Response to interpellation 2022/23:88 on an efficient and accurate census

Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)

Mr. Speaker! Peder Björk has asked me how and when the promised census will be carried out and in what ways I intend to ensure that the work to strengthen the quality of the population registration continues during the planning of a census.

Inaccuracies in the population register create problems for the entire society. Fraud with population registration data is, for example, often a link in organized crime. In order to gain better control over who is residing in Sweden and to combat welfare crime and organized crime, it is important that the state strengthens the control over the population register.

In the budget proposal for 2023, the government has therefore proposed that the appropriation for Skatteverket be increased to improve the population registry through a census. Skatteverket's targeted controls in areas where the risk of incorrect population registration is assessed to be high are an important part of that initiative. In a first stage, Skatteverket shall increase both the number of inspection visits and the preventive and knowledge-raising measures in such areas. The work shall be carried out in cooperation with, for example, other state agencies, municipalities, property owners, as well as representatives of the local community. The government also intends to task Skatteverket with developing proposals on what additional measures are possible and appropriate to implement. The work to develop such a mandate is ongoing within the Government Offices, and I will get back to how this will be designed in more detail.

But our work to improve the population registration does not stop there. In the budget bill for 2023, the government notes that the results for the population registration activities are still not satisfactory and that the government is monitoring the developments regarding quality and processing times. Skatteverket is working intensively to improve the population registration, but it is a long-term task where additional tools are needed. As recently as December 22, 2022, the government decided on the bill Better opportunities for Skatteverket to perform data analyses and sampling in the population registration activities. Through the proposals in that bill, Skatteverket will be able to focus its controls on areas with a high risk of errors and fraud and where the best possible effect can be achieved.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Peder Björk (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Finance, for the answer! I think it is good that we can fundamentally be politically in agreement that there should be order and clarity regarding who lives in Sweden and where they live. For our welfare system and so that we can counter, for example, crime in the labor market, it is a prerequisite that we have correct information about the people who live in Sweden. An important tool when it comes to this is to ensure that we have correct information and order and clarity in the Swedish population register.

The previous Social Democratic government implemented a long series of measures in precisely this area to strengthen control and to improve quality. The Swedish Tax Agency, for example, received increased appropriations and more tools to detect, investigate, and rectify errors in the population register. The agency was, for example, given the opportunity to de-register false identities and conduct home visits to check where people live. The Swedish Tax Agency also, on behalf of the Social Democratic government, carried out a number of projects where targeted efforts were made. And as recently as November, the Riksdag decided, on a proposal from the previous government, on new regulations regarding coordination numbers.

To this can be added the bill that the Minister for Finance himself referred to in his answer - Better opportunities for the Swedish Tax Agency to perform data analyses and selections in the population registration activities. This too was prepared by the previous Social Democratic government. These are very good proposals that enable the Swedish Tax Agency to now perform targeted controls and improve the population registration.

When I now take note of the Minister for Finance's response, I can state that it is a Social Democratic policy that the government wants to continue with - the same policy that the Sweden Democrats and the Moderates strongly criticized during the previous term. No fewer than 14 interpellations and 12 written questions concerning the census in Sweden were submitted during the previous term, primarily by the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats. Furthermore, the census, just as the Minister for Finance read out in his response, was explicitly included in the Sweden Democrats' and the Moderates' budget motions.

But despite the high tone during the previous parliamentary term and despite that funds were allocated in the budget, the Minister for Finance cannot answer the very simple question that I asked in the interpellation: How and when will the promised population census be carried out? Therefore, I repeat it, but I also add: Why is the government abandoning its own political proposals?

(Applause)

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Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Peder Björk, for the interpellations! Just to be very clear: This is an issue that I personally and our party have championed for many years. It is a problem that we do not know who is in Sweden, how many who are in Sweden and if they live at the correct address. Sometimes there are 100 people registered as residents in a two-room apartment. There are many people who should not be here. There are many who have several coordination numbers.

All of this consists of problems that have persisted for a long time. I completely share the view that the previous government took important steps in this area, but it will not be enough. That is why we, in the budget that took effect 26 days ago, have provided a proper supplement to Skatteverket so that they can work on this issue in a framework. Just as the member says, there are several things that need to be done so that we now know exactly: How many are we in Sweden? Are they the right people in Sweden? It is about, as the member mentions, that many de facto utilize the coordination numbers. One can receive compensations from Swedish systems, which one should not have if one does not live in Sweden, even though one lives in completely other places. A tragic example from a few years ago concerned the Iraqi defense minister, who did not live in Sweden at the time but who still received various types of support from Sweden.

We want to get all of this right.

It is not that a census is about Peder Björk and Elisabeth Svantesson going and knocking on all doors in Sweden to know exactly who lives where. There are many different tools to use in a census. The interpellator has mentioned a few of them. But we want to work more collectively and more focused and methodically so that in a few years we know exactly how many there are here and if people are living in the right place.

Some of the tools are in place, but more need to be developed. That is why the coalition partners are allocating such large resources to Skatteverket. The Government will now also formally task Skatteverket with developing further proposals, as that is where the expertise lies on how to best carry out this task overall.

This is important to do, and I probably wouldn't call it Social Democratic policy to keep track of who is in the country. I am glad that there are obviously many parties here in the Riksdag who think it is important. But we see that we need to have an increase in ambition, and that is what we are doing now. We start now, and we will simply continue until we know: Who is here? Do we have control over the population registry? Do we have better control over the coordination numbers? When we know that, both I and Peder Björk can feel more reassured than today.

