A new law on reporting obligations to counter incorrect payments from welfare systems as well as fraud, rule violations and crime in the working life

Eva Lindh (S)

Mr. Speaker! Welfare crime, incorrect payments, and work-life crime are like a cancerous tumor in our social body. It is a tumor that eats our common resources that should go to important social initiatives such as elderly care, school, and health insurance. It is a tumor that eats trust for our common good. It is a tumor that hits people who are exploited. Therefore, we must act.

I have for a long time been very engaged in addressing the secrecy legislation. In the beginning, it was largely about providing opportunities for genuine cooperation when I, as a school counselor or social secretary, saw that a young person was heading towards crime. When resources should have been coordinated, one was hindered by the secrecy legislation. Many of the times when I was most frustrated while working as a social worker is when there was a complicated or complex problem situation surrounding a person and we needed several of us to help the young person, but where the opportunities for cooperation were hindered by the secrecy legislation.

It is obvious that we should have a confidentiality that protects people from having their personal data, which can be very sensitive, spread. It is and shall be a self-evident matter. We shall not change that confidentiality. There is no contradiction here. It is important for the individual and for the trust in the authorities that one can be sure that data is not spread. This is about being able to cooperate around a person who needs more and better help.

In light of the fact that it is important that we adhere to confidentiality and do not spread personal data, it is very good that the government also proposes that an exception rule be introduced for relevant authorities to refrain from disclosing information if overriding reasons warrant it, for example in social services or healthcare.

Madam Speaker! Over time, it has become apparent to all of us that it is becoming increasingly common that secrecy prevents us from detecting and stopping the welfare crime and the heinous work-life crime that we see. I have met many who work with this and read a number of reports and documents. The picture is clear. Information that would need to be shared to tackle this cannot be shared, and therefore it is good that we are now making it possible collectively.

Madam Speaker! Let me give some examples of what we are talking about. It is about incorrect payments, welfare crime and work-life crime.

When it comes to the problems with welfare crime and, above all, incorrect payments, we see an escalating crime wave in Sweden. Many sentencing increases have been developed, as well as new ways for the police to work. We have received more police officers. All of that is, of course, good. But if we are truly going to break up the gangs and tackle the increasing crime, it also requires that we stop new recruitment through early interventions so that those who are about to be drawn into criminality do not end up there. We must choke off the access to the money.

Secrecy has affected the possibilities to tackle the crimes that threaten the community, for example welfare crime in the form of incorrect payments or fraud. Now, the welfare payments of municipalities and regions are being attacked. Health centers, HVB homes, protected housing, and foster homes are also affected. When no permit is required to establish an operation, there is an increased risk. It has been shown that some health centers have sent false invoices to the region. The examples are many.

The incorrect payments, which are particularly concerned here, are about when a private individual or a company receives or manages to trick themselves into money they are not entitled to from any authority or municipality. Studies that have been conducted show that it concerns between 13 and 16 billion. For many, these are such large sums that it is difficult to comprehend. But regardless of whether it is 13 or 16 billion or perhaps more, these are large sums that we would have needed elsewhere. The extent is large.

It is primarily about ensuring that criminal gangs cannot sustain themselves through fraud against our welfare systems. All of this is fundamentally about the authorities being unable to cooperate and talk to one another. We are sidelined when we do not have the opportunity to talk and cooperate.

The second matter concerns crime in the working life. It is a terrible crime because it exploits people in vulnerable situations. One gets hideous images of what is happening. It is about people, but also here about very large sums.

When I visited one of our trade union organizations, I was invited to sit in on a meeting with a man and learn about his story. He is one of many who have been affected by crime in the workplace. He told me that for a period of one year, he had worked 70 hours a week and received 10,000 kronor.

It was only an example. It is clear that I am upset by all the images that we are made aware of. But even here, when different actors can help each other and can share information, it can become easier to both detect and address.

Madam Speaker! We find ourselves in an exceptional time. Sweden faces great challenges when it comes to combating crime and criminality in all forms. The social contract and trust in our society are under threat. Everything we can do to prevent the crime wave that is now escalating is therefore important to do.

Madam Speaker! Criminals have no secrecy. They have no rules that say in what way they can share information among themselves. We know now that there are people who tip each other off and help with crime schemes by sharing knowledge on how crimes can best be committed against our common welfare and our society. It is about which loopholes exist to be exploited to make large criminal profits.

The fact that criminals have no confidentiality to adhere to gives them a head start. With this change, which is now being proposed, we cut off part of that head start. More needs to be done, but this is a very important step to take. Now we are tackling the reduction of the growing cancer. It is good that we are in agreement to do so.

I would like to conclude by moving for the approval of the proposal in the report.

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Victoria Tiblom (SD)

Madam Speaker! Today we are debating the Committee on the Constitution's report number 27. I move for the approval of the proposal in the report in its entirety. It was also a unanimous committee that adjusted this report earlier in May.

Finally! Now we finally get a law in place to counter incorrect payments from the welfare system. It is a law that shall counter fraud, violations of rules, and crime in the working life. The new law is proposed to enter into force as early as July 1 this year. This bill is one of all the points found in the Tidö Agreement to rectify what is wrong and has gone wrong in our society.

In Sweden, we have one of the world's highest tax burdens, and our collective tax funds that go to the welfare system must end up where they are needed and with the right recipients. For far too long, our welfare system has functioned as an ATM for criminals. Criminals rob the welfare systems of billions.

