Response to interpellation 2023/24:618 on the implementation of the 2020 interpretation services inquiry
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 M considers that a well-functioning interpretation service is a fundamental prerequisite for participation and influence in society, especially within the working life 1. 2 M emphasizes that everyone who wants and can work should be given the opportunity to do so as the work line is important for well-being 2, but acknowledges that there is much more to be done to include people who today are excluded from the labor market 2. 3 M sees the budget supplement of 41 million kronor to the regions as an important first step 1 while they prepare the referral responses from the 2020 interpretation service investigation 3. 4 C considers that there must be the possibility of results and delivery to obtain a better interpretation service 4. 5 M argues that the content of the work has an impact on the implementation schedule and the scope of the proposals 5.
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 Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! Christofer Bergenblock has asked me what my plan is to implement all or parts of the content of the 2020 interpretation services investigation, such as the proposal for a unified and strengthened interpretation support in the working life as well as the proposal for a national function for the coordination of interpretation service issues.
A well-functioning interpretation service is important so that people are not excluded from society.
The Government's ambition is to strengthen the opportunities for persons with disabilities to fully participate in social life, among other things by improving the interpreting service for persons with deafness, hearing impairment, or deaf-blindness. The Government has therefore decided to allocate 41 million kronor to the regions from and including 2025 to coordinate the interpreting service for persons with deafness, hearing impairment, or deaf-blindness.
I am aware that many are impatiently waiting for a decision on the proposals, not least the organizations that represent persons with deafness, hearing impairment, or deaf-blindness. The 2020 interpretation service investigation's report Action Plan for a long-term development of the interpretation service for deaf, hearing-impaired, and persons with deaf-blindness (SOU 2022:11) contains many other proposals that concern several departments, and we have also received many referral comments that we need to analyze carefully.
The interpretation service is a fundamental prerequisite for persons with deafness, hearing impairment, or deaf-blindness to be able to be citizens with equal rights and obligations as others and have a functioning and independent life in society. From a disability policy perspective, I believe that the interpretation service is an important prerequisite for participation and influence in society, not least within the working life. This issue, like other proposals, is currently being prepared within the Government Offices.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Madam Speaker! When I set off for Stockholm today, the train stopped for a few extra minutes in Hallsberg, and then it was announced over the loudspeakers that the reason for the delay was an undeclared wheelchair where a regular seat had been booked. SJ apologized for the delay but not for their manner of acting.
That is how it can be when one has a disability. Suddenly, one happens to encounter what we usually call funkofobi in society. One is forced to fight against funkofobi and against prejudices, but one is also forced to constantly fight for one's rights in order to be able to participate in society on equal terms. It is actually about this, Madam Speaker, that this debate is about, that is to say participation, in this case participation for persons with deafness, hearing impairment, or deaf-blindness.
It is not a new issue that is up for debate here with the Minister, but the issue of the interpretation service has been investigated and debated for over ten years. The 2020 interpretation service investigation, which my interpellation concerns, is in turn based on the 2010 interpretation service investigation, which already then gave the picture of a fragmented interpretation service that did not function, which was both difficult to oversee and unpredictable for those who needed it, and which presented proposals for a unified interpretation service.
This then resulted in a memorandum prepared between several different departments and finally in a further investigation which became the 2020 interpretation services investigation. That is where we find ourselves today. The investigation was completed in March 2022, almost two years ago. Then there was a consultation period after that, but it has been one and a half years without proposals for measures or implementation. It is precisely proposals for implementation that I am requesting, when they will arrive and what they will be.
The interpretation services investigation contains a number of different proposals, several of which have been praised by the disability organizations. It is about creating a new law instead of what is currently covered within the Health and Care Act. It is about appointing a national function for the interpretation function. It is about separating work-life interpretation from everyday interpretation, which is perhaps the measure most requested by all. It is about improving the possibility of remote interpretation both via the Post and Telecom Authority and via the regions' remote interpretation, which could be improved with a common interpretation function. It also concerns issues such as women's vulnerability to violence when they have deafness, hearing impairment, or deaf-blindness.
