Response to interpellation 2023/24:416 on the establishment of a prison in Värmland
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 M argues that the government is working so that Kriminalvården can expand and that the agency is responsible for local supply within given economic frameworks 1. M emphasizes that the expansion is a priority to meet the pressure from increased crime and stricter sentencing 1. M wants the local engagement in northern Värmland to receive a positive response and that the municipality can enter serious processes 2. M argues that the expansion needs to take place outside the large cities and that a record amount is being invested through a 60 percent increase in appropriations 2. M considers both social prevention and repressive measures to be important 2. 3 S considers establishments to be a success that creates confidence for the future and that the state should return to smaller towns 3. S argues that more political initiatives are needed for faster relocation 3. S argues that prison can be a preventive activity as one gets the opportunity for education 4. 5 SD argues that an institution in northern Värmland would be an important regional labor market measure 5. 6 SD argues that an establishment would provide an enormous boost for the municipalities' development and create many jobs 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! Mikael Dahlqvist has asked me how I view the initiatives of the Värmland municipalities and the region for the establishment of a facility in Råda. Furthermore, Mikael Dahlqvist has asked how I intend to act so that this and similar initiatives do not lose momentum and commitment.
Already in the regulatory letter for 2023, the Prison and Probation Service was tasked with calculating an overview of the capacity needed in institutions, prisons, and probation so that the reforms proposed in the Tidö Agreement that affect the Prison and Probation Service's operations can be implemented. This assignment was reported in April 2023, and the government followed up with a new assignment in June where the Prison and Probation Service was tasked with presenting a new capacity report for the years 2024-2033 due to the Tidö Agreement. This report was presented in December last year and is now being prepared in the Government Offices.
It is clear that the expansion of the Prison and Probation Service began far too late. The Government has therefore, since taking office, worked to ensure that the Prison and Probation Service continues with the expansion already underway and expands it further, among other things through the funds that have been allocated to the agency. In the two most recent budget bills, the Government has allocated to the Prison and Probation Service the funds the agency has needed for its continued expansion.
It is very pleasing that there is commitment all around Sweden for this important expansion of the prison and probation service. However, it is the Prison and Probation Service that is responsible for its own local procurement within the economic frameworks that the Riksdag and the government allocate to the agency. It is therefore the Prison and Probation Service that decides how and where the operations shall be expanded. I have a good and regular dialogue with the agency regarding these issues.
We can observe that the correctional services face great challenges in the coming years. For the government, it is therefore important that the correctional services are given the right conditions to be able to continue growing, without compromising safety or the content of the operations. The government will therefore take the measures required for Sweden to continue to have an effective, safe, and humane correctional service and ensure that the expansion maintains a high pace.
Mikael Dahlqvist (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Justice for the answer.
I am pleased that Minister of Justice Strömmer sees the commitment out in the country, and that is exactly what my interpellation is about. In my home county of Värmland, there is a strong commitment to being part of the solution to the shortage of places. This issue became even more acute today when it was reported in the news that the correctional services are moving into emergency status. Two neighboring municipalities in central Värmland, Hagfors and Munkfors, have seen the opportunity to make an effort to quickly be able to solve the correctional services' extensive need for new prison places. Despite the fact that existing prisons are already being densified and expanded, and new prisons are being planned and opened, the need is greater, just as the Minister of Justice explained.
That we are in this situation is not strange at all. Both the previous and current governments have proposed more increased penalties, which the Riksdag has then adopted, and a receipt that the police's activities have expanded and borne fruit is that more people are detained and behind bars.
This has been noted significantly in these two municipalities, and there is broad political consensus in both municipalities. The residents are extremely positive and interested. Work is already underway regarding the land issue and detailed plans in contact with Kriminalvården. I believe, however, that additional political initiatives are needed to achieve faster relocation of state activities without having to compromise on either security or the content of the activities.
Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats have seen the establishments as a success. The staff in smaller towns in the country are often loyal to their employer, and hope for the future is created when the state returns to the towns that were left 10, 20, or 30 years ago. This has nothing to do with party politics, as it has been done by several governments.
