The County Governors in Norway – the Regional Representatives of the Central Government

The position of the county governor in the administration – a connecting link between the central government and the municipalities

Public administration

In Norway, under the Constitution, governmental powers are divided between the legislative and appropriation authority (the Storting – the Norwegian national assembly), the judiciary (the courts) and the executive power (the Government). The executive power or public administration has three levels: the central government or State administration, the county-municipal administration and the municipal administration. The Government is the upper branch of the administration and, as such, it is responsible for its activities.

Each of the 435 municipalities and 18 county municipalities are administrative entities with equal status. They are subordinate to their own directly elected municipal council or county council. The distribution of municipalities and counties is established by the Storting. The same applies to the framework for the activities of the municipalities and county municipalities. On behalf of the central government, the municipalities provide a substantial part of the public services for their inhabitants. The county municipalities do the same for those particular tasks that are considered to be too extensive for the individual municipality. Under the principle of municipal self-government, both the municipalities and the county municipalities have considerable freedom to decide for themselves how and when problems are to be solved. It is primarily the central government, however, that defines their tasks and monitors their implementation.

The position of the county governor in the administration

Since 1685 the county governor has been part of Norwegian public administration. The county governor, or the office of the county governor, is a regional government agency subordinate to the ministries. There is a county governor's office in each of the counties (Oslo and Akershus have a joint office). A characteristic of the offices is that they perform specialized tasks for several ministries and directorates, while also having general responsibility for the overall activities of the central government in the county. Administratively the county governors are subordinate to the Ministry of Labour and Government Administration.

The regulations for county governors state that the county governor is the representative of the King and the Government in the county and is responsible for the implementation of the Storting's policies. The individual ministries have direct authority to give special instructions to the county governor in their areas of expertise.

The county governor also performs tasks for the Crown.

The county governor and the municipalities

The county governor is first and foremost a necessary connecting link between the central government administration and the municipalities in the county. Given the size and shape of Norway, it is an impossible task for the ministries – even with modern technology – to directly monitor the work of each individual municipality. The main task of the county governor is therefore, on behalf of the ministries, to actively relay to the municipalities the policies of the Storting and Government in various specialized fields and, subsequently, to see that they are carried out within the established framework and in conformity with the principle of municipal self-government. The county governor also has a responsibility under the law to supervise the overall economic and administrative management of the municipalities, and to contribute to the general reporting from the municipalities to the central government authorities.

In this way the county governor helps to ensure the quality of municipal services and executive work.

The county governor and the county municipality

The county governor has no supervisory functions with respect to the county municipality. Instead, the two authorities work together in dealing with major issues, and in planning and development of interest to the county as a whole or to large parts of the county.

Both the county governor and the county municipality are responsible for coordinating public activities at the regional level. How the different coordination tasks are shared between them depends mainly on the distribution of tasks between the various levels of administration. However, the county municipality and the county governor have a joint responsibility for coordination in areas of importance to regional administration and development. This requires close cooperation and joint action.

There is, however, a significant difference between them as regards the premise and main focus of their work. The county municipality, as a directly elected body, will focus mainly on the region's own needs, while the county governor, as the representative of the Government and the ministries, will focus mainly on national policies.

The county governor and the public

It is generally through the municipalities and their activities that the county governor encounters the public and the business sector. This occurs more directly in the event of appeals against municipal decisions in individual cases, where the county governor often acts as a court of appeal under special legislation, for example when applications for building licences are denied.

The county governor is also a direct provider of certain public services, such as the granting of separations and divorces, free legal aid and compensation for the victims of violence.

Organisation and resources

The performance of administrative tasks for the ministries is the main area of activity of the county governor's office. This also reflects the manner in which the offices are organized. Under the direction of the county governor and a deputy county governor, the office is generally divided into five specialized departments: a department of cicil emergency and rescue planning, a municipal department, an agricultural department, a department for environmental protection, and a social and family welfare department. In addition, an administrative unit and a municipal coordination unit offer support to each office.