The investigation contains many important proposals. Measures have been requested from the government by almost all organizations affected by these issues. The answer so far has been that the government is adding 41 million kronor next year, which is actually an increase of the grants to the regions, which have remained unchanged since 1998.
My question to the Minister, for which I nevertheless thank him for the answer so far, is: What is the government's plan? It is not possible to discern from what the Minister said.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you very much, Christofer Bergenblock, for the discussion and the interpellation on a very pressing issue!
I share the member's frustration and sadness that people are exposed in the way described through the train journey the member had today. We know that when it comes to vulnerability of various kinds - it can be about being exposed to violence - people with disabilities are overrepresented. This means that in all legislation that we work with, we must have this as a starting point.
I usually say that I am responsible for the coordination of disability issues in the government, but within each of the areas that the other ministers are responsible for, they are also responsible for disability issues.
It is important with school perspectives, labor market perspectives, and accessibility perspectives.
I have an ongoing discussion with the Delegation for People with Disabilities. It is a forum that I am grateful and happy to have the privilege of meeting a number of times per year. I am keen to develop this meeting format. It means that one has the opportunity to meet all the different ministers who are responsible for different areas. For example, a few months ago we had a meeting with Civil Minister Erik Slottner, who is responsible for developing, for example, IT issues. IT can be a fantastic opportunity when it comes to participation and accessibility. But if poorly designed, it can become another one of all the obstacles we have to work against.
Just as the member described, we have had two inquiries over the last ten years. For various reasons, these have not led to any result whatsoever.
In September 2022, just a few weeks before we took office, we received the compilation of the various referral responses from the 2020 interpreter services investigation. It is an extensive material, which is being prepared in different ways within different segments.
The first proposal came, just as the member described, in the budget. It concerns an important issue, about having a way in. There, I have had a close dialogue, which I am grateful for, with organizations such as Sveriges Dövas Riksförbund, Hörselskadades Riksförbund, and Förbundet Sveriges Dövblinda. I have stated that this is an important first step in the interpretation services investigation. One should not have to contact a lot of different agencies, but one should be able to have a way in.
With the 41 million, specifically dedicated to this in the budget, we are now transferring that responsibility to our regions. It is an important part of this entire complex investigation, which we are currently preparing.
I would like to conclude by saying that I am deeply moved by these meetings and by many of the young people who state that they want to enter the labor market and work. It should naturally be an opportunity for everyone. Everyone who wants and can work shall be given the opportunity to do so.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister!
I am glad that the Minister feels that frustration. I am also glad that the Government ensures that the work on issues regarding disabilities is distributed across all ministries and does not just rest with the Ministry of Social Affairs. But the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Minister naturally still have the overall responsibility for these issues.
I believe that many who are following this debate today are asking themselves how far we have come, where the investigation stands, and what sharp proposals will be put forward. That the 41 million will arrive in 2025 is well known. It is, as said, a calculation of a previous standing contribution to the regions. But otherwise, we have not received much in response so far in the debate.
That it is being prepared within the Government Offices is the common, recurring answer in these debates. But there is no prohibition against actually describing the work that is ongoing in the Government Offices, Madam Speaker. To say that it is being prepared in the Government Offices is a formulation that ministers hide behind. Then one does not need to go into more detail. But the minister has every opportunity to report the details of where one stands regarding the investigation into the interpretation service.
The question that is still most pressing and where the most measures are requested concerns working life. When it comes to education, there is currently support and opportunities for interpretation in both primary school and upper secondary school. It is somewhat unclear in law and regulation regarding this, but it appears to function. There are also special funds to apply for in higher education. Adult education, however, belongs to the parts that it is highlighted in the investigation that need to be reviewed.
When one leaves the training, one has, at best, had a relatively well-functioning interpretation during the period of training. But then one enters the working life, and then one has no right to anything. It is then up to the individual employer to pay what the interpreting service that an employee may need costs. If one is self-employed, one is forced to bear the cost entirely oneself.
It is not reasonable. That is also why the investigation proposes to distinguish between what is today called the everyday interpretation, which is covered by the Health and Medical Services Act, and the work-life interpretation, which is proposed to be placed entirely on Arbetsförmedlingen. The investigation's proposal is that one should have the opportunity to receive grants for interpretation of up to 265 hours per year at a total cost to the state treasury of between 300 and 400 million kronor.
