Response to interpellation 2023/24:571 on countering social dumping
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 government is following the issue and that the county administrative boards shall report on whether municipalities actively contribute to residents settling in other municipalities 1. KD wants to introduce a system with establishment housing and has appointed an investigator for a new system for the settlement of newcomers 1. KD argues that there are no new concrete measures to present 2, that the municipalities are responsible for public utility and that dialogue between municipalities can have a great effect 2. KD argues that the tax equalization can compensate for socio-economic factors 3 and that the county administrative boards have an important role as representatives of the state 3. KD argues that a better functioning settlement law for newcomers can reduce the pressure of social dumping 3. KD argues that the Social Democrats have not included a reintroduced investment support in their budget options 3. KD emphasizes that no one in Sweden should have to live in substandard housing 4. S considers social dumping to be a cynical phenomenon where wealthy municipalities evade their responsibility and move vulnerable people to municipalities with strained finances 5. S criticizes that the government laid down an investigation on social dumping and argues that current measures are insufficient 6 5. S argues that social dumping is a tool for local politicians that deepens the problems in other places and that people in various forms of social vulnerability are affected 5. S considers that the investigation on the subject was laid down because the issue is not prioritized. S argues that the problem has increased since 2021 and that children are torn away from their social networks 7. S wants concrete measures and argues that the government is absent in housing policy 7 8. S considers that tax equalization is not enough to stop the problem 8.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Speakers (13)
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! [The questioner] has asked me if I intend to return to the Riksdag with proposals that promote cooperation between the municipalities to prevent social dumping and if I intend to present proposals that mean that measures will be taken to prevent social dumping.
Active participation in settlement in another municipality is an issue that affects several areas, for example social services, housing supply, integration and the municipalities' forms of cooperation.
The Government is concerned that there is a well-functioning cooperation between the municipalities and continues to follow the issue. According to the regulatory letter for 2024, the county administrative boards shall therefore report on whether the municipalities actively contribute to their municipal residents settling in another municipality. The reporting shall be carried out within the framework of the county administrative boards' existing activities, for example, work concerning sustainable social planning and housing, integration, and promotion of cooperation between the municipalities.
A large proportion of those who have changed place of residence through active participation have been newly arrived. Since the number of persons who have been granted residence permits for protection reasons has decreased, those covered by the Settlement Act have also become fewer. Furthermore, the government has decided that a special investigator shall propose a new system for the settlement of newly arrived persons. The purpose is to increase the municipalities' influence over the reception and create good conditions for an equal, uniform, and flexible reception. The government also wants to introduce a system with establishment housing, which means that the municipalities arrange a time-limited housing solution for a maximum of three years for newly arrived persons assigned to the municipalities.
Finally, I can also mention the ongoing work in the parliamentary Equalization Committee (dir. 2022:36) which is to be reported in July 2024. The committee is looking, among other things, at the system for cost equalization, and it has been tasked to analyze whether the system compensates to a sufficient extent for socioeconomic factors and shall, if necessary, propose changes. The purpose of the municipal economic equalization system is to equalize for differences in tax capacity and uncontrollable factors such as age structure and socioeconomic factors, for example education and income levels as well as length of residence in Sweden.
Kristoffer Lindberg (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the opportunity to debate the issue.
Unfortunately, we can observe that the phenomenon of social dumping has become a problem in several municipalities, including here in Gävleborg County. Social dumping means that municipalities with few rental apartments have people in need of social assistance move to another municipality. Not infrequently, it is the wealthy, affluent large city municipalities that both urge and sometimes help socioeconomically vulnerable residents to move to another, smaller location with the promise of better opportunities to create a good life, regardless of how the labor market and the possibilities for receiving support look in the current municipality. It is a cynical view of human beings.
