Response to interpellation 2022/23:277 on social dumping between municipalities
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD argues that the government has deprioritized the investigation into social dumping 1 and that the municipal economic equalization system is being analyzed to see if it compensates for socioeconomic factors 1. KD emphasizes that social dumping is a complex issue where municipalities interpret the Social Services Act differently and that the government intends to review the settlement regulations 1. S argues that social dumping is systematically used to move people with social problems to rural municipalities 2. S believes that the equalization system does not compensate for these costs 2 3. S criticizes the government for having scrapped the investigation and argues that the wealthy municipalities dump their vulnerable residents on smaller municipalities 4 5 3. S wants to know what the Minister for Civil Affairs and the government intend to do about the difficult and large problem of social dumping in Sweden 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! Denis Begic has asked me what I intend to do about the problems that have now been discovered in several municipalities, what reasons lay to the ground for the decision to shut down the investigation into social dumping, and what concrete measures I intend to take to stop social dumping.
Those who follow the interpellation debate and have followed previous interpellation debates may perhaps remember that this question was discussed twice only a few weeks ago with almost identical questions.
In previous answers to interpellations in the Riksdag in February 2023, I have answered that the government, during a review and prioritization of all ongoing investigations, decided to conclude the investigation Counteract social dumping (dir. 2022:56). At the same time, I accounted for ongoing and upcoming measures that are relevant to the issue of social dumping.
The municipal economic equalization system equalizes for differences in tax capacity and for cost differences which, among other things, are due to socioeconomic factors, for example education and income levels and length of residence in Sweden. The Equalization Committee (dir. 2022:36), which among other things looks at the system for cost equalization, has been tasked to analyze whether it compensates to a sufficient extent for socioeconomic factors and shall, if necessary, propose changes.
There are also other government inquiries and agency assignments related to the issue of social dumping, for example, the county governorates' assignments to support the municipalities in their work to prevent evictions and counteract homelessness.
The investigation on tightened controls during property acquisitions (dir. 2022:93) shall propose measures to tighten the control of property transfers in order to protect residential tenants against unscrupulous transfers of rental properties and to prevent the Swedish property market from being exploited for crime.
Social dumping is a complex issue that spans several areas. It involves, among other things, that the municipalities interpret and apply the Social Services Act and the Settlement Act in different ways. The Government intends to review the settlement regulations in accordance with the Tidö Agreement. Good conditions for reception in the municipalities are central for the integration of newcomers to function.
Finally, it should be pointed out that a large proportion of those who have been subjected to social dumping have been newly arrived, and that migration to Sweden has decreased significantly during recent years and appears to do so also in the future.
The Government is concerned that there is a well-functioning cooperation between the municipalities and will continue to follow the issue.
Denis Begic (S)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to thank Minister Erik Slottner for the answer. I do not know how many debates that have been held on this previously. But I have been given the assignment to sit in the Committee on Civil Affairs, and the Committee on Civil Affairs is responsible for the housing issue but also for family law.
In this assignment, which I have received from the Swedish people, I have visited various municipalities to discuss these issues. In these municipalities, especially in rural areas, I have been given a question to take with me. It is social dumping.
I hear in the Minister's answer that it is primarily about newcomers. But municipalities testify that this phenomenon is no longer just about newcomers. It is about actively moving people with social problems from one municipality to another. The degree of need among these people varies, of course. It is therefore not only the newcomers who are being exploited by being moved, but this is used broadly. Therefore, one cannot ignore the fact that social dumping is used systematically to move problems from one municipality to another municipality.
Hällefors municipality, which is located in Bergslagen, is one of the municipalities that has major problems with social dumping. The normal budget for social interventions in a municipality of this size is approximately 7 million kronor per year. In Hällefors, it is 14 million kronor. This doubling is not compensated for by the equalization system. When wealthy municipalities ensure that they have employees who look for apartments in the municipalities in the countryside, it becomes problematic for the municipalities that are to receive the people.
