Matthias Crone vom Landtag wiedergewählt

In seiner 26. Sitzung am 14. Dezember 2017 wählte der Landtag Matthias Crone auf Vorschlag der Fraktionen der SPD, CDU, DIE LINKE und BMV mit großer Mehrheit erneut zum Bürgerbeauftragten des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Von 64 abgegebenen Stimmen entfielen 54 auf den Kandidaten.

Crone hat das Amt bereits seit 2012 inne.

Die Wahl des Bürgerbeauftragten erfolgt auf sechs Jahre, wobei eine Wiederwahl einmal möglich ist. Die zweite Amtszeit beginnt am 1. März 2018.

IOI Ombudsman News 50/2017

Homelessness is increasingly affecting families from areas and professions who previously might never have expected to face problems finding somewhere to live, a new report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman can reveal.

The report, ‘Still No Place Like Home’, shows in 2016-17 one in three complaints received about homelessness services delivered by English authorities came from outside of London.

And many of the complaints are from people who might never have anticipated being made homeless, but who have been forced to call on their local council’s help by the increasing unaffordability of private tenancies.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“Our cases show many pre-conceived ideas about the people affected by homelessness simply no longer ring true.  The increasing cost of private rents has meant we have seen a shift towards more people in professions such as nursing, and their families, becoming affected.

“Many of these families are being placed in poor quality accommodation, for periods significantly longer than the six-week legal limit. And we’re seeing signs the problems are growing more acute, particularly with an increase in the length of time families are having to stay in temporary accommodation.

“More worrying still, we are finding that many families are not being told of their review rights when placed in unsuitable accommodation, so they have no information on how to challenge the decision and improve their circumstances.” 

In 2016-17, the Ombudsman received around 450 complaints about homelessness. Of those it investigated in detail, it found fault in seven out of 10 cases.

The Ombudsman shared its findings on councils’ inappropriate use of bed and breakfast accommodation to house families and children in a national report in 2013. It is worrying that, four years on, many of the problems identified in that report persist today.

It continues to see too many cases where councils are acting unlawfully by placing homeless households in bed and breakfast accommodation for lengthy periods of time. Today’s report shows the challenges faced by families who have been stuck for significantly longer than the six-week legal limit– some for more than two years.

Those families are increasingly having to stay in conditions where damp or infestation is a problem, often affecting their physical and mental health.

The report gives local authorities best practice guidance to help councils get things right. It also offers councillors and scrutiny chairs a number of questions they can ask of their own authorities to ensure they challenge the number of families left in unsuitable accommodation for too long.

The ombudsman was notified by the professional public that students taking their school-leaving exam in the spring of 2016 had to solve a logarithmic equation as a part of the didactic test in mathematics [”For x ∈ R, find the equation definition field (conditions) and resolve the equation: log8 – log2 = log⁡(2x-2) / 2.“], even though such teaching material is not included in the framework educational programme for secondary vocational schools.

According to the Schools Act, the purpose of the school-leaving exam is to check whether the students reached the goals of education stipulated by the framework and school educational programmes. The framework educational programme (FEP) is a document through which the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports defines the mandatory contents, scope and conditions of education. That is why teaching materials that are not included in the programme cannot be part of the school-leaving exam.

Only logarithmic functions and logarithms are included in the framework educational programme for vocational schools, not logarithmic equations (this is different to the FEP for academic secondary schools, in which logarithmic equations are expressly included). The ombudsman therefore considered including a logarithmic equation unlawful, as it allowed to test a skill that the students of secondary vocational school do not have to have.

The Ministry did not agree with such conclusion. It believes that the FEPs only contain general expected outputs, which are then specified in more detail by other documents. Nevertheless, the Ministry is preparing a comprehensive amendment to the mathematic educational area of FEP for secondary vocational schools effective as of the 2019/2020 school year. The “logarithmic equations” teaching material will be expressly added to the FEP. For that reason, the ombudsman decided not to exercise her other authorisations for immediate remedy. Until the Ministry changes the FEP for secondary vocational schools, the students taking the school-leaving exam can lodge an action against including logarithmic equations individually.

At the General Assembly Meeting held in Brussels on 30 November 2017, ENNHRI members stressed, in a new statement, the role of NHRIs as human rights defenders to promote and protect a sustainable human rights environment in Europe.

The statement "Promoting and Protecting a Sustainable Human Rights Environment in Europe by Strengthening the Democratic Space and the Rule of Law", highlights the need for the establishment and support of strong and independent NHRIs in the current climate of shrinking democratic space in Europe, marked by growing inequalities, discrimination and mistrust in institutions, mechanisms and actions to protect and promote human rights.

ENNHRI calls upon all European states to establish independent NHRIs and, where NHRIs already function, to duly follow-up their recommendations on how to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in their countries.

The Statement was made at the General Assembly, which also adopted ENNHRI’s new Strategic Plan for the period 2018-2021, whose main objectives include the support for the establishment and accreditation of NHRIs across Europe, as well as for those NHRIs under threat, to allow for a more effective promotion and protection of Human Rights by NHRIs in Europe. Moreover, ENNHRI will continue its development, by strengthening its governance and management and enhancing the engagement with its international partners, donors and other stakeholders.

The participants of the General Assembly also welcomed the newest ENNHRI member, the Public Defender of Rights from the Czech Republic’s.