Response to interpellation 2022/23:262 on the state's presence throughout the country
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD considers that a developed state presence is important to maintain legitimacy and trust 1. KD wants the state to be present throughout the country so that citizens feel that the state is at hand 2. KD argues that agency placements should be purposeful and that satellite offices can be used 2. KD wants the government to continue increasing the number of service offices and that these are established in socioeconomically vulnerable areas. S considers that the state should be present and grow throughout the country and that new agencies should primarily be placed outside Stockholm 3. S argues that state presence is a fundamental prerequisite for a functioning society 3.
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 Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Isak From has asked me whether I and the government are considering measures for the state's presence in the rest of the country to increase, and if so, which ones.
The Government considers that a developed state presence and service throughout the country is important and contributes, among other things, to maintaining legitimacy and trust in the public administration.
As Minister for Civil Affairs, I am responsible for, among other things, the State Service Center and the state service offices. The state service offices offer agency services for the benefit of individuals and companies across the country. The service office operations were conducted in 2022 at 129 service offices. These offices are located in 112 of the country's 290 municipalities.
The number of offices around the country is an important issue, but the government is also working in other ways to develop the service office activities. The government assesses, for example, that there may be further opportunities for service offices and municipalities to cooperate in order to be able to offer individuals and companies a more unified service in more locations. In Malmö municipality and Örebro municipality, such cooperation during 2022 has moved from pilot projects to long-term cooperation.
The government also monitors the distribution of state jobs in the country through the county administrative boards' annual follow-ups. The latest follow-up shows that the number of people employed in the state sector has increased in all counties except three during the period 2016-2020. The metropolitan counties accounted for just over half of the number of people employed in the state sector in 2020. When it comes to state jobs in relation to population size, however, the metropolitan counties rank lower on the list.
The Government proceeds in the governance of the state authorities from the premise that delegation of decisions in employer matters and matters concerning the internal organization promotes an efficient state administration. At the same time, the Government has a responsibility to oversee the consequences of the individual authorities' decisions for the state presence as a whole. The Government therefore sets requirements regarding how the authorities shall handle decisions on their localization as well as regarding the state authorities' responsibility in regional development work. The authorities shall, among other things, when appropriate, in their activities to the greatest extent possible take into account regional conditions and consider the possibilities for decentralization when they plan their activities.
In conclusion, I would like to point out that the Swedish National Audit Office has recently audited both the state service offices and the government's decisions regarding the relocation of agencies outside of Stockholm. In this regard, the government will return to the Riksdag with reports in April and June respectively.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank Minister Erik Slottner.
I read that the government's new payment authority will be located in Stockholm, and that is the starting point for my interpellation. This is a fairly large new authority, and it made me wonder whether the new government has changed its stance on the localization principle that the Riksdag indicated when the bill on a coherent policy for Sweden's rural areas was handled. The starting point in that was that the state shall exist and grow throughout the country, that new authorities shall primarily be located outside of Stockholm, and that more state jobs shall be made possible throughout the country.
In my own home region of Västerbotten, there is a fairly high state presence, especially in Umeå, which is a university city, but also in Skellefteå and perhaps Lycksele. In the other twelve municipalities, the state presence is considerably sparser. Some municipalities have, however, been given the opportunity to try having a state service office, and they have relatively good experience with it. As Erik Slottner says in his response, however, so far only 112 of 290 municipalities have state service offices.
For us Social Democrats, it is interesting to hear how the new government intends to proceed in these matters. As I see it, there are actually no obstacles in the Tidö Agreement, which the governing parties together with the Sweden Democrats have committed to, for this. Nothing says that one must counteract the strategy established by the Riksdag that more agencies should be located in the rest of the country and that state jobs should be created throughout the country.
The basis for a cohesive and functioning society is that the state, the regions, the municipalities and the business sector can work together in a locality. This also makes it possible for, for example, the unemployed, those on sick leave and newcomers - all those who particularly need the state and the state's interventions - to either return to working life, return from sick leave or enter working life when one is a newcomer in Sweden.