Getting an answer that there are some investigations ongoing regarding the equalization system, that the County Administrative Board has received a mandate to be completed in 2026, or that the issue is complex does not solve the problem. We know that the issue is complex; therefore, an investigation was commissioned that was supposed to be completed on October 31 this year. But it has been removed by the current government. Is the investigation removed because this problem only affects municipalities in rural areas?
In Ljusnarsberg municipality, the problem has become difficult because it is not only individuals who need social assistance who are moving there, but entire families with that need. The children who move to Ljusnarsberg also have great needs in school, so that is also affected.
It may have started once upon a time with the newly arrived, 2010, 2014 or 2015. But now social dumping has become a much larger problem. Therefore, I want to ask the Minister to update his view and visit, among other things, the municipalities that I mention.
The continued question from me is: What concrete measures can the municipalities expect from the government?
Ola Möller (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer to the interpellation, even though I think it leaves a great deal to be desired!
On November 17, the Minister stated in Dagens Arena that the investigation on the table had much to contribute. It was to produce exact figures, and it would be easier to act and take measures if the investigation could proceed. On December 22, the investigation was laid down.
One can wonder what it was that happened during that period. One could believe that a lot of figures and other things had suddenly appeared somewhere in the Government Offices that could provide answers to the questions the investigation posed. But what actually happened was something completely different: the investment support for new housing disappeared during this period, despite promises from the Moderaterna that absolutely no money would disappear when they took office.
It becomes very interesting with the logic that drives these questions, that is to say that the housing shortage, primarily in wealthy municipalities, sends vulnerable people to poor municipalities. You collect and concentrate people with social problems in municipalities with higher unemployment, lower educational status, and a worse labor market.
The Minister was asked: How is it to be handled? Yes, they can work remotely, said the Minister. Remote work was thus what people with social problems and lower education levels were to settle for. We know that many of these people work in what is referred to as contact-intensive occupations or within the LO collective's occupations. It is difficult to run Foodora remotely. It is difficult to work in elderly care remotely. But it is the Minister's solution.
Furthermore, the government has abolished what could have allowed people with weak finances to stay in rental apartments, namely the renovation support that we introduced. If the renovation support had remained, more people would have managed financially and not faced social problems and been forced to move. But no, that too was removed. More people are placed in a strained economic situation in our large cities and are dumped further along.
In Skåne, it has gone so far that municipalities are almost playing ping-pong with the socially vulnerable. One places them in municipality A, municipality A sends them back to municipality B, and municipality B sends them back to municipality A. So they go back and forth. This creates a situation where segregation, that is, that poor people are concentrated in different areas, increases at a time when we need to build a society that holds together. The Minister of State himself thought on November 17 that it was good to investigate the issue. Then, on December 22, one had looked through which investigations applied. Then it was suddenly no longer important.
The question to the Minister is actually: Why does the Minister want to maintain a system that builds on and increases segregation? This is, after all, not just about newcomers. 81 percent of the municipalities say that socially vulnerable people with substance abuse issues are affected, while it is only 78 percent when it comes to newcomers. It is therefore to a greater extent because of people's substance abuse and social problems that they are moved.
Sofie Eriksson (S)
Mr. Speaker! Today we are debating the issue of social dumping. I have, in any case, not participated in such a debate before, even though the Minister has done so a number of times.
The question is important. What is it that we are actually talking about? Well, first, it is a politically created housing shortage in wealthier municipalities around our major cities. So prices rise, and then you get wealthier and finer residents. So problems are cleared away. But not quite all of them, because there are always groups that have needs.
