Government administration and statistics issues

Adam Reuterskiöld (M)

Mr. Speaker! The definition of economy is the management of scarce resources. It is something that we must become much better at.

This motion report concerns state administration and statistics issues, but what I will primarily focus on is the governance of the state as a whole.

The State's task is to create the greatest possible benefit for the citizens. How do we do that? The answer to that question is perhaps not always more resources for all activities. The goal of the policy we debate and decide on here in the chamber must be to provide the best possible conditions for our authorities, municipalities, and regions to create that benefit. Every new law, ordinance, and guideline, and every new way of working that we or our authorities and agencies decide on must have this as a result.

At the same time, I believe, Mr. Speaker, that we have reached peak regulation. I do not believe that the solution is more rules and laws to regulate all these things.

The Swedish state has today total expenditures of over 1,300 billion kronor. At the same time, there have been discussions about changing the surplus target. It might perhaps provide 20, 30 or 40 billion which would increase the possibilities for investments in state, municipal and regional activities that were truly needed. But if we instead were to streamline and reprioritize, we could free up significantly larger resources.

The estimated reform space lies somewhere around 50-60 billion per year, but a common estimation of the potential for change in a company is between 5 and 10 percent. This would, by simple mathematics, lead to between 65 and 130 billion per year in possible changes in reprioritizations. This is significantly more than the review of surplus targets and the reform space combined.

This is also in line with the AI audit that has been conducted by Jens Nylander regarding the handling of invoices among municipalities and regions. It is an audit of 236 municipalities and eleven regions where 30 million invoices have been analyzed. A number of astonishing handlings of costs have been seen, but it has also been concluded that there are, on average, approximately 90 billion in possible changes and prioritizations. In everyday speech, one could call it savings, but I would like to speak of efficiency rather than savings.

With this said, it is not that the state, the regions, and the municipalities are conducting poor operations. On the contrary, the operations are overall fantastically good and efficient in many ways. Discussions about efficiencies and changes in the way of working are something that is constantly present in the business sector, but it is very rarely that we discuss this here in the Riksdag. We concentrate on more resources, which becomes the answer to all questions.

We will not always be able to do what we have always done but better. We will also not be able to do what we have always done better and cheaper. We need new processes to achieve increased utility for society. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, it is not always the cost bearer who has the greatest potential for change. It is not the savings in the activities themselves that are the greatest savings.

It is often state laws and regulations that have been created here and at other state agencies that are the biggest cost driver for municipalities and regions. Even the EU has identified red tape as one of the main reasons why Europe is losing competitiveness.

A number of motions in this report are about reducing the number of authorities. It is definitely a good way to manage administrative costs and limit the state's costs. But that is not the only place where the potential for savings and efficiency lies. We must find new ways to handle our ingrained patterns.

The government is today carrying out work in many ways in this area. Overall savings have also been introduced in this year's budget, which is a good instrument to increase the incentive to streamline. But in addition to this, the state has also very recently added 6 billion kronor to the regions, because sometimes one needs to invest and increase the cost in order to be able to reduce the cost and increase the benefit at a later stage.

Change processes are always difficult. Often, resources and investments are required to save in the long run. Therefore, the government is now also adding this to the operations. The state can be held responsible for cost increases and inflation, but our municipalities and regions also have their own responsibility to manage this and conduct an efficient operation.

Mr. Speaker! I would like to conclude by moving to approve the committee's proposal.

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Joakim Sandell (S)

Mr. Speaker! Today we are to debate the Committee on Finance's report 25 State Administration and Statistics Issues. We Social Democrats have three reservations in the report, which we of course stand behind. I move, however, for approval only of reservation 3 in the report, which concerns local state services.

Mr. Speaker! Regardless of where in the country we live, there are greater similarities when it comes to the needs we have than when it comes to what sets those needs apart. A job to go to, a school that functions, and healthcare if misfortune or accident strikes is something we all need, regardless of whether we live here in the capital, in the countryside, or in those parts of the country that border any of our Nordic neighboring countries.

