The matter was pushed through to prevent discussion

Reykjavik's city council is moving forward with a significant reorganization of its welfare, school, and leisure services, a plan that has drawn criticism from a prominent council member. The proposed changes involve closing the city's four existing service centers and establishing two new, centralized units.

Pétur Marteinsson, a city council representative for the Social Democratic Alliance, expressed strong concerns about the plan. He fears that the centralization will result in the loss of valuable expertise from local neighborhoods. "We are losing people who have worked for a long time, our specialists, our best people who have worked in the neighborhoods, whether they are social workers, psychologists, or speech therapists, or whatever, who know the neighborhoods, and that is something that is very difficult to compensate for," Marteinsson stated.

“

We are losing people who have worked for a long time, our specialists, our best people who have worked in the neighborhoods, whether they are social workers, psychologists, or speech therapists, or whatever, who know the neighborhoods, and that is something that is very difficult to compensate for.

According to the new structure, the four service centers will be replaced by two units: one for child and family services, along with school and leisure services, and another for social and housing services. Marteinsson argued that the proposal was rushed through a special city council meeting with only 24 hours' notice, preventing thorough discussion in the full city council, which was in recess. He believes the changes should have undergone more scrutiny and discussion within the city council and by relevant professional committees.

Marteinsson also highlighted that such a move towards centralization runs counter to trends seen in other parts of Europe, where services are increasingly being decentralized to be closer to residents. He pointed out that the changes will lead to layoffs, with 86 city employees potentially losing their jobs, while 32 will be offered new or modified positions, and 54 will not continue in their roles. He expressed particular worry for vulnerable groups, including the growing immigrant population, who rely heavily on these neighborhood-based services.

“

We are moving expertise from the neighborhoods to a centralized apparatus in Borgartún or up to Höfði. I fear, and I said so in the optimization group, that we are going against what is generally being done in Europe today. This was done 10, 20 years ago in many places, to go for such centralization, but it is being decentralized again closer to people.