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Peder Björk (S)

Mr. Speaker! We are in complete agreement on the description of the problem. We are in complete agreement that we need to have more tools. We also agree that more resources are needed. Even in the Social Democratic budget proposal, in opposition, this resource reinforcement is included.

But when it comes to the 14 interpellations and the 12 written questions that were asked during the previous mandate period, it was the Finance Minister's party comrades who just said: We are going to go out and knock on every single door. That was the message during the election campaign. That was the underlying meaning in pointing out a census.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, one is somewhat surprised that the Minister for Finance now cannot give an announcement on when the census is to be carried out and how it is to be carried out. The question can be asked whether this is another example of saying one thing before the election and another thing after the election.

Why is the government not more prepared when the issue has been driven here in the chamber and in the election campaign regarding conducting a census that is not about the tools that the Social Democratic government has already ensured the tax authority has? It was clearly stated that a census is to be conducted.

In the Finance Minister's response, which we have just received, the Finance Minister says that "the government also intends to task the Swedish Tax Agency with preparing proposals on what additional measures are possible and appropriate to implement." A consideration from my side is whether this means that the assignment should include a clear mandate to the tax authority regarding specifically a census. And if this is so important, why did the government not give the assignment already in the regulatory letter that the government has decided on? Above all, when will the assignment be given?

The fundamental questions remain: Exactly when will the census be carried out? What does it entail? When and how is it to be carried out? We have not received any answer to that yet, Mr. Speaker.

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Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)

Mr. Speaker! I think it is very good that Peder Björk is longing for an announcement! It has been 101 days. Many have pointed out that you think we have not had a sufficiently high level of ambition. Then I think of 2014 when the government change occurred. After 100 days, there wasn't even a government in place.

I actually think we have done very much in 100 days, and this is a prioritized issue. That is why we, unlike other governments, have now allocated resources to Skatteverket, because that is where one best makes a collective assessment of what needs to be done. Already, the bill that we have decided on is an important part of this.

When it comes to knocking on doors, it is obvious that it is needed, but both Peder Björk and I believe that money should be used effectively. In some cases it is not needed, because the errors are very small.

I welcome Peder Björk to Örebro. We can make a visit to Vivalla, a pleasant and good area in many ways but also an area that has major problems. When I speak with social services and others, they say that perhaps it is 7,000-7,500 who are registered as residents in Vivalla. But in reality, very many more people live there. That is how it has looked for eight years back.

I want us to know who lives in Vivalla and in all other areas in Sweden. Who is it that lives there? Are the right people registered as residents there, or are there people who perhaps should not be there at all?

I take this very seriously, and that is why we have allocated so many resources. That is why the Swedish Tax Agency will now work very intensively on the issue.

It sounds to the member as if a census is to take place on a certain date. But this is a process where we, in the end, unlike today, are to know much more about who and how many there are in Sweden. The previous government did several important parts, but it was not enough. We are raising the ambition, we are providing resources to Skatteverket, and we will work very actively with this issue.

It is, in fact, completely unreasonable that in recent decades we have ended up in a situation where so many people are in Sweden who should not be here. There are also many who should be here but who in different ways, for example by having several coordination numbers, manage to cheat their way into the money that others have worked hard to put together. It is completely unreasonable. Even that problem persists after the previous government, and there we are now raising the ambition.

With this said, I welcome what has been done, but we intend to do more.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Peder Björk (S)

Mr. Speaker! It is obvious that the Minister for Finance cannot give a statement on when and how a census shall be carried out in Sweden. It is also obvious that the government is now fumbling as to how it intends to approach the question of having good order and clarity regarding who lives in Sweden and where they live.

An accurate population register and reliable information provided to our authorities is important and absolutely necessary in order to be able to counter the exploitation of people or that our welfare is being exploited. I therefore hope that the government truly takes the issue seriously going forward.

But no matter how skilled we as a society become at working with these issues, there will be people in exclusion as long as there are economic and social injustices in our society. The government's and the Sweden Democrats' policy contributes to reinforcing and increasing the gaps in society between those who have and those who do not.

In addition to tackling these issues, we therefore also need a completely different policy to fundamentally address the underlying causes of which problems and fraud with the population register are only a symptom. I am thinking, among other things, of a policy that gives more children and young people the opportunity to succeed in school, a policy that provides the opportunity to get a job, and a policy that ensures more housing is built so that more people can live under decent conditions.

Mr. Speaker! Simply put, more Social Democratic policy was needed.

(Applause)

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Finansministern Elisabeth Svantesson (M)

Mr. Speaker! There are some in the chamber who agree with Peder Björk. The voters, however, did not agree. They wanted to see a change. They wanted to see a change regarding the fact that people, year after year, live on social welfare and other benefits in an exclusion where it does not pay to go to work.

I know that one does not get rich on social assistance, but for many families who have come to Sweden, where different benefits are stacked on top of each other – child allowance, child supplement, housing allowance, establishment support, social assistance – it does not pay to go to work.

What kind of morality is that? What kind of politics is that? That doesn't solve any problems in the areas of exclusion. Then children do not see their parents go to work.

This debate is about the census, and I can only state that we have a high level of ambition. The only count that the previous government managed to come up with was a cat count. The Riksdag made a decision about that during the last year.

I intend instead to work hard on the issue of the census. I believe it is even more important. One should not diminish the cat census, but a census of the people is needed.

The interpellation debate was hereby concluded.

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