During the previous parliamentary term, my party took a great responsibility for relocating regiments, universities and other state agencies as well as certain educations. This has occurred based on political values in cooperation with the relevant agencies. As the Minister surely knows, establishment in a location usually occurs with broad political consensus. The municipalities extend their hand and expect the government to take it to meet the common challenges. This is fundamentally not a partisan issue but a good way to find quick solutions.
Madam Speaker! My supplementary question to the Minister for Justice is: Can the Minister for Justice imagine making a visit to these municipalities to see the plans on-site and learn how we can together solve the shortage of space?
Runar Filper (SD)
Madam Speaker! I enter the debate because it is a good question, which primarily concerns the people of Värmland and the labor market region in North Värmland, Klarälvdalen. This part of Värmland has experienced a large depopulation over the last half-century. The population has decreased by 8,000 inhabitants in Torsby and northern Klarälvdalen over 50 years. Here, Sysslebäck, in the then municipality of Finnskoga-Dalby, was hardest hit and lost a third of its population. In Hagfors, the population decreased between 2009 and 2019 by 1,000 people. In 1970, the municipality had 20,000 inhabitants; today it is around 11,000. The other municipality in the interpellation, Munkfors, had 6,200 inhabitants in 1970; today there are 3,700. This reflects the depopulation.
Most of the people from Hagfors and Munkfors have become Karlstad residents, just as authorities and other things have disappeared down to the residence city in the era of centralization. In Värmland, there have previously been correctional facilities, such as Gustavsström. Karlstad Prison, Skåltjärn, and Orretorp. The latter is now Sis youth home Klarälvsgården. Today, there are no correctional facilities in Värmland.
One of the future prison establishments could advantageously be located in northern Värmland. It would be an important regional labor market measure in a county whose northern part, as mentioned, has experienced significant depopulation over the last half-century. Only the Norrland counties can demonstrate similar or more alarming figures.
Over the last 20 years, the government has made decisions to place various state agencies and operations in locations other than Stockholm, and this is important and creates new jobs in places other than the metropolitan areas. Placing an institution in the countryside would constitute a significant part of the regional labor market, increase options in the labor market, and give those educated in social work, behavioral science, and so on a chance to get a job in their local area and avoid moving to a large city.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank the interpellor and the co-debater for the opportunity to discuss these pressing issues here tonight. I truly want to repeat what I said in my response, namely that I and many others see the broad commitment that exists in Värmland, but also in other parts of the country, when it comes to being involved and contributing to the extremely important expansion of the criminal justice system. As you are touching upon, it is a commitment that transcends party boundaries. It is very pleasing to see the broad commitment here in the chamber tonight.
As I said, it is the Prison and Probation Service that decides on the issues, not the government. That being said, I will, of course, do what I can to further convey this commitment in my contacts with the authority and ensure that there is an offensive dialogue with various municipal and regional representatives around the country who are now reaching out to contribute to this expansion.
Regarding visits, I should probably be a bit careful about promising any, but I rule nothing out. I can, however, say that one is happy to travel to Värmland, and I also cannot rule out that there will be a visit in this spirit. We will have to come back to that question.
When it comes to the societal problem, we must now do several things at the same time. One thing is the enormously large concerns we have with the heavy organized crime. Here, it is about striking against the heavy violence, the shootings and the explosions, strangling the criminal economy and breaking the new recruitment of children and young people. In this offensive, the Prison and Probation Service will have an extraordinarily important role.
There is no doubt that the Prison and Probation Service is currently under high pressure. To a significant extent, this is of course due to societal developments with the serious organized crime and to the fact that in recent years, on very good grounds, several sentencing increases have occurred so that persons sentenced to prison stay in longer than before. It is also, if one looks only at the past year, about the fact that the police have become increasingly successful in solving also serious crime. In Stockholm alone, the crime clearance rate regarding the fatal shootings has risen from 15-16 percent the year before last to over 70 percent last year. In Uppsala, the corresponding figure is 85 percent.