With this said, there are challenges to address that can differ depending on whether we are here in the capital, in the countryside, or in the parts of the country that border any of our Nordic neighboring countries.

Mr. Speaker! I thought we could start here in the capital. Here we can visit national cultural institutions such as Nationalmuseum, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Operan, Dramaten and Historiska museet. Here we have access to culture in various forms of absolute top class.

All of these cultural institutions are intimately connected with the buildings in which they operate. The very purpose of the properties they are in is, therefore, that the relevant cultural activities are to be conducted there.

Here a problem arises: Statens fastighetsverk or perhaps actually the management of Statens fastighetsverk. But, Mr. Speaker, before I go into what we consider to be the problem, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the new management of Statens fastighetsverk. The Government appointed Max Elger as the new Director-General and Irene Svenonius as the new Director-General last week. It will undoubtedly be interesting to follow this. Irene Svenonius and real estate – it undoubtedly rings a bell somewhere. I want to remember that there was some writing in the local newspapers here linked to a construction project. We can well hope that there will be no new constructions in terms of the cultural institutions. I hope that this will turn out well.

Statens fastighetsverk has today two different rental models that the agency can apply to its properties. These are partly so-called cost rent, and partly market rent. Cost rent is applied for the five national cultural institutions that I mentioned earlier. Regardless of which model is used, the rent can erode the appropriations to the cultural institutions. There is thus a fundamental conflict between Fastighetsverkets mandate to secure culturally and historically important buildings in the long term and the fact that the activities located in these buildings should be able to develop their operations and not have to cut back on them to afford the rent. They reasonably cannot move away from the buildings. Where would they move in that case, and what other activity would we then have in the existing buildings?

We have ended up in a situation where every increase in the businesses' grants is eaten up by ever higher rents. We give with one hand and take with the other. This cannot be a reasonable development.

We therefore welcome the government's initiative to review how the renovation costs shall be distributed between the Swedish National Museum of Natural History and the National Property Board and the general review of the cost-rents that has been initiated. For a long-term solution, we believe however that cross-bloc dialogue is required. The cultural properties need long-term solutions.

Mr. Speaker! Here in the capital, we have a large state presence. To put it a bit cautiously, I can say that it looks different around in our elongated country. The state has an important responsibility to ensure that there is good service for the citizens throughout the country. The work to strengthen cooperation between the authorities locally was intensified during the previous Social Democratic government. More service offices were established and coordinated under Statens servicecenter.

Now there will soon be 150 state service centers around the country - in rural areas, in smaller towns and in vulnerable areas - where one can receive service of a simpler nature from authorities such as Försäkringskassan and Arbetsförmedlingen.

We believe this work should continue. The government should establish state service offices in more municipalities so that there will be more equal accessibility to the state's public services. It is not sufficient with 150 state service offices if the state is to live up to the responsibility that there should be good service for the citizens in the whole country.

In Dalarna, there are service offices in 7 of 15 municipalities. In Smedjebacken, the business sector is investing, primarily through Hitachi, but the state has withdrawn. Försäkringskassan disappeared a long time ago. Arbetsförmedlingen closed its local office eight years ago. The police closed in connection with the pandemic and have not reopened yet. A few years ago, remote blocking was introduced on the railway at the steelworks. Then the stin disappeared - train clearers is what it is actually called these days.

So, there are no government agencies left in Smedjebacken. This is how the situation looks in many municipalities across the country. The expansion of service offices therefore needs to continue, both for equal service across the country and, in fact, for the state's legitimacy.

Mr. Speaker! Due to differing national rules, laws, and practices, so-called border barriers sometimes arise when people and companies work, move, or relocate across the Nordic borders. This can range from the regulatory framework preventing a certain group of people from living in one country and working in another, to costs becoming higher and administration more extensive when activities take place across the border.

The Nordic Border Obstacles Council and several other parties are working continuously to resolve the problems with border obstacles between the Nordic countries. This concerns tax, the labor market, social security, and so on. At the same time, new border obstacles arise when new national laws are enacted or when EU directives are implemented.

