Response to interpellation 2023/24:741 on the municipalities' supervisory responsibility
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the municipalities' supervisory responsibility over independent preschools and pedagogical care. L argues that the municipalities are responsible for the supervision and that Skolinspektionen audits that the municipalities fulfill their requirements 1. L emphasizes that new regulations from 2023 require systematic work and that Skolinspektionen provides support material for this 1 2. S argues that the quality of supervision varies between municipalities and that it is difficult to revoke approvals due to a sanction ladder 3. S asks how the government will ensure that the municipalities take their responsibility 3. S suggests that Skolinspektionen should make a compilation of the municipalities' supervision 4 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 Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! Rose-Marie Carlsson has asked me what measures I will take to ensure that the municipal heads exercise their supervisory responsibility in a good manner.
All children and students shall receive a good start in life. Conducting educational activities within the school system in Sweden means that one manages the society's trust for that specific mission. The municipalities are, according to the Education Act, responsible for the supervision of independent preschools and pedagogical care. The National School Inspectorate is responsible for auditing how a municipality fulfills its supervision responsibility.
On 1 January 2023, new provisions were introduced in the Education Act which entail clearer and expanded requirements for pedagogical care. The requirements mean, among other things, that the operation shall prepare the children for education within the school system and that each head of the school shall systematically and continuously plan, follow up, develop, and evaluate the operation. Furthermore, the municipality shall, upon application, examine whether an individual shall be approved as a head of the school. For approval, it shall be required that the individual has insight into and the prerequisites to follow the regulations that apply to the operation and is otherwise judged to be suitable. After the approval, the municipality shall exercise supervision to ensure that the requirements are continuously met. If the individual no longer meets these prerequisites for approval, the approval shall be revoked without prior order.
The Government tasked the Swedish Schools Inspectorate on 24 November 2022 to develop support material for the municipalities' ownership and management review. Support material has also been available on the Swedish National Agency for Education's website for some time. The material aims to support the municipalities' supervision of independent preschools. Supervision of private pedagogical care and independent preschools can often be carried out in essentially the same way.
I expect both the municipalities and the School Inspectorate to fulfill their supervisory responsibility and intervene if needs arise. The trust to conduct educational activities in Sweden should only be granted to serious actors. Since the provisions in the Education Act entered into force relatively recently, it is too early to say what results they have yielded. It is also too early to evaluate how the municipalities have been able to utilize the support material that the School Inspectorate has developed. My hope is that the availability and pedagogical disposition of the support shall contribute to broad use and be a support in the municipalities' supervision.
Rose-Marie Carlsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister! The Swedish Schools Inspectorate has supervision over municipal activities when it comes to preschool and private pedagogical care. The experience I have of the Swedish Schools Inspectorate's supervision is that it takes place largely at the principal level, that is to say, that one does not visit the operation.
When it comes to the independent activities, it is the municipality that is responsible for the supervision, and the School Inspectorate shall review how the municipality exercises its supervisory responsibility. The quality and focus of the municipal supervision vary across the country, not least depending on the municipality's size and experience in conducting supervision.
The supervision concerns whether the principal complies with the Education Act, the curriculum, the municipality's guidelines for the number of children, and so on. If there are deficiencies, the principal shall be given the opportunity to rectify these, but it is always the principal who is responsible for its operations.
My experience of supervision is that the municipality most often visits the operation, in contrast to the Skolinspektionen which most often performs a thematic supervision at the principal level.
That the municipalities' supervisory responsibility functions is an important part of the work to quality-assure these activities. If the quality is lacking, it can have very large consequences for the children who are completely dependent on the activity.
In his answer, the minister says that the Swedish Schools Inspectorate has produced support material that is intended to facilitate the municipalities in exercising their supervisory responsibility. That is good. I hope that it is good enough to be used by the municipalities.
When it comes to my question to the Minister regarding how the Minister shall ensure that the municipal heads exercise their supervisory responsibility in a good way, I am however both surprised and a bit dismayed as the answer is that the Minister "expects" both the municipalities and the School Inspectorate to fulfill their supervisory responsibility. To me, it is completely obvious that one should do what one is supposed to do.
The Minister also says in the response that if the requirements are no longer met, the approval shall be revoked without an order. If it had been that simple, I would have been more than happy and grateful. It is not, however, that simple to do. There is a scale of sanctions, and one must issue an order first so that the operator has the opportunity to rectify its deficiencies—unless there is an obvious danger to the child's life and health. In that case, the approval can be revoked, and then there is an opportunity for the operator to appeal to court.
The question I asked in the interpellation still remains: How is the minister going to ensure that the municipalities take their responsibility and exercise their supervisory responsibility in a good way?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! Yes, it is the municipalities that are responsible for this according to the legislation that exists. The School Inspectorate has a responsibility to ensure that the municipalities exercise that responsibility in a good way. I expect, just as I said in my answer, that the municipalities also do so. I have every reason to believe that the municipalities will also manage this assignment.
It is then clear that there are municipalities that are very small, which may have only one or a couple of independent operations and which have more difficulty exercising this supervision than other municipalities do. I can also imagine that there are municipalities that have not had independent operations but have suddenly received them. Thus, one is somewhat new to the supervision responsibility. Here, the guidelines that Skolinspektionen has developed are very important and useful.
I completely share Rose-Marie Carlsson's view that this is extremely important. It is about small children's right to a good preschool activity. In the end, it can, just as Rose-Marie Carlsson says, also be about safety and security for the children. Therefore, it is important that the municipalities take this responsibility very seriously.
