Question Time

TALMANNEN

I would like to welcome the ministers. Questions will be answered today by Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, Minister for Education Johan Pehrson, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson, and Minister Erik Slottner.

A question must be of an overarching and general political nature or concern a subject that falls within the Minister's area of responsibility and relates to his/her performance of duties. The question shall therefore not concern, for example, conditions within political parties. Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall answers both general political questions as well as questions within her own area of responsibility.

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Paula Örn (S)

Mr. Speaker! My question is directed to Education Minister Johan Pehrson. New figures from Statistics Sweden now show in black and white what the situation looks like in the country's schools regarding resources. The cost per pupil is decreasing dramatically. In upper secondary school, the minister's area of responsibility, resources are at their lowest in ten years. And the independent schools are drawing down 25 percent more than the municipal ones.

The government has forced through massive cuts in schools by the state not covering at all for the cost crisis that inflation has caused in schools. Therefore, we Social Democrats choose, budget after budget, to invest many billions more than the government in schools.

How does the Minister for Education mean that the state has taken its responsibility for the funding of schools and upper secondary schools when the cost per pupil in fixed prices is the lowest in ten years?

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Few things are as important as young people having access to a good education. It is with dismay that we see how so many students leave ninth grade as practically functionally illiterate. It is very difficult to be able to contribute to one's own empowerment over the future when one cannot read, write, and count.

The government takes responsibility for the school in such a way that we are now re-regulating important parts of it, for example, the availability of libraries to strengthen the conditions for reading. More books in the school and out with the screens - that is something Paula Örn has also heard about.

We are making one of the largest investments in terms of the state's resources to the Swedish school. But the fact is that the Social Democrats unfortunately municipalized the school a number of years ago. It was a mistake.

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Paula Örn (S)

Mr. Speaker! Now we are talking about the budget conditions here and now. In our budget, we Social Democrats allocate 3 billion more than the government to primary school and 6 billion more in the calculation of state grants to municipalities and regions. That would, for example, have been enough for one more teacher in every class in grade 1.

We can afford it because we say no to the government's tax cuts for the very richest. Why does the government not prioritize today's students and their opportunity for more teacher-led instruction over tax cuts for those who earn the most?

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! The Government is providing large supplements in a difficult time. It must be remembered that both municipalities and regions have been hit hard by the very high inflation of recent times. We are taking large compensatory measures.

An important part of the deregulation that the government is working for is to introduce a national school fee norm, as it currently varies between different municipalities. And far too many municipalities are investing too little today.

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Mona Olin (SD)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall.

When Nicolina Pernheim took bronze in judo at the Paralympics in Paris, the Minister for Social Services sat in the stands and cheered. But since Nicolina's escorting has been reduced since then, it may have been her last international competition.

Last summer, the Riksdag submitted a notice to regulate the companion service in a specific law in order to strengthen legal certainty. Without these services, more people risk losing the opportunity for an active life, in conflict with the intentions of the LSS Act. The Government must ensure that companion service becomes available to everyone who needs it.

Given the dramatic reduction in granted companion services for persons within personal circle 3, my question to the minister is: How does the government plan to ensure that the right to companionship is strengthened and that no more future dreams are extinguished due to withdrawn companionship?

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Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thanks to the member for a very important question! I want to begin by saying that it is truly distressing to take part in these figures.

Assistance is an incredibly important prerequisite for many people who are blind or visually impaired to be able to live an independent life and participate in society on equal terms as everyone else.

The LSS legislation is a municipal legislation, and here the responsibility falls very heavily on the municipalities when they make their assessments. What worries me in particular is when people's different circumstances have not changed, but the decisions nevertheless do.

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Mona Olin (SD)

Mr. Speaker! The Government now has a great responsibility to act on the announcement to ensure that escort services become a measure for everyone who needs it. It is crucial in order to be able to create a society that truly includes everyone.

When can we expect concrete measures to regulate escort services in a specific law? And what steps will the government take to ensure that the municipalities follow a clearer and more legally secure practice while waiting for this law?

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Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Mr. Speaker! To begin with, I must start from the premise that the municipalities follow the law that applies today in Sweden and which has applied for 30 years.

We shall not replace a law that does not seem to be fully followed with another law, but we must begin by analyzing. What are the reasons why more and more municipalities choose to make different assessments than those initially made regarding LSS? The Government will return to the issue, and this is currently being prepared in the Government Offices.

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Samuel Gonzalez Westling (V)

Mr. Speaker! One must understand that the joy and excitement at Harpsund was great last autumn when the happy news was received from the Minister for Finance that all ministers will receive an extra 45,000 kronor in reduced tax next year.

I do not think the municipalities feel the same amount of joy when they cannot count on receiving any increases at all from the government's side of the state subsidies they receive to compensate for the cost increases that exist.

The social services are one of the primary defenses when it comes to our ability to prevent gang crime and other social misery in society. The social workers can perhaps count on receiving between 200 and 300 kronor in reduced tax per month.

When the municipalities will now have to cut even more, the question is: Is this a reasonable priority for the government to make?

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Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you very much for the question.

The government is now making a historic reorganization of the social services' work. We want it to work to prevent instead of to react when it concerns, among other things, our vulnerable children and young people.

In order to be able to carry out this historically large reorganization, where we now, among other things, prioritize almost 10 billion kronor for a new social services act and also make extensive investments in a number of preventive reforms, it has been very essential that the government has won the battle against inflation, an inflation that we inherited but which we have now successfully fought. This means that we have been able to free up several billion for investments in order to do what we promised the voters: to turn around a very serious situation in our country.

