Response to interpellation 2022/23:105 on resources for social services to prevent young people from being drawn into criminal activity
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that 10 million kronor should be used for central support to social services 1. M emphasizes that the government prioritizes crime prevention work, invests 400 million in parenting support, and intends to establish a crisis social service 2. M believes that criminal networks are expanding and that they have worked for a long time to improve social services' tools 1. M emphasizes that the substantial part is to give social services tools and legislation rather than just money 3. M argues that S did not have the same money when they were in government 4. S argues that 10 million kronor is a vanishingly small investment that is not enough 5 6 7. S demands increased general state grants to create basic security 5. S wants to add an additional half billion to social services. S believes that the government's 6 billion in general state grants is too little and that the current investments involve cuts.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! Ingela Nylund Watz has asked me about and when I and the government intend to report a distribution to the country's municipalities of the grant of 10 million kronor to strengthen the social services' work within the framework of crime prevention work. She has also asked me what facts underlie my and the government's decision to allocate these 10 million kronor and if I intend to take any other measures to strengthen the social services' ability to contribute to the work of breaking the new recruitment to criminal gangs.
As Ingela Nylund Watz emphasizes, it is important to strengthen the social services in its work with children and young people to reduce new recruitment into criminal environments. Preventive measures to prevent children and young people from being drawn into crime pay off, and the social services have a central role in that work. The Government sees a need to expand the social services' toolbox and the possibility to provide more and earlier interventions.
The crime prevention work shall be prioritized during the mandate period. The 10 million kronor allocated in the 2023 budget is one of the initiatives the government is making to strengthen the social services in the crime prevention work with young people. The government intends to return to the issue of how the funds shall be used.
A measure that has been announced in the budget bill for 2023 is to take appropriate measures to establish a crisis social emergency service that shall provide support to the social services in the work against crime committed by young people. The Government also wants to review various possibilities to strengthen parental responsibility and influence parents who do not take their parental responsibility.
Children who are in the risk zone of being drawn into crime and their families need to receive support and help from society. The Government has therefore invested a total of 400 million kronor per year on parenting support. The objective is that such support shall be available in all municipalities. The initiative is also part of the crime prevention work, and the areas that the Police Authority has defined as particularly vulnerable will be given special attention.
It is important that guardians whose children are at risk of committing crimes or have already committed crimes receive the support that is available. The Government is therefore also reviewing the possibilities for the social welfare committee to decide on open interventions without the consent of the guardian and for more and earlier interventions for children and young people.
For some young people, a placement in a special youth home is a possible way to prevent crime. It is the government's firm opinion that all children in need of placement according to the Act concerning Certain Provisions on the Care of Young People, LVU, shall receive it. The government therefore allocates funds for an extension of the subsidy of the municipalities' costs for placement at Statens institutionsstyrelse. During 2023, the government also subsidizes foster home placements to the municipalities through state grants of 200 million kronor so that all children and young people who are in need of such placement shall have their rights and needs met.
Successful crime prevention work requires functioning cooperation between social services, schools, the police, and other relevant actors. For example, there is an ongoing government mandate aimed at strengthening cooperation between school health services, healthcare, and social services so that children and young people receive early and coordinated interventions. More knowledge and research are also needed regarding which interventions actually work. The National Board for Medical and Social Evaluation therefore has a government mandate to produce a knowledge base on interventions within the crime prevention area that social services can use.
Ingela Nylund Watz (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister! It was very many words but very little concretization, one might say.
It would amount to 34,482 kronor and 75 öre per municipality if one were to spread this over the 290 municipalities. It is a vanishingly small investment; I believe the Minister agrees with that.
It is not enough to talk. It is not enough with all the words that exist in the interpellation response. These 10 million will in fact be an illustration of that the government stands truly helpless before the need to work preventatively to counteract that young people are drawn into crime. The illustration is reinforced by the fact that the minister cannot account for how these 10 million can be used.
It is actually in the sense that what the government proposes in its budget in this area is primarily such things that the Social Democratic government has started work on and initiated. The only truly new thing the government has is these 10 million and the investigation that the Minister pointed out regarding measures so that one can take action without the guardians giving consent.
