Response to interpellation 2022/23:98 on the municipalities and the competence challenge
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 supply of skills is a key issue for welfare where the state has an overall responsibility for equal conditions 1. KD emphasizes that resources are provided through state grants and that efficiency and digitalization are necessary 1 2. KD claims that investments in vocational adult education are twice as high as before the pandemic 3 2. KD believes that trained staff should perform specific tasks and that workplaces must be created so that people can manage to work longer 2. KD argues that the government spends a lot of money on skills development 4. S argues that there is a lack of trained staff and that training places as well as labor market policy measures have decreased drastically 5. S claims that resources for adult education are decreasing by over one billion kronor compared to 2022 6. S advocates for high quality and secure employment conditions 5. S argues that increased full-time employment and equality are important 6. S argues that in their budget they allocated over one billion more than the government on education and transition 7.
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! I have been asked what measures I intend to take to handle the large labor shortage that is acute within the welfare sector.
A well-functioning supply of skills across the entire country is a key issue for the development of the welfare state. The ability to attract, recruit, develop, and retain employees with the right skills is crucial to being able to meet the population's increasing needs for welfare services. The State has an overall responsibility to ensure that municipalities and regions have equal conditions and capacity to carry out their welfare mandate, while the municipalities and regions have responsibility for, for example, the work environment and the quality of the operations.
Resources are provided to the municipal sector in the general government grant 2023. Special funds are also set aside to support regions and municipalities regarding, among other things, competence supply within both health and medical care as well as elderly care. Competence supply, however, cannot be solved solely with increased resources or with more employees. The potential in changed ways of working, digitalization, and other efficiencies also needs to be taken into account. The governance needs to be designed so that unnecessary and overly detailed administration is avoided.
The task of strengthening the supply of competence in welfare is complex and requires efforts in several different areas. In this context, it can be mentioned that the government has tasked Socialstyrelsen to, together with the National Care Competence Council, develop a proposal for a national plan to improve the competence supply in health and medical care.
In the area of schools, the government wants to strengthen the attractiveness of the teaching profession by reducing teachers' administrative burden, relieving them through other staff, and developing the teacher role. The government's intention is furthermore that the number of places within the university college shall continue to be at a high level, and the number of annual places is estimated to be at approximately the same level in 2023 as in 2022. The state grant for regional vocational adult education will, all told, be at approximately twice as high a level in 2023 as before the pandemic. The government assesses that the new level is in line with what the municipalities can actually implement. During 2021, the number of places was expanded to give colleges and universities the opportunity to prioritize training for shortage occupations within, for example, schools and healthcare based on their own circumstances. This expansion is permanent and is not affected when places that were judged to meet a more temporary need during the pandemic gradually cease.
Labor market policy measures can also contribute to meeting the skills shortage. As the government indicated in the budget bill for 2023, there is room for a continued increase in the number of labor market policy measures in relation to current levels. This includes, among other things, matching services, labor market training, and more internship placements. The government is prepared to take additional measures in the labor market area if necessary during the mandate period if the situation on the labor market deteriorates.
In conclusion, I want to emphasize the importance of the state, the municipalities, and the regions continuing to work together to strengthen access to competence in healthcare, schools, and elderly care across the entire country in the long term.
Joakim Sandell (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
One of the major challenges we have within the welfare sector is, as mentioned, the supply of skills. There is a shortage of qualified teachers, qualified staff in elderly care, and qualified nurses. At the same time, I think very little is being said about this from the government side. The number of training places and labor market policy measures have decreased drastically. Almost nothing is being said about the skills challenge that municipalities and regions are actually only at the beginning of. Furthermore, after 2023, there is no money for the Elderly Care Boost (Äldreomsorgslyftet) or for the skills initiatives that the S-led government developed within the healthcare sector.
We must be able to maintain a focus on the supply of skills. When we invest in welfare, there must also be people to hire. Those who do the important work within the welfare sector need to become more numerous and have a good working environment where they thrive and can devote themselves to the right things. High quality goes hand in hand with secure employment conditions. Therefore, the Social Democratic government introduced, for example, an elderly care boost to favor more permanent employment and higher competence among the staff.
Nursing assistants, care assistants and nurses are the three occupational groups in the municipalities where the needs are greatest until 2031.
It is somewhat interesting to hear what SKR, Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner, says about precisely Äldreomsorgslyftet and about the state's responsibility when it comes to competence supply.
SKR does not always highlight state interventions to Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner. They instead tend to perhaps problematize the initiatives that are made. But when it comes to Äldreomsorgslyftet, Caroline Olsson, who is responsible for employer policy at SKR, says:
The state needs to be involved and take a long-term responsibility for the competence supply of the welfare sector. A good example of when it works well is the state initiative Äldreomsorgslyftet, which contributes to competence development in elderly care through opportunities to study with pay.
