Response to interpellation 2025/26:199 on cuts at Lantmäteriet
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 2 KD argues that Lantmäteriet is responsible for its own organization and has adapted its operations to reduced demand and lower revenues 1 2. 2 3 KD argues that the agency has utilized overcapacity and that appropriation funding is not an alternative since the operations are fee-financed 2 3. 3 KD argues that Lantmäteriet has shorter processing times than municipal authorities for six out of nine customer needs 3. 4 S argues that long processing times are a political failure and that the government is responsible for equivalent service 4. 4 S advocates for increased state governance and municipal land survey authorities 4. 5 S wants to shorten the lead times and argues that the deeds in Dalarna damage trust in society 5. 6 KD argues that the government has clear governance and that the focus on shortening lead times should have existed long ago 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.
Infrastruktur- och bostadsministern Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Lars Isacsson has asked me how I, within the scope of my responsibility, and the government intend to ensure that Lantmäteriet's cuts do not further hinder social planning, housing construction, and important investments in Dalarna.
Lars Isacsson has further asked me what measures I intend to take, within my area of responsibility, to ensure long-term sustainable state presence throughout the country – including geographical services such as Lantmäteriet – so that counties such as Dalarna can maintain growth, trust, and functioning community building.
The government's administrative policy is based on the authorities themselves, based on the goals and tasks established by the government and the Riksdag, deciding how the operations shall be organized in order to best meet the collective needs of society. This means that the authorities are responsible for deciding on their organization.
I have great respect for the fact that individuals and local communities can experience anxiety over a risk of poorer service.
The recession in Sweden has meant that the number of incoming cases to Lantmäteriet's land consolidation activities has decreased by approximately 32 percent between 2021 and 2024. A lower inflow of cases means lower revenues for the activity.
It is the agency's management that is best suited to decide how the agency's organization should be designed to create an efficient and purposeful operation. That being said, the government and I are following the developments closely.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you to the Minister for Infrastructure for the answer!
In Dalarnas län, we already today have significantly longer processing times at Lantmäteriet than in the country as a whole, especially in matters concerning infrastructure, community services, and land for development. Despite this, it is precisely in Dalarna that some of the largest cuts are now being implemented.
In Dalarna, we have two base industries. They are the tourism industry and industry. In Malung-Sälen, we see a development that is unparalleled in Sweden. Sälenfjällen has grown into the world's fourth largest winter sports destination. Billion-dollar investments are being made in lift systems, accommodation, infrastructure, and service. It is one of the country's strongest engines for job creation within the tourism industry. In Ludvika, an exceptional industrial development is underway with Hitachi at the forefront. I know that the Minister for Infrastructure has been there on a visit. They hire an average of three people a day. They have done that for three years. It is a hub for future industrial growth, not just for Dalarna but for all of Sweden.
It is in municipalities such as Ludvika and Malung-Sälen – where development is fastest, investments are largest and social benefit is clearest – where functioning infrastructure processes are absolutely crucial, but where one is met today by a system that slows things down.
According to the Riksdag's investigation service, the processing time for infrastructure matters in Ludvika is 258 weeks. In Malung-Sälen, it is 208 weeks. This means up to five years for matters concerning roads, water and sewage, electricity grids, land access, and other basic prerequisites for continued growth.
Falun, which is the county's residence city, is also the location for the state's major defense initiative with the expansion of I 13. There, the processing time for infrastructure matters is around 80 weeks.
I read a few days ago that the Minister for Infrastructure and the Minister for Defence spoke about the need for faster processes and for getting started more quickly with construction projects concerning important defense investments. I thought that was very pleasing and important. But it is difficult to understand the logic in simultaneously carrying out large cuts in just Falun. The state's own projects are already struggling to keep to the schedule. One notices that the schedule that has been set up is not being maintained.
Madam Speaker! This is about municipalities that drive Sweden's industrial transition and a world-class tourism industry and that manage large state investments but are met with waiting times of up to five years. How does the Minister intend for the exceptional development in growth municipalities such as Ludvika and Malung-Sälen to be able to continue and for the state's own defense investments in Falun to be carried out when the processing takes up to five years? It is simply unreasonable.
Infrastruktur- och bostadsministern Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank Lars Isacsson for his commitment to the issue. The lead times are long in several parts of the community construction process. They need to be under constant scrutiny and be shortened.
Initially, I also want to say that it is my hope that these layoffs will not have to lead to dismissals. But the economic situation has unfortunately meant that the willingness to invest and housing construction have been negatively affected, which in turn has meant that even the demand for real estate formation measures has decreased. It is against this background that Lantmäteriet has had to adapt its operations.
The property formation is fee-financed, so the costs shall be borne by the revenues from the processing fees. With an inflow of cases that is more than 30 percent lower, lower revenues naturally follow as well.
