Red-Green in Lower Saxony - Hausschutz defend: Lighthouses should be paid for
Niedersachsen's Minister-President Stephan Weil opposes the impression that the red-green state government's plans for 2025 lack a guiding lighthouse project. "Lighthouses also need to be paid for. That's something you have to be able to afford," the SPD politician told the German Press Agency in Hannover. "But we are setting two absolute priorities: a great effort to ensure educational supply and a great effort to secure medical care on the land."
For new momentum, fewer regulations and lower standards are planned. The state government reformed the building regulation to give the construction industry and housing market a new impetus, and changed the personnel requirements for childcare, which is plagued by a skilled labor shortage. "Unfortunately, the procedures in many areas are indeed dreadfully complicated," said Weil. "We need more dynamism. A simplification of procedures is worth having and will save financial resources."
"We need practical solutions"
The demographic change also forces the state to re-examine its standards, said the head of government. "This is evident in the daycare sector. The best intentions regarding personnel equipment are of no use if they cannot be realized. We need practical solutions."
The budget proposal for 2025, presented at the end of June, has a volume of around 44.2 billion Euros - about 1.6 billion Euros more than this year. Among other things, 2,460 additional teaching positions are planned at schools to offer employment to all teaching candidates who complete their preparatory service in Niedersachsen this year and next. The number of medical study places at the European Medical School Oldenburg is to be increased from 80 to 200. Ten million Euros are earmarked for the founding of further regional health centers.
CDU criticizes educational supply and "health political globules"
CDU faction leader Sebastian Lechner accused Rot-Gruen of governing half-heartedly on behalf of the people. So, the situation at the schools will only be stabilized if the additional teaching positions are actually filled. "If we're lucky, it will remain at the inadequate educational supply that we currently have in Niedersachsen and it won't slip even further," said Lechner.
In terms of hospital financing and medical training, Rot-Gruen is also falling short. "The state government has been aware of the economic decline and first insolvencies of our hospitals for months, instead of, for example, providing state-backed liquidity support through the NBank," criticized the CDU politician. The 80 additional medical study places in Oldenburg were described by Lechner as "health political globules for a problem that is getting bigger and bigger from year to year."
AfD considers funding for hospitals insufficient
The AfD deputy Peer Lilienthal criticized that the state had provided too little money for investments for hospitals over the years. "By 2023, the investment backlog has grown to more than four billion Euros. The now granted financial injection is completely inadequate and is no reason for Weil to boast," said Lilienthal. The state-owned housing company was also described by the AfD politician as a "million's grave."
- Stephan Weil, the Minister-President of Lower Saxony from the SPD party, emphasized the importance of finding a guiding project for the state government's plans in 2025, comparing it to a lighthouse.
- During his conversation with the German Press Agency in Hannover, Weil expressed concern over the complexity of procedures in various areas, highlighting the need for simplification to save financial resources.
- In the face of the skilled labor shortage in childcare, the state government implemented changes to the personnel requirements, aiming to give the construction industry and housing market a fresh impetus.
- The budget proposal for 2025 includes plans to create 2,460 additional teaching positions at schools and increase the number of medical study places at the European Medical School Oldenburg to 200.
- Criticizing the state government, the CDU leader, Sebastian Lechner, pointed out that the additional teaching positions might not be filled, leading to an inadequate educational supply in Lower Saxony.
- Peer Lilienthal, an AfD deputy, criticized the proportion of funding dedicated to hospitals in Lower Saxony, highlighting a significant investment backlog of over four billion Euros by 2023 and labeling the state-owned housing company as a "million's grave."