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Samuel Gonzalez Westling (V)

Mr. Speaker! But that is not what the government is doing. What the government is doing is that they are not giving the municipalities and regions the adjustment they need to be able to maintain today's level of school, elderly care, healthcare and social services - precisely those areas that are so incredibly important for us to be able to have a functioning society and be able to prevent the type of social misery that we have.

Why does the government choose to lower taxes most for themselves instead of compensating the municipalities in these matters?

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Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you very much for the follow-up question.

What the government is doing now, as I said, is that we have fought inflation. It has been a prerequisite to be able to make investments in the important parts where we see that we need to invest to turn the situation in an extremely serious situation. Then it is important that we can also secure increased growth, which we now have completely different conditions to do.

(Applause)

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Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to the Minister for Digitalisation.

We have just had an AI commission that has presented its report with 75 proposals to the Swedish government on how AI can be developed in this fine country. It can contribute to the simplification of our everyday lives with various services, and it can contribute to the improvement of our productivity, also there with various services. It can also be a prerequisite for us to be able to compete with the rest of the world at all.

In the current situation, Sweden is not in the driver's seat - that is what we can state, and that is also what the commission states. It may be China and the USA, among others, who are in the driver's seat. We may be sitting a bit more in the trunk and bumping along the way, and that may not be exactly where we want to be.

What the AI commission is requesting is leadership and political consensus. Therefore, I want to ask the Minister for Digitalization: When will the government show some leadership and invite dialogue to reach political consensus in this area?

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I thank the member for the question.

I think the government is showing great leadership in this issue. Just the fact that we appointed the AI commission was a way to show leadership, as the government wanted to get concrete proposals on how we can sharpen Sweden as a leading digitalization nation. AI plays a major role here today and will play an ever-increasing role in the future. The member himself mentioned several of the advantages that come with an increased use of AI.

The government has also, during these first two years, taken a number of measures to promote the use of AI. One of the most interesting is that the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection and the Agency for Digital Government have been given a mandate, which will be reported on now in January, to develop guidance for municipalities, regions, and authorities on how AI can be used and how to do so in a legally and ethically secure way. This has, in fact, turned out to be one of the biggest obstacles to the use of AI in the public sector.

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Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you very much for the answer.

I have not claimed that it is a standstill. I have only said that we might not be leading. There is a bit of a difference.

This concerns issues linked to such as how we use public data and which open models we should have. There are masses of technical questions, of course. One issue that is particularly close to my heart is the school, which was not included in the report at all. When we talk with the government, it is a quite open question whether AI should be used properly there at all.

But I will return to the question of consensus. Shall we meet broadly in the Riksdag and see if we can move Sweden to a leading position within AI?

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! When it comes to just that specific question, we shall have to see. There is no invitation on the table now, and there probably won't be one before Christmas either. However, it is very possible that one will come.

We are now working full scale, not least with developing a new digitalization strategy. We have now received 75 concrete proposals from the AI commission. One of these 75 I could handle already at the press conference by giving a large number of agencies assignments in their regulatory letters to work with the issue in a clearer way.

We have already taken a number of measures during these two years. Much more will come. I also believe that we will reach political agreement on these issues.

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Jan Riise (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I have a question for the Minister of Defence.

A few weeks ago, we received notice that 13 out of 14 projects for offshore wind farms had had their applications rejected. There is certainly much to say about that, but I intend primarily to talk a bit about the requirements placed on the Armed Forces. This has been discussed here before, including in an interpellation debate concerning the Armed Forces' regulatory letter.

In the previous government's regulatory letter, there was a paragraph with requirements for the Armed Forces to continue developing the capacity for early dialogue and cooperation in the planning process for renewable energy production. That section was removed before 2023. The Minister for Defence explained at that time that the same requirements exist in the Armed Forces' instructions. That makes it, for the most part, but it is not as proactive. It is called reporting the agency's participation in the preparation of matters concerning this.

I would like to ask if there are no reasons to retain or reintroduce a more proactive wish or requirement for the Armed Forces in the regulatory letters.

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Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Jan Riise for the question.

Part of this is that it is found in the instructions, just as Jan Riise said, how one should work with coexistence issues. Another part is that the Armed Forces have been tasked to report on how they work with these issues. In that regard, the Armed Forces have done a very appreciated job. They have been clear that we now need to move towards a guidance system so that all actors know where it might be good to apply for sea-based wind power and where they should not do so.

Another part is that the Armed Forces have been provided with more resources to shorten processing times - not least in the military regions, where a number of people have been hired for this. The Armed Forces also want secure, fast and predictable processes.

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Jan Riise (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the answer.

Yes, that is correct. In the Armed Forces' annual report for 2023, quite a lot of space is devoted to this, I must say. There is talk of major challenges with today's planning and permitting processes and that these issues and problem areas are new questions for the county administrative boards' project organizations.

This is perhaps a classic conflict of goals that one must try to resolve – that one has different starting points for what one wants to achieve. I wonder again if it would not be good to have a more proactive picture in this year's regulatory letter.

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Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)

Mr. Speaker! I would like to thank Jan Riise for the constructive tone in the question. We must achieve more predictable and faster processes.

One of the measures that we have also taken is to provide funds to the county administrative boards so that they can handle security-classified information and access the documents that the Armed Forces share.

I do not, however, think there is any reason to routinely include things in the government bill. If the Armed Forces perform a task, it is reported and it is sufficient; I do not think there is reason to include it in the government bill once again just to say that it has been done.

(Applause)

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Alexandra Anstrell (M)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister of Defence Pål Jonson.

There is a lot of talk about the possibility of deepening Nordic defense cooperation, especially now that we have become Nato allies together with Finland and things have become a bit different. What is actually happening in practice in this issue? How is the government working with this?

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Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the question, Alexandra Anstrell!