Lantmäteriet has, despite the reduced number of cases, chosen to maintain a high processing capacity in order to reduce case backlogs. When there has been a lower inflow of cases, they have therefore cleared other cases that have waited for a long time to be ready when the economic cycle eventually turns.
In addition, other measures have been taken to utilize the advantages that may exist with such a situation of overcapacity. Among other things, Lantmäteriet has redistributed resources to work with confidentiality reviews of files. I believe it is well known to Lars Isacsson and many others that a situation has arisen where Lantmäteriet has closed access to digital services and there has been manual handling. The overcapacity that has been had could be used to relieve the workload in that work.
All authorities are responsible for deciding on their own organization. The state employer policy is delegated to the authorities, and the responsibility for these matters therefore lies with Lantmäteriet and ultimately the head of the authority. I trust that the authority's management makes well-considered decisions, but we naturally follow this closely.
In this situation, Madam Speaker, Lantmäteriet has had a national case distribution for several years – this is so that customers are treated equally regardless of where the properties are located. The starting point is that processing times and quality in the proceedings shall be uniform across the entire country. Lantmäteriet is located in 50 places around the country, and it is of course important that the service that Lantmäteriet provides is good regardless of where in the country one is located.
As Lars Isacsson is in, the government has taken various measures to accelerate processes and shorten lead times. The member mentions that it was reported in the media the other day regarding the assignment we have given to accelerate the expansion of the defense's activities – that is an important part. Another concerns accelerating the expansion of detention centers and institutions, where we have presented a referral to the Council on Legislation. Other parts concern digital property purchases, pre-emptive rights in property transactions, and a government assignment that Lantmäteriet has had to enable more electronic documents in the field of property law. Coordinate-determined property boundaries are also something we have worked with, considering that one can streamline the work throughout the year there.
It is, therefore, an important area that Lars Isacsson points out. At the same time, I want to point out again that it is the agency management that decides on the exact organization of the operations.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you to the Minister for Infrastructure for the answer!
I completely agree with much of what Infrastructure Minister Andreas Carlson says about the importance of reducing lead times. This is not a new problem. This is my first term in the Riksdag, but for Members of Parliament from Dalarna, it has probably been a task inherited to look at Lantmäteriet's processing times. I believe that for four terms now, we have seen that this is truly a hindrance to Dalarna's development. This is, therefore, not a new problem. But now it is the Infrastructure Minister who is responsible and who is entering the fourth year.
I hear two recurring arguments from the Minister. One is that Lantmäteriet itself decides how the operations are organized. The other is that the operations are largely fee-financed and that reduced demand means that the agency must adjust the suit.
I do not think these arguments hold up when one looks at the consequences for societal development. The fact that the state organizes its activities through agencies does not mean that the government lacks responsibility for equal service, capacity, and presence throughout the country. When processing times are up to five years in growth municipalities, it is not an internal efficiency problem for Lantmäteriet, but rather a political failure.
The lead times must be shortened, and I also believe that we need more state steering. I have previously had debates with the Minister for Infrastructure about the fact that we must steer better from our departments and agencies – more steering in regulatory letters, if necessary.
When it comes to the financing, I think the reasoning becomes perverse. Since Lantmäteriet is largely fee-financed, the revenues come in when cases are completed. With long processing times, one has to wait a long time before one can invoice. One can have to wait for five years. If it is possible to reduce the processing times, the revenues will increase. If cuts are made, it will become a Catch-22.
At the same time, there are functioning alternatives. In municipalities such as Sundsvall and also other municipalities, there is a municipal land survey authority. There, it has been clearly shown that planning becomes better, implementation faster, and the entire process more efficient when real estate law competence is integrated into the community construction process. It is now warned that the state's investigation-oriented approach risks breaking up well-functioning municipal operations and making community construction slower across the entire country.
I do not know how many times municipalities such as Malung-Sälen and also Falun have applied, even to previous governments, to have a municipal land survey authority. Then they are told no because it is said that the population is too small. There are 10,000 inhabitants in Malung-Sälen. But then the number of cases is not looked at. There are more cases in Malung-Sälen than in Västerås, which is a large city.
Madam Speaker! How does the Minister justify that functioning municipal solutions are being restricted? As a municipality, one thinks: Okay, Lantmäteriet's processing times are too long – should we try to do it ourselves? And then you get a no. How does the Minister view that?
Infrastruktur- och bostadsministern Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Firstly, I was noting that the authority has utilized the current situation with a lower inflow of cases to work through some older cases in order to achieve a better balance. In view of the fact that the authority has done this, it is my hope that it will create good conditions to handle a turnaround in the economy when more cases may come in.