The elderly care boost is delivering. During 2021 alone, 25,000 employees within elderly care were trained or further educated. We would like to see the state extend and strengthen the initiative by securing more training places and allowing the municipalities to purchase training with the funds.
My question to the Minister is whether he intends to work to ensure that there are funds remaining for Äldreomsorgslyftet after 2023, so that these investments can continue.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! There is no doubt that this is an important issue regarding the supply of skills. If Joakim Sandell thinks that too little is mentioned about this in the budget, I regret that. It is very possible that one could write a few more lines about it, but there is no doubt that the government considers this to be a major challenge.
I could even go as far as to say that this is a matter of destiny for the welfare state and for our municipalities' and regions' ability to fulfill their mission. There is, therefore, no doubt about that, and that is why the government continues to spend a lot of money on different types of educational initiatives and labor market policy initiatives within a number of different areas. This is done at both the municipal and regional level as well as at the state level, via the university colleges, within labor market policy, and within higher education at colleges and universities.
I have myself experience of being a municipal politician, from the time before I became a minister. I have worked very much with elderly care, not least during the last parliamentary term, and am therefore well acquainted with the subject and see the challenges. In the role of municipal politician, I myself worked a lot with these issues.
I can still mention a few things. The regional vocational adult education is estimated to be at a level in 2023 that is twice as high as before the pandemic. To speak of drastic cuts in the area, I think, is therefore to give a false picture. The government also makes the assessment that this is what the municipalities can manage – we cannot pour out as much money as we want, because the municipalities must also be able to manage to absorb the funds that are provided.
According to the Swedish Council for Higher Vocational Education itself, there will be approximately the same number of places this year as there were last year, that is, approximately 50,000. Colleges and universities also received permanent investments in this area in 2021, and they remain next year as well, by virtue of them being permanent.
It is true that some cuts have been made within the labor market policy, as the government has seen that there has been an opportunity to do so. Despite that, Arbetsförmedlingen itself makes the assessment that through various reallocations, one will even be able to increase the number of training places within shortage occupations. We must also know that Arbetsförmedlingen has returned money to the state since it has not spent all the money it received previously.
Sandell asked the question about specifically the Äldreomsorgslyftet. The government must, of course, return to this – it was a three-year initiative, so it was supposed to end next year according to the plan. Furthermore, the budget process was very short given that the change of government occurred quite close to when the budget was to be presented. The government will therefore have to return on how we proceed with this specific competence development support and also on how we view further education in general. This question, however, does not fall within my area of responsibility but under another minister, namely Anna Tenje who is the Minister for Health and Social Affairs.
Regarding the Äldreomsorgslyftet specifically, we should however know that SKR has liked that initiative, but that it has actually been difficult to spend the money. Many municipalities have not been able to spend the money they have received within the Äldreomsorgslyftet. There is therefore likely a possibility to adjust this if one wanted to continue with that initiative.
The government will, as said, return to this and a number of other questions, but it is not about anything other than that the government recognizes the seriousness. We take the issue very seriously, and we are making very many investments so that more people will want to work in the welfare sector and so that more people will be ready to work in the welfare sector. We are also making investments to give municipalities and regions the conditions to take their employer responsibility so that these become attractive professions that people want to apply for and - above all - stay in for a long time. That is still what is important.
Joakim Sandell (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister again for the answer.
I must say that I am not so very interested in more being written about skills supply in the government's budget, so I might have to rephrase it: I am rather interested in that investments are made in skills supply. It is the lack of investments that is the problem, rather than the lack of words.
I also find it a bit fascinating that the Minister chooses to take his starting point from before the pandemic when we talk about resources for vocational training and the like. One can, of course, always do that in a debate, but if we instead compare with last year, we see that the resources for adult education and vocational higher education are decreasing by over 1 billion kronor compared to 2022.
That it should be considered an investment to cut by 1 billion, I actually cannot quite reconcile, and I suppose not many of the municipal representatives around the country – regardless of political color – can either. 1 billion less is difficult to describe as an investment. We have, of course, the novelty that words mean somewhat different things than they have done previously, but 1 billion less for this area is no investment.
However, I still want to point out that it is true as the Minister says: One probably cannot meet the needs of the future with only skills supply, other things also need to be done. SKR has pointed out that one way to reduce the need for more employees is to increase full-time employment and increase equality. I think it is a quite interesting question, not least in light of the report that TCO presented yesterday - or was it this morning - regarding parental leave usage.
It is the case that municipalities and regions, for which the Minister is responsible, have a predominantly female workforce. It is clear that equality issues therefore become extremely important if we are to succeed in increasing full-time employment and in that way increase equality. TCO points to the parental leave, and since I have the Minister responsible for municipalities and regions here, I would like to take the opportunity to ask what measures the government intends to take to increase equality and in that way increase full-time employment within municipalities and regions. It would be a way to add another straw to the pile in the work to improve the competence supply.
Does the Council of State and the Government have any thoughts on this?
