Response to interpellation 2022/23:15 on state responsibility for personal assistance
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that the government has the objective of achieving state responsibility for personal assistance 1. M emphasizes that it is responsible to analyze measures carefully based on the commission's proposals to create long-term, stable conditions with high legal certainty and quality 1. M argues that the current shared principalship creates unclear boundaries of responsibility and enables the shifting of costs 2. M argues that it is not possible to anticipate the commission's results and that it takes time to write legally secure and sustainable laws 2 3. M views personal assistance as an important freedom reform 3. C argues that the party has worked for a state overall responsibility to prevent people from being caught in the middle 4. C argues that the government should clearly declare that a nationalization shall be implemented 5. C wants the state to take over the entire responsibility regardless of the number of hours to contribute to more equality and increase the quality 6.
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)
Madam Speaker! Christofer Bergenblock has asked me whether I and the government intend to carry out a nationalization of personal assistance during the mandate period. Christofer Bergenblock poses the question against the background of what appears in the Tidö Agreement and the government bill regarding the ongoing Principalship Investigation, which is to present its proposals by March 1, 2023, at the latest.
The objective for this government is still a state responsibility for personal assistance, and there is broad support for this in the Riksdag. As Christofer Bergenblock actually knows, I have also initiated a committee initiative, which was approved by the Chamber on 26 November 2020, to promptly initiate an investigation that has a state overall responsibility for personal assistance as its objective.
The Principal Responsibility Inquiry, which was appointed in September 2021 on the basis of the announcement, has been tasked with analyzing and submitting proposals on how personal assistance according to the Act (1993:387) on Support and Service to Certain Persons with Disabilities, LSS, and the assistance allowance according to the Social Insurance Code shall be organized in a state principal responsibility.
Neither the government nor I, as an individual minister, can take a position on how a state headship should be organized and implemented before the investigation has presented the proposals and these have been referred. It is only then that the government can take a position. It is also for that reason that the Moderaterna, together with the Liberalerna, Kristdemokraterna and Sverigedemokraterna in the Tidö Agreement, and the Prime Minister in his government statement have clarified that measures for a state overall responsibility for personal assistance within the framework of LSS shall be considered with the objective of a state responsibility. This is also in line with the Riksdag's announcement.
I believe it is a responsible policy to state our objectives and, based on those, carefully and thoughtfully analyze the measures needed to be able to propose a state overall responsibility for personal assistance. It is in this way that we can implement a reform that will create long-term and stable conditions for personal assistance that is of good quality and characterized by high legal certainty throughout the country and opportunities for follow-up and control. This will also be of great importance for everyone who needs personal assistance to be fully involved in social life with the goal of living like others.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister very much for the answer and at the same time would like to take the opportunity to congratulate him on the new position as Minister for Social Services. I look forward to much contact during the coming years.
So to the question. Personal assistance is one of several important support measures one can receive within the framework of the LSS legislation. It is fundamentally about people with disabilities being given the opportunity to participate fully in society, but we all know that it is not as simple in reality as it is in the legislation. The assessments differ across the country, and furthermore, in recent years we have been able to see how it is becoming increasingly difficult to have personal assistance granted, at least over the 20 hours which is the limit for state assistance. Consequently, costs are shifted from the state to the municipality, while individual people with special needs end up caught in the middle.
These are also important reasons why the Center Party has worked for a state overall responsibility for personal assistance, and that is why we included the requirement for a principalship investigation in the January agreement, which was subsequently also supported by the aforementioned committee initiative. The starting point is that this must function better than it does today and that we cannot allow people to get caught in the middle and fall between the chairs due to an unclear division of roles.
Most probably know that nationalization is not what the Center Party primarily calls for in other issues, but it is usually the parties to the left, flanked by liberals and Christian Democrats, who want to see more activities under state management. So when the Center Party says that this is an activity where we should take a state overall responsibility, there is reason to believe that it actually is the case. Now, as was said, it is not only the Center Party that thinks this way, but all parties except the Social Democrats did so as recently as last spring.
Madam Speaker! I would like to remind the Minister that she herself stood behind a sharp wording from the Committee on Social Affairs on March 17 this year with the following wording: "This gives the committee reason to emphasize that the Riksdag has supported an announcement that the state should have an overall responsibility for personal assistance and that the proposal the government is expected to submit to the Riksdag concerns how the state's principal responsibility shall be regulated." Furthermore, it was written that the committee "wishes to emphatically emphasize the importance that the government which, after the autumn election, receives the committee's report in early 2023, promptly prepares this and returns to the Riksdag with a proposal for a state overall responsibility for personal assistance".