By Sweden and Finland now being allies in Nato, completely new conditions are created to deepen our defense cooperation. In that all countries are now covered by Article 5, we have the same construction for our security in both peace as well as crisis and war. But above all, we are all covered by Nato's common defense planning.

Last week we had a meeting in Copenhagen in the Nordefco circle. There are now quite rapid developments regarding what is called military mobility. It is about being able to transport a lot of military materiel across the Nordic borders. It is not least linked to the cooperation between Sweden, Finland and Norway.

We will also work to establish common transport corridors, given how the military geography looks. It is about removing technical, legal, and administrative obstacles. And it is about strengthening the infrastructure in all its parts, so that we achieve a more efficient Nordic defense cooperation.

These are some examples of what Alexandra Anstrell asked about.

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Alexandra Anstrell (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister for Defence!

Sweden is also an Arctic country. We are seen as extremely skilled in our activities in subarctic climates. How is the government working to strengthen Arctic cooperation, beyond the Nordic? And are our skills in that area something that we can take with us into Nato?

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Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)

Mr. Speaker! It is well known that Russia has strengthened its military fortifications in and around the Arctic area. They have been there before, and now they have begun to re-establish themselves there.

We naturally have to handle that. We do so through the previous total defense decision, and we also do so in the decision that I hope the Riksdag will adopt in December. It is about strengthening the military presence in northern Sweden. We have done that by re-establishing both new organizational units and stronger cooperation.

We are not, among other things, taking our subarctic defense capability into Nato.

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Roland Utbult (KD)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister Johan Pehrson.

The government has prioritized the expansion of adult and vocational education. This concerns more places within vocational adult education and additions to vocational higher education programs. To strengthen vocational adult education, the government is investing 1.3 billion. This corresponds to approximately 16,500 places per year starting from this year. The government also proposes an addition of 385 million to vocational higher education for the coming years.

It is good. But at the same time, we in the Christian Democrats see the important role that the folk high schools have for popular education but also for adult education. The folk high schools can meet needs in society resulting from unemployment, skills supply, and immigration, and for individuals who have difficulty establishing themselves in the labor market.

In what way does the Minister want to upgrade the folk high schools and not just the vocational college?

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! The question of education and learning is central. It is the foundation for our democracy, for our prosperity, and actually for a decent and civilized society.

I think we should be careful to say that we are making an important reorganization of the work with popular education, where the folk high schools play a central role. They have been hit by the high inflation, just like other activities, ordinary people, municipalities and regions, organizations and society in general.

The government has allocated permanent resources to the folk high schools. I know they think it is not enough. But perhaps there is more to be done there. I welcome that the Christian Democrats are pushing for this. We need many of us to talk about folk education in its true sense.

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Roland Utbult (KD)

Mr. Speaker and Minister! I promise that we will push this forward. We are strong advocates of Swedish folk education, which includes both folk high schools and study associations. Therefore, the state subsidy for folk education remains strong in the government's budget. I agree with that. But the government has prioritized the connection to the labor market to a greater extent.

According to the report entitled Education, training and participation - folkbildning policy in a new era, which was issued this summer, folkbildning needs better conditions to contribute to the development of individuals and society in, as it is called, a changing time.

My follow-up question is: How can the government enable even better conditions for popular education?

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! An important task is that we now move forward with important proposals in the investigation on folkbildningen. We need to ensure that one does not only have a cooperation with the state, which sends in several billion into the activity because it is so important, but also works on further developing the cooperation with regions, municipalities and the EU's funding systems, in order to bring in many resources to this activity. It is important, but it is also met with increased demands for quality, which the government is clear about.

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Helena Gellerman (L)

Mr. Speaker! My question is directed to Erik Slottner.

Society stands in the midst of a long series of challenges. Some of the greatest are climate change, crime, specifically gang crime, the need for increased preparedness, and the pressure on welfare due to an aging population.

A long series of measures is needed. A common opportunity to solve all these problems is to start using artificial intelligence on a completely different level, for example to compile data and suggest and implement measures.

This week, the AI Commission presented its report. It is a broad report that focuses on measures for the public sector. It contains 75 proposals within 12 different areas.

My question to Minister Slottner is: How does the Minister intend to take the report further in order to promote the use of AI?

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I agree with Member Gellerman's description of the advantages that digitalization in general and AI specifically can lead to. They are very large. The most exciting thing of all is that the door has only been opened a crack. We know very little about what awaits. We can only imagine what areas of application AI will offer our country.

I see very great potential, not least when it comes to improving welfare, in order to be able to save human lives and use it in health and medical care to detect rare and serious diseases with greater precision and much earlier than today.

This report will be processed just like other investigations and reports we receive. We will begin work on considering the various proposals. One of the 75 we have already been able to present. Some are more far-reaching and require further investigations. Others are quite costly and must enter the budget work. Some perhaps can be handled in the digitalization strategy we are working on, and others may need to be handled through special government assignments.

Let us see. We will analyze proposal by proposal in this work.

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Helena Gellerman (L)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the answer.

Let me be a bit more specific. Sweden is considered one of the world's most innovative countries. For Sweden to become a leading nation in innovation with the help of AI, we need to create a culture where AI is used and explored by everyone. By having people experiment with AI, we can achieve an increased understanding.

Sweden was unique in the world when we started the home-PC reform. There, at least young people were given the opportunity to start testing and playing with a computer at an early age. Can we create a similar home-chat reform?

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! It is an interesting idea that occasionally comes up in various seminars and debates. Now, there is nothing such in the government's budget. I gladly accept proposals, ideas, and thoughts on how such a reform could look. I receive, if I am to be honest, somewhat different clear answers to that question.