It can also concern something as simple as being able to collect the passport easily. The police are a well-established state authority that could take on a larger share. But many people, especially in smaller municipalities such as Sorsele, have to travel very long distances to collect their passport.
I think the new government needs to answer what it actually wants to do so that the state exists in the whole country.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! To begin with, there is no changed direction from the new government regarding these issues. We want the state to exist and be active in the entire country. The state shall have a face in the entire country. Citizens shall, regardless of where they live in the country, be able to feel that the state is at hand for them. One should not feel abandoned by the state because one lives in a certain place or in a certain municipality in the country. It is very important to establish that.
At the same time, agency placements must be purposeful. Regional policy considerations are a parameter to be taken into account when placing agencies, but agency placement cannot solely be a regional policy measure to get activities out of the larger cities. Agency placements must be purposeful, and many parameters should play a role there, including regional policy.
I want to expand on this somewhat. One might not always need to choose a single location for an agency. We have several examples where an agency's headquarters is located in one place, while other offices, satellite offices, are located around the country. It is an interesting model that we could perhaps use for more agencies in cases where it is difficult, for various reasons, to place the entire agency in a smaller town. Then one can perhaps still place parts of the agency in a smaller town.
I view the state service offices and the activities of Statens servicecenters very positively. The number of state service offices has increased at a rapid pace during recent years. I think it is a very good measure.
An evaluation of the state service centers has now been carried out. We will return to the Riksdag with a communication in response to the report. I believe that we can develop the service centers even further. It is an activity that has increased at a rapid pace in a short time. I see this very positively, as I have said. The Government has no other intention than to let the state service centers increase according to the plan that has been established previously.
We are also looking at whether there are more agencies that can offer their services at the state service centers as part of further developing them. I believe there is great potential in doing as, for example, in Malmö and Örebro, where the state service centers are co-located with various types of municipal services. In that way, one gathers the local public activities in one place. Through that, one achieves, on one hand, coordination gains, on the other hand, lower rental costs, and on the other hand, increased visitor numbers, which ensures that one obtains a basis for both the municipal and the state services.
These are some of the measures that the government intends to take to strengthen the local anchoring of state authorities.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! There are more reasons than just regional political considerations. The Swedish National Audit Office's review shows that locations across the country have been very successful. Erik Slottner himself points out that parts of an agency can be relocated to another location.
In the countryside, one can get cheaper local costs, but above all, it is better in the long term as staff turnover is usually lower there. One gets greater continuity in the operations if it is located in Lycksele, Gällivare, Karlstad, or somewhere else in the countryside. One usually gets better results, a better work environment and lower staff turnover, and furthermore, the state gets more out of every invested krona while simultaneously receiving more state service for the citizens.
It is therefore about much more than just regional political considerations. There is also a cost for the state that should be considered. This is about economy but also about the state as an employer.
We who live in smaller municipalities see an important factor in that state-funded employment opportunities can enable private establishment. The matching problem in northern Sweden is currently huge. The industry is searching high and low for people to hire. If a family is to move to Västerbotten to take a new job, perhaps only one in the family can take a job within the industry, while the other has their experience and competence from a state administration. There, an initiative such as this can enable the industry and the green transition.
These are perspectives that the government must take with it in the work so that the state is present throughout the entire country.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I have with interest taken part in the report on the evaluation of the outsourcing policy. I also note to my delight that several positive results have been seen through the outsourcing of state agencies. It is very good.
I would have been worried if it had clearly shown that it had been negative and that a lot of competence had been lost. It would have been very sad and concerning to read that. Then we would really have needed to analyze whether we would need to change the direction or not. It was pleasing to receive part of the report.
That also means that this government, as I have previously said, considers it important that the state shall exist and be active throughout Sweden. We shall have state agencies across the entire country.
