Response to interpellation 2023/24:519 on municipal mergers
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 state has a responsibility to ensure that municipalities can fulfill their tasks 1. KD notes that there is a lack of interest in voluntary mergers but that economic incentives can promote them 1 2. KD emphasizes that the population decline in small municipalities is unsustainable 2 and that municipalities with 2,000–4,000 inhabitants may have difficulties with competence supply and digitalization 3. KD argues that the government has significantly increased the state grants 4 and that emotional reasons must be overcome to meet challenges 3. S argues that municipalities are in a difficult economic situation and that there is a healthcare crisis 5. S believes that the government is not providing the necessary resources 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.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Eva Lindh has asked me if I intend to take the initiative for municipal mergers and what other initiatives I intend to take if I do not intend to do this.
The municipalities face great challenges, and the government sees the need for the municipalities to be able to strengthen their capacity. It is correct that the Municipal Perspective Inquiry, which submitted its report at the end of January, reported that at the current time there is no interest among the municipalities in voluntary municipal mergers. At the same time, the inquiry reported that there is generally a realistic view that the challenges the municipalities face need to be addressed, not least in many of the smaller municipalities. The inquiry assesses that some municipalities may in the long run need to reconsider their position on municipal mergers and that the state should be prepared for such a development.
The municipalities have a great responsibility to ensure in various ways that they manage their tasks. At the same time, the state has an overarching responsibility to ensure that the conditions for this exist.
The assignment on municipal mergers was decided for the purpose of probing the interest in starting work with a view towards voluntary future mergers. There is no interest in voluntary mergers at the current stage, but the question of the municipalities' capacity becomes no less important because of that. The municipalities' ability to fulfill their mandate is important for the government and will continue to be a subject of discussion and potentially for measures.
Eva Lindh (S)
Mr. Speaker! Sweden's municipalities and regions are in a very difficult economic situation. As recently as the day before yesterday, 900 employees within healthcare in my region Östergötland were notified of layoffs. Many municipalities and regions testify to how difficult it is for them to manage what belongs to the welfare and the important work that is done there. We have a healthcare crisis in Sweden.
The Minister appointed an inquiry some time ago which has now presented its conclusions. It concerned municipal mergers, or municipal consolidations as we say. I have a question that I did not ask in the interpellation. I wonder if the Minister expected any other answer than the one that came.
It becomes a bit strange in this situation, when municipalities and regions are having a very tough time, to ask the municipalities if they voluntarily want to perform mergers. We know that many do not have the prerequisites for it. What was intended to be able to facilitate things for municipalities with mergers has not been included in the investigation.
What is intended with mergers is that two municipalities located near each other should join together and become one municipality. These are tough decisions. Sometimes they can be necessary. But if it is to be done, it is usually said, and research also shows, that some type of incentive must be provided for the municipalities to want to make this rather dramatic change of merging.
The investigation has now reached its conclusions. The conclusion is exactly what the Minister has said here: There is a lack of interest among smaller municipalities to initiate work on mergers. There are therefore no conditions for voluntary municipal mergers at the current time.
I have three questions for the Minister. The first question is: Since there is now no interest in voluntary mergers, will the government consider either measures to get municipalities to merge, or is the Minister considering mandatory ones? There must have been a purpose in asking someone to investigate it when most still knew what the answer would be, and what would be done if the answer turned out to be what one could already count on it would be.
The second question is: If the Minister does not see mergers as a viable path, what initiatives does the Minister then see to address the situation for municipalities and regions? Obviously, it is not to provide more resources, despite the fact that we see a great need for it. Are there other measures that the Minister nevertheless thinks could be taken to facilitate for the municipal sector in the tough situation that many find themselves in?
The third question is: If one still sees that the smaller municipalities have tough conditions and have problems and challenges, does the Minister have any announcement to them? Or is the intention to wait out the situation and see how it goes?
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to thank the member for the follow-up questions that have now been asked. I will try to answer them as well as I can.
The first question concerned whether I had expected a different answer. The question is whether I should actually answer that question. I shall not, as a minister, anticipate investigations. I was, however, not as certain as Member Lindh seems to be that there would only be a wall and a no from all municipalities when it comes to joining together voluntarily.
I might have thought that there would be nuances in the answers. The answers are not always yes or no. The answers can be: Not just now, but we probably see the needs within a ten-year period. It perhaps cannot happen with the conditions that exist today. But if we were to get clearer economic incentives, we would probably be able to join together voluntarily.
One could imagine the nuances in the answers. I perhaps hadn't counted on: Yes, we would very much like to, and then one threw oneself into the investigator's arms. That I perhaps hadn't quite expected. Possibly I would have thought that there would be nuances in their yes and no.