It is also important that the School Inspectorate takes its mission seriously to ensure that the municipalities do this. However, I have no reason today to believe that the municipalities are neglecting this responsibility or are not taking it seriously.
I myself, as a former school board member in Stockholm, have closed down and revoked the permits for dozens of independent operations in the preschool area that simply did not meet the requirements. I think it is important that the municipalities take their responsibility when it comes to this and ensure that one knows what type of activity is being conducted at the taxpayers' expense. In that regard, the pedagogical activity is very important. I have no reason to believe that the municipalities are failing in that mission.
Rose-Marie Carlsson (S)
Madam Speaker! No, I do not think the municipalities ignore it either, but they do have different experiences of it. Just as the Minister says, it can differ between a small and a large municipality.
The Minister spoke about his experience as a school board member. I also have many years of experience from my hometown Malmö as a municipal principal. I have also been active in the supervision, seen how the administration has worked, and been involved in withdrawing permits. I also know what a long process it is before the withdrawal has been confirmed by the court, because naturally, the principal appeals. Even the inhibition must go through.
In the Swedish Schools Inspectorate's annual report for 2023, they mention a little bit about preschool, where they have conducted a thematic review. For the other school forms, the deficiencies they discover are reported. In that way, one can see if there is a pattern, if it is the same things that are lacking, and so on. I believe it is considerably easier for a larger municipality that has more experience and competence when it comes to both supervision of and approval of independent operations. It is quite natural.
My experience of the municipal supervision is also that the committee receives an annual follow-up on how the administration has worked with its supervisory activities. In this way, the political level gets an understanding of how things look and whether other decisions need to be made so that we can have a good operation for our children.
The supervision includes the review of many different areas such as pedagogy, law, and economics. We also know that the requirements in the Education Act have continued to increase in tandem with the requirements on individual school owners. New requirements have also emerged regarding confessional elements and democratic conditions that must be examined.
As I said earlier, the municipality usually performs an operational review, unlike the School Inspectorate which calls it observations. One discovers significantly more when performing an operational review. One sees the interaction and which sanctions have been issued and can access the municipalities' compilation to get an overall picture of the independent operation.
Given how the Swedish Schools Inspectorate reported on the other school forms in its 2023 annual report, I wonder if the Minister will work to ensure that the Swedish Schools Inspectorate receives a mandate to compile the municipalities' supervisory activities in order to get a broader understanding of how things look in our municipalities and what the supervision looks like generally.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! It is exactly as Rose-Marie Carlsson says: There are new and stricter requirements for independent operations, and the municipalities have a very large responsibility to ensure that those requirements are met. The School Inspectorate's role is somewhat different. They are to audit that the municipalities are doing correctly.
I think it is an interesting idea that Rose-Marie Carlsson has, that one might ask the School Inspectorate to review in a more systematic way how the municipalities manage their assignment. Today, however, I have no reason to believe that the municipalities take that assignment lightly. I believe that the vast majority of municipalities manage it well, not least because it concerns small children's well-being and small children's right to a pedagogical and good education.
I think the Skolinspektionen's support material is good. It can be used by the municipalities when they want to exercise the supervision.
The new regulations that came in January 2023 were also referred to quite a few municipalities who thought they were well-founded. They were generally positive towards them.
My view is nevertheless that this works well, that the municipalities take their responsibility and that they do not neglect this. It is, however, clear that one can review it further if one wishes.
Rose-Marie Carlsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I think it would have been good if one could get an overall picture, in the same way as I have experience of from the committee I have chaired. The School Inspectorate could in some way collect how things look regarding the municipalities' supervisory responsibility and what it is that one encounters.
We have now talked quite a bit about preschool. But I also want to highlight pedagogical care. For those listening, it is childcare; that is how it is perceived. There, the supervision also applies to the ownership and management circles from 1 January 2023. Furthermore, an important matter has arisen that it is important to really follow. If the activity is conducted in a residence, those who are registered there and are of legal age must present a certificate from the criminal record register. That is great.
Generally speaking, the ownership and management review is not entirely simple to carry out. It requires solid legal competence. I know that smaller municipalities are flagging this. Now, one is not just supposed to look at whether the activity fulfills the curriculum's goals and so on. That people have a good handle on. That is what people have experience with. But one does not have this legal competence.
The Education Committee agreed to propose a motion for the government to consider reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of the Skolinspektionen being responsible for permits and supervision also for private preschools, after-school centers, and pedagogical care.
Then my question is: When has the government finished considering? And when will we receive a proposal to take a position on?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! The municipalities have an important and necessary task to grant permits for and exercise supervision over the independent activities. It is also important that the state takes a large responsibility to advise the municipalities on how they should exercise that responsibility. That is also what the School Inspectorate does. They try to advise the municipalities on how they should apply the regulatory framework that exists.
I completely agree with Rose-Marie Carlsson that it is important to take this seriously. I do not feel that there is any reason today to believe that there are municipalities that deliberately neglect this. To the extent that anyone thinks it is problematic, it probably depends, just as Rose-Marie Carlsson says, on the fact that it is difficult. It could be quite small municipalities that suddenly get independent operations, which they perhaps have not had before. And the regulatory framework can change and so on. In that case, the School Inspectorate's advice and recommendations are very important so that the municipalities can exercise the responsibility in a sensible way.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.