I have also been informed about the decision regarding layoffs that Lantmäteriet has made. Care has been taken not to lay off land surveyors or surveying and mapping engineers, who, among others, perform the surveying of new property boundaries. The reason is that during the economic boom, it has been most difficult to recruit and retain that type of personnel. I have been informed that they will be ready when the tide turns, which we hope it will do soon. We see signs of improvement in the economy even though it continues to be a recession.
According to the latest compiled statistics that Lantmäteriet, together with the municipal land survey authorities and SKR, have compiled, with the heading Key Figures for Sweden's Land Survey Authorities 2024, Lantmäteriet has shorter processing times than the KLM's for six out of nine customer needs, regarding both average and median time. Lantmäteriet also has no queue time today, that is, no time from the moment the application is submitted until one has been assigned a processor.
Lars Isacsson describes the long duration from the time a case has started until it is completed. It is, of course, something that we have our eyes on from the government's and the department's side. There are several parts that simply involve waiting for answers from other actors. There can be many actors involved, and there can be waiting times. Shortening it as much as possible is, of course, a matter of importance for Lantmäteriet. I also pointed out some investigations that the government has commissioned, and during the mandate period, we have also taken measures to shorten the lead times.
When it comes to the financing, it is clear that one can think like Lars Isacsson: that one simply has to change and provide funds. But providing grant funding is not an option if one does not want to change the basic principle that this is a fee-financed activity with full cost recovery as the goal. That model is based on the costs being covered by the revenues, which means that grant funding would conflict with the basic principle of the activity.
At the same time, it is very important to work on curbing costs and having control over cost developments. Those who are affected in the end are not only municipalities that want to prepare land for, for example, industrial establishments, but also individuals who dream of building houses and realizing their house dream. For them, the costs for land survey proceedings can be very high and the processing times long.
The government has appointed Stefan Attefall as the owner-occupied housing commissioner with a mandate to promote increased production of small houses and the creation of new garden cities. In his third partial report, he has looked at the fees and charges associated with building small houses and pointed out that the cost development needs to be scrutinized more strictly and kept down, even regarding authorities' fees. It is a task that the government is looking into.
I really want to emphasize that Lars Isacsson is pointing out something that the government is working on. But the specific question of how the staff should be distributed across different locations is a matter for the agency's management, Madam Speaker.
Lars Isacsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Infrastructure for the debate.
I am not looking for us to increase the appropriations to Lantmäteriet. I want us to reduce the lead times. I believe we agree on that. But I am concerned about how the large projects in Dalarna impact the work of reducing the lead times.
No waiting time, says the Minister for Infrastructure. That is good. But the decisive factor is not how quickly one gets a case officer, but when the matter is completed. When our two largest growth municipalities in Dalarna, Ludvika and Malung-Sälen, have infrastructure cases that take up to five years, there is no joy in getting a case officer quickly; rather, it is about reducing that time. These are municipalities where one drives Sweden's industrial transition and has a world-class tourism industry. In Falun, where the state is building a regiment, the reduction is greatest. Municipalities that want to take responsibility and create their own capacity are being stopped.
The government refers to the fact that the authority governs itself. I think that is a problem. The Riksdag's investigation service shows that the problems are long-standing and structural. Lantmäteriet itself notes that the processing times are far too long. This is not fair, Madam Speaker. The state cannot leave large parts of the country with poorer service, longer waiting times, and poorer conditions for development. It is bad for people's trust in society, bad for companies' willingness to invest, and bad for Sweden's growth. I am satisfied that the minister sees these problems and is trying to remedy them. But I think it is going too slowly.
Infrastruktur- och bostadsministern Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! It is national case management, and it is important to highlight that there should be good accessibility and good service throughout the country. Lantmäteriet is located in 50 places, and there is administrative activity in 49 places. It is obviously important to follow the measures that Lantmäteriet is now taking to manage the reduced inflow of cases, which also reduces the revenues.
It is not the case that the agency governs itself, as Lars Isacsson says. We have a very clear governance of Lantmäteriet, and we have strengthened it through increased agency dialogue. We have, of course, also had a strong focus on heightened security work at the agency and on ensuring that everything is correct and proper.
The government also has a focus on shortening lead times, increasing the pace of work, and in that way perhaps also reducing costs, which are high, not least for individual house builders. That focus should have been there a long time ago. Then we would have been in a better position considering the industrial establishments that Lars Isacsson points out, both the new establishments and the scaling up of already strong industries that are increasing sharply today. This applies not least to what Lars Isacsson refers to in Ludvika, where three people are employed per day. If we had ensured that we tackled these types of structural problems earlier, we would of course have been better prepared. That is why the government continues to work to shorten lead times and ensure that we get a more efficient social construction process. In that regard, Lantmäteriets activities are of course very important.
Exactly how the authority should organize its staff at these 50 locations around the country is a matter for the authority's management. We do not have that type of ministerial rule in Sweden. I believe we share that view.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.