Now we see that some municipalities seem to have established a system to - sometimes with threats, pressure or tips - ensure that the most vulnerable residents move to other municipalities. There, however, often completely substandard housing awaits and a new municipality is forced to take over the financial responsibility. One of these affected municipalities is my home municipality, Ludvika. This concerns, for example, the localities Blötberget and Fredriksberg. They are wonderful villages to live in; it is no punishment to go there. But there are properties there that people should not live in. Cables hang outside the walls. It is cold in the winter. Windows are broken. It floods in the basement. The electricity does not always work. Here we have people, sometimes small children. It has occurred that newborns have lived in these substandard dwellings.
According to a survey from the county administrative boards, it is the unserious private landlords who contribute to this social dumping. They buy up properties with low standards and then actively contact the municipalities' social services to find tenants who do not make demands and who also believe that the rent can be paid indefinitely at any price.
Those who profit from this are, of course, the unscrupulous landlords. But it is also the case that the municipalities of origin, the dumping municipalities, profit from this, because they get rid of their most vulnerable residents. Costs for social assistance disappear from them but go to Ludvika municipality instead.
The losers are the people who are forced to move against their will to completely unworthy housing. But the local community is also affected. A few dilapidated, unworthy properties with a high concentration of vulnerable people affect small towns like Blötberget and Fredriksberg very much. The industrial towns, which is often the case, already have a tougher time with the economy and with unemployment. Why should it become even tougher?
We now have a Prime Minister who has called these dumping municipalities pioneers against subsidy dependency. Ulf Kristersson has in an interview previously called those who send out their most vulnerable citizens to Ludvika municipality pioneers against subsidy dependency. But the subsidy dependency just changes municipality.
My question is whether the Minister agrees with Ulf Kristersson's statement. Are the wealthy large cities pioneers against subsidy dependence when they dump their socially vulnerable citizens on us?
Eva Lindh (S)
Mr. Speaker! I want to start by commenting on the fact that the Minister for Civil Affairs said that he has answered this question several times in the Chamber. I am one of those who have written interpellations and had this debate in the Chamber earlier, and I think that the Minister for Civil Affairs will probably have to answer more such interpellations. This is because this is a question that is important for us. It is important for all those whom Denis, Ola, and Sofie have spoken about here in the speaker's chair today. We will continue to fight to find a solution to the social dumping that harms so many people and causes so many difficulties for the municipalities that are affected. We will continue to counteract social dumping.
It is wealthy municipalities that engage in this, which send over people whom they do not want in their own municipality. It is offensive when one thinks about it, and it is offensive when it happens in reality. For those municipalities that already have difficult challenges and a poorer labor market, this social dumping means even more difficult conditions to meet their residents' needs. We cannot have it this way.
I intended to address a part of the answer given by the Minister for Civil Affairs. He refers to the investigation on the equalization system that is currently underway. I am one of those sitting in that investigation. The Minister for Civil Affairs refers to the fact that it might also be the case that this equalizes. We know that it does not. The equalization system today does not equalize the conditions. It is supposed to equalize the uncontrollable factors, but does anyone believe that the equalization system could manage to provide resources to the municipalities that have to receive people who are dumped by the wealthy municipalities? I want to say that it does not. I know that, those who know the equalization system know it, and the Minister for Civil Affairs knows it too.
This investigation into the equalization system is currently underway. We have not received any additional directives to look into social dumping, so I do not know if that assignment exists or if it will come in an additional directive. However, I find it somewhat difficult to see how this would manage to handle that issue. The wealthy municipalities could, one year, have the spotlight on Valdemarsvik in Östergötland and another year on Ludvika or some other municipality. It will be difficult to manage this.
What we should do is, in the long term, handle the issue of countering the phenomenon of social dumping. That was why the S-led government initiated an investigation to look into this and propose measures. The right-conservative government scrapped it because – it is the only answer I have seen – they do not prioritize this. I think that is an answer in itself. They do not prioritize this issue. Therefore, they will also not be able to see how it works or produce proposals for measures to handle it.
That is why we will return and ask: What does the Minister for Civil Affairs and this government intend to do about this difficult and major problem that we have in Sweden today?
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.