Over 18 billion kronor are incorrectly paid out from the social insurance system every year, according to figures from the Delegation for Correct Payments from Welfare Systems, the Kut-delegation. It is difficult to grasp this enormous amount - 18 billion! It is an incredible amount of money.

These welfare billions have, for criminals, become an almost equally important source of funding as drug sales.

But now there will be change. Not a single tax crown shall end up in the wrong place. That this has not been addressed by previous governments is nothing less than a scandal. Our tax money must be protected more. And now it will happen.

Madam Speaker! Arbetsförmedlingen, Bolagsverket, Centrala studiestödsnämnden, Försäkringskassan, Inspektionen för vård och omsorg, Kronofogdemyndigheten, Migrationsverket, Pensionsmyndigheten, Skatteverket, municipalities and unemployment funds - through the new law, these will finally have the conditions to exchange information. It was needed to ensure correct decision-making bases and to counter incorrect payments from the welfare systems. I say welcome to the new law.

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Lars Engsund (M)

Madam Speaker! 20 billion kronor is such a large sum of money that most of us find it difficult to grasp. I will take a few examples. 20 billion kronor corresponds to approximately 2,000 kronor per Swede or 100,000 kronor per day for 548 years. Furthermore, it corresponds to two years' budgets for our three public service companies.

The Government assesses in the budget bill for 2024 that up to 20 billion Swedish kronor are paid out incorrectly from our collective welfare systems. Approximately 90 percent of these payments are caused by incorrect information forming the basis for the decisions on the payments made by our authorities.

Madam Speaker! This is completely unacceptable.

According to the proposal in the report that we are now debating, the new law shall provide a number of authorities with the conditions to exchange information needed to ensure a correct basis for decisions and to counter incorrect payments from the welfare systems. I do not intend to rattle off all the authorities affected by the new law but will content myself with mentioning a few examples: Arbetsförmedlingen, Försäkringskassan, Kronofogdemyndigheten, Skatteverket and Migrationsverket.

The new law shall also give a number of authorities access to the information needed to plan, carry out, or follow up on joint authority controls of workplaces in order to counter cheating and fraud, regulatory violations, and crime in the working life. Some examples of authorities affected by this part of the bill are: Arbetsförmedlingen, Ekobrottsmyndigheten, Försäkringskassan, Migrationsverket, Polismyndigheten and Skatteverket.

Madam Speaker! The Committee on the Constitution's report also contains a proposal for clarification in the law regarding the Payment Authority's review of payments. The Government's proposal is judged to constitute a proportionate infringement on personal integrity with the proposed obligations for information sharing between the relevant authorities. The law does, in fact, allow for limitations on the exchange of particularly sensitive information, for example if there are overriding reasons that the interest which confidentiality is to protect takes precedence over the disclosure of information.

In this context, it is worth noting that the Council on Legislation has had no objections to the bill.

Madam Speaker! To my great joy, I note that we have a unanimous committee. With that said, I move for approval of the Committee on the Constitution's proposal in the report KU27.

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Gudrun Brunegård (KD)

Madam Speaker! Today we take an important step to close the loopholes for criminals who exploit our welfare system.

Welfare crime is a relatively new concept. Many of us have probably found it difficult to imagine that anyone with such audacity could exploit our tax-funded welfare – healthcare, elderly care, dental care, social services, the health insurance system, unemployment funds – for criminal activity by stealing the money that taxpayers have paid into the municipality, region, and state to provide our children, grandchildren, elderly parents, neighbors, and so on with security in school, healthcare, and elderly care.

In the work itself, welfare crime was estimated to correspond to 14.6 billion kronor in 2021. This involved, for example, incorrect payments to persons who were not entitled to them. As we have heard from previous speakers, it is estimated to amount to 20 billion kronor this year.

To address this, the confidentiality rules between the authorities need to be changed so that personal data can be used to counter incorrect payments from the welfare system, if the same case or the same person appears in connection with payments from other authorities. Increased information exchange may also be needed to address crime in the labor market.

It is obvious that the confidentiality-breaking provisions that exist today are not sufficient for the needs of agencies, municipalities, and unemployment insurance funds. According to the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, secrecy does not prevent an item of information from being provided to another agency if there is a duty to provide information that follows from law or ordinance.

Therefore, the government now proposes that an obligation be introduced for municipalities, unemployment funds, and certain state agencies to provide information they possess to other such actors. The obligation shall apply in cases where the information is needed to ensure correct decision-making bases in order to prevent, preclude, detect, or investigate incorrect payments from the welfare systems.

The authorities concerned are, for example, Arbetsförmedlingen, Centrala studiestödsnämnden, Försäkringskassan, Migrationsverket and Pensionsmyndigheten, as well as municipalities and unemployment funds. It may involve grants, compensations, pensions or loans for personal purposes paid out to an individual natural person, and grants, compensations and other support intended for an individual person but paid out to or credited to someone other than the individual.

There shall also be a duty to provide information regarding information needed in certain state authorities' regulatory activities to plan, carry out, or follow up on joint authority controls of workplaces in order to counter cheating, regulatory violations, and crime in the working life.

I agree with previous speakers: Not a single krona intended for our common welfare shall go towards feeding crime.

With this, I vote in favor of the committee's proposal in the report.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(Decisions were made under § 19.)

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