This minimal appropriation is completely insufficient. The state grants that the government provides to the municipalities, which are to shoulder the responsibility of ramping up crime prevention work, are also completely insufficient. For them to manage to take on that responsibility, expand the crime prevention work, and ensure that the social services receive a larger toolbox to manage it, the basic conditions for the municipalities' work in the welfare sector need to function. In that case, the municipalities need increased state grants, especially increased general state grants.
The government is also completely inadequate in this area. The 6 billion in general state grants that the right-wing government wants to give the municipalities in increased allocations does not by any means correspond to the basic needs that, for example, Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner has pointed out. It is up to 20 billion that would be required to meet the basic welfare services.
The government talks very much about that there should now be increased cooperation. The municipalities are to do more. Social services are to be given more tools. Cooperation is to be established with the surrounding community and the police. In that case, a fundamental security is truly needed within the municipalities so that they dare and have the strength to take on additional interventions that are so much needed.
Working preventatively is something we Social Democrats have understood to be a key to success. For a long time, it has been at the heart of our work to stop the new recruitment to the gangs.
Unfortunately, the right-wing government's talk on these issues is just talk. Reality is now running ahead of the right, which previously only spoke of repressive measures.
I hope that the Minister can give me some clarity during this debate as to whether I am drawing the correct conclusions when I state, on one hand, that the 10 million were in fact press release money for ministers, and on the other hand, that it is still highly unclear how the work of social services is to be strengthened. Have I interpreted the Minister correctly?
Patrik Björck (S)
Mr. Speaker! Yes, these 10 million are something many of us have reflected on since the government presented its budget. We have reflected, and we have turned and twisted this question. Ingela Nylund Watz has formulated it in three parts here.
When the government announces how they are to be distributed, we have not received an answer.
What facts that form the basis for arriving at exactly 10 million we have not received answers to.
We have indeed received an answer to the third question regarding other measures, at least partially. The other measures that the Minister is bringing up here concern children in risk zones. There, they are talking about 400 million. I find it a bit difficult to judge whether those are reasonable figures, but it feels less unreasonable than 10 million.
Another measure that is pointed out is that family home placements should be subsidized. In that case, one is talking about 200 million. I also find it difficult to assess the reasonableness of that, Mr. Speaker, but it does not stand out as flagrantly as the figure 10 million.
Since so many people have thought so much about this, I really look forward to getting answers to the first two questions.
What Ingela Nylund Watz did when she calculated that it is 34,000, many of us did on the first day, and we were astonished.
The second question, which is perhaps actually more interesting, is what facts lay behind this figure. We have had a long debate with the Minister for Energy during the day, Mr. Speaker, and the Minister for Energy urged us to try to interpret the government's work positively.
If one tries to take that approach, one could possibly interpret this as an answer: "The allocated 10 million kronor in the budget for 2023 is one of the initiatives the government is making to strengthen the social services in the crime prevention work with young people."
I do not know if the continuation should be interpreted as an answer: "A measure that has been announced in the budget bill for 2023 is to take appropriate measures to establish a crisis social duty" and so on. I do not see that it has been funded.
Is it that measure the Minister intends, or have I misunderstood the answer? Is it then a duty for the whole country, i.e., for all municipalities? It is not enough for a duty in all municipalities - not even in all regions, I suspect - with this appropriation distribution. Is it a positive interpretation, or is it I who have read the answer incorrectly?
It would be exciting to hear what facts underlie this. I think it is an incredibly exciting and relevant question from Ingela Nylund Watz, and I and many with me really look forward to the answer.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! I want to start by really thanking Member Nylund Watz for the question about the 10 million. When I also understand from Member Björck that there are many Social Democrats who have spent a lot of time thinking about what these 10 million might be used for, I become even happier to now be able to stop this headache. It is clear that if one had read what is stated in the government's proposal on this a bit more carefully, one might perhaps not have needed to devote so much thought to this but could have devoted oneself to something more constructive.
When one allocates a sum of 10 million, it is naturally clear that they are to be used to build up central support for social services throughout the country. I thought in my simplicity that everyone had understood that was the case – that 10 million is not a sum that one distributes among 290 municipalities, but something completely different. The question from the member, with reinforcement here from another member, shows however clearly and distinctly that not everyone understood this, and I would like to thank the member for the opportunity to clarify it. In total, just over a billion is invested in the budget on preventive work and on strengthening support for the most vulnerable children.
