(cont. from § 4) Support for persons with disabilities (cont. SoU15)

Nils Seye Larsen (MP)

Mr. Speaker! The report we are currently discussing here in the Riksdag concerns an issue that is about much more than individual support measures for persons with disabilities. It is fundamentally about what kind of society we want Sweden to be.

Sweden was once an example in providing people with different disabilities the opportunity to be included and live a dignified life. It was a time when our society developed and had as its goal to bridge gaps. The goal was an equal society where all people, regardless of the physical or mental challenges they were either born with or encountered during the course of life, can always count on the society's support and the welfare system's safety net, and where it becomes increasingly self-evident that we should all have the right to full participation and be allowed to live our lives in independence and with dignity.

Today, society is different, and it is perhaps most noticeable for those living with disabilities, physical or mental. Living costs such as food, rent, and other things have become more expensive. For many people with disabilities, the economy is already heavily strained from the start. Many times, these are people who do not have the opportunity to work fully or partially, no matter how much they would wish to. Their economic support, for example sickness and activity compensation, housing allowance, or social assistance, has generally not kept up with the price increases we have seen in large part in our society. It is a growing group living in poverty in secret, where they are forced to sit and turn and twist every single krona they have. It is a poverty that is not worthy of Sweden. We should be able to do better.

At the same time, the government has made decisions that further increase costs for people who already live with incredibly small margins. One example is the increased high-cost protection for pharmaceuticals.

During this parliamentary term, several of the support measures for people with disabilities that are intended to make it possible to live an independent life have also continued to be weakened and eroded or have been left without necessary reforms. This applies to personal assistance as well as escort services and travel services for persons with visual impairments. When these supports do not function, people's opportunities to work, study, participate in society, and live their lives on the same terms as others are affected.

Personal assistance is a clear example. The reform made it possible for people with extensive functional impairments to participate in social life and simply live an independent and dignified life, but in recent years, personal assistance has been progressively eroded. The assessments of the right to assistance have become increasingly restrictive, and people who have had support for many years have suddenly had their decisions reviewed and withdrawn.

The development is also clearly visible in the statistics. The state's costs for assistance have decreased by around 20 percent between 2013 and 2024. This is not due to a decrease in the need for support, but rather largely due to the fact that Försäkringskassan's assessments have become significantly stricter and that the municipalities have successively followed suit with increasingly restrictive assessments.

We must therefore work to achieve a reassessment. We must investigate and ensure that the needs assessments are reviewed. We can see that the LSS Act is moving further and further away from reality. We need the investigations that we have requested and that we have debated today. One must, among other things, look at the needs assessments and view them as a whole, especially when it comes to basic needs.

We must get this in place before we proceed with the ownership investigation, which we in Miljöpartiet believe is positive, because it is urgent. Behind all the figures we have talked about are people who are losing the support that is crucial for them in their lives. Therefore, I move for approval of reservation number 2.

Mr. Speaker! The erosion is not only occurring through stricter assessments, but the very conditions for providing personal assistance are being weakened when the compensation does not keep pace with the cost developments.

In this year's budget, the government is raising the assistance allowance by 1.5 percent, which is catastrophically low. Personnel costs account for around 90–93 percent of the total costs of the assistance. Such a low increase means in practice that personal assistants, who already had low wages, will not receive any wage increase at all compared to the rest of the wage development on the labor market.

This is something that the entire sector has warned about. In a joint debate article, SKR writes together with Vårdföretagarna and Fremia that the system's economic foundations are crumbling and that the compensation has for a long time lost its connection to actual costs.

I am one of those who are dependent on personal assistance in order to be able to live, work, and function. It is thanks to my personal assistants that I can be here today. They are completely invaluable to me, and so they are for all other users. When the compensation is raised by as little as 1.5 percent, it means in practice that I cannot raise their already low wages by more than a few kronor. They are invaluable people who are in my life and whom I would very much like to keep.

