Response to interpellation 2023/24:158 on consumer guidance in every municipality
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns consumer guidance in the municipalities. KD considers it important that all consumers receive support as the market has become more complex 1. KD argues that digital information is an important source and that Konsumentverket can be used more for preventive work 1 2. KD considers it a worrying trend that the number of municipal consumer advisors has decreased 2 3. KD suggests that it could be investigated whether budget and debt advisors can be given extended preventive assignments 3. S considers municipal consumer guidance to be important for vulnerable consumers and that resources should be added to strengthen it 4. S argues that the reduction of consumer advisors is clear 4. S considers the removal of support for consumer organizations to be a radical reorganization that could lead to worse laws and less help 5. S considers that the government is investing in the wrong area by focusing on Allmänna reklamationsnämnden instead of the preventive work that municipal consumer advisors perform 6. S argues that the consumer advisors provide advice before, during, and after a decision, and that better support from them could reduce the number of rejected cases 6. KD argues that the reduced support for consumer organizations is due to a tight reform space and prioritization of Allmänna reklamationsnämnden 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! Anna-Belle Strömberg has asked me whether I and the government intend to take measures so that all consumers will have access to a functioning consumer guidance and, if so, which ones.
I thank you for the question. It is important that all consumers can receive support before purchasing goods and services. Equally important is receiving support in cases where a purchase has gone wrong. Consumers encounter increasingly complex markets. Deceptive and even fraudulent business practices are common, which increases the need for information and support. Active consumers also contribute to a well-functioning competition.
For many consumers, digital information is likely the most important source for being able to make informed choices. Via the internet, the vast majority of consumers access, among other things, comparison services in a way that was not possible 10-20 years ago. For more individually tailored help and support, consumers can turn to, among others, the Consumer Agency's information service Hallå konsument, one of the four consumer bureaus, or municipal consumer advisors. Many municipalities still offer consumer guidance, both preventive work and help when problems have arisen.
As Anna-Belle Strömberg points out, however, the number of municipalities that choose to offer consumer guidance is decreasing. Locally accessible consumer support that can offer physical visits is particularly important for more vulnerable consumers. The Consumer Agency offers training and other support to the municipal consumer advisors and has been tasked with promoting and developing consumer support by supporting various social actors who have the conditions to help consumers in particular need of support to take advantage of their interests in connection with purchases and to manage private economic problems. For example, the pensioner organizations have for some time offered some consumer advice. Within the framework of its mandate, the Consumer Agency has, among other things, developed support material.
When it comes to support for those in debt, the budget and debt counselors available in the municipalities are important. As Anna-Belle Strömberg emphasizes, these often have a limited opportunity to work preventatively, which is why the cooperation that exists in many municipalities between consumer advisors and budget and debt counselors appears to be a good arrangement that benefits the consumers.
I have discussed the issue, among others, with the Association of Consumer Advisors and am closely following the developments in the area to assess further measures for how the municipal consumer guidance can be developed.
Anna-Belle Strömberg (S)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for the answer to my interpellation.
The Minister and I share the view that it is becoming increasingly difficult and more complicated to be a consumer. There are more technically advanced products and more complicated services. A global market is expanding. SMS loans are increasing, and pensioners are deceived by fraudsters. Online casinos cause wages to run out, criminals send scam invoices, and we are met with advertising that misleads regarding products' environmental friendliness.
All this is being presented to consumers, while the municipalities have, over several years, progressively cut back on consumer advisors.
Mr. Speaker! Access to local advice is therefore extra important, and just as the Minister says in his answer, physical visits are particularly important for vulnerable consumers because, at a local level, one can reach the most vulnerable, who many times require many visits.
Many municipalities have dismantled their consumer guidance during recent years. The reduction is clear. In 2015 there were 270 consumer advisors, and in 2022 the number of municipalities with consumer advisors had been reduced to 168.
The local counseling has an important function that cannot be replaced by the Consumer Agency's central service Hallå konsument or by the four consumer bureaus. We know how incredibly important the preventive work that the consumer advisors perform is, for example, regarding how to read a contract or what one needs to consider when buying one's first car or one's first apartment or renting one's first apartment, or when the household economy is pressured and one falls into debt traps.
Investing in municipal consumer guidance is a way to reduce the increasing volume of cases for both budget and debt counseling and Arn. In many cases, the municipal consumer guidance contacts companies and mediates between consumers and companies or reviews agreements and can thereby prevent a report to Arn. Additionally, they help consumers so that it becomes a good and complete report as well as help to interpret answers and make supplements.