It is naturally enormous successes. This is partly a result of more efficient tools for the police. This is something that I will embrace and rejoice in every day of the week, because it is incredibly important both to lock up dangerous individuals and to ensure that crime victims receive justice. But the consequence of that is clearly an increased pressure on the correctional services.
We must manage to strike back against serious crime and at the same time ensure a long-term expansion of the prison and probation service. This has become one of this government's most important priorities. Over the next three years, we are increasing the appropriations to Kriminalvården by over 60 percent in both amount and meaning to ensure this expansion.
Over time, we are talking about a tripling of the number of places. In the short term, it is very much about easing the pressure through double-layering, densification through modular solutions and other measures. We have initiated an investigation that looks at the possibility of renting out prison places abroad. We are looking at the possibilities of getting more convicted persons to serve their sentences in their home countries, etcetera.
We need to do a number of different things, but we will never get around the fact that the core must be an expansion, and that expansion will largely take place all over the country. Therefore, I welcome tonight's debate.
Mikael Dahlqvist (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Justice once again for the answer.
I agree with much of the Minister's reasoning regarding the effect of the new legislation, the increased penalties, and the expansion of the police force. Then, one might perhaps wish that we had even more focus on crime prevention work – prison is, after all, the last resort. But I believe that it fulfills an important function and protects our citizens. I understand very well what the Minister is saying.
I just want to say that the historical description that my colleague gave here earlier is correct: Norra Värmland has lost an enormous number of inhabitants in comparison with the inland of Norrland. Sometimes there is a lot of focus on Norrland, but there are more parts.
I also want to highlight the strong things happening in our municipalities. We have an incredibly strong base industry. In my home municipality Hagfors, for example, there is the largest private company in Värmland. Munkfors, Torsby, Sunne, among others, have very strong industries, especially within manufacturing.
One loses some faith in the future, however, when the state abandons these towns. Above all, it becomes more difficult for existing companies. These companies are often internationally world-leading. They often need competence, and in those cases, a partner is usually involved. That is the difficulty, Madam Speaker, that one needs a more differentiated labor market.
I do, however, want to be clear in saying that I am convinced that an establishment in Värmland is a good establishment. The staff are used to working shifts and are loyal, and there is not much turnover. The national road passes by the area that is being looked at. It is located in the middle of Värmland, and there is currently an airport with a connection to Stockholm every day.
I still think it sounds hopeful when the Minister for Justice says that he is listening and is involved in pulling on certain threads. I am convinced that it is the government's and the Council of State's responsibility to look at several parameters, perhaps not just purely from an agency perspective, and it is what I am convinced that Gunnar Strömmer does.
Here, two municipalities are extending an open hand and want to be part of the solution to the acute shortage of places. We hope that the government and the Minister for Justice are on board with that journey and develop the region while we want to contribute to meeting the challenges of the correctional services.
Madam Speaker! I received an answer to my simple question initially. The invitation remains. The Minister is welcome, not only to look at a potential land and prison issue but also to see how the rural police work.
Runar Filper (SD)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answers to the interpellor.
The municipal executive board in the respective municipality has approved the expression of interest, which has now been sent to Kriminalvården in order to be able to initiate a dialogue with the authority.
All political parties in Hagfors and Munkfors have discussed the issue, and they all view a potential establishment in Norra Råda positively, which is the name of the locality that lies between Hagfors and Munkfors geographically speaking.
The presence of a government agency would have a major positive impact on these municipalities' development and future regarding new job opportunities, skills supply, relocation, and infrastructure investments. It would be an enormous boost for these towns and this part of Värmland, which is otherwise very dependent on steel production and other metal industries.
Uddeholms AB, which Mikael Dahlqvist was involved in, that is to say the ironworks in Hagfors with its 900 employees, is, as stated, the largest private employer in all of Värmland. The counterpart in Munkfors has around 300 employees in a municipality where only 3,700 people live.
It is estimated that a new establishment of a facility with security class 2 would involve between 350 and 400 jobs. Even during the construction process, a large number of employment opportunities would be generated. I believe the minister should take this into consideration.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank Mikael Dahlqvist for the interpellation and Runar Filper for valuable contributions to the discussion.