I also want to remind that 70 percent of all government jobs are outside Stockholm County. Sometimes one can get the impression that 70-80 percent are in Stockholm County, but that is not the case.
Of course, there is a certain overrepresentation in terms of the proportion of the population. But it is not the case that Stockholm is at the top when it comes to the proportion of government jobs. We have significantly smaller counties that rank higher. Gotland, for example, is among the highest. I know that Blekinge and Norrbotten also rank high.
It was in no way the intention to diminish the issue by saying that it must not solely become regional politics when placing agencies, but that there must also be a sense of purpose. For me, agency placement is also an important regional political measure. One should be able to live and work in the entire country. In that case, state presence also plays a role. Just as the interpellor says, it also plays a role for the private business sector.
It is about the opportunities to live and work and to move to another location. It is also about the opportunity for the private business sector to expand. In that case, it is important that the state is there and offers both jobs and services.
In the interpellation, there is a specific question regarding exactly the Swedish Payments Authority. It was planned to be located in Södertälje. The assessment was made that it was very difficult to obtain premises that were suitable from both security reasons and dimensioning in Södertälje.
In order that the establishment of the Payment Authority would not be significantly delayed, it was chosen to place it in Stockholm. But this should not be seen as any new direction from the government's side that we will now only place agencies in Stockholm from now on.
The Swedish Payments Agency was a case in itself. One must judge each agency individually. For various reasons, the decision was made to place the Swedish Payments Agency in Stockholm. But that should not be taken as a sign that the government now intends to place all new agencies in Stockholm. That is absolutely not the case.
Isak From (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister Erik Slottner!
We expect that a little more will come. Right now, the signal value from the government is perhaps in the other direction when a new large agency is placed in Stockholm. It is time to announce that one should, for example, place state service offices in a number of smaller municipalities that currently lack state service offices. They could perhaps be placed in Bjurholm, in Norsjö, in Malå, or somewhere else.
In any case, there are very good conditions to find municipalities somewhere in the range 112-290. Stockholm is one of the 290. It is clear that there will be many state jobs in Sweden's capital, Stockholm. That is not in question. But the state also needs to be visible and represented in the rest of the country.
It is a contributing factor for regional development. It provides added value to other parts. We Social Democrats who sat in government for eight years know that one needs to steer the authorities. Directors-general tend to want to locate their operations in the metropolitan areas or Stockholm.
One had to include provisions that Arbetsförmedlingen and Försäkringskassan should be present in all municipalities in order for them to do so. It is required that a government governs its agencies for this to be made possible.
Then we look forward to the communication that is to come to the Riksdag with proposals for measures and what the government intends to do to fulfill the decision made by the Riksdag on the cohesion policy for Sweden's countryside, so that it is implemented.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to thank Isak From for the interpellation debate!
The government intends to continue to increase the number of service offices around the country. I personally inaugurated one of these new ones, admittedly in Malmö municipality, but nonetheless. We know that even in Malmö, just like in Stockholm, there are areas and districts that, even if they are not physically located far from the state's various agencies, the service provided—culturally and mentally—lies very far away.
That is why it is important that we also establish service offices in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. I know that, for example, an office is planned in Rinkeby, which I think is very good. I hope now that both Malmö municipality and the City of Stockholm meet this by coordinating and being able to offer municipal services in those centers. That would be very positive.
At the same time, there must be some kind of visitor basis for the service offices. Opening an office in a location where one might receive some visits a week will not be sustainable. It will not be an efficient use of the state's resources. One must truly consider where the different offices should be placed.
I repeat once again that the state shall be present in the entire country. The state shall exist in the entire country. It is important for the service in the entire country but also for people to be able to live and operate in the entire country.
We have jobs all over the country. The government monitors state workplaces through the reports from the county administrative boards. I want to remember that the next report will come in June. We are, of course, following that with great interest. It is an important issue. Thank you for the interpellation debate!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.