To promote increased use and increased innovation, I believe that the state and the government need to work on the regulatory conditions for it. We need to increase the amount of data, allow greater data sharing, which is underway through many different proposals, and not least invest in research and development. And that is what the government is doing.

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Linus Sköld (S)

Mr. Speaker! The Tidö Agreement stipulated that it would be desirable to introduce a disclosure law in Sweden so that all public employees would be required to disclose their students. The investigation was presented this week, and major exceptions were made from that principle. Among other things, school staff were exempted. Johan Pehrson called this the Liberals' victory. I would rather say that it is civil society's and specifically the unions' victory, if it is anyone's victory for the time being.

Just a few weeks earlier, the Sverigedemokraternas education policy spokesperson told the Riksdag that they intended to go head-to-head regarding the reporting legislation. No exceptions would be made. Therefore, I want to ask Johan Pehrson if he can guarantee that no school staff in Sweden will ever be forced to report their students.

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the important question. The previous government, on the mandate of this House in a broad majority, commissioned an investigation to be able to execute deportations of persons who do not have the right to stay in Sweden more efficiently, more legally, and faster. It concerns persons who live in a shadow society where social misery is not uncommon and where serious crime also occurs.

The government and the coalition partner Sverigedemokraterna agree that when it concerns persons who do not have the right to stay in Sweden, it should not be the case within the school that employees need to report a child to another authority, for example the Swedish police, if that person may be staying in the country without papers. On the other hand, the school will, of course, be obliged to report very serious crimes committed by students in the school. The same applies in healthcare.

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Ludvig Aspling (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Education Minister Johan Pehrson recently demanded that a group of so-called Palestine activists who defaced the Liberals' party premises in Eskilstuna should be sentenced to prison or, if they are foreigners, deported. It is easy for me as a Sverigedemokrat to empathize with that. Our party has experienced similar and worse things.

"Graffiti" is normally classified as vandalism or petty vandalism and is in practice a fineable offense, even in cases where there are political motives behind it. Does this mean that the Liberals now support that even fineable offenses should, in normal cases, lead to deportation? If so, I welcome the development and look forward to making that policy a reality together with Johan Pehrson's party.

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! As the question is posed by the member, the answer is no. There is a very big difference in how one presents something. If someone writes "SD is crazy" on a bench here, it is graffiti. One is not supposed to write on the benches, Mr. Speaker. I hope that no one does. There are papers and pens available.

If, on the other hand, one engages in making threats with, as in this case, symbols, one does it to, as here, intimidate the Liberals into silence. And if there is intimidation, threats and violence against persons in other parties, it is equally reprehensible. I make no distinction there.

My personal opinion is that when someone attacks Swedish democracy and any one of the parties sitting in this chamber, this person should be sentenced to a significant prison term, and if one is not a Swedish citizen, they should be deported.

(Applause)

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TALMANNEN

I reacted a bit too late and did not realize that the question was not about the Minister's area of responsibility or the exercise of duties - I say this as a reminder.

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Ulrika Liljeberg (C)

Mr. Speaker! The AI Commission's roadmap has now arrived, and among other things, the importance of digital security is emphasized there. At the same time, legislative work is underway in the EU, and the Swedish government is in favor of installing digital backdoors to all mobile phones' encrypted communication services, called chat control. The Dutch government says no to chat control, as it would entail serious security risks for their country's digital resilience. They emphasize instead the importance of access to end-to-end encryption.

I have now posed questions to Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer in an interpellation and to the Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin in a question period, and neither of them can answer how the Swedish government analyzes and assesses chat control in terms of Sweden's digital resilience. So now I pose my question to the minister responsible for digitalization: How is chat control assessed to affect our country's digital resilience?

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Member Liljeberg for the question. I may have to be a bit tedious and formalistic and continue to refer to the Minister for Justice, for it is he who is responsible for chat control and the negotiations taking place within the EU regarding this.

My department and the division I am responsible for at the Ministry of Finance have, as far as I am aware—unless it has been done in secret or behind closed doors—not conducted any such analysis of how precisely this planned legislation would affect digital privacy. It should be said that it has not yet been introduced.

Unfortunately, this must be my answer.

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Jacob Risberg (MP)

Mr. Speaker! On Tuesday, the AI Commission submitted its report to the government. The report provides an overview of where Sweden stands in the field of AI and what opportunities exist in various fields regarding innovation, skills development, growth, healthcare, infrastructure, etcetera. The report also provides a number of proposals to the government on how the work with AI can be promoted and what political steering will be needed.

What is interesting is rather what is missing from the report. All AI today is built on already existing information, above all that which is available via the internet. The absolute largest part of this information is published by what we loosely call the global north or the Western world. In other words, there is a real risk when we rely more and more on AI that AI contributes to increasing or reinforcing the gaps that already exist towards the global south.

How does the Minister for Civil Affairs intend to work to ensure that AI does not become yet another instrument that reinforces the gaps towards the global south?

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! The amounts of data will increase. It is a pity that I do not immediately remember one thing I heard about in one of this year's Sommar i P1. There, it was spoken about how the amount of data is increasing exponentially and will continue to increase. This amount of data will also increase all over the world, not just in the more developed countries or in the Western world. We will get more precise and more advanced AI products as the amount of data increases and as the regulatory conditions allow us to share more of this data.

The EU has quite recently adopted an AI Act, which is now to be incorporated into Swedish legislation. It shall ensure an ethically sustainable development of AI, as there are also risks with AI that are of an ethical nature. There, among other things, the subject that the questioner raises can absolutely be part of a balancing act.

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Mats Sander (M)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall. It concerns cognitive diseases, for example Alzheimer's, which lead to dementia. These are fatal diseases, often with prolonged courses that affect both the individual and relatives very severely.