Mr. Speaker! In the Civil Affairs Committee's report 2020/21:CU12 in the spring of 2021, the Riksdag issued a notice to the government that the government should review how municipal consumer guidance can be strengthened and developed. It was stated then that this should be done promptly given the problems with indebtedness and because preventive measures are important. If no resources are added, fewer vulnerable consumers will receive help, which will lead to more private economic problems with higher costs for society as a whole. This was stated and decided in 2021.
Mr. Speaker! What has happened, Minister, after the decision? How does the Minister intend to act to meet the Riksdag's announcement to strengthen and develop municipal consumer guidance? Is there an ambition that there should be consumer advisors in all municipalities?
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! We do not fundamentally have different views on the issue. Preventive work is incredibly important in the consumer area, just as it is in many other areas. And just as in many other areas, it is often the municipalities that are responsible for much of the preventive work, and the municipalities also have an important responsibility in consumer prevention work. But this does not only apply in the municipalities, here also the Consumer Agency as a state authority has an important mission.
Earlier this year, a mission that has been ongoing for a few years, which the previous government gave to the Consumer Agency, was finalized. According to previous missions, the Agency has developed support material on how to work more preventatively, and it is good. The government intends to use the Consumer Agency even more in the future to support the preventative work. More missions will come, but I cannot present anything quite yet. More missions will come with the aim of strengthening the consumer preventative work.
In step with the changes in society and people's life patterns, lifestyles, and consumer patterns, the preventive work must also be updated and changed. I believe that when there is a call for mandatory consumer guidance in the municipalities, it is sometimes easy to get stuck in the model that exists today and has existed for a long time, and therefore I believe that we need to consider how we can best strengthen the consumer preventive work from the perspective of the time we live in today. It is very possible that it is a question of an increased investment in the consumer advisors, but I do not want to get stuck in that model but also see if there are other models, not least to reach many younger people who have completely different consumer patterns than my and older generations have.
One such example is Hallå konsument, a digital service from Konsumentverket, which has received an increased number of visitors. I have looked into Hallå konsument, and I think it is an incredibly good service, clearly and pedagogically laid out and easy to follow. It has truly contributed to much of the consumer guidance moving over there. It has significantly more visitors than the consumer advisors have. It is good to have in the background.
With this said, I think it is a worrying trend that the number of consumer advisors has decreased so much in the municipalities. It is something that the government is following, and it is something that we take seriously, not least against the background of the announcement from the Riksdag that has existed since earlier and which my party stands behind. There is naturally reason for the government to return.
I also want to emphasize civil society's role in this. I know that the pension organizations take great responsibility for consumer guidance and consumer prevention work, and that is good. I hope that other parts of civil society will also take a great responsibility.
There is also the investigation on how we can prevent over-indebtedness. It is also important. The investigator has presented several important proposals for how we can reduce over-indebtedness. I look forward to returning with a government bill; the consultation period has just expired.
Another important consumer issue has also been to strengthen the National Board for Consumer Disputes. From next year onwards, we will provide increased resources so that the Board can handle cases faster.
A lot is happening, but we are not finished. We are following the issue closely, and we will absolutely return with more measures ahead.
Anna-Belle Strömberg (S)
Mr. Speaker! I agree that Hallå konsument is good, and I am pleased that more proposals will be submitted in the future.
In connection with the budget amendment in March, the government provided extra support to actors in civil society who would promote consumers. They receive an extra 1 million to share, and it is welcome. It is a much-needed addition.
Thus Finance Minister Svantesson and the Minister of State wrote in a joint op-ed in Expressen on March 24: "The impact of inflation on household finances clearly illustrates the need for measures targeted at consumers." Furthermore, they wrote: "The government wants to increase support for actors in civil society who in different ways promote consumers' interests. Supporting voluntary forces is an important measure because these already have established networks and often constitute natural meeting places for people in need of help."
This was a powerful recognition of civil society, but only half a year later, the message from the government was the exact opposite. The appropriation this year is 14.5 million. For 2024, it is to be reduced by more than half to 7 million, to then be choked off completely in 2026.
Mr. Speaker! What happened when the Minister, contrary to previous declarations within the span of half a year, went from strengthening civil society and tasking the Consumer Agency to cooperate with civil society to erasing a 30-year Swedish tradition of support for consumer organizations? In practice, all support is gone by 2026.
The obvious question is: What has happened over the last six months that justifies such a radical shift, that a need for increased support suddenly transforms into no need at all? From the consumers' perspective, absolutely nothing has happened. Inflation continues to drive up prices. Fraud against the elderly continues. At the same time, we are all expected to transition to sustainable consumption.
Since almost all laws in the consumer area are decided in the EU, a strong consumer voice was needed there. It is about our money, our health, and our privacy. The authorities cannot represent the consumers in the EU. That is why Sveriges Konsumenters European work and membership in the European consumer movement is so important.