The county governor is appointed by the King in Council. The assistant county governor is appointed by the Ministry of Labour and Government Administration, while the rest of the staff are appointed by the appointment panel in each county governor's office.

The offices have a variety of highly skilled employees. In 1997 a total of 1,800 persons were employed in county governor offices, i.e. an average of 100 employees per office. The total budget for the offices during the same year amouned to NOK 841 million.

The county governors act on behalf of the ministries

The role of the Ministry of Labour and Government Administration

The county governor must be a flexible and effective tool for the Government and the ministries. The county governor must be aware of the responsibilities and fulfill the role as intermediary between the central government and the municipalities, and is given the basic prerequisites enabling the organization to carry out its work. This is the task to be performed by the Ministry of Labour and Government Administration on behalf of the ministries. The Ministry of Labour and Government Administration is thus administratively superior to the county governors. This means that this ministry has the primary responsibility for ensuring the quality of the internal control systems between the ministries and the county governors' offices and for ensuring competence and organizational development within the offices.

At the same time this ministry has an overall responsibility for national planning, for reforms in the central government administration, and for securing totality and consistency in the central government administartion at the regional level in general.

The tasks performed by the county governor for the ministries

The county governor carries out a number of external tasks on behalf of the ministries and directorates. In addition to specialized responsibilities, the county governor must ensure that tasks are seen in the context of related or contiguous tasks. The objective is that the central government should act as consistently as possible in its dealings with the municipalities and that solutions should serve and be effective for society as a whole.

Most tasks are associated with the implementation of the Government's policies in various fields. As a rule, it is the municipality that provides services within the guidelines set by the ministries and with follow-up from the latter. Moreover, the county governor administers a number of laws and regulations within the different sectors. More specifically, the county governor is assigned by law a number of tasks as regional supervisory authority, mediator and administrative appeals body for municipal decisions. The county governor deals with individual cases and decides on applications, administers grants and provides active guidance and information to the municipalities in a number of fields.

With their various sectoral roles and coordination responsibilities, the county governors are also important initiators and partners in the planning of municipalities and county municipalities under the Planning and Building Act (municipal plans and county plans).

The Ministry of Children and Family Affairs

The county governor is responsible for important tasks at the regional and municipal levels relating to kindergardens, family law/separations and divorces, child welfare, crisis arrangements, and debt counselling. The tasks involve guidance, control and supervision of municipalities and other institutions.

The Ministry of Justice and the Police

The county governor is responsible for free legal aid and compensation to victims of violence and for overseeing conciliation boards, dispute settlement boards, religious and denominational communities, and foundations. The county governor has primary responsibility for Civil Defence in the county. The county governor also has an important role in activities to ensure the necessary preparedness at the regional level and in ensuring that the municipalities are in a position to prevent and handle major accidents, crises and disasters in time of war and peace. Moreover, the county governor is responsible for developing and directing a coordinated crisis machinery in the county.

The Ministry of Local Government and Labour

The county governor has a supervisory and guiding role concerning general economic and legal issues vis-à-vis the municipalities. This includes control of the budget, and loan and guarantee decisions, as well as the distribution of discretionary funds. The county governor must coordinate the central government's management of the municipalities. The county governor is also assigned tasks connected with the holding of elections for the municipal and county councils, general elections, and matters within the scope of the Planning and Building Act, such as appeals in building cases.

The Ministry of Agriculture

The county governor must help to achieve the agricultural policy goals set by the Storting at any given time. The county governor must help to strengthen the agricultural industry by facilitating measures within new and traditional forms of agriculture-based industrial development and ensure that these measures are consistent with sound administration of land and the environment. Moreover, the county governor must implement measures for income and welfare policies, such as the control of subsidies under the agricultural agreement.

The county governor must ensure that the municipalities perform their role as the prime authority responsible for agriculture and forestry.