Now the investigation is here. The investigator states that there are very small prerequisites for voluntary municipal mergers. I would, however, still like to say that the mandate for the investigation also included looking at economic incentives for municipal mergers. There are also such proposals in the investigation. They are not at any concrete level. But the investigator suggests that some type of economic incentives should be introduced to promote municipal mergers.
The question was: What measures is the government considering now? I cannot give any such announcements today. It is too early. The investigation is too new for me to be able to give any such announcements today.
On the other hand, it can be said that there are actually three main paths forward. One alternative is to state that there are no prerequisites for voluntary municipal mergers. We accept that answer and move on. Then, the municipalities will have to manage in the future with the municipal structure that exists today and with the municipal tax equalization and cost equalization system we have.
Another alternative is to take a middle ground and follow the investigator's proposal regarding continued capacity analyses and further investigate whether economic incentives could be introduced. One could further increase what has already been introduced, such as facilitating cooperation and ensuring it is made more attractive, to then scout the terrain and create better conditions for municipal mergers at some point in the 30s.
A third alternative is that one is tougher, steers more from a state level and says more clearly: We want to see municipal mergers. But then this must happen more centrally, because it is obvious that those possibilities do not exist today on a voluntary basis.
Which of the three options that we will choose to move forward with I cannot answer today. We need more time to analyze it.
I believe I took almost all the questions, but it feels like there was something more.
I may possibly be a little concerned. As Member Lindh knows, I have met very many municipalities during the more than a year that I have been Civil Minister. In all those contexts, I have raised this question.
I notice that there hasn't been any great enthusiasm. But I have also noticed an understanding that it will probably be needed and that many municipalities are too small. If we look at SCB's latest population statistics, we see that 90 of the country's 100 smallest municipalities decreased their population during 2023. In the long run, it is an unsustainable situation.
Many times, the opposition to mergers is more emotional than rational. I may be a little concerned about that.
Eva Lindh (S)
Mr. Speaker! How nice that I did receive some answer regarding the expectations. I have truly seriously reflected on the thoughts before the investigation was commissioned.
I myself was partly raised in a municipality that was merged in 1971. It is not convulsions, but it is still a bit difficult to feel that one is a part of the larger municipality. It is difficult, and that means a lot.
With that said, it is not that one should not do it when the conditions exist for it. But we know that there are no conditions for voluntarily merging municipalities.
Another thing we have seen is that cooperation has meant a lot. It is the voluntary cooperation between municipalities. It can be everything from that they have joined together in associations or that they cooperate in very many different ways. It involves very many different municipalities. It has meant a lot, and it makes a big difference for the municipalities to be able to cooperate. It is good.
The question is whether the Minister sees opportunities to facilitate that. There are, after all, some obstacles to cooperation. It might perhaps make a greater difference for the municipalities than what the investigation can entail. To put it bluntly, I have respect for the investigation and what it has concluded. But I think there are things that can still be taken seriously.
My point here is that many of the municipalities that are smaller in terms of population share are very large in terms of their area. This implies greater difficulties for cooperation and, above all, for mergers. Does the Minister see this? And are there any possibilities for this?
I shall mention an example, and it concerns the rescue services. In the municipalities that are large in area but have few inhabitants, the rescue services cost significantly more money. It is, therefore, an uncontrollable factor we are talking about. One cannot influence this, but it is very expensive with rescue services.
Many municipalities around the country have solved the problem of it being difficult and expensive to put this together by merging their rescue services. It has been shown that all municipalities that are smaller in area have benefited financially from merging. But the large municipalities in terms of area do not have the possibility to do this, and that means they cannot lower their costs in the same way as other municipalities. I would very much like to hear if the Minister has any thoughts on this and if there are any initiatives to take regarding exactly this.
I did not receive an answer to my last question. It may be because it is a bit too ideological and rhetorical, but I am asking it again. If the Minister now sees that especially the smaller municipalities in rural areas, and the regions, also have major problems today – are there any other initiatives? I have seen that the government is not making the assessment that one needs to give municipalities and regions the resources that we Social Democrats think they should receive. Are there any proposals on this, or should one just wait out the situation and let it get better, eventually, in the long run?
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! It is on my list that I am to answer the final question, but I did not have time for it during my previous four minutes of speaking time. I will do it now instead. The government has given, or we would rather say have increased, the general and targeted government grants by 28 billion during 2023 and 2024. Historically, it is one of the largest increases that has been made to the government grants to the municipal and regional sectors, so the government has surely seen that municipalities and regions need increased resources.
Member of Parliament Lindh sits on the parliamentary tax equalization committee, which I have had the opportunity to speak about several times in other debates. It is there that, among other things, this issue shall be reviewed. It concerns all parameters of tax equalization, and one shall see if, for example, sparsity is compensated sufficiently. The committee shall also review the issue of how some municipalities year after year feel forced to raise taxes to fulfill their general mandate and so on. We see that the tax gap between those who pay the lowest and highest tax is increasing. We shall have to see what the committee comes to in these respects.