Mr. Speaker! Sometimes in the debate it sounds as if this should only have to do with migration, but it is not just about migration. The Government Offices have in its report identified four groups that are subject to active participation, or social dumping, from some municipalities to others. They are newcomers, but they are also persons with substance abuse or other social problems who lose their networks of contacts through relocation. They are persons, primarily women, in need of sheltered housing. And they are structurally homeless. These do not need any other support in the home municipality than help in finding a residence.
This is an irresponsible phenomenon that contributes to increasing the gaps in our country. Municipalities with high unemployment and already strained economies, often in rural and sparsely populated areas, should not have to take the responsibility from other wealthy municipalities. These large city municipalities often do not have a sufficient stock of rental apartments to meet the needs of the municipal residents. When the life situation suddenly changes and one needs a new home, one is instead referred to other parts of the country.
According to the Social Services Act, assistance measures from municipalities shall be based on the individual's situation, and municipalities may therefore not shift the responsibility to other municipalities. Even wealthy large city municipalities must take their responsibility and invest in housing with different forms of tenure that people with different income levels can actually afford to live in.
Söderhamn Municipality here in Hälsingland has been particularly affected by social dumping because in some areas there have been apartments that have stood empty. Unscrupulous landlords have bought them up and profited from them. In this way, segregation, inequality, and vulnerability increase.
In another municipality, Gävle, there has been a long-term effort to reduce inequalities, among other things through labor market measures and neighborhood revitalizations. Gävle municipality invests time and resources in this because they believe in a municipality that holds together. But it is necessary that other municipalities also invest in housing and in their residents, that is, do not treat vulnerable people as pieces in a cynical game.
The Social Democratic government appointed an inquiry to produce proposals to counter social dumping, which the current government promptly scrapped. In light of this, I have written the interpellation. I do not perceive that the minister answered my question regarding whether he intends to present measures to prevent social dumping. My question remains: What does the minister intend to do to stop social dumping?
Sanna Backeskog (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank Kristoffer Lindberg for this very important interpellation. I also thank the Minister for the answer, even though I do not think the concrete questions that Kristoffer Lindberg asked were answered.
In the next debate, we will discuss the severely strained situation for Municipal Sweden. The economic crisis is hitting the municipalities in Gävleborg particularly hard. It feels extra sad that the Minister has, so far, no more positive news to bring to the debate. The municipalities in Gävleborg are really pulling their weight, taking their responsibility, and contributing to social development. They do not push the responsibility for vulnerable people onto other municipalities; instead, they do what they can to contribute to strengthening people, providing support and education, and contributing hope for the future to the children. But for that, resources are required. When social services are already on their knees today, it does not become easier when Stockholm municipalities trick families with children into moving to our municipalities due to a housing shortage, in the hope of being able to give their children better lives.
Mr. Speaker! Kristoffer Lindberg asked if the Minister intends to come forward with proposals that promote cooperation between the municipalities and measures that prevent social dumping. The Minister, in his answer, referred to the government's regulatory letter to the county administrative boards. But those only concern following, investigating, and reporting within the existing framework on whether the municipalities in the county have actively contributed to their municipal residents settling in another municipality.
It is, therefore, a reporting task. The County Administrative Boards have no mandate to counteract social dumping. Neither does the Equalization Committee, which the Minister also referred to in his answer. It is of course very good that the committee is to review how municipalities can be compensated for socio-economic factors, but on the other hand, one can interpret it as the government meaning that it is okay for certain municipalities to trick or persuade people to move instead of taking responsibility for all their residents, because Söderhamn, Bollnäs, Sandviken, or Gävle are to be compensated for socio-economic factors in the municipal equalization system.
I do not think it is okay, because I do not believe it is better for the families or individuals who it actually concerns - at least not in cases where the move is to poorly managed properties with unprofessional property owners, cases where neither the school nor social services have the prerequisites to be sufficiently quick and prepare the right support and the home municipality has not made contact, or cases where the job prospects are worse than in the rich and prosperous municipalities.