What is particularly clear in this writing is that it is not about whether the personal assistance should be transferred to the state, but how such a transfer should look. What I am requesting from the minister is, therefore, not an answer to the "how" question but to the "if" question. From what I perceive based on the answer the minister gave, it is no longer self-evident that a nationalization will actually take place, but only that such a thing shall be considered. This lack of clarity has, in turn, created concern among users, municipalities, and assistance providers.
But I am happy to give the minister a new chance to answer the same question with a clear yes or no. Does the government intend to carry out a nationalization of personal assistance during the mandate period?
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! I would also like to take the opportunity to extend a warm thanks to Christofer Bergenblock, both for the congratulations and for this important issue. Anyone looking back at the parliamentary records can see that I have had a many-year commitment to these issues and that we Moderates, together with representatives for other parties in the Tidö Agreement, have been very engaged and proactive in this matter.
Madam Speaker! Behind us lie two parliamentary terms with both changes and very great concern regarding LSS, with a particular focus on personal assistance. Something that must feel disappointing for Christofer Bergenblock is that the good intentions that the Centerpartiet and the Liberalerna included in the so-called January Agreement were handled in such a way by the Socialdemokraterna that the investigation dragged on. That was also the reason why the Moderaterna, together with the Vänsterpartiet and the Kristdemokraterna, finally saw themselves compelled to submit this committee initiative.
During the debate we held on 26 November 2020, the Centerpartiet did not stand behind our committee's initiative. I quote the former member Sofia Nilsson from Centerpartiet, a person for whom I otherwise hold the greatest respect and with whom I have had a very good cooperation: "It is not just about moving a bag of money from one principal to another, but here a proper investigation is required that gives concrete answers on design, boundaries and target groups - all to secure the assistance for those affected today and tomorrow and all so that those who have assistance today shall also be able to continue to have it when the principalship has changed."
She also emphasized: "A decisive factor for it to be right from the beginning regarding the question of the principal ownership is time. We must allow the investigation to have the time that is actually required. We must not forget, however, that this is the most extensive and complicated change for personal assistance since it was introduced in 1994."
The investigation was finally completed after many hesitations following our committee's initiative. I am now pleased that it is to be presented on March 1, 2023. The investigation's directive was fairly clear. The investigator, Lars Lööf, has also been clear.
We have every reason to hold great expectations for the result that will emerge from the investigation. But it would be irresponsible of me as a minister and representative of the government to anticipate what the investigation will show. I believe that with high expectations we can look forward to March 1, when I hope we will have continued constructive debates on how personal assistance should be designed in the future.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for this answer as well, but unfortunately do not perceive that it became much clearer. I do not doubt the Minister's commitment to these issues at all. Just as the Minister says, her commitment has existed for a long time. I am also pleased that she quotes my former parliamentary colleague Sofia Nilsson, responsible for these issues within the Centerpartiet, who has indeed been very proactive in this area. The previous government, the January Agreement, and the committee initiative also led to an inquiry being established in the end, and that is very good.
But since the new government took office, we have been able to see, issue by issue, how they have abandoned what they said during the election campaign. To say one thing before the election and another thing after the election has become something of a hallmark for the new government. With that said, I hope that will not be the case in this particular issue, but I do not feel entirely convinced.
Over 18,000 people in Sweden were granted personal assistance last year, of which two-thirds had been granted their assistance by Försäkringskassan and thus belonged to the state part of the assistance. For these people, the personal assistance is completely decisive for their participation in society and in many cases also for them to be able to live their lives in a satisfactory way at all.
Personal assistance also accounts for a large part of the state's budget within the area of healthcare, medical care, and social care. In the budget for 2023, the government has allocated almost 25 billion kronor for state assistance, which is the second largest budget item under the expenditure area. Even if a transfer of funds occurs between municipality and state, a state ownership risks leading to increased costs.
We all know that in the end, it is not the Minister for Social Services who controls the budget issues, but the Minister for Finance. Perhaps that is where the shoe pinches? Is the new government perhaps not prepared to provide the funds that will likely be required in the event of a nationalization of the assistance? It is, however, one of the things that must cost money. People in Sweden must have the right to live full lives, whether they have a disability or not.
