Response to interpellation 2024/25:456 on the review of the initiative Steg till arbete
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 review of the initiative Steg till arbete. L considers it important that Arbetsförmedlingen's support functions as intended 1 and that the government takes measures to clarify the conditions for subcontractors 1. L considers that the privatization has gone too far 2 and that the authorities must receive clearer mandates to provide better support to persons with disabilities 2 3. L considers it a strength that people with disabilities can support themselves 4. S argues that the review shows deficiencies such as lack of competence and substandard premises 5. S pushes for more of the initiatives to return to the authority's own management 5. S looks forward to following the work to improve the situation at private providers 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.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Jonathan Svensson has asked me what measures I intend to take in view of the irregularities that appear to be ongoing within the framework of Steg till arbete, as well as what measures I intend to take to ensure that more people with disabilities or ill health move forward to work or studies.
It is important that the support and efforts that Arbetsförmedlingen disposes of function as intended and that persons registered with Arbetsförmedlingen receive good support to move forward to work or studies. Work is currently underway within Arbetsförmedlingen to clarify the conditions regarding subcontractors, a work that covers all procured services including Steg till arbete. According to information from Arbetsförmedlingen, the authority sees a successive reduction in the number of complaints in the service Steg till arbete and additionally that fewer complaints than before result in a sanction. Arbetsförmedlingen sees cooperation with suppliers as a prerequisite for resolving issues and increasing the quality of the service, and the work continues to maintain the dialogue between the authority and the supplier.
Jobseekers with reduced work capacity due to ill health or disability can access both the Employment Service's regular support and measures as well as special measures aimed at persons with disabilities that entail reduced work capacity. The Government has taken several measures to increase support for these target groups, including mandates in the Employment Service's regulation letter to provide reinforced support to effectively match the long-term unemployed with employers and a continued mandate to significantly reduce the time it takes to identify and register disabilities that entail reduced work capacity.
The Government continues the work to streamline the labor market policy and to ensure that job seekers receive support and measures based on their individual circumstances and needs.
Jonathan Svensson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer he has just given and for having come to the chamber this Friday morning.
I chose to take the initiative for this debate because I believe it is of very great importance that all people who have a disability or other needs that result in reduced work capacity receive the right support to be able to work or proceed with studies.
This is a group that is extra vulnerable in the labor market in several ways. It is clearly evident in practically all statistics that this group is overrepresented in both shorter and longer periods of unemployment. It is also clear how the group, in relation to the rest of the population, is more often subjected to discrimination in working life and that one has difficulty taking the first step into working life, and sometimes also to then maintain a foothold there.
Then it is required that all people with disabilities who are in need of support actually also receive that support and the conditions required to be able to participate in working life and in that way contribute in a better way to our common society. An important tool for these people and their opportunity to move forward in working life are the various measures that exist at Arbetsförmedlingen and which are intended to lead to just work or further studies.
That is why I have been able to take part in the newspaper Arbetet's review of one of the initiatives delivered by private actors on behalf of Arbetsförmedlingen, with some dismay. It concerns the initiative Steg till arbete, which is designed specifically for people with disabilities or other illnesses.
The review shows clear deficiencies in the service that has been procured. Over 2,200 complaints have been received since the start in the autumn of 2023. The complaints submitted by participants concern everything from a lack of correct competence among the staff working with the target group to substandard premises for the operation and participants who do not get access to their promised internship placements.
In the Swedish Authority for Equality's review, many examples are highlighted of where the deficiencies lie in the procured operations. One example is how, in one location, the intervention is described as a total absence of meaningful tasks. The residents are left alone and are made to watch YouTube clips, only to be unable to do anything more when the computer runs out of battery and there is no staff on site. In another example, it is described that a cleaning cupboard was used as a conversation room for participants in the intervention and staff. As if it were not enough that a cleaning cupboard was used, there was not even a table where one could put down a piece of paper.
Madam Speaker! It is clear how deficiencies in the operations have been reported in several places around the country. For me, it is completely obvious that something needs to be done to improve the situation. Despite the obvious deficiencies that have been uncovered, only a single contract has been terminated with a supplier. In the remaining 83 locations, all contracts that have expired have been extended.