Is it so, Mr. Speaker, that the short answer to Kristoffer Lindberg's questions is no? I feel worried that is the case. But the Minister may please describe a bit more extensively how the government plans to ensure that people cannot be treated like pieces in a game. That is what it is about: vulnerable people who have very little room for maneuver of their own and are, of course, prepared to do what they believe is best for them and their children.
Mr. Speaker! Is the phenomenon of social dumping something that the government intends to do something about?
Patrik Lundqvist (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
I come from Sandviken, one of the municipalities that DN in its review identified as the most vulnerable in Sweden to the phenomenon of social dumping.
DN found, among other things, 182 quota refugees from Congo who, after their first two years in Sweden, had ended up in Sandviken in various Stockholm municipalities with the help of the municipalities' social services. We have said that we shall collectively take responsibility for, help, and support quota refugees in Sweden. These are people who are among the world's most vulnerable. We have collectively said that we shall help them. Despite this, there are certain municipalities that, after the state's support period of two years, choose not to take that responsibility.
In Sandviken, they ended up there, among other things, because Sandviken Municipality and the municipal housing company have chosen to have a policy that does not have income requirements in order to receive a rental contract. They want to take social responsibility and ensure that people, despite low incomes, have the opportunity to get a home. It is something very fine that, in this unhealthy and malicious way, has been exploited by other municipalities. Therefore, Sandviken has been forced to introduce requirements for certificates of income from a-kassa, service, or other for those moving to the municipality.
This is not the way we are to build the common Sweden. We must do that with trust in one another, and that trust must be built on everyone taking their responsibility and not trying to shift it onto others.
During the 2022 election campaign, I met Elemide Dunia from Tanzania, a woman who during her first period had lived in Stockholm. In August 2022, she had been moved to Sandviken because they no longer wanted her to live in the municipality. She was given a month's rent paid in Sandviken to move with her family. A blind woman who had come here to get an opportunity for a new start was forced to move to a municipality where she had no contact network at all after two years in another municipality.
This is not how we should have it, and I really do not understand how one can shut down the investigation that was intended to remedy these problems. Regardless of whether migration has decreased or other factors are at play, we are still in a situation where we receive quota refugees - even though the Tidöregeringen has agreed that the number should be reduced. It will therefore remain.
Anna Danielsson, social chef in Sandviken, who was given the opportunity to be part of the investigation that has now been discontinued, asked in the newspaper what the plan is now. Is the intention to invest in expanded public services so that people can stay in the municipalities that do this, or should those municipalities continue to look for housing in other municipalities?
Slottner spoke about the equalization as an uninfluenceable factor that would take care of this. But this is clearly an influenceable factor. Municipalities should not do this.
Linnéa Wickman (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thanks to Kristoffer Lindberg for this important interpellation! I also thank the Minister, even though I hope that we will receive somewhat fuller answers as the debate proceeds.
Social dumping is cynical and inhumane. Wealthy and prosperous Stockholm municipalities, which is what it usually concerns, actively send residents whom they see as draining and costly to municipalities in other parts of the country that often have more strained economies and find it harder to meet the welfare commitment because the conditions are structurally more difficult from the start and which also have higher unemployment but, on the other hand, have access to cheap housing. There are actually no other words for it than that it is deeply offensive that it is allowed to continue.
Instead of providing their inhabitants with enough housing both in a boom and now in a recession – where the government has additionally removed the investment support that existed for building housing with lower rent levels – it happens in many places that municipalities that want to dump inhabitants contact unserious landlords in other places and make a deal. They shift responsibility and costs for social assistance and housing onto other municipalities and evade their responsibility. Not infrequently, as mentioned earlier in the debate, it concerns dilapidated housing that is not humanly decent to live in.
This occurs in various forms in just over half of the country's municipalities. Those who are subjected to it are of course hit hardest, namely newcomers, victims of violence, persons with substance abuse issues and other groups who are already marginalized. They need to encounter a stronger society in a number of political areas and not be forced to move to another part of the country where the conditions to improve living conditions are often worse.
