Denmark's Social Democrats want the state to step in and pay to keep schools, care homes and halls open when municipal budgets threaten them, the party's rural and urban spokesperson Bjørn Brandenborg told DR Nyheder.
"There are some municipalities where there are well-functioning institutions, but where unfortunately there isn't enough money to finance them. And we believe those institutions are so important that it is the state's responsibility to hold a hand under them," Brandenborg said. The proposal was reported by Jyllands-Posten.
Asked what the plan will cost, he said: "No, I don't know that. It depends on which plan we agree to make. He said the proposal is the Social Democrats' alone and has not been coordinated with the other government parties, SF, Radikale Venstre and Moderaterne.
Brandenborg told Jyllands-Posten that "we cannot avoid that Copenhagen and the municipalities in the capital area will hand over some more money to the rest of the country. The government wants to reform the equalisation system, which every year redistributes money between the richest and poorest municipalities. That area sits with SF's Pia Olsen Dyhr as economy and interior minister.
Radikale Venstre's rural spokesperson Line Krogh Lay said: "If it's such a general guarantee that nothing may close anywhere, then I think we're biting off more than we can chew. We also have to look at the reality we're in. She said she won't give "a blank cheque to keep everything open," adding that some places make sense to merge or move.
Moderaterne's rural and island spokesperson Frida Bruun warned against Christiansborg interfering too much in municipal budget planning. She said support should instead go to converting schools into free schools, something Moderaterne also proposed during the election campaign. SF's Karina Lorentzen said her party agrees with the direction and is ready for it to cost the state money: "But of course we also need to discuss how we then reach the goal with it."