– They don’t know how bad it is – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

– He tells NRK that I am actually very low because I have not had dinner for many days.

Earlier this year she told NRK About expensive time and financial issues. Then the woman from Chordland in Nordland went on a work permit.

Now she’s on disability benefits and struggling to make the money last.

– Trying to use the “good to go” app. Where to get a bag of food, bread and cold cuts for NOK 39. Then there are different foods for a few days. Discs with a 50 percent discount due to date stamping are also good. It’s things like this that save me a little in my day-to-day life, says Elde.

Just 97,000 families were given housing benefits in March. He hopes SV can negotiate housing allowance and electricity allowance for the last three months of the year – well before Christmas.

– Probably in some ways there won’t be large quantities, there won’t be a lot of Christmas parties, Christmas food and Christmas gifts, he says.

Hundreds of thousands

In the Storting, SV and the ruling parties are now engaged in negotiations can Give hundreds of thousands of Norwegians some more this autumn.

SV, the government’s budget partner, is calling for more support for vulnerable groups struggling with increased costs for housing and electricity.

This does not only apply to the large group of people who receive social assistance, disability benefits and employment verification payments. The country’s students are also looking for more help from the government.

– A very important measure was the electricity grant given to students this spring. But now the demand has not decreased, Mika Kodal Dam of the Norwegian Student Union told NRK.

– Electricity prices are still high. Many students struggle with daily life.

Apart from students and housing beneficiaries, during the question hour on Wednesday, S.V Fiercely against the government’s proposed cuts to the unemployment benefit program. Here too in the coming weeks, S.V.

– With the government’s proposal, many people will receive less unemployment benefits. And many will never get it, SV Vice President Kirsti Bergstø said from the floor of the Storting.

Warnings help

Earlier, SV’s second vice-president, Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes, has promised to fight for students and people in housing, in talks about changes to electricity subsidies for households.

– We want to get housing allowance and students, said Filkesnes Vig Monday.

In the interview, he mentions one Researched by Statistics Norway Electricity subsidy in September.

– It also showed a lot to say about the redistribution of housing benefits. The government hasn’t touched it since the past, Fylkesnes insists.

Also, due to skyrocketing electricity prices, additional electricity subsidy has been established for housing beneficiaries. This is in addition to the support that all families receive.

Additional support is set at NOK 0 in September, NOK 1,000 in October and NOK 1,500 in November and December. SV will now try to increase the amount.

– Elde says it’s hard for people who haven’t been in these situations to understand what it’s like.

– They don’t know how bad it is

Elde received housing and extra electricity support earlier this year and will apply for it again in the autumn.

– What do you have to say to politicians?

– Try living for a week on less money, as many actually do. They should think about it. They don’t know how bad it is for many people, she says.

– Food, electricity, fuel – everything increases. But he says there has not been a commensurate increase in Now benefits such as housing benefits.

It is true that the cost of electricity is much lower in the North than in the South, but the price has increased in the North this autumn. And the general price hike affects the northern parts of the country as well.

– To be continued

The Norwegian student body sent a letter to the finance committee in the Storting on Tuesday, the same day that SV and government parties begin the first of three rounds of talks with government parties.

In the letter, the student body requests that 3,000 special support for electricity be continued this fall. Support was provided by Lånekassen in the form of a scholarship this spring.

– Students need this money now, already this fall. If electricity prices continue to rise in winter, the project should continue next year, Kodal Dam demands.

More than 120,000 students and over 18 students used the assistance program this spring.

In a letter to the Storting, the NSO points out that students renting private accommodation are not covered by the normal scheme of electricity support for housing. In many cases, the students did not get their electricity bill reduced by the landlord, the organization said.

For many students, it will be a tough autumn, at least if new electricity is not provided, Kodal Dam fears. She points out Student Health and Wellbeing SurveyAmong others, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health is lagging behind. In this year’s edition, 28 percent responded that they would have had trouble managing an unexpected NOK 5,000 expense.

Three runs

The autumn negotiation marathon in Storting will take place on three main tracks:

First, negotiations begin this week in the Finance Committee on the integrated plan presented by the government on September 30. It contains Proposal for a large aid package for Ukraine Provision for CO₂ compensation scheme for industry and Electricity support for businesses.

The government’s proposal must be fully considered by the Storting’s finance committee by October 20. That means negotiations between SV, Ap and Sp should be completed before that time.

Second, the Energy and Environment Committee meets to examine how to change the electricity subsidy scheme for Norwegian households.

The scheme came into force before Christmas last year.

SV wants the state to cover 100 percent of the electricity price of 50 øre per kilowatt hour (kWh) for the first 1,000 kWh you use within a month. Also, the party will have 80 percent support For the next 2000 kWh consumed in the month.

According to the agreement reached between SV and the government side, this negotiation should be completed by the end of October.

The third round of talks is about the next year’s state budget:

The government’s proposal was submitted by the end of the week, and already several demands have been met by SV.

SV announced that the party will take aid, increased climate mitigation, oil tax and precisely social benefits. SV will present its alternative budget for 2023 before talks with the Center Party and Labor Party begin at the end of October.

Negotiations are expected to last through November and possibly into December.