One of the six thematic areas that the Barrier Council has worked on since 2020 is cross-border statistics. This is by no means the biggest barrier, but reliable statistics are often a prerequisite for well-considered policy. This applies to both statistics and registers of assets as well as cross-border statistics.

(Applause)

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Adam Reuterskiöld (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Joakim Sandell, for the presentation! I want to start by saying something regarding the discussions about individuals. I am completely convinced that the government appoints competent individuals from different parts of the political organization, and I have great confidence regarding both Max Elgers' and Irene Svenonius' work in managing the state's properties. It is an important area.

When it comes to rents, it is important that they are managed in a good way and that it is clear and transparent what the operations cost. One cannot lower the level of the rent and pretend that the cost does not exist. It is crucial that every operation has the opportunity to bear its own costs in a good and efficient way. It is naturally also important to know that it works.

Lowering the rent for an operation simply because it is managed by a cultural institution is not a good way to manage the state's resources. It must be clear how we do this. In the rent setting, this is an important instrument to be able to manage it.

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Joakim Sandell (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Member Reuterskiöld, for the point! What we primarily oppose is that there is a situation where there are press conferences about providing more money and making more investments in culture while we, not least now considering the inflation in recent years, have seen ever higher costs for rents.

That is actually how it is. I can see this in many places around the country. In municipalities, they have increased the school fee at the same time as they have increased the rent in their own properties. Then the appropriations are, so to speak, hollowed out. That is what we consider to be the problem here.

We need to find a model. I have, in any case, the impression that when we decide to invest in culture, we do so because we want to see more culture, not so that more money should go to rents. That is why I welcome the government's appropriation to review the models. Then we would like to see cross-bloc conversations so that we get long-term solutions and so that we get better and more successful culture in these institutions than what we have today.

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Adam Reuterskiöld (M)

Mr. Speaker! Yes, the investigation into rents, rent levels, and how to technically solve this is something that has existed since previous governments. It has been concluded that market rents are a good way to handle changes in cost structures.

I think that giving more to culture is a good priority under certain conditions. But to do it by lowering rents and pretending that property costs are not part of the cultural costs, I think is a bad way. I think it is important that one highlights the cost increases that exist in the property stock and that one does not hide it and let someone else pay. Therefore, I think it is very important that we handle the increase for culture in exactly the same way as one handles the increase for various resources in different areas within state, municipal, and regional administration. It is, therefore, about a transparency and a clarity in terms of where costs should lie.

Then I believe that inflation costs must be handled in the same way as in other administration.

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Joakim Sandell (S)

Mr. Speaker! We have a somewhat different view on culture and the importance of culture in a society. I do not really see it as just any other activity, but culture has an intrinsic value.

We often talk about how we find ourselves in the most threatening situation since the Second World War, and in this discussion, I thought of Winston Churchill. He was not a party comrade of mine, but he was a successful conservative politician. It is said that in the midst of a burning war, he received a proposal for savings on culture, on the grounds that one should not invest in culture during a burning war but rather use the money to invest in the military. Churchill is said to have then looked at the proposal and then said: But if we do not have culture, why should we fight?

I think it was a good way to convey the importance of culture in a society that is free and democratic. Therefore, in my world, it is not the same as any other activity whatsoever.

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Dennis Dioukarev (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Today we are debating the Committee on Finance's report FiU25 State Administration and Statistics Issues. As the name suggests, the report deals, among other things, with the structure of state agencies, digitalization and IT in state administration, measures against corruption, undue influence in state agencies, and so on. Fundamentally, the report is about providing state agencies with the tools and conditions to be able to carry out the decisions that the Riksdag and the Government have made - an important democratic task.

The Swedish agency tradition rests on self-evident values such as objectivity, impartiality, and the administrative law principles of socially beneficial, purposeful agencies. In order to achieve purposefulness in the administration and to manage the state's resources, it is important that the right agency does the right things. To ensure this, a holistic approach to the agency issue needs to be taken and an agency inventory carried out.