The Minister was previously a Member of Parliament and worked then, among other things, with proposals to develop a national dementia strategy.

Now the Minister has the opportunity to take this work further in the government. I wonder, Mr. Speaker, if the Minister can provide an update on how the work is progressing and what measures are planned to meet the growing challenges within dementia care. Perhaps she can also say something about how we in the Riksdag can support this work.

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Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Mr. Speaker! Many thanks to Member Sander for a question that is very close to my heart! I had the privilege of drafting the Riksdag's first motion on cognitive diseases, and a number of the requests and the basis in that motion form the foundation for the work of developing a new dementia strategy that is currently taking place in the Government Offices. The old one is from 2018, and there is a great need to renew it. That work is ongoing and will soon be presented.

It is about one of our greatest diseases of the people. The government has increased the appropriations and resources to, among other things, Svenskt Demenscentrum in a long series of areas, Karolinska University Hospital and the National Competence Center for Relatives. Particularly interesting to mention is perhaps that at Ängelholm Hospital, there is specialized competence in the area and they have been granted 3 million kronor to be able to support the municipalities' improved work regarding dementia.

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Mathias Bengtsson (KD)

Mr. Speaker! Smaller child groups in preschool have been a Christian Democratic heart issue ever since 2014; we want to legislate a regulation of the child groups. Research shows that small child groups make a big difference. Children develop their language better, learn to cooperate, and feel safer. When the groups become too large, however, it becomes difficult for the staff to keep up with every child's needs. This creates stress both for the children and for those who have the preschool as their workplace.

Despite this, the children's groups in many preschools today are larger than what Skolverket recommends. We cannot have that. Therefore, it is very positive that the government recently issued a statement that they agree to investigate a regulation of the size of the children's groups. I would like to ask the Minister for Social Affairs when parents, children, and staff can expect smaller children's groups in preschool to become a reality.

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Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Mr. Speaker! Many thanks to Mathias Bengtsson for another issue that is very close to my heart! Nothing is more important than a good start in life, and when preschool functions at its best, it gives all the children who participate, regardless of what background they have, a good foundation to stand on before starting school.

Today we unfortunately see that the conditions for offering an equal education for children vary to an all too great extent. In order to achieve the positive effects when it comes to, among other things, language development, the preschool simply needs to be given better conditions.

Just as the member says, the government has commissioned an inquiry regarding language requirements for preschool staff and on looking at and regulating the size of children's groups. This inquiry has just begun. The work will now be completed, and then the usual preparation will take place. But we hope that as soon as possible, in the near future, we will be able to return from the government's side with a presentation of how this is to look.

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Caroline Helmersson Olsson (S)

Mr. Speaker! The Government has tasked Skolverket with developing vocational courses at the primary school level within adult education. Therefore, I want to ask Education Minister Johan Pehrson: What is the intention of the assignment? What does the Minister envision these courses could be? What jobs will they lead to? Will the Minister ensure that the potential courses will be buildable within our education system?

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Member, for the important question! Sweden has a great need for more skilled workers. Higher education is good, but not everyone can study at universities or colleges. People who can perform a trade are also needed.

That is why this assignment is important. I look forward to the report that will be presented. The goal is to establish courses that meet the labor market's needs, so that people who are unemployed today can enter employment, and which can maintain very high quality.

A lot is happening in the field of education. Recently, the report from the investigation on a new path into upper secondary school was released to ensure that no one is left behind and remains stuck after completing primary school, even if they do not have complete grades or perhaps de facto have very poor grades. We shall ensure that there are several paths in, not least to a vocational education.

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Sara Gille (SD)

Mr. Speaker! According to a report in Sydsvenskan, 111 children have disappeared from Malmö city's schools and are suspected to be abroad, including a 15-year-old girl who has expressed fear of being married off. Despite a decision on detention, the girl's family managed to disappear, which reflects a recurring and serious problem.

This raises questions about how society acts to protect children from forced marriages and other forms of vulnerability, and what mechanisms exist to prevent children from disappearing from schools.

Therefore, I want to ask the Minister of Education what concrete measures the Minister plans to take to prevent this and ensure that children do not disappear from the school system and are subjected to forced marriage or other forms of vulnerability abroad.

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! This is a very high-priority issue for the government and not least for the Sweden Democrats. We in the coalition parties shall together focus on ensuring that young people are safe in Sweden.

Children have their own rights in Sweden. They should not be forced into a life of oppression. This is a promise that I believe all parties in this chamber are prepared to give.

Since then, it is slightly different how we choose to proceed. We are working on the issue, and we have introduced an expanded travel ban - we believe that is central. We also see that more measures are needed, not least the training of employees in preschool and school so that they can and dare to make reports of concern. This is an exchange of information that is highly desirable in order to protect young people from, for example, being taken out of the country and married off to a life in total lack of freedom.

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Peter Ollén (M)

Mr. Speaker! I have a question for Minister for Civil Affairs Erik Slottner. I would like to start by thanking him for the good initiative to appoint an AI commission – something that is truly felt to be needed given that we are in 57th place in the world when it comes to the public sector's handling of AI issues.

Carl-Henric Svanberg mentioned that it would cost 17 billion over a five-year period to become quite comprehensive in the area. He also highlighted the need for public education and that one could have a common computer park available for the municipalities' use so that they can use this better, as well as that small companies should also be given opportunities.

I wonder how the Minister for Civil Affairs views these proposals.

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Member Ollén for the question. It is common that one very quickly at a press conference, for example, when one has just received an investigation, gets the question: What does the Minister think of the proposals? And so one has not seen them.

In this case, quite a few of the proposals were known beforehand because the commission's chairman has been quite active in the media and had presented them before the press conference. But I must still adhere somewhat to the formalities.

