Response to interpellation 2025/26:47 on the indexing of the assistance allowance

Socialtjänstministern Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Madam Speaker! Nadja Awad has asked me why I have chosen not to propose an indexation of the assistance allowance in the budget bill despite this, according to Nadja Awad, having been promised on several occasions.

Those covered by the Act (1993:387) on Support and Service for Certain Persons with Disabilities, abbreviated LSS, may be entitled to personal assistance and assistance compensation. The purpose of personal assistance is to promote equality in living conditions and full participation in social life for persons with major and permanent disabilities. For the vast majority of those entitled to assistance, personal assistance means freedom, self-determination, and a better life. Personal assistance also means an opportunity to control who shall perform the assistance and in what way it shall be carried out. It means a freedom for the individual and a protection for the individual's privacy.

The Government considers personal assistance to be a freedom reform that must be protected. This presupposes that the system is protected against criminal exploitation. Therefore, the Government has tasked a special investigator to submit proposals for measures that make personal assistance more resilient against welfare crime and more predictable for the person entitled to assistance, as well as provide increased opportunities to ensure that the person entitled to assistance has their needs met. The assignment shall be reported by January 8, 2027, at the latest.

A well-functioning personal assistance also requires that assistance providers are given the conditions to conduct their operations. Therefore, the government proposes in the budget bill for 2026 (prop. 2025/26:1) that the flat-rate amount for personal assistance be increased by 1.5 percent.

In order to increase predictability for assistance recipients and assistance providers, the government announced in the budget bill for 2025 (prop. 2024/25:1) that it intended to investigate the introduction of an indexing of the flat-rate amount. The issue is still being prepared in the Government Offices, and the government has not yet made a decision on the matter.

The Government will continue to investigate the introduction of an indexing of the standard amount, which was announced in the budget bill for 2026.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Nadja Awad (V)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer, but, Madam Speaker, I want the Minister to answer my question. Answer my question, Minister!

You promised a year ago in a press conference with all the Tidö parties present that you would present an indexing of the assistance allowance this year. The Minister said as recently as this summer in Almedalen, during a conversation with the organization JAG, that an indexing would be presented in this year's budget bill. But when the government's final budget for the mandate period was presented, there was no indexing included. Instead, the flat-rate amount was raised by only 1.5 percent, corresponding to 5 kronor and 10 öre.

The government says that they have never promised anyone any indexing and, in retrospect, write a correction in texts stating that they have not promised that an indexing of the flat-rate amount shall be introduced. Thus, Madam Speaker, the government is trying to completely rewrite history, even though all of us others know what it is that has happened.

It is unworthy when the minister here, in his interpellation answer, accuses me of totally making this up. There are at least two recorded videos with representatives from the Tidöregering and a presentation slide from the Government Offices where an indexing of the assistance allowance is clearly and distinctly promised in this year's budget bill. It is therefore not I who am making this up, but the evidence exists.

Ministers must not tell lies and try to mislead people in an issue that is so important for the lives of tens of thousands of people. It is not just about those who need assistance but also about their relatives, about personal assistants and about society as a whole.

Assistance is not just about help with some practical things, it is about the freedom to be able to live like everyone else. It is about being able to live an independent life, as the minister and the government are able to do. It is about being able to choose when one wants to get out of bed and who helps one. It is about being able to choose how one lives, works, travels, educates oneself, has relationships and participates in society. This is what the right to assistance is about. For many, the assistance is the difference between being able to live alone and needing to live in an institution.

Madam Speaker! It is this right that people with disabilities have that this government is currently jeopardizing, with the help of the Sweden Democrats, by not fulfilling the promise of an indexation of the assistance allowance to ensure that it is not cut if tax cuts are implemented for the very richest or if state grants for the wealthy's renovation and house cleaning are increased.

We in Vänsterpartiet have therefore reported ministers to the Committee on the Constitution. The government is breaking a promise and retroactively correcting texts where the indexing of the hourly rate was promised. This makes the betrayal of people with disabilities even greater.

Madam Speaker! I want an answer to the question: Why did the government choose to betray the promise that was given over a year ago? Why did one choose to betray assistance users, their relatives and their personal assistants?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Christofer Bergenblock (C)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Social Services for the answer to the interpellation.

The government already had low confidence in disability policy even before this issue came to light, and that confidence has now become even lower. This applies, of course, to disability policy in general, but particularly to personal assistance.

The disability rights movement is still waiting for a quality assurance of the needs assessment within personal assistance, for a unified primary responsibility within personal assistance, for the strengthened right to personal assistance – a decision we made in the Riksdag earlier – to become a reality as intended, and for the parental deduction within the strengthened right to personal assistance to be resolved. Furthermore, the disability rights movement is still waiting for a stop to the unreasonable requirements imposed on individuals within personal assistance by Försäkringskassan.

Like a bolt from the blue, the announcement came in connection with this year's budget that there would be no indexing, which the assistance companies and those entitled to assistance had been waiting for throughout the year since September 18, 2024, when the Minister for Social Services, together with the other Tidö parties, presented that they would now investigate the issue of an indexing and come with a proposal before the 2026 budget.

Recently during Almedalen week, the minister said: This work is currently underway, and it will of course be presented in connection with when we present the entire budget for 2026. So, Madam Speaker, the minister expressed himself verbatim in the tent of the assistance association JAG. But there was no presentation. Nothing happened.

Instead, there was denial from the government. The Finance Minister says that they have not promised this at all, and so they go in and correct the PowerPoint presentation from the press conference on 18 September 2024 and explain that what was said at that press conference was not quite what they meant. It was actually wrong.