Since 2023, hundreds of millions have been paid out to these companies. It is guaranteed that the absolute majority of these resources have been used in the correct way and given meaning to very many participants, but it is enough that a few single percentages have gone to the wrong things or to poor initiatives for me to consider it truly bad.
In his answer, the Minister accounted for how Arbetsförmedlingen is currently carrying out a review regarding the conditions for the subcontractors. This is, of course, very welcome. But I still think that a discussion needs to be held on whether the current order is truly the order we want.
We Social Democrats are actively advocating that more of Arbetsförmedlingen's efforts should return to the agency's own management, both for reasons of quality and out of respect for the taxpayers' money, even though private actors can be an important complement in certain situations.
I therefore want to take the opportunity to ask the Minister how he views the fact that large amounts of tax money end up with companies that have deficiencies in the activities they deliver to people with disabilities, and whether he himself intends to take any further measures in light of the much-publicized review.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank Jonathan Svensson for his commitment to these issues and for raising the shortcomings that have been highlighted in the media and which the authorities themselves have also identified. Thanks to the Member for the initiative to the debate!
I share the view that privatization has gone too far in Swedish society. We see this regarding both the regulatory framework for the friskolor in the school system and the use of private actors within the labor market policy. That is also why the government is now taking a number of measures to withdraw parts of the privatization – not to ban private alternatives but to take a step back when it has gone too far and people are getting squeezed because the systems are naively designed and do not provide people with the support they have a right to receive. This is another area where there is much more to do. That is also why there is a very intensive effort underway to address these problems.
I also share Jonathan Svensson's view when it comes to the fact that in Sweden, one is not a customer but a citizen – an active person who to a large extent needs to take own responsibility but who can also expect to receive support from society. If one is not a customer, it also means that society needs to pool its strength to be able to provide support to people and be there when they need support – not so that one stifles the individual, but so that one provides help if help is needed. It is also why we are now shifting the policy and ensuring that Arbetsförmedlingen receives greater resources to be able to provide support, not least to people with disabilities; in different ways, we are now giving clearer mandates to our agencies to provide better support to these individuals.
We should be proud that we are a society that does not leave people behind. If you have a disability, you receive support in Sweden today. We have Samhall, which is a very fine operation. We have different types of wage subsidies where companies or associations can employ people with disabilities and receive support from society. But we need to do more.
We need to ensure that private actors do not exploit the system. Many private actors make great contributions. But we need to ensure that people do not get caught in the crossfire.
Jonathan Svensson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
I completely share the Minister's assertion that privatization in Sweden has gone too far, even though certain private elements can, of course, benefit some sectors. We share the fundamental insight that we need to take back democratic control over several parts of society.
Then the Minister stated that Arbetsförmedlingen has received a larger budget. It is true that it has received a larger budget in absolute kronor. Nevertheless, it is the case that Arbetsförmedlingen is making cuts right now. But that was not what I intended to discuss here today.
We need to find a way to handle the challenge regardless of the political color of the government. It is such an urgent issue both for the people who are in the operation and out of respect for the taxpayers' money that should be used in the best possible way.
To describe how urgent I consider the issue to be, I want to highlight a further couple of concrete examples from Arbetets reporting. It is individual people who have been caught in a bind when the quality of the interventions they have participated in has not been sufficient.
In the article, one point highlighted is a woman who had been burnt out for several years and therefore ended up in a long period of unemployment. From one of the employment consultants at the workplace, she is told: If you don't go to the matches, you cannot become an elite athlete. It is something that I think is rather strange to say in an environment with many people who have different forms of ill health. She also did not receive any support, but instead received a booklet to read on her own in a noisy surrounding environment. This specific company could also not arrange any internship placement for the participant, so the participant had to arrange that themselves.
Another participant describes the intervention as follows: storage where you are worth nothing. The participant's description is that she had to sit in a cramped room where she watched lectures. The high noise level and the chaos that arose in the room caused her, as she describes it herself, to completely rage and that she has gone ten steps back in her well-being.
In addition to the environment in the classroom itself, there were issues regarding staff. The schedule for the day stated that staff were to have two hours of supervisor-led time together with the participants. No staff were on site, and instead, the participants were made to sit on a bench.