It should not be the principal or the purse that decides, but what decides should be the individual's needs. For us in Centerpartiet, this is a priority issue, and we will continue to push for a state overall responsibility for personal assistance. That is what we thought when we stood behind the drafting in the Social Affairs Committee this spring, and that is what we still think. At that time, the Moderaterna, Liberalerna, Kristdemokraterna, and Sverigedemokraterna were also very clear in their positions. Not least, the Minister himself was very clear. But now both the election and apparently possibly the preferred date have passed.
When the principalship investigation is presented at the beginning of next year, I hope that the responsible minister can also say with clarity that they will proceed with a nationalization of personal assistance. Of course, the investigation must be sent out for consultation before the bill is written, but that does not prevent the government from clearly declaring that a nationalization shall be carried out. That possibility, Madam Speaker, the minister already has here today in the chamber.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! I can assure Christofer Bergenblock that I and the government share his commitment and agree on the importance of ensuring that personal assistance is designed in a safe and secure manner in the future.
As the government sees it, there are great opportunities to develop the important freedom reform that personal assistance is. It will require a holistic thinking that encompasses all parts required to put together a long-term stable and sustainable regulatory framework and an organization for the intervention of personal assistance. This concerns both laws and financing - a part that the investigation also looks at otherwise.
Furthermore, we naturally see that legal certainty is also an important part of a unified leadership. We also need to have strengthened quality. Continuity has been a major concern, and as the member surely knows, it has been part of the great anxiety that those concerned felt under the previous government.
We need to ensure diversity, freedom of choice, and regular supervision and follow-up for that. Added to that is the so incredibly important exercise of public authority. But everything must function and hang together.
Today's shared primary responsibility for personal assistance enables the shifting of costs. It creates unclear boundaries of responsibility, and it also does not create any real incentives to develop other forms of support, which leads to deficiencies in transparency and follow-up.
Now, the Tidö Agreement states that based on the investigation proposals expected to be presented in March 2023, in addition to measures for a state overall responsibility for personal assistance within the framework of LSS, measures shall be considered with the objective of a state responsibility. I must therefore ask the member to be patient until the investigation comes forward with its proposals. But I repeat again that I believe that both the government and the member have reason to look forward and expect positive things in the future, as the clarity in the directives that Lars Lööf is working according to will give us positive starting values. That is what I am convinced of.
However, it is not possible to predict what an investigation will say. I cannot, as a responsible and accountable minister, stand here and do that. Just as Christofer Bergenblock, the government and the responsible minister, that is to say myself, will have to wait until March 1 to see what the investigation presents.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Madam Speaker! I must apologize for being a bit impatient. I come from municipal politics and am used to things moving at least somewhat faster than they perhaps do here in the Riksdag.
Centerpartiet wants the state to take over full responsibility for personal assistance, regardless of how many hours per week it involves. It is more legally secure, it contributes to greater equality across the entire country, and it raises the quality of the personal assistance.
Personal assistance is about all people's equal right to participate fully in society and to shape their own lives regardless of the disability one has. Therefore, it is important that the government can also clearly state that a nationalization of the assistance shall take place, even if one cannot answer exactly how this shall take place.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! I also have a local government background. I may perhaps recognize the lack of patience that the member expresses, but I have also learned that it takes time to write laws and to enact laws. It is important that they are legally sound and that they are secure, not least from the perspective of what I perceive the member and I share: This must be long-term sustainable, and it must be equal and secure for people across the entire country.
LSS and personal assistance is fundamentally a very important freedom reform. I, as a government minister, and the government also feel a special responsibility because it was a previous conservative government that actually introduced this important freedom reform.
The government now views with concern how the conditions for personal assistance have changed. We safeguard the long-term sustainability and legitimacy of the assistance reform. There are simply every reason to ensure predictability, continuity, and legal certainty. Those who most need society's support shall receive it.
There is, Madam Speaker, in this Riksdag, plenty of strong support for a unified ownership and a state owner. So far, it is well the Social Democrats who are the big question mark.
I, as the responsible minister, and the government look forward with great anticipation to the commission's proposals, which are now approaching.
Madam Speaker! I would like to once again thank Christofer Bergenblock for this important issue, and I look forward to upcoming constructive debates on how we design the future of personal assistance.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.