What we mean by this is that it needs to be clarified which agencies may not be socially beneficial or if their actual mandates have been overshadowed by irrelevant considerations. The general starting point should be that agencies, in addition to serving the public, are intended to execute political decisions, inform, and investigate specific matters within the agencies' areas of operation. Politics, on the other hand, shall be conducted in the parliamentary assemblies and in the public debate.

Authorities that are politicized or redundant, or whose mandates overlap with the mandates of other more efficient authorities, should be phased out or reformed in order for them to focus on their core mandates.

For example, Sieps, the Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, should be given a changed mandate. The agency could be reformed so that Sieps becomes more of a monitoring body directed towards the EU's political development and administration and towards the consequences that changes in these areas have for Sweden. Instead of being something that today can most closely be likened to a publically funded advertising agency for the EU, the agency's activities could include establishing an EU-account with a focus on how much self-determination has been moved from Sweden to Brussels. Sieps could take on a general role as an implementation council that has the task of reviewing and assessing the socio-economic consequences of the implementation of EU legislation.

Mr. Speaker! The authorities and their budget appropriations are not self-evident. With respect for the taxpayers' money, authorities, just like taxes, laws, and political reforms, must be scrutinized, evaluated, and if necessary, reformed or phased out.

I note the government's initiated work on the issue, including that a special investigator has been tasked with conducting a review of small agencies. It is a good start. It is good that the policy has now initiated this process and that it is moving in the same direction as the Sverigedemokraterna have motioned for. But until we have seen the result of this work, we intend to continue to drive the issue in the Swedish Riksdag.

In summary, the Sweden Democrats' proposal would strengthen parliamentary democracy, cohesion, and the rule of law in Sweden.

I move for approval of reservation 1.

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Ciczie Weidby (V)

Mr. Speaker! The trade union ST, which organizes state employees, has on several occasions pointed out the problems that the state's use of staffing companies entails. In addition to the fact that the state uses staffing companies on a much larger scale than when the possibility was introduced, there has also been a change regarding the content of the hired persons' work tasks. Those hired from staffing companies are no longer used solely within support functions, for example reception, switchboard and administration, but also for work in the agencies' core activities, that is, the exercise of public authority.

According to the trade union ST, this development can partly mean a risk to the public's opportunities for insight, control, and accountability, and partly have negative consequences for the quality of the processing. In the long run, it means a degradation of the Swedish administrative model. According to ST, the state should therefore cease using staffing companies for core activities and core tasks.

State administration and statistics issues

Vänsterpartiet shares this criticism that the state is increasingly hiring staffing agencies. Alongside the obvious problem that private legal entities thus become part of the authorities' core activities, there are two additional problems in this context that I would like to highlight.

The first thing is that the use of staffing agencies creates a division of the staff, where those hired out face a higher threshold for participation in and influence over the work. This affects both the work itself and the possibility of conducting union activities.

The second thing is that the widespread use of hired-in staff involves a large cost for the state. During 2016, ST's union newspaper Publikt reviewed fifty state employers - agencies - where there were consultants. They had been hired in on a full-time basis for several years.

According to the review, several agencies are completely dependent on expensive consultants, which means large costs for the state. We have previously heard here in the chamber both Moderates and Sweden Democrats talk about how important it is to be economical with the state's resources, to be efficient and to have respect for the taxpayers' money. This should then also be something that the government parties with support parties put forward.

Vänsterpartiet believes that the state's use of staffing agencies should be phased out completely. This is partly about the state being a good employer, and partly about safeguarding the exercise of public authority. A first step is to clarify this in the state agencies' employer policy.

It is desirable that the state acts as a positive role model in fundamental employer issues. If the state leads by example and ensures that problematic staffing solutions are avoided in its own personnel supply, it can hopefully spread to other parts of the operations and the labor market.

With that, I move for approval of reservation 5.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(Decisions were made under § 17.)

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