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! The fact that one, as Minister for Civil Affairs, has regions and municipalities within their area of responsibility does not mean that one is responsible for every single thing that occurs within municipalities and regions. Very many of the questions now posed in Joakim Sandell's statement actually fall under other ministers, and I unfortunately have to be so dull as to refer some of the questions to my ministerial colleagues in the government. There is, therefore, an opportunity to submit more interpellations and more questions, both orally and in writing.
Member of the Executive Board Sandell is very aware that during the pandemic, many investments were made in municipalities and regions - and also in other areas - that were temporary. They were related to the pandemic and were about supporting welfare and supporting municipalities and regions in a very tough period. Many of these supports are now expiring as the pandemic begins to subside. It is therefore not strange that I compare the investments after the pandemic with the investments before the pandemic, but it is actually completely in order. I am completely convinced that a Social Democratic government would have done exactly the same thing. I can almost promise it.
I think, therefore, that it is a demonstration of strength that we are spending twice as much on regional vocational adult education in 2023 compared to before the pandemic. It shows that the government is investing in skills development and that we are investing in regional vocational education.
Just as I said in my opening speech and as it also states in the written response to the interpellation, more money alone, more people and more trained individuals cannot solve the skills shortage we face. It is not only municipalities and regions that face skills shortage problems, but so does the defense, the business sector and many other sectors. The growth of the working part of the population will not be sufficient to do everything that labor in the form of people does today.
Therefore, we must support the municipalities and regions, because the welfare sector must become much better at utilizing, for example, the possibilities of digitalization. I have personal experience in that, and I can see how digital aids can actually relieve trained staff and make the work more efficient.
We must ensure that trained staff do what they are trained to do and do not perform a lot of work tasks that other staff could perform. There are very many examples to be found, for instance within healthcare and elderly care.
We must ensure that we create workplaces where people want to stay and continue working longer. We must ensure that people within elderly care are able to continue working longer and that more are able to continue working until the age of 69, which is the new LAS limit for how long one can remain and work. There is an enormous potential in more people staying longer, considering what this could mean for remedying the skills shortage.
Reducing sick leave is another important issue. It is, not least, an important equality issue, as Joakim Sandell said, but it is also an answer to the skills shortage problem that we face.
I also want to say something about career ladders within the public sector. It concerns, not least for women working in the public sector, having the opportunity to make a career and that education and competence development have an impact both on the paycheck and on what responsibility and what work tasks one receives.
We have a great deal to work on to create more attractive workplaces and a better work environment and thereby get more people to have the energy to work longer.
Joakim Sandell (S)
Mr. Speaker! The Minister pointed out that a Social Democratic-led government would act in the same way as the current government. One can indeed compare what a Social Democratic-led government would do with what the government is now de facto doing.
We presented a budget proposal where we allocated 1 billion more than the government on education and transition, which corresponds to approximately 20,000 education places. We allocated 1 billion kronor to the grant for adult education, which corresponds to approximately 17,400 education places within regional vocational adult education. We allocated 104 million kronor to the university college, which needs to continue to be expanded instead of being cut. The initiative corresponds to approximately 1,400 education places. We also rejected the government's cuts at twelve educational institutions around the country and restored funds totaling 81 million, which corresponds to approximately 1,000 full-year places.
That a social democratically led government would reach the same conclusions as the current government is therefore not the case; we have proven that in our budget motion.
There is also another part that I want to bring up when we talk about education.
Of course, much falls under the responsibility of other ministers, but it may be worth mentioning that we are heading into a recession. The best way to meet a recession is actually to invest in education, so that when we emerge from the recession, we have competent people with good education who can take the jobs that will then be created. This is not least about the workforce that we will need in our public sector.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I do not mean that the Social Democrats would have presented the exact same budget as this government; that would be strange. I know, of course, that the Social Democrats have presented their own budget.
The argument is, if we compare investments before and after the pandemic, that the previous government made some investments that the opposition at that time supported and which were temporary. According to plan, these supports were phased out. Some of these supports concern this area; I think we should be honest and say that.
For the government, this is an important issue. That is why we are allocating a lot of money to skills development, both at the state and regional level and both within the education sector and within the labor market sector. Then one can debate whether it should be one billion more or less, but it is not in doubt that this government prioritizes this and allocates a very large amount of money to it.
We in the government make an assessment and allocate the sums that we believe these entities are capable of absorbing. It is also an important issue. No matter how much we invest in education and skills development, there must be people who remain working within the welfare sector. It is not possible to leave the elderly alone in a nursing home because the entire staff is away on further education; the operation must be able to handle this. I believe it is important to keep that operational perspective in mind.
With this said, I really want to say that the government is prepared to do more. If it turns out that unemployment begins to rise, that there is an opportunity to allocate more money and that it can be absorbed and that more educational initiatives can be offered, both within the education system and as labor market policy measures, the government is, of course, prepared to return with more investments in upcoming budget bills.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.