I am Sweden's first dedicated Minister for Social Services. It is a way for the government to speak about what focus we place on issues concerning the social services and all the mandates linked to it.
If one looks clearly at the Tidö Agreement, one also sees that there are no fewer than 22 points that speak about the preventive work. I recommend reading these 22 points as well.
I can also recommend the 52-point program that the Moderaterna presented during the election campaign, which also focuses on a number of preventive efforts.
I am, Mr. Speaker, very concerned about how the criminal networks are spreading. And I am extremely concerned - and perceive that other members are too - that such young people as ten-year-olds are being recruited into our criminal networks. The reporting from the media over the last few weeks has been about a number of fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds.
I ask myself in my quiet mind what these members, who now so clearly know what needs to happen, and the previous government did for eight years to stop the recruitment of these young people. This recruitment did not, in fact, begin this week or this month. This is a development that has been ongoing for a long time and which the Moderaterna and the rest of the opposition worked strongly on in opposition.
We made a number of announcements to challenge the then red government. To my great joy, we thus forced the old government to appoint some of the investigations that are absolutely necessary to change the legislation. We will be pleased to be able to translate those investigations into legislation to improve the tools for the social services, but also for legislative authorities, in order to be able to meet this extremely worrying development.
Ingela Nylund Watz (S)
Mr. Speaker! The Minister can ironize over the questions that the members pose to the Minister, but it would be more decorous to try to answer them. I take it that the Minister envisions that some kind of central support for social services around the country is to be built up, but one could have been clearer about that in the answer. So it is good that we receive information about this here today.
The billion that the Minister has spoken about in a press release and which is talked about when one is out in the country visiting the municipalities applies to that which we agree on. We agree on almost everything. What sets us apart in our respective budget proposals is that, in addition to what the government has allocated to this area, we add an additional half billion to social services and one krona for every krona that is invested in the police. These are substantial additions.
Furthermore, it is also so—and this I believe the Minister must reflect on a little—that if the municipalities are to be able to take on the great responsibility that social services, schools, and other parts of the municipalities' operations have in a clearer, better, and more efficient way, which I believe we are both interested in, it is required that the municipalities fundamentally have a secure and stable financing for the welfare activities they conduct. If the government then speaks very much about how a large effort is now to be initiated to lift the crime-preventive measures, as if it were something new that this government has come up with, one must start from the beginning. One must give the municipalities the basic conditions so that they can ramp up this work. Press release money is not enough; instead, general state grants of a magnitude that allows the municipalities to manage the task are required.
This is not, in fact, the only task. It is one of the most important tasks, but not the only task that the municipalities have in Welfare Sweden. It concerns schools, elderly care, and various types of interventions for support and service in care. The Minister knows this.
But the 6 billion in general government grants that this government has delivered is far too little for the municipalities across Sweden to be able to take on additional responsibility for this, because in practice, one is now facing cuts.
In our budget proposal, we have put in twice as much in investments in general government grants. We have put half a billion kronor into reinforcements of the social services. And we have said that for every extra krona we invest in the police, we shall invest just as much in the preventive work. These are substantial investments, and they are investments that I believe the municipalities would see as clear so that they dare to invest.
Unfortunately, the government does not go all the way here. There are no news in the government's budget other than these 10 million and the investigation into measures where guardians do not need to give consent. It is quite poor.
We agree on the description of the problem, but we certainly do not agree on the question of whether this government is doing enough or not. My view is that it is just talk.
Patrik Björck (S)
Mr. Speaker! I find it difficult to imagine anything more constructive than devoting time to crime prevention work. I think it is positive to be able to say that we are investing in it. We think it is constructive.
So we have received an answer, at least on two of the questions. We have not received an answer on what facts lay behind when 10 million was proposed, and we will probably never get that. But we have been told that the government intends to return to the question of how the funds should be used, and the answer was a central support of 10 million to be put into the pot and compared with cuts in the billion range for the municipalities. They are therefore to be countered with a central support of 10 million. That suggests, Mr. Speaker, that the minister and the government perhaps should occupy themselves with something more constructive – for example, crime prevention work.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! I really wish this were more than just talk from the Social Democratic members. I am coming to a department, to a legislation that has obvious flaws, where there is much to be done and rectified.