Just as I have said earlier during the question period, work will now commence where the government will analyze the various proposals - there are 75 of them. One of them we have said that we will proceed with: to give a large number of agencies assignments in the regulatory letters before next year to work more with AI and work more jointly, above all.

I think many of the proposals are interesting, for example the one about an AI factory - there have been such proposals before - as a way to scale up already existing innovation and existing areas of application so that digital innovation does not get stuck in one municipality or one agency but gets spread and a broad implementation. It is one of many interesting proposals.

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Larry Söder (KD)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister for Civil Affairs Erik Slottner. There has been an election in a large country on the other side of the water, the USA, and we can observe that one of the concrete measures that will come from there is that they are trying to streamline the authorities.

We can also read about other countries that are trying to streamline agencies, for example Argentina.

We know that the minister has been tasked with trying to streamline some of our agencies and merge them. I think it is quite good that one tries to streamline agencies, because then we get money left over for healthcare, school, elderly care and other things that we actually think are important.

It would be interesting to hear the Minister's thoughts on future measures that will be taken to streamline our agencies in Sweden.

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Member Söder for the question. There is an ongoing effort to streamline the state in Sweden generally. Then perhaps the rhetoric from Messrs Milei and Musk is somewhat more blunt than it is in the case of State Councilor Slottner.

Work is currently underway to merge and reduce the number of agencies in Sweden. There are several different initiatives ongoing. We will see the first agency mergers on January 1, 2026, and this has been announced in the budget for next year. But it also concerns several others. A larger investigation is soon to be presented - it concerns how we view the smaller agencies. The National Government Offices (Statskontoret) has submitted a report on the so-called board agencies (nämndmyndigheterna). Here, there are conditions to merge the agencies. It is a way to streamline the state but also to reduce fragmentation in the state, which I also think is very important.

This year, the authorities have had a savings target of 1 percent. It is a way to trim the state so that one focuses more on the core activities. We have also reviewed the communication activities in the state, which at times swell over on their own.

It is therefore several measures that are ongoing.

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Dzenan Cisija (S)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to the Minister for Social Services. On January 1, the age limit for free dental care will be lowered from 23 years to 19 years. At the same time, the transitional rules mean that treatments already started shall continue to be free until the year the patient turns 23. This means that the regions must now themselves bear the costs for these treatments – costs that were previously covered by the state.

What does the government intend to do to compensate the regions for these additional costs, so that their finances, which are already under severe pressure from the healthcare crisis, are not burdened even further?

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Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, member, for the question! In the budget bill, the Government announces the first stage of a dental care reform aimed at ensuring that the high-cost protection for dental care more closely resembles that which exists in other healthcare.

Last year, the government decided to lower the age for free dental care to ensure that dental care becomes more equitable, more resource-efficient, and more accessible for those who are in greatest need of it.

To mitigate the consequences for young adults, the government has also decided to introduce a double general dental care subsidy, of 600 kronor per year, for persons who are 20 to 23 years old. Young adults will, just like other adults, have the opportunity to become eligible for a high-cost protection. That high-cost protection means a 50-percent subsidy for costs over 3,000 kronor and an 85-percent subsidy for costs over 15,000 kronor.

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Göran Hargestam (SD)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister of Defence Pål Jonson. The Sweden Democrats have repeatedly raised the issue of the authorities and their lack of risk awareness. In recent years, we have had a number of scandals - the Transport Agency, the National Archives, and most recently, the Swedish Mapping Authority.

It is clear that our authorities must reprioritize when it comes to security work and increase risk awareness. Sweden is among the most digitized countries in the world but simultaneously has limited protection and high vulnerability. Given the security situation, it is of great importance that the authorities take the global situation seriously and do their utmost to ensure that the operations take total defense aspects into account.

In view of this, I ask: Is it the Minister for Defence's opinion that the Swedish authorities have the risk awareness required to handle the current threats, and does the Minister for Defence consider the security work currently being carried out to be sufficient and performed in a purposeful manner to meet the new challenges?

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Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)

Mr. Speaker! I thank you for the question. The Security Protection Act falls under Minister Gunnar Strömmer's responsibility, but it is clear that there are also links to defense secrecy and the agencies that fall under the Ministry of Defence.

Both Säkerhetspolisen and Must have repeatedly pointed out in their annual reports that we in many agencies need a higher security awareness. Measures have been taken. We have had a new security protection act since 2018 and also a new security protection ordinance. But this is a task that one will need to work on continuously.

My experience is that the authorities within the security sector or the defense sector in general have a high level of awareness. But when it comes to handling broader total defense issues, which affect many more agencies than those in the defense sector, there is still room for improvement.

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Oskar Svärd (M)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister for Education Johan Pehrson. Digitalization and AI have become an increasingly larger part of our lives in recent years. AI development is moving fast and contributes many positive aspects to our development. With the help of AI, we can better identify diseases, reduce traffic accidents, develop medicines, and reduce our energy consumption. AI also has a potential to increase our growth.

But at the same time, there are now alarms being raised about AI cheating at colleges and universities in quite many parts of Sweden. Students use AI as help when they, for example, do a home exam. This has contributed to several students across Sweden being disqualified from their studies.

My question is the following: How does the Minister for Education view the problem of students cheating with the help of AI?

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! The Minister for Education sees this as very bad. It is a deplorable development. I belong to those who, like many questioners here today, believe that AI has much to offer Sweden as a nation. It is about prosperity, about meeting climate threats and security threats, and about medical technology breakthroughs. This is fantastic if one uses it correctly.

But it is also required that we educate ourselves fundamentally. There is no shortcut for students when it comes to making their way through higher education. It is therefore clear that this is very serious. I receive other reports that are appalling. One has difficulty reading, not in first grade but during the first term at college and university.