Another participant describes how she wasted one and a half years of her life in the system. The participant did not get access to the promised internship. She was completely written out of the intervention because the company had not managed to find an internship placement. At the same time that that participant was written out of the intervention, other participants were written into it by the same company. I think that is a somewhat strange order.
Madam Speaker! I think it is obvious that in several places in the country there is a situation where the operations delivered to Arbetsförmedlingen have not functioned in a satisfactory manner. Despite this, there are examples of companies that have their contract with Arbetsförmedlingen terminated in one location due to major deficiencies in the operations but which at the same time receive an extended contract in another location. I find that a bit strange.
Without claiming to be any kind of expert on procurement or procurement regulations, I still think this is a strange construction. I also know that the newspaper Arbetet has had similar questions and therefore has tried to ask the Minister about this without receiving an answer.
I therefore want to take the opportunity here in the chamber to ask the Minister how he views the fact that there is a possibility for a company that has had a contract revoked and which has mismanaged itself in one location to simultaneously have a contract extended in another location. I also want to ask how he views all the stories that emerge in Arbetets review of precisely this intervention, where people have been caught in the crossfire when private contractors have not done their jobs.
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thanks to Jonathan Svensson for the contribution!
It is obvious that the system is not working. That is also why measures are now being taken so that people can receive better support, so that people do not get caught in the crossfire, and so that people receive the support to which they are entitled.
I do not want to comment on individual media reports. But I can state that Arbetsförmedlingen and the authorities are now taking measures to ensure that people receive better support. From the government's side, we are now increasing the requirements on the authorities so that people can receive better help and more interventions. This applies in particular to people with a disability.
We have a regulatory framework in Sweden. It is important that everyone follows that regulatory framework, not least private actors. We now have a situation where privatization has gone too far in area after area. We are now rolling back and ensuring that people can receive better support.
It does not mean that we are removing all private options. Many do a very good job. But those who do not behave will feel the consequences. We already see it today in area after area. It is noticeable, not least within the framework of labor market policy.
Jonathan Svensson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
The Minister says that the authority is imposing stricter requirements on suppliers. This is, of course, very welcome. He also says that the regulations must be followed. I agree with that completely.
I look forward to seeing the results of the work currently taking place within Arbetsförmedlingen. We will follow this very closely during the coming period to ensure that we achieve a better situation with the private providers.
The Minister stated in his previous contribution that it is good that we in Sweden are a country and have a society that tries to take advantage of all people's experiences and skills in the labor market. I naturally share that view.
Sweden is in many ways a fantastic country. Very many good things are being done to include people with, for example, different disabilities in working life in different ways. But since we can still see large differences in, for example, the level of self-sufficiency, ill health, mental ill health, and the level of unemployment between different groups in society, there is obviously still much that we as a society need to work on.
It is not just about the efforts that Arbetsförmedlingen provides, either directly or through external actors. But it is obviously an important piece of the puzzle in the work of including more people. It is therefore important that the shortcomings that have been identified in Arbetsförmedlingen's reporting are handled in an appropriate manner.
Since we have spent a lot of time in this debate debating just a single measure from Arbetsförmedlingen, I would still like to take the chance at the end to ask the Minister what other measures the Minister and the Government are taking so that more people with disabilities can get a job to go to and that they receive the support they are entitled to and are in need of. From my horizon, it unfortunately seems to be relatively thin on that front. Thank you for an important debate!
Arbetsmarknads- och integrationsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thanks to Jonathan Svensson for the debate and the interpellation!
It pleases me that there is a broad political consensus in the Riksdag and in society that we shall have major efforts for people with disabilities.
I think it is a strength in Swedish society that we do not leave people to the mercy of the waves, but in different ways try to ensure that people can be part of a community, stand on their own feet and support themselves even if they have a disability.
That is not the case in many other countries. We should be very proud that we in Sweden have chosen that social model. It is a strength that we can stand up for it in broad political agreement.
I am, however, very concerned when I take note of the Social Democrats' proposal. It implies drastic cuts in subsidized employment, which particularly affects people with disabilities.
It means that companies that want to employ people who are unemployed or long-term unemployed will have much fewer opportunities to do so under the Social Democrats' policy. It worries me very much. It is primarily a threat to the unemployed who want nothing more than to find a job.
Many thanks for the interpellation debate! I look forward to good cooperation ahead.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.