Mr. Speaker! The government's track record - excuse the English - when it comes to the issue of social dumping is actually unusually poor. Instead of taking action to handle the issue of social dumping, the government dumped the investigation that the social democratic government commissioned when municipalities began to warn that this problem had arisen, i.e., the investigation that was to answer what measures we need to take to stop social dumping.
When I take note of the Minister for Civil Affairs' response to Kristoffer Lindberg's question, I must say that it is very thin. It remains incomprehensible that the government was not even interested in taking part in the answers in the investigation that was already underway in the area.
Now that we see that this nonsense continues, I want to ask the Minister for Civil Affairs if he really thinks it was right to shut down the investigation and if he will appoint a new one.
The Minister for Civil Affairs mentions the work in the parliamentary equalization committee and has opened up for municipalities to be compensated to a greater extent for socioeconomic factors and conditions. That can be good, but as my colleagues have mentioned here earlier, it does not mean that the social dumping is stopped.
Social dumping has become a tool for local politicians in some large city municipalities to be able to show off a nice facade while they deepen the problems in other places in the country, for example in Gävleborg. The residents in Gävleborg expect more than shelved investigations and that the issue be narrowed down to only concern newly arrived people as we hear in the debate here. We see that people in different forms of social vulnerability are subjected to this.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Mr. Speaker! We have had this debate several times during the 17 months that I have been Minister for Civil Affairs. The last time we had an interpellation debate on exactly the same subject was just a few weeks ago. Since that debate, nothing new has happened in this matter; no new decisions or initiatives have come from the government. Viewers who want to follow this debate can therefore, if they wish, take a little time off and watch the previous debate, because I will give approximately the same arguments and answers since the questions are so similar.
To answer more concretely regarding the interpellation itself, there are no new concrete measures today to counter this phenomenon that I can present during tonight's interpellation debate, which are not already known. I can be honest and say that.
Regarding the proposals that have been submitted, I do not hear very many concrete proposals – this proposal we would like to change or this legislative amendment we would like to contribute to in order to stop the so-called social dumping. Furthermore, the proposals that have appeared in the debate lie outside my area of responsibility as Minister for Civil Affairs. They very often fall within the area of social services, and I do not have responsibility for that legislation as Minister for Civil Affairs.
This is not an easy question to solve; we must be honest about that. I might be a little surprised that more concrete proposals are not coming from the Social Democrats regarding the measures they want the government to take. Investigations in all their glory, but the concrete proposals are conspicuously absent.
Before the investigation was discontinued, I met with the investigators, who had come a good way and collected a lot of data and also come up with a few concrete proposals which we, of course, analyzed further. But they were, it should be said, within another department's area of responsibility.
We have a very extensive local self-government in Sweden. There are good opportunities for both dialogue and cooperation between municipalities, and there are also concrete examples where the phenomenon of social dumping has ceased in practice simply through a telephone call between two municipalities. I would really like to urge municipal representatives who consider themselves to be subject to active settlement from other municipalities to contact the municipalities that behave in that way. I believe that it can have a very great effect. We know that it has in one case, and I am sure that it can in other cases as well.
When it comes to the question of whether to invest in expanded public services, the state does not own any public service housing companies. The state does not build housing in the municipalities. This is a municipal responsibility. It is, therefore, a question that the municipalities and elected municipal politicians need to answer – whether one wants to expand or divest public services. It should be said that divestment of public services also occurs in Social Democratic-led municipalities. It is not only bourgeois-led municipalities that divest public services to obtain resources for renovation, new construction, or perhaps other measures in the municipalities.
The government has, however, as has emerged in this debate, tasked the county administrative boards to follow up on the issue of active settlement in another municipality to see how large the phenomenon is and report back to the government. Newly arrived people have nevertheless constituted a very large part of those affected, and when migration has now fallen sharply in Sweden, we believe that it will lead to a smaller occurrence of active settlement in another municipality. We will have to see if we are right about this, but it should in any case have a certain impact.