Allowing the consumer movement to die out is counterproductive. It will lead to worse laws for consumers, more problems, less debate, less information, and less help in navigating the jungle of goods and services, serious and non-serious, that is today's market.
The consumer movement has a proud tradition of providing a lot of consumer policy for the money. Sveriges Konsumenter has pushed for laws on warranty rights, over-indebtedness, privacy, chemicals, product safety, sustainable products, and telephone sales. They spark debate and awareness.
Mr. Speaker! What is it that has happened, Minister, during the last half year that justifies such a radical reallocation of the support?
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! What has happened during the last half year – it also happened before that – is that inflation has continued to increase. The interest rate level remains at a high level.
During this half-year, we also found out what the reform space looks like for 2024. The reform space was tight given all the initiatives that we promised the voters to undertake before the election, namely to strengthen the justice system, strengthen the defense, establish a good welfare, support particularly vulnerable households in a difficult economic time, and strengthen the job line. All of this meant that we had to focus the reform space we had on precisely these areas.
Then we saw a great need to strengthen the National Board for Consumer Disputes given that the lead times increased very much because the number of cases to the National Board for Consumer Disputes increased. Then we saw it as most prioritized within the consumer area to increase the support to ARN, and this was a proposal to be able to finance the increased support to ARN. It is therefore more of a prioritization within the consumer area than anything else.
I hope, however, that the funding of the consumer organizations can take place in another way. I understand that the state support is important. I have also had conversations about this with Sveriges Konsumenter, who are naturally not happy. I understand that this is a financial setback for them, but I hope that they will be able to find funding from elsewhere so that the consumer organizations can still continue to exist.
Since it is not only the consumer organizations themselves that work with preventive consumer work. As I mentioned earlier, the pensioner organizations are a very important part of this in order to support elderly people in our society and help them not to be deceived or fall into various consumer traps.
It is, as has been said, a harsh economic reality that explains this support. It is nothing that is directed towards the consumer organizations.
Anna-Belle Strömberg (S)
Mr. Speaker! Yes, Arn is also needed, truly. All good forces are needed now when it is tough times for consumers with cost increases, predatory sales and over-indebtedness and digital exclusion. It is difficult to choose correctly.
In the budget, money is allocated to the National Board for Consumer Disputes, and that is good. But in a consumer case, ARN is the last resort when the dispute is already a fact and cannot be resolved.
The government is starting at the wrong end, I think. One could say that the municipal consumer advisors are a bit like gatekeepers when it comes to resolving disputes. The government is investing nothing in the preventive work that the municipal consumer advisors do. ARN does not provide advice to consumers, nor does it provide help regarding reporting to ARN. That is what the municipal consumer advisors do – they provide advice before, during, and after an ARN decision. Money needs to be invested in those who can help before the dispute is a fact, which the municipal consumer advisors do.
In Arn's annual statistics, there is a diagram showing the connection between rejections in Arn and missing consumer guidance. Over 30 percent of the cases are rejected. If the consumer had received help from a municipal consumer advisor, the consumer would have had better conditions to have the case reviewed and perhaps would not have had it rejected. This also results in less processing for Arn.
Sweden's consumers need to know who to call when they need advice and support at a local level.
Mr. Speaker! In conclusion, I would like to thank the Minister for a good debate.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! To return to what the interpellation is about, namely the municipal consumer guidance: I do not have much more to add than what I have already said, namely that I think this is an important activity.
It is concerning that the number of consumer advisors has decreased so much in the municipalities. There are municipalities where more has been invested in this, but I am fully aware of the development. We need to know what this is due to. Is it solely a financial issue, a cost-saving measure, or are there other reasons why municipal consumer guidance has been reduced? Has the assessment been made that, for example, Hallå konsument has been able to replace it?
I have had a meeting with the Association of Consumer Advisors. There is absolutely no animosity or any disputes between us, and we agree that this is an important activity. However, no government has so far concluded that it should become a mandatory activity for the municipalities. Neither the previous government nor this government has taken a position on that. But are there other ways to strengthen and encourage the consumer advisors?
The Consumer Agency will receive more assignments in the future to strengthen the preventive work. I think that the budget and debt counselors that exist, which is a mandatory activity, are also worth looking at. What mandate do they have? It might also be a model or an alternative to strengthen and expand their mandate to be more preventive and not just come in when it is time for debt and budget counseling.
There are some different paths and models forward, so let us see what we land on. But the consumer advisors play an important role where they exist. It could also be that many smaller municipalities can cooperate with each other – I know it happens somewhere – so that this group is not depleted.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.