I must first step back from the suggestion that the Norrland counties receive too much attention. For my part, I find it difficult to see that the Norrland counties can receive too much attention in any context whatsoever. With my own roots in northern Ångermanland, I also want to say that I see that there are other parts of the country that also deserve the spotlight. Värmland undoubtedly belongs there for a number of different reasons.
I think it is very nice that we have received confirmation today that the great commitment that exists locally in northern Värmland is also reflected in a commitment on the Värmland bench here in the Riksdag. I am sure that this signal has reached the Prison and Probation Service, and I am happy to contribute to confirming it. I am fully aware that it is the Prison and Probation Service and not I who ultimately decide on these matters.
I also want to say that the expansion that the correctional services has ahead of it will largely need to take place outside the large cities, even if it depends on what we mean by large cities outside Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. By Swedish standards, there are both medium-sized and smaller municipalities that, in cooperation, can provide favorable conditions for the establishments and the expansion we now have ahead of us.
I think that the least one can demand as an engaged municipal representative, supported by their members of parliament, is to receive a proper, positive response to the commitment and hopefully also enter into serious processes together with the authority. The Prison and Probation Service has a huge expansion ahead of it, and I am fully aware that in the short term we have a very strained situation there.
Let me also say that I am very aware that this involves great strain and that it, not least from a security perspective, is extraordinarily important to also have a focus on the management in the short term. It is a result of an all too cautious expansion of the correctional services historically. Now we stand where we stand and shall take responsibility for the short term but also create good conditions for the long-term expansion.
As I said initially, we are talking about a tripling of the number of places during the coming ten-year period. We are now investing a record amount in the Prison and Probation Service through a 60 percent increase in appropriations in just the next three years. It is clear that this, if used correctly, can contribute to development also in other respects around the country. I think that one should approach this task with an openness in that regard.
Regarding what Mikael Dahlqvist mentioned about incarceration in prison on one hand and prevention on the other, I would like to say last of all that it is quite obvious that it, especially if we are to break the new recruitment of children and young people, largely concerns social prevention that touches on other things than correctional care, such as family, school and social services, and ensuring that these have good conditions.
Right now, we are announcing a major overhaul regarding HVB-homes and Sis-homes – everything that exists somewhere in the interface between the legal and the social. The Prison and Probation Service will also have an important function in prevention by incarcerating dangerous individuals for a longer period, both to provide better justice for the crime victims and to protect the surrounding society against organized crime and other dangerous crime.
That we doubled the minimum sentences for serious weapons offenses from two to four years from the turn of the year means that those who are locked up will not be able to recruit any new children and young people for twice as long. Even the repressive, therefore, has a preventive effect, and it will be a basic chord in the expansion that we now have ahead of us.
Mikael Dahlqvist (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to once again thank Gunnar Strömmer for the answer and the commitment.
In conclusion, regarding preventive activities, I would like to say that I am well-informed on this as I, among other things, sit on the Social Affairs Committee. Prison can today be an even more preventive activity since one is given the opportunity for education and such. This must also be taken into account. Especially if a person is imprisoned for many years, there may perhaps be a chance to influence the person's mindset, who knows.
I take the message with me. We in Värmland are in agreement and will continue to work on this. I thank you very much for the interpellation debate.
Justitieministern Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Madam Speaker! Let me once again confirm that it has been fine and important to have the opportunity to discuss these issues today. This concerns both in general - the correctional services' important role in society and the expansion that lies ahead of it - and the good conditions that exist for a large part of the expansion to be able to take place in various places around the country.
I want to confirm that I am taking with me the great commitment that has been shown here this evening, and which I know reflects the great, broad and cross-party commitment that exists in northern Värmland in these issues. I shall convey this to the Prison and Probation Service. I am convinced that they already know it, but nevertheless, they shall have it confirmed once more.
We must, with joint forces, take on this task, which is undoubtedly large and full of challenges but which also, if handled correctly, can mean great opportunities in a number of different respects.
Thank you very much for tonight!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.