The Ministry of the Environment

The county governor has a central role in continually monitoring municipal and sectoral work in the environmental area. One important task is to relay national environmental objectives to local and regional bodies and to document and provide information on government interests in the area of environmental protection. The county governor also continues the work to reduce pollution from municipal effluents, certain branches of industry, agricultural activities and fish farming. The county governor has an important part to play in activities involving waste/recycling and in monotoring water resources. The county governor is responsible for the implementation of protective planning work and the management of protected and preserved areas, as well as the management of public outdoor recreation areas. The county governor also deals with the management of game and fresh-water fish and the registration and monitoring of natural resources requiring protection. Protection and rational use of biological resources is a basic premise for the county governor's efforts in achieving environmental policy goals.

The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs

In this sector the county governor's tasks mainly relate to the provision of general guidance to the municipalities, the handling of appeals, the supervision of institutions/housing, development programmes for social services and substance abuse. The county governor is also involved in work concerning the reform for the mentally handicapped and the control and information system for health and social services in the municipalities.

The county governor as coordinating authority, guarantor of constitutional rights and clearing house for information

The county governor as coordinating authority

To achieve satisfactory and comprehensive solutions for the community the county governor must help to ensure coordination of central government activities in the county. Responsibility for coordination includes tasks lying both within and outside the organizational framework of the county governor's office. The county governor has a special responsibility for coordinating the central government's monitoring activity vis-à-vis the municipalities. The primary function of central government coordination is to support a sound municipal economy and municipal self-government. The county governor is therefore given responsibility to ensure the overall monitoring of the municipalities by the central government. The coordination tasks are stated in the regulations for county governors. Moreover, the Ministry of Local Government and Labour has provided special guidelines for the coordinating function of the county governor. The county governor, however, does not make political decisions; that is the responsibility and task of the municipalities.

Identifying the need for coordination and organizing and directing the coordination are important tasks. These tasks require good contact and continuing dialogue with the rest of the regional government administration, the county municipality and each individual municipality.

The county governor as guarantor of constitutional rights

An important aspect of the county governor's office is its function as a guarantor of constitutional rights. Although considerations of constitutionality are supposed to inform the county governor's own decisions, it is, nevertheless, his task as an administrative appeals body for individual municipal decisions, and his work as a supervisory authority under special legislation, that constitute the main elements in the county governor's role as guarantor of constitutional rights. This applies to the relationship between the municipalities as public executive organs and the inhabitants and the business sector as beneficiaries of their public services and decisions.

The role of an administrative appeals body is special in the sense that, in this capacity, the county governor can examine individual municipal cases – to the extent specified in the relevant legislative provisions – with the right and duty to review all aspects of the case, with the power to annul such a decision and even to render a new decision. Under certain circumstances, the county governor can also reverse such decisions on his own initiative, even when no appeal has been made. This is a role which apparently deviates from the principles of framework management and municipal self-government, principles which in other contexts are decisive in determining the county governor's relations vis-à-vis the municipalities.

The role played by the county governor as administrative appeals body relative to municipal decisions can therefore be regarded as a guarantee for the inhabitants that the municipality will take legally correct decisions or, in other words, that local democracy functions in accordance with the principles of the constitutional State.

The county governor as a clearing house for information

According to the regulations for county governors, the county governor is supposed to keep the central government apprised of important issues affecting the county and to relay information to municipal, county-municipal and central government bodies concerning questions believed to affect their activities. This is an important part of the county governor's tasks as communicator of national policy to the municipalities.

The amount of information handled by the county governor is continually growing. An emphasis on management by objectives and by results, in addition to traditional management by rules, has led to an increase in the responsibilities of the county governor to provide information and guidance to the municipalities, and at the same time there is a growing need for better reporting procedures between municipality and State.

Technical developments have made it possible to find new and more expeditious solutions to the increased need for information. An example is provided by the State's Regional Information Network (SRI). Through SRI the office of the county governor and other government agencies can exchange electronic mail and share knowledge and data resources with each other and with ministries and directorates. SRI also provides an opportunity to communicate with and channel information to and from municipal sectors and other cooperation partners in Norway and abroad.

The ministries view the county governors as an increasingly important clearing house for information exchanged between the central government administration and the municipalities. Several county governors now have an information officer of their own attached to their office.