I have tasked the Office of the Chancellor of the University to look into the issue of how AI tools are being misused, which prevents students from struggling, striving, and learning important things.

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Gunilla Svantorp (S)

Mr. Speaker! I have a question for Minister Slottner. My question also concerns the AI Commission's presentation. All of us who were there were able to listen to it the other day.

Above all, I was struck by what Svanberg said about everyone being included. It has been one of the most important things in our country that we have actually ensured that all citizens can keep up with new technology. That is what has made us positive towards the technological shifts that are occurring. We have, in fact, ensured that everyone can be included.

A question to the Minister is: What are the thoughts regarding exactly this matter of everyone being able to participate? Svanberg highlighted exactly the popular education in his presentation. That is being cut. This simply does not add up.

Then I must catch Niels Paarup-Petersen's question. He spoke about political unity. That is something I truly hope for as well. Political unity is not about us saying yes to a finished proposal, but about us, as an opposition party, also being involved. How does the Minister intend to ensure that we are involved in the digitalization strategy?

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! This is, of course, an incredibly important issue regarding digital inclusion in general. It is not just about AI; the more digitized our societies become, the harder the digital exclusion risks hitting those people who have difficulty maneuvering in the digital world. Therefore, this is such an important issue.

Just before I came here to the question period, I had a meeting with large parts of the disability movement specifically to discuss digitalization issues with them. People with different disabilities belong to the groups that are most digitally excluded.

The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority will return to the government within a few weeks with proposals and measures that we can take to increase digital inclusion. Digital idag, which was previously a Wallenberg-funded foundation, is now located at PTS and is therefore a government mandate.

These are important issues that we are already working on today, but which we will need to work on even more in the future. I am also pleased that the AI Commission provides concrete proposals to the government in this work.

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Carita Boulwén (SD)

Mr. Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall.

Today, the social services shall, within 14 days, assess whether a report of concern shall lead to an investigation. If not, the documentation is only saved chronologically. A new legislative proposal suggests a searchable municipal database for these preliminary assessments, which is positive. But to strengthen the protection for children and young people, we see a need to make the information searchable also at a national level so that a new municipality of residence can access previous assessments.

My question to the Minister is: Are there plans to develop the proposed database into a national solution to better protect these vulnerable children and young people?

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Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Mr. Speaker! Many thanks to Carita Boulwén for an important question concerning vulnerable children and the risk of them falling through the cracks when reports of concern cannot be found digitally.

It is therefore pleasing to be able to say that in the new Social Services Act that the government is now preparing and which is planned to be introduced on 1 July 2025, we have gone far beyond what the original investigation stated and also included proposals that, among other things, concern making reports of concern digitally searchable.

This will minimize and hopefully completely eliminate the risk of children falling through the cracks when families, for example, choose to move to another municipality when they begin to end up on the social services' radar.

The answer is yes - with the new Social Services Act, reports of concern will also become digitally searchable.

(Applause)

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Helena Bouveng (M)

Mr. Speaker! I am so incredibly proud and happy that we have a government and a parliament that stand in unison behind the support for Ukraine. That Ukraine's cause is our cause, we have been incredibly resolute. We are in complete agreement, and it has also led to the fact that we have been able to support Ukraine very much from our side.

Unfortunately, there is now a concern that some countries are actually taking back this support and are starting to waver. I am thinking in particular of the incoming administration in the USA. It feels more and more like the Ukrainians are being left to fend for themselves and that even Europe is being left to fend for itself.

My question to the government and Defense Minister Pål Jonson is therefore: What is the government doing to ensure continued high and sustainable support for Ukraine?

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Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Helena Bouveng, for a very pressing question! From the government's side, we appreciate a broad consensus in the chamber regarding the support for Ukraine. It is naturally a strength for Sweden.

Regarding the support for Ukraine, we have consistently said that we may need to prepare for a time when Europe will both need to take greater responsibility for its own security and also for the support for Ukraine. Helena Bouveng also knows that Sweden has a framework of 25 billion for this year, 25 billion for next year, and 25 billion also for the following year, which is a floor but not a ceiling. We do not rule out that we may need to do more there. In international comparison, it is a high figure.

Alongside this, I had a visit from Ukraine's Minister of Defence last week. He told me that there are now great advances in the Ukrainian capacity to produce defense materiel. There are opportunities for us, but also for other countries to invest in that capacity, as then Ukraine will achieve a higher degree of self-sufficiency.

The Prime Minister also gathered a number of political leaders at Harpsund earlier this week to build support for the fact that Europe will need to take greater responsibility for the support to Ukraine.

(Applause)

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Anna Vikström (S)

Mr. Speaker! My question is directed to Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall.

In August, it emerged through the police that several HVB homes are run by organized family-based crime and have individuals from criminal networks among their employees. In the middle of October, the HVB homes were still open.

A new review of Ekot shows that the Inspectorate for Health and Social Services has, in a number of cases, allowed HVB homes to continue despite alarms about poor conditions from individual police officers regarding, among other things, narcotics handling, knives in the rooms and general misery.

The Prison and Probation Service raised the alarm that employees at a HVB home in Uppland could be linked to gang crime, but Ivo considered that the HVB home's activities should be allowed to grow.

What measures does the government intend to take in light of these facts? Ivo himself says that they need legislative changes and additional funds in order to be able to carry out their activities.

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Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you very much for the question, Anna Vikström!

The answer to the question is that the government is doing an enormous amount right now. Not least, during the year, 30 million have been allocated in resources so that Ivo can intensify his review and, naturally, be able to shut down these homes. Let us be crystal clear: criminal activity shall not exist in the same place as children and young people who are to be in the care of society. These are complete self-evidences.