It is not an unfairness. It is, on the contrary, a necessity so that more people with deafness, deaf-blindness, and hearing impairment can enter the workforce and get the opportunity to, just like everyone else, contribute to and be a part of society and earn their own money. There are calculations that show that it is profitable not only for the individual's well-being but also for the economy of the society. One also contributes tax revenue when one is out in the workforce.
Several of these organizations wrote a debate article a while ago. It was called Give us a fair chance in working life. That is exactly what many are demanding.
I am asking specifically about the work life issues in the interpretation services investigation. How does the government view those specific proposals?
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! Everyone who wants and is able to work shall be given the opportunity to do so. No one shall be excluded from working life. There shall be and be equal opportunities for work. This is the starting point for this government, which in every way wants to safeguard the work line.
The work line is so much. It is about being part of a work community, having someone who asks for you at work and wonders where you are if you are hit by the flu for a few days. It is an incredibly important part of feeling good. And it is one of all the reasons I see that it is important that we, in different ways, ensure that people who are now excluded from the labor market get access to it.
One first step is what is in the budget for this year. But there is much more to do. I am the first to admit and confess that. But it is difficult. No, there is no prohibition for me to reveal any details, and I wish that perhaps I could have revealed more details. But when things are being prepared, a number of different trade-offs are made and discussions are held with a number of actors. When the preparatory work is complete, I would like to return and describe it. I can reveal that I look forward to it already now.
It is exactly as the member describes. When I meet, for example, Sveriges Dövas Riksförbund, Hörselskadades Riksförbund and Förbundet Sveriges Dövblinda, they describe exactly that it is not actually any major problems to get interpretation and support during higher education. It means that we have a good number of people who are educated in shortage occupations and who today are excluded. Therefore, that specific part is very important to move forward with.
I say it again; when I meet these young people, even in the Delegation for People with Disabilities, I hear them say: We want to work, we want to be a part of the working community and we have educated ourselves for this. I am very strongly touched by that.
This is a priority issue that I hope I will be able to return to quite soon. But when it is being prepared, a number of different trade-offs are being made, and I really do not want to return to the member with incorrect information.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Mr. Speaker! We are beating around the bush a bit when we talk about what is happening and what is not happening at the Government Offices. I understand that I will not receive any answer on how the preparation itself is carried out, but on the other hand, the Minister could say something in his concluding remarks about the timeline, because it is also being requested approximately when in time we can expect propositions and proposals on the issue from the government.
There is no doubt that the government's representative is filled with good intentions and describes the needs for an advanced interpretation service and other matters within the field of disabilities in a good way, but in the end, it is obviously action that counts. It is only the concrete result that makes a difference. There were good intentions also in 2010 and 2020 when interpretation service inquiries were commissioned. The latest was completed in March 2022, and the referral response arrived in September. It has been one and a half years since then.
It is clear that there are complex issues to consider and assess, but there must also be results. That is what these organizations expect and what one expects as a human being if one has deaf-blindness, deafness, or a hearing impairment. That must be what we can expect from the government.
What is needed, in other words, is delivery to obtain a better interpretation service for these people. If the Minister cannot now answer the questions regarding the content of the work being prepared, perhaps the Minister can still answer the question regarding the timeline.
Statsrådet Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Mr. Speaker! Thanks to Christofer Bergenblock for an engaged and initiated discussion on a very pressing issue! But I must probably disappoint the member, for the content naturally bears on what timeframe we can maintain regarding the implementation and scope of the proposals.
I look forward to meeting, among other things, the Stockholm Interpretation Service Center in the near future – in fact, in just a few days – to discuss this. I will also have a large meeting on May 29 to discuss the recommendations from Sweden's UN dialogue with the committee working on issues surrounding persons with disabilities, where these questions are also included, in Geneva. We had such a dialogue just a few weeks ago and received a number of recommendations a few weeks later. They will serve as a basis for the ongoing work we are now conducting and will also be intensified with the various organizations that are closely linked to these issues.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.