Sometimes we only think that municipal mergers concern smaller municipalities. I want to be precise - and I have said this many times - that it does not only concern municipalities in the inland of Norrland that are small when it comes to population base but large in terms of area. Municipal mergers can very well concern municipalities in Västra Götaland, which today has 49 municipalities. It can concern Stockholm County, which has 26 municipalities, and Skåne, which has 33 municipalities that are quite small in area and quite densely populated but which are still very small in terms of population. There are good conditions for municipal mergers there.
These are also municipalities that today cooperate very much in various areas. Eva Lindh mentions the rescue services as an example. I was myself on a study visit in central Skaraborg a couple of weeks ago, and they have a very well-functioning cooperation specifically regarding the rescue services. I believe it was four municipalities involved. It is a very good example.
I do, however, think that one must proceed with some caution before granting all too great opportunities for cooperation. Somewhere we must also protect the democratic oversight and the democratic control over these cooperation bodies. If one begins to cooperate between municipalities where indirect assemblies and boards gain ever greater influence and where one perhaps does not quite match the democratic preferences that the citizens have voted for in individual municipalities, one should be a bit cautious. It is not self-evident to simply proceed with increased opportunities for cooperation; one must also have a democratic filter and democratic glasses before proceeding with such proposals.
I also think that if one cooperates on almost everything in a municipality, one must eventually ask the question: Why don't you then join together and create a municipal council and joint boards? The population would then vote in elections to the municipal council, and the boards would be created based on the composition there. I think that question must be asked nonetheless.
For me, it is obvious that an identity in a municipal district does not need to be lost just because one has a common municipal council. The municipal boundaries are today, in many and much, administrative boundaries. I live in Stockholm and have been municipally politically active there. We have a municipal council. But I also live in Södermalm, and Södermalm's identity does not disappear because we have a common municipal council with eleven district committees in Stockholm.
One must try to understand that administrative boundaries are one thing, while the emotional, cultural, and historical connections are another. I believe that we as politicians who would like to see municipal mergers must become a bit more pedagogical, and I am trying to take my responsibility in that matter.
Eva Lindh (S)
Mr. Speaker! I will start with the positive: I think it is very good that the Minister raises the democratic oversight and the conditions for local democracy. I completely agree that this is important, and all these decisions must be made under those conditions. It is incredibly important.
I have not – and I hope the Minister does not interpret it that way – read the investigation as if it were only about smaller municipalities. My example was that it is more difficult with both cooperation and mergers when the distances are long and the number of municipal residents is small. It was only my description of that it is then more difficult with mergers. But it is also more difficult with cooperation, and these municipalities are already struggling and also cannot make the savings that other municipalities can by cooperating more closely. My point was that they therefore face it tougher in several different ways. That is why I think it is important to take with you that the conditions for the municipalities are different.
I interpret it as that the Minister does not currently have any proposals for it to be mandatory or anything else, but that the Minister is to look at what the investigation will come up with. Then we will see what happens. That is my interpretation of what the Minister says.
I would still like to add something. The Minister spoke about historically large investments. Historically, the regions are in the most difficult situation they have been in since the 90s. Historically large changes are occurring. I took the example of my own home region, Östergötland, where 900 employees within healthcare are now being laid off. It is a tough situation; I really want to emphasize that. Everything we can do to support municipalities and regions to save the welfare is important.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I am fully aware of the latter. It is a heavy pressure, not least on the regional side and in some municipalities, even if it looks more varied in the municipal sector. It is entirely correct that the regions' finances are under heavy pressure. It will probably ease moving forward given that inflation is now decreasing, but the Prime Minister has also said that the government will take responsibility for the regions' finances. We naturally take this statement seriously.
I am fully aware that for small and sparsely populated municipalities and their problems, simply merging two municipalities is not a universal solution. But Sweden looks the way it does. Given the increasingly difficult tasks that municipalities have been and are being assigned since the last municipal merger in the 70s, which Eva Lindh also refers to, and with a declining population, the question is worth asking: Will municipalities with 2,000-4,000 inhabitants manage the supply of competence? Can they manage to work strategically forward? Can they manage to work with digitalization, with competent managers, with climate adaptations, with civil defense, and with all this that is imposed on municipalities today regardless of size? That question we probably have to ask ourselves.
When I ask these questions to municipal representatives, both at the director level and at the political leadership level, many say that this will be very difficult. Still, it is difficult to take the step and carry out municipal mergers, much for emotional reasons. As Eva Lindh pointed out, the municipal mergers from the 70s still remain; I have also heard this many times. But one must probably try to get over this now, try to create identities in these municipal parts and still agree that one probably works better together with the very tough and difficult challenges the municipalities face.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.