At the same time, the government had promised to return with a model for the indexation of the assistance allowance starting from the 2026 budget. Such a model would create the stability we have requested by having the allowance follow wage developments over time. But when the budget was presented, there was suddenly no such proposal. This means that the system still lacks the long-term funding model that has long been requested by users, municipalities, and providers. The missing indexation and the very low increase therefore became a double betrayal for the assistance.

When it comes to escorting, it has been applied increasingly restrictively over many years.

For people with visual impairments, guidance is often crucial for them to be able to move in society and live an independent life. The case law that has developed, however, means that visually impaired people in many cases are no longer considered to belong to any personal category in LSS and thus lose the guidance. I have highlighted this in previous exchanges of remarks, as there are so many examples right now – medially highlighted cases where people with visual impairments lose the right to the completely crucial guidance.

The Government has referred to the fact that Socialstyrelsen shall produce support material for the municipalities, but educational material cannot change established case law. That is precisely why Socialstyrelsen already proposed in 2023 that new legislation on accompaniment should be investigated. Since then, almost 1,000 days have passed without any investigation being commissioned. It is nearly two years since the Riksdag issued a notice to the Government to start the work, but still, nothing has happened.

A similar development is seen when it comes to the transport service for people with visual impairments. More and more are denied transport service or have their permits revoked because the legislation is interpreted more restrictively. For people for whom it is difficult or impossible to orient themselves in unknown environments, this entails great limitations in everyday life.

When it is difficult or impossible for people to orient themselves in unknown environments, the transport service is a prerequisite for being able to get to work, education, and social activities and for being able to participate in society on equal terms. Therefore, it is very important that we also get started with that work and ensure that we make the changes required so that even the visually impaired can feel secure that they can continue to have transport service.

When personal assistance is eroded, when escort services do not function and when transport services are restricted, yes, then it is not just about individual policy areas. It is about people's ability to live independent lives and participate in society.

Mr. Speaker! I want to conclude where I began. What we are discussing is, as said, not just a question concerning individual support measures. It is fundamentally about what kind of society we want Sweden to be.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Sara-Lena Bjälkö (-)

Mr. Speaker! Today we are talking about the Social Affairs Committee's report on support for persons with disabilities. With that, Mr. Speaker, I move for approval of the submitted proposal.

Mr. Speaker! This is ultimately about human dignity – about the right to be seen, to be respected, and to be allowed to live a life with freedom and participation. For us Christian Democrats, the starting point is very clear: Every human being is unique and has an inviolable value. This applies regardless of functional ability. Society's task is not to value people's abilities but to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of people's life dreams.

Sweden has, through LSS, a historical responsibility for persons with extensive disabilities. LSS is a freedom reform that gives people the opportunity to work, study, start a family, and live independently. But we also know that many in recent years have experienced insecurity, legal uncertainty in assessments, inequalities between municipalities, and a constant worry of losing their support.

Mr. Speaker! Support for people with disabilities is not just about measures. It is about trust – trust in families who struggle every day, trust in personal assistants who do an invaluable job, and not least trust in civil society, which is often the first and the last safety net.

We Christian Democrats believe in the principle of subsidiarity – that decisions should be made as close to the individual as possible. The state has a responsibility to ensure equality and the rule of law, but families, voluntary forces and the local community should be given the conditions to contribute.

That is why it is important that we strengthen the support for relatives. Many parents of children with disabilities live under enormous pressure. They should not have to be lawyers to get the right support. They should not have to fight against the system.

Mr. Speaker! Participation in society requires more than decisions on paper. It requires accessibility in schools, in the labor market, and in the public sphere. Work is more than an income. It is community and empowerment. We need more pathways into the labor market for persons with disabilities, more adapted workplaces, and closer cooperation between authorities, employers, and civil society.

Mr. Speaker! We must never accept that people are left behind. This report is a step in the right direction, but our work is not finished. We must continue and ensure that the reforms truly reach those they are intended for.

For us Christian Democrats, this is a matter of conscience. We believe in a society built on community, responsibility, and solidarity where no one is left alone.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 11 March.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)