The last 6 million were supplemented with an additional assignment in September, and the government expects a complete oversight, withdrawal of permits for, and closure of the homes that conduct criminal activities.

A major concern in this is, naturally, that Ivo submitted 40 different proposals during the previous Social Democratic government that it did nothing about. We are now working to secure these proposals to give Ivo increased muscles to be able to carry out these closures.

(Applause)

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Robert Stenkvist (SD)

Mr. Speaker! My question is directed to Minister Johan Pehrson.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has stirred up strong emotions among various groups. Many students, as is well known, have also become involved in the issue. We have seen some legal demonstrations, others illegal. Students have, with some regularity, made themselves guilty of political riots ever since the occupation of the student union building. It may be happened in a democracy.

When employees at our universities work together with students and act in an activist manner, a red line is definitely crossed. Teachers at universities have signed petitions to break all cooperation with Israel, to mention just one example.

What does the Minister consider regarding employees at our state agencies acting as pure activists, and what measures does the Minister intend to initiate?

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Firstly, the government considers it welcome that a ceasefire has been reached between Hezbollah and Israel, where much suffering is taking place. Many people are dying and having their lives destroyed in this humanitarian catastrophe, and we hope that more will experience peace in the near future.

Of course, this leads to engaged discussions. People also become upset in Sweden, which is perfectly reasonable, and that this also occurs within the framework of the activities conducted at our universities and colleges is not strange. But it is important that the academy is not polarized but tries to stand outside of this. It is also important to ensure that their autonomy is protected so that the government does not command exactly how one should act.

I have noted that many principals have taken major measures to protect both students and teachers so that they can carry out their activities.

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Lena Johansson (S)

Mr. Speaker! During the Social Democratic government, negotiations were conducted regarding the sale of Swedish submarines to Poland. It is well known that Poland needs to renew its submarine fleet. Therefore, there is great reason to renew the efforts to sell just Swedish submarines to Poland. This is against the background that it would strengthen NATO's naval capability in the Baltic Sea and that coordination of training and operational activities between Poland and Sweden would strengthen the alliance's deterrence capability.

My question therefore goes to Minister of Defence Pål Jonson: What measures does the Minister of Defence intend to take to sell submarines to Poland?

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Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Lena Johansson for the question.

Just as Lena Johansson says, an intensified underwater cooperation between Sweden and Poland has great development potential. Sweden has world-leading submarines, and we have a unique ability to operate in the Baltic Sea area. It is also well known that Poland has issued an RFI, request for information, which Saab Kockums has also responded to.

I was in Poland a few weeks ago, and I have, of course, held a dialogue with my Polish colleague on the issue. We see great potential for deepening the operational cooperation between our two navies if we were to operate the same type of platform.

The government is deeply engaged in the issue, and we see an opportunity to find a long-term strategic partnership with Poland. It is also facilitated by the fact that we have similar views on threat analysis and the importance of supporting Ukraine. There are therefore several reasons for Sweden to work closely and intensively with Poland.

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Mikael Eskilandersson (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Children should not be seen as consumers, and advertising should not be directed at children. But unfortunately, we see how the market in different ways bypasses the law to still target children, and this becomes particularly clear on the internet.

Mobile games and apps directly aimed at children often contain advertisements that one must watch to get advantages in the game or to even progress. This advertising exists even though a game has its largest target group among children, often with a strained justification that the game is for adults or can only be downloaded by adults. Companies then receive payment per view, that is, receive payment for showing advertisements to children.

Children are also exposed when they use chats and websites more or less targeted at children. The list of examples can be as long as one likes.

How does Minister for Civil Affairs Erik Slottner want children to be protected from being exposed to advertising online?

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! This is an incredibly important issue that is being raised more and more. It is certainly due to the fact that the occurrence of advertising or other types of information directed at children is increasing more and more and that it is becoming increasingly difficult to control.

We have many times during this hour spoken about how the digital world is becoming more extensive and that we are becoming increasingly digitized. The Consumer Agency is a supervisory authority in this matter and shall ensure that companies and media platforms follow the laws that exist regarding marketing, including that targeted at children. The EU has taken the initiative for the Digital Services Act, which means that social media platforms become responsible for the content that is posted and can be punished if there is harmful content targeted at minors.

Then I believe that this is a question of the law and the legal system having to keep pace with digital development, and I am not always sure that it does.

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Eva Lindh (S)

Mr. Speaker! The development regarding artificial intelligence, AI, is moving fast. Since Sweden has fallen behind, it is important that Sweden also increases the pace.

This was one of the things that the AI Commission sent along when the report was submitted after half the time, with reference to the fact that the work must start now.

My question to the government and the responsible minister is the following: What will the government do to speed up the process and at the same time ensure long-term thinking and achieve political consensus in the work?

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Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)

Mr. Speaker! We have never had a government that has worked as committedly and actively with digitalization issues and issues regarding artificial intelligence as we do now. I do not sleep poorly at night with a bad conscience about this.

But I also feel stress and pressure on me as minister responsible for digitalization issues to increase the pace. During the two years that the government has been in power, we have launched a number of proposals and measures to promote digitalization in general and to specifically promote the use of artificial intelligence.

The AI Commission is one of these measures, and 75 proposals have now been presented – varying in their character. Some proposals will require funding in one of the budget bills that we submit to the Chamber, and some will require further investigations. Some proposals we can handle in the digitalization strategy, and others we will need to incorporate as special government assignments to our agencies.

There is a great breadth to the proposals, and that is the work that is now taking place at the Government Offices. Thank you for the great commitment to AI issues in the chamber!

Question time was hereby concluded.

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