Committee Report - the committees' activities during 2023
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned the committee report and the activities during 2023. S emphasizes that the Swedish investigation and committee system is a fundamental value in the administrative tradition that is important to safeguard to ensure high quality in the legislative work 1. S argues that there is a risk that faster processes can lower the quality 1. S emphasizes the importance of parliamentary committees for societal anchoring 1. S notes that women have previously been underrepresented among chairpersons but that the gender distribution has become more even in recent years 1. S considers it important to strive for an equal gender distribution within all groups 1.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Per-Arne Håkansson (S)
Madam Speaker! The Committee on the Constitution has processed the annual committee report through a communication which is hereby submitted to the Riksdag. It might perhaps be convenient to simply pass the matter, as a unanimous committee stands behind it, but I would like to take the opportunity to account for part of the report and at the same time emphasize the importance of the Swedish investigation and committee system. It constitutes, as we also emphasize in the position statement, a fundamental value in Swedish administrative tradition when it comes to the preparation of proposals for legislation and matters of another kind that the government submits to the Riksdag. The Swedish investigation system is worth protecting, and it needs to be emphasized to ensure continued high quality in the legislative work.
Furthermore, the whole matter was highlighted in the government statement when Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stated that he intended to appoint a resource in the Government Offices and the Government Council to speed up the investigation work. In a question period with the Prime Minister, I raised the issue of faster processes. It is obviously commendable in many respects, but there is also a risk that the speed itself causes the quality to become lower. Prime Minister Kristersson emphasized, however, that the quality shall be maintained even if the processes are to be accelerated in applicable cases. I think that for at least this reason, it will be an important task for the Riksdag to follow up on the committee and investigation work - as part of the quality assurance work.
In the communication, the government accounts for the activities of the committees that have been appointed. All temporary bodies initiated due to government decisions are also reported. This applies to both traditional committees with the task of investigating a specific issue and other temporary bodies that have been given a letter designation. In this context, committees also refers to special investigators. I want to emphasize the importance of parliamentary committees where representatives from the parties in the Riksdag are included. Together with leading experts and civil servants, it creates a societal anchoring that is to the benefit of the legislative processes.
The committee report contains information on the composition of the committees, accounts of the committees' work and information on costs for the committee work, the distribution between women and men, as well as subject and person registers. During the past year, 91 committees were appointed, which was three fewer than the year before. 76 committees were concluded; the corresponding figure for 2022 was 62. The total expenses for the committees' work amounted to just over 500 million kronor. Included in the total were such as expenses for consultations, which amounted to 30 million kronor.
Regarding the distribution between women and men, there is a table with comparisons going back 20 years. According to the table, women have previously often been underrepresented in the group of chairpersons and the like. In recent years, however, the gender distribution has been quite even in this group. In the group of secretaries and others, men were underrepresented 2014-2016. After that, the proportion of men increased for several years. During 2020-2023, however, the proportion of men in this group fell and varied between 34 and 38 percent, which means that men are again considered to be underrepresented according to the yardstick in the preparatory works for the Discrimination Act.
Madam Speaker! The committee notes that there is an overall relatively even gender distribution in three of the four categories of participants within the committee system and that the proportion of women is in the majority in the group of secretaries and others. As the committee has previously stated, it is important to strive for an even gender distribution within all groups, why this can be an area to follow up on in the future.
I vote in favor of the committee's proposal in the report and that the letter shall therefore be added to the records.
The deliberation was hereby concluded.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.