Engaging in crime prevention work is not what the previous government has done. Just as always when the Social Democrats speak, "substantial" apparently means spending money, but what is truly substantial is providing the tools.
I am currently traveling around to the social services across Sweden. I suggest that the members do the same. I also did so during my time in opposition.
The social services and the social workers all around Sweden are demanding more tools, and they have demanded it for eight years.
I also come to a department where the investigation into the Social Services Act has been lying since 2020 because the previously responsible minister has not moved forward with the necessary legislation. When I meet with Sweden's social directors, SKR and social secretaries, they wonder why the work on the law has not progressed.
We will move forward with this legislation. I have notified that we will submit the referral to the Council on Legislation in 2024. Why do I not do it immediately? Well, because there are certain deficiencies. When the investigator Margareta Winberg received her assignment, it was also added that there must be no cost increases. Then, my friends, all these beautiful words about spending billions become quite empty and meaningless! If an investigator is given in their directives that it must not be cost-driving, how is one then to interpret this?
This is the situation I have to deal with right now. There are parts of this that are incredibly good, and we shall proceed with those. We shall ensure that we really have measures that have an effect and that we can have best practice.
We know that there are social services in Sweden that work in an incredibly good and preventive way. We shall ensure and help and see to it that other social services also get the opportunity to do so.
When I travel around, I also meet the social services who point out how difficult it is to achieve long-term work with the high staff turnover. It is the youngest social secretaries who often have to perform the most complicated investigations. They also, as they describe it, stand without the important competence that is needed to handle children and young people heading towards crime. They lack contact and the opportunity to cooperate and collaborate in a good way with the police, the school, and health and medical care. The confidentiality that is part of the obstacle has existed for a long time, but we are on our way to finding legislation that can break down those obstacles.
There are several proposals. I understand that you are really eager to see what this government has achieved after three months. But I can assure you, dear friends, that you do not need to be worried. A fairly large battery of measures will come regarding precisely preventive work aimed at our young people.
Every child deserves a positive future in Sweden. Today, one of the most important tasks is to break the recruitment into the criminal networks.
Ingela Nylund Watz (S)
Mr. Speaker! I have noted that the Minister is traveling around the country to gain knowledge about how the social services operate and to gather input. That is very good!
I can recommend a trip to Södertälje, which I come from. Södertälje would have received an increase of 91 million in general state grants this year with the Social Democrats' budget proposal. It is a municipality with just over 100,000 inhabitants. But with the current government's budget, it will be only about half. That is a big difference for a municipality that has to plan and manage welfare activities. This is an illustration of the point I have tried to make here.
The municipalities must have a secure base to stand on to fulfill their welfare mandates. When we then demand and collectively wish that more should be done in cooperation with other actors to stop the new recruitment to criminal gangs, it must also be known that the resources will come.
When it comes to the billion, I want to emphasize once again to the Minister that we are in complete agreement. What separates us in our respective budgets when it comes to the preventive work is that we want to invest more in increased general government grants. We have 500 million kronor in an investment in the social services, and we invest one krona on the preventive work for every krona we invest on the police.
The previous Social Democratic government has ensured that the municipalities have been compensated threefold for the pressures that have existed during the pandemic and the economic loss that this has entailed. This is much more than the previous bourgeois government did during previous crises. This has made it possible for municipalities to invest.
I want to point out Södertälje municipality's initiatives. They cost 30 million per year. That is quite a bit more than the government's initiative of 10 million for the whole country.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you once again, Ingela Nylund Watz and Patrik Björck, for a good debate!
I truly believe that one of the most important issues we can debate right now is in what way we can help each other with the crime prevention work. I don't actually see that there should be any major political differences. We have a common interest in saving the next generation from being recruited into the criminal networks.
I would very much like to go to Södertälje. It is one of the municipalities I have intended to visit, and there are several others to visit.
I note, however, that during their eight years in government, the Social Democrats did not have the money that they now suddenly have when they are in opposition.
I want to once again emphasize that there are so many tools missing, but which we in this government intend to provide to our social services, our municipalities, the police, and the health and medical care. They must be able to meet all those tedious cases that we today have named lex Lilla hjärtat, lex Tintin, or lex Luna. It is about deficiencies that have been exposed through these children's tragic fates.
We will meet this with legislation that will provide tools to our social services and other authorities to work in an effective and impactful crime-preventive manner.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.