Kristoffer Lindberg (S)
Madam Speaker! I shall read out an interview with the person who was the responsible investigator in the investigation that the Minister has initiated:
The reason for the closure was that they wanted to handle the issue in a different way, and furthermore, it was not expected that so many new refugees would arrive, says the investigator. She further says regarding her visits to the receiving municipalities: They were very poor apartments. And there were stories of families who suddenly stood at the railway station and did not know where to go. We could conclude that this is a serious problem. But we did not have time for more than that before the investigation was closed.
The Minister calls for proposals from the Social Democrats to solve this, but in the same breath, the Minister also acknowledges that this is a complex issue. Yes, it is a complex issue, and it affects several parts of society. That is precisely why it is so difficult to understand why one would shut down an investigation that looks at this issue.
I do not think I need to explain the procedure of the Swedish investigative system to the Minister. But if one lays down an investigation, I think one does so for one of two reasons: Either one already has finished proposals that one wants to implement, or one considers that the issue is not prioritized. My fear that it is rather the second option that is relevant for this government remains. The Minister is welcome to try to convince me otherwise.
I know that the parliamentary Equalization Committee has been tasked with analyzing whether the equalization system today compensates to a sufficient extent for socioeconomic factors. That they are looking into this, I think, is fundamentally good. But how does the Minister mean that wealthy municipalities are suddenly going to start building housing and stop dumping socioeconomically vulnerable people in poor municipalities just because the equalization system takes socioeconomic factors into account to a greater extent? This still falls into the category of far-fetched explanatory models.
The Minister writes in their response that in the county administrative boards' regulatory letters for 2024, they have been tasked to report on whether municipalities actively contribute to their own municipal residents settling in another municipality. That is good. But what tools has the government given the county administrative boards or other authorities to do something about the phenomenon? Without such tools, the county administrative boards' reports only mean a cold statement of fact that this occurs. And we already know that today.
Several municipalities, often smaller and economically disadvantaged with high unemployment, testify that prosperous large city municipalities systematically "help" people to make contact with small, private landlords in their municipalities and then arrange for them to move there. It is about social dumping, or social export. One sends costs further to other municipalities.
It cannot be that only a few municipalities should take a large responsibility for a Sweden that holds together, building housing at as low costs as possible and prioritizing resources for equality, integration, and labor market measures, while other municipal leaderships cheer because the proportion of rental apartments in the municipality has decreased or celebrate because the number of social assistance recipients has decreased thanks to having passed the responsibility on to other municipalities.
Social dumping does not mean better conditions for the individual to create an independent life, usually the opposite. The only thing it contributes to is increasing the gaps between different parts of the country. It pulls society apart and contributes to increased housing segregation.
Does the government want it that way? I do not hope so. How does the Minister for Civil Affairs mean that we are to put a stop to this? Is the strategy from the government to sit and await proposals from the Social Democrats? In that case, we are happy to take this and initiate negotiations with the government on how we can stop social dumping.
Sanna Backeskog (S)
Madam Speaker! I listened to the earlier debate on social dumping, where the Minister emphasized that much has happened since the National Audit Office's report was released in 2021. If the Minister thereby means that the problem with social dumping no longer occurs, it is nothing that our municipalities here in Gävleborg are experiencing.
Dagens Nyheter's mapping from last autumn shows that the problem has rather increased since the National Audit Office's report and that every other municipality states that other municipalities have deliberately placed people they do not want in their municipality with them. Often, the home municipality has then covered both the moving costs and the first rent, but after that, they have cut ties and released all responsibility.
Patrik Lundqvist previously mentioned what it looks like in Sandviken. Sandviken and Söderhamn are two of the municipalities in the country that have received the most of the dumped, or what one should call them. It concerns more than 15 households per year, according to Hem & Hyras mapping from last year.
