the management ob- County Governor’s jects of Oppland is Department of 4 breedings pr. year Environmental of wolverine and 5 Protection is to pre- breedings of lynx. serve important The county governor areas for bio- process from 400- diversity and 500 cases a year of outdoor recreation. compensation for The County Gover- injuries of carnivore nor control local preying on sheep. development plans, to ensure that nec- The County Gover- essary environmen- nor is a central tal consider- participant in ations are taken into management of account. The County Governor also pre- watersheds, including carrying through pares plans for protection of areas, and is the EC water framework directive. also involved in the management of pro- tected areas as national parks and nature Being the long arm of central pollution reserves. authorities, the County Governor keeps an eye on all kinds of pollution. The main The County Governor contributes to sources of nitrate and phosphate in preserve endangered species and Oppland are agricultural run-off, nature types. To ensure this, the County leakings from urban sewer and rural Governor has authority under several laws. housing. Household waste is collected The County Governor also surveys occur- by the municipalities, working together in rence of endangered species and nature their region to recycle parts of the waste, types in the county. In addition, the County compost organic material and secure the Governor carries out action plans for residuals in controlled landfills. some endangered species and habitats. The County governor is secretariat for the political board for carnivore management in Oppland. We adminis- Department of trate the population regulation, hunting environmental protection etc of bear, wolverine, lynx and wolf. The County director Vebjørn Knarrum AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY The County range of measures. Governor’s Depart- ment of In forestry, grants Agriculture acts as are aimed at an instrument for longterm invest- the implementation ments like forestry of the national planning, agricultural policy. reforestation, This is crucial to silviculture and secure people forest roads. The living off the land in County Governor the hills and valleys handles grants to of this country. forest roads, forestry in rugged About 8.000 terrain and families are advocates the dependent on farming and forestry in increased use of bioenergy. Oppland. Most grants are channelled through the The use of farmlands and new initiatives municipalities, who are obliged to inform to broaden the basis of employment in farmers about them, receive rural areas are main tasks for the County applications and decide on them. Governor. Oppland was first to develop Applications for production grants are guidelines and quality control systems filed twice a year. for farm-based tourism. The Governor assists the Norwegian The County Governor shall contribute to Agriculture Agency by control the implementation of national measures and statistics, and treats agriculture policies by information, complaints from farmers about distribution of state grants to farmers, municipal decisions. and through locally adapted measures. The County Governor manages a long range of state grants to farming and forestry. Most important to farmers are Department the production grant and the relief grant. of agricultural affairs The production grant includes a wide County director Bente Odlo COORDINATION AND EMERGENCY PLANNING The Coordination and emergency plan- The County Governor acts as an om- ning staff coordinates the work of the budsman to safeguard County Governor in several areas. The the civil rights of the staff is also responsible for emergency county citizens. If the planning and disaster relief manage- municipalities have ment. made an unlawful decision, the citizen Modern society is vulnerable. There are may forward a com- several threats present, plaint to the County Governor. The either natural or man- Governor may overturn any unlawful made. The County decision. Governor supervises and advises the mu- Citizens who need legal aid or advice, nicipalities, and sees to and cannot afford it, may apply to the that plans for manag- County Governor for free legal aid. ing crises are made. The County Gover- nor also coordinates the disaster relief The financial position of the efforts if disasters span two or more municipalities is monitored by the municipalities. County Governor to ensure that the municipalities operate within the law. The communities must be a safe place to live in. The munici- palities are required to do a safety evaluation as a basis for develop- ment plans.
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