It is about people who are socially vulnerable for various reasons, for example because they have fled from war and are relatively new to the country. But it is also about issues of substance abuse or about debts or other social vulnerability. It can be about women who have been forced to flee from a violent man.
Not infrequently, children are involved - children who are thus torn away from school, club activities, and perhaps a social network because they are not wanted in the municipality where they have their security.
Sometimes it can be good with a new start, absolutely, but then the move must ensure that the decision is based on the children's perspective and what one genuinely believes is best for the children.
Madam Speaker! Sweden must be able to do better than this. We need a housing policy worthy of the name. We need increased equality, and we need concrete measures against social dumping.
Patrik Lundqvist (S)
Madam Speaker! No, perhaps it is not an easy question. And it is clear that it is problematic to govern municipalities which naturally should have their own self-determination. But there is still a great deal that can be done. We have quite a few laws and regulations in this country that govern how municipalities are actually allowed to act.
I return to the last thing I raised in my previous contribution, regarding the municipal equalization, the cost compensations, and the cost equalization. Reviewing these systems may sound good, and it is naturally important to do so. There have been problems with the equalization regardless of the social dumping. The equalization needs to increase, and municipalities need to receive significantly more support in cases where revenues do not cover the costs.
But in this context, it sounds more like that the municipalities that are exposed to the phenomenon should be paid for being so. So, we still shouldn't have that, should we? Furthermore, we do not want municipalities that say: Okay, we will accept these people if we get paid for it. People should not be treated in that way, regardless of what they have been exposed to – whether it is women who have been in violent situations, quota refugees, or others who need society's help.
The state does not own the public utilities either. That is true. But this government has also removed support that actually existed to help the municipalities expand the stocks and build new ones. It also does not help those municipalities that today dump people in other municipalities to instead take their responsibility. That is something one could perhaps reflect on.
Linnéa Wickman (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, the Minister for Civil Affairs, for the answers in the debate, even though I can discern a certain tiredness from the Minister when it comes to debating the issue of social dumping here in the Riksdag!
I may have to disappoint him, because we Social Democrats will continue to raise this issue with the Minister and with the government as long as this is a problem that is not fully addressed. I also do not believe that the answers that have been given so far reassure anyone – neither the municipalities that are exposed nor the people who are dumped.
We can observe that an important investigation in the area has been discontinued, that the tools that existed at the national level for increased housing construction in the form of investment support have been removed, and that the government is also generally absent when it comes to handling the construction crisis, which has become deeper due to a lack of an active national housing policy.
I add to this that there was quite a lot of talk about how municipalities might possibly be able to be compensated in the tax equalization system, but the answers that the Minister for Civil Affairs has given to Kristoffer Lindberg's questions are actually not sufficient to tackle the problem.
In 2019, when the problems with social dumping began to emerge, the leader of the Moderates, the current Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, said that the municipalities that were highlighted for practicing social dumping were pioneers in how to reduce dependency on benefits. I wonder if the Minister for Civil Affairs shares that view. If so, it explains quite a lot of the passivity that the government shows when it comes to combating social dumping today.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Madam Speaker! I will not comment on the Social Democratic Members of Parliament's free translations of how the Moderate Party's party leader expressed himself a number of years ago. I will leave that to someone else. Perhaps the person concerned can comment on what he or she has said, instead of me standing here and reviewing it.
It is good that we agree that the tax equalization committee is good. Furthermore, it was the previous government that appointed it, and it is parliamentary.
I have never said that a new tax equalization system will counteract the occurrence of so-called social dumping, but it is clear that it can compensate for the occurrence. It is good if the tax equalization contributes to compensating for this. It could, for example, involve compensating for socioeconomic factors, which is a parameter that should be reviewed in the tax equalization. The investigation will be finished quite soon now – July 2 is when it is supposed to arrive at the latest. I really look forward to taking part of it and seeing what proposals are presented.
Then we will see what we do with the county administrative boards' reporting. That is to come later. It depends on what it shows. It is possible that that mapping will generate some measures from the government. We will see then. It is nothing that I can promise here and now.
What I can state is that the county administrative boards have an important role in conducting dialogue with the municipalities and being the state's representative at the local level, and also being a unifying force for the municipalities in a county. I do not think one should underestimate the county administrative boards' potential in such a matter. But we will have to see what we do with the report that arrives.
The government is also reviewing the Settlement Act. A better functioning Settlement Act for newcomers will lead to less pressure on social dumping in the municipalities. Even though it is not only about newcomers, it is clear that when migration has been as large as it has been in Sweden for a number of years, it becomes difficult for many municipalities to find housing. In that case, it becomes easy to look outside one's own municipality.
This is not just about the will to build or not. It can be municipalities that have built a huge amount but have had an influx that has been larger than what they have managed to build for - because of the Planning and Building Act, the Environmental Code, or whatever it may be, or because of national interests that make it difficult to build. Even such factors can result in a housing shortage, and it is of course clear that it can lead to finding other solutions. There is an inherent conflict: Where it is easy to get a job, it is difficult to get a home, and where it is easy to get a home, it is more difficult with integration and jobs. It is an inherent conflict.
The investment support was raised here, and there were suggestions to consider reintroducing an investment support. The Social Democrats are welcome to consider this when preparing their own shadow budget. In the budget options that the Social Democrats have presented in this chamber, there is no reintroduced investment support included, which I find interesting given the Social Democrats' rhetoric here in the chamber.
Kristoffer Lindberg (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for this debate! For me and for us in Gävleborg, this is a very important issue that needs to be addressed more clearly in national politics, both for the municipalities' conditions and from a social and humanitarian perspective.
I want to conclude by reading from a report on social dumping. The title is "Among mold and mice":
"The family came to Sweden. In 2017 they ended up in Täby, Sweden's third wealthiest municipality. But when the two-year establishment period was over, they had to move and ended up in a smaller rural municipality. Tenants testified to cold, lack of ventilation, moisture damage, pests, and leakages. The apartment smells rank of mold and sewage water. In the bathroom, the tiles are loose and sewage water floods up through the joints when one walks on the floor."
This is a reality that we also must tell about. Here, these people have been dumped under these circumstances. We should surely agree that we must do something about this phenomenon and that it is not allowed to continue in this way.
I have full respect for the fact that this is a complicated issue that touches on many aspects. What needs to be done? Well, among other things, sufficient resources need to reach the municipalities. But more housing also needs to be built. Here, there is no policy at all from the government, as far as I can see.
What is the housing policy plan for Sweden? That question perhaps I should not ask the Minister for Civil Affairs, but I am doing it anyway now.
Probably we also need to strengthen the law regarding the responsibility that the municipalities have towards their own residents. This is something that an investigation perhaps could have developed further.
It is my and many others' hope that the government acts. What the system creates today leads only to a more unequal society. Ultimately, it is about people.
Statsrådet Erik Slottner (KD)
Madam Speaker! I also thank you for this interpellation debate. I expect that the debate on this subject will continue. This is perhaps the single subject for which I have received the most interpellations. I expect that more will come. This has also been promised here in the debate. I will therefore return and debate the issue.
I can, however, say that I have made many municipal visits around the country and that the question has hardly come up even once – it may have come up some time. This must also be said. What it is a sign of, I do not know, but that is actually the case.
I can conclude by saying: Naturally, no one in Sweden should have to live in such substandard housing as is being described here in the rostrum. This applies regardless of whether one has, as they say, been socially dumped – it is not called that, formally – in a municipality or if one has been a municipal resident since birth. Naturally, no one should have to live in such substandard housing. This in itself may not have anything to do with this issue. It is another problem that there are unscrupulous landlords and bad property owners. Naturally, no one in Sweden should have to live in such substandard conditions.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.