I have never been in on the joke – I wonder if the Speaker has been in on the joke, who nevertheless has many more years behind him in the Riksdag – that the Government Offices go in and correct and fix old PowerPoint presentations because these do not correspond with how the reality at the government has developed.

Why was an index needed then? It was needed for long-term perspective within the assistance, for stability and for predictability. It was also needed to protect the serious assistance companies. Today, one is struggling with poor profitability. Vårdförbundet has calculated that the assistance companies have an operating margin of approximately 1.6 percent, which is far below what is reasonable. The municipalities are 30 percent higher in cost for equivalent assistance than the assistance companies. This risks pulling the rug out from under the serious ones – when one does not index, when one does not provide predictability and when one calculates the assistance compensation very low for 2026.

In the center, of course, are those who need the assistance. This is a freedom reform. It is about self-determination. It is about participation. It is about giving these people the opportunity to retain the freedom of choice they have today. If one sabotages the assistance, one will not succeed in that.

Where did the indexing go?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Nils Seye Larsen (MP)

Madam Speaker! The government's budget proposal came as a cold shower. I must say that I am disappointed.

On February 27, I asked the Minister for Social Services here in the chamber both how the work with the index adjustment is progressing, whether it is keeping to the schedule, and whether we can get better conditions for personal assistance. I am disappointed not only because the index adjustment was missing but perhaps primarily because I then felt that there was a clear understanding by the Minister for Social Services as to why it is so important for us, the personal assistance recipients across the country, to be able to have long-term conditions for the personal assistance.

Madam Speaker! I want you to imagine that your legs do not work, that your arms and hands do not work, and that in everything you do in life you are dependent on someone who helps you – to put on underwear or panties, to be able to get food in your mouth, to be able to undress and get help to shower, or to do your needs on the toilet. The person who is there next to you throughout the day is absolutely crucial for you, not just to live but to be able to manage and feel well in life.

When you as a parent have a child whom you love but who has difficult and extensive needs, disabilities that can be physical, mental or intellectual, there is nothing you would wish for more than that the people who are around the child and take care of it around the clock are precisely the right ones.

With the assistance compensation we have, the basic salary we are currently able to offer is somewhere between 26,000 and 27,000 kronor. We are talking about 156 kronor per hour. With such a salary, considering how important the work is and how decisive a difference it makes for my life and the lives of all other assistance recipients, it is naturally very difficult to find people who want to work. That is why so many users have difficulty filling the vacant positions. There are an enormous number of advertisements out there, people who are truly desperately looking for personal assistants.

It is here that the long-term conditions are lacking. This was what we hoped for with the index adjustment. Even if perhaps the work on the indexing model specifically has been delayed, it feels like a double betrayal when the adjustment itself is now at 1.5 percent. It means that I might be able to give the assistants, whom I so dearly want to keep, as they do a fantastic job and are absolutely crucial both for me in my life and for other users, a few extra kronor per hour. That is not what will make it possible for me to keep my assistants.

My question is quite simply: What happened? And does the Minister for Social Services really think that what has been presented provides long-term sustainable conditions for the assistance?

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Agneta Nilsson (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.

A report from the Committee on Social Affairs proposed a review of the model for calculating the assistance allowance. The Riksdag approved this proposal in June 2024 after it was voted through by S, V, and MP, as well as the government's support party SD, which means that they stood behind the government carrying this out. We Social Democrats stand firm on this review. We will carry it out when we come into government.

Madam Speaker! At a press conference in September 2024, the Tidö parties promised that an indexing of the flat-rate amount would be introduced in order to create greater predictability for municipalities, private providers, and assistance recipients. The Minister was also interviewed in Almedalen by Riksföreningen JAG, and she promised there that the indexing was underway and would be included in the budget for 2026. Also, in response to a written question from my party colleague Karin Sundin in October 2024, where the question was whether the government had begun the work, the answer from the Minister was that the government intended to investigate the introduction of an indexing and that the matter was being prepared in the Government Offices.

When the government and SD spoke at the press conference about the fact that indexation was on its way, it sparked hope in many who are affected by the compensation. I have spoken with a good number of assistance providers and people entitled to assistance during the spring, and everyone thought that the indexation was going to be introduced in 2026. Now, the promise has not been fulfilled, and the indexation has been pushed into the future. Many of us were quite surprised and expected a model for indexation to appear with this budget.

The promise that has been broken and which will now not be fulfilled, and the fact that the presentation images from 2024 have been changed, creates an impression that the government does not keep what it promises. There are today assistance providers who are beginning to feel that they will not be able to manage for more than approximately one more year before they have to wind down their operations. This applies particularly to those who are not so large and who have small margins.

There are also municipalities across the country that have a sense of betrayal. They believe that the target group regarding LSS needs long-term perspective and predictability. This would have been possible with the promised indexation which now did not happen.

If those who organize personal assistance have to terminate their operations, it will come with a cost. It is not only in money, but also assistance users will be affected. Their families and employed assistants may furthermore face worse working conditions.

After this missing model for indexing, it has been noted that there is a risk of unserious organizers when the assistance compensation is no longer sufficient for the serious organizers. It is already difficult today to recruit assistants, and it will probably not become easier after the promise from the government regarding an indexing has not been fulfilled.

Therefore, I ask the following question: What does the Minister think about the fact that assistance providers feel that it will soon no longer be possible to conduct operations? To survive, they had hoped that the promise of a model for indexing would be included in the budget for 2026, but that has now fallen through.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Socialtjänstministern Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Madam Speaker! I thank you for the questions and contributions. I also say an extra thank you to Nils Seye Larsen for a fine description of what the question means and how important the assistance reform is for many people.

It is not the assistance reform we are here to debate. It is clear that the government considers personal assistance to be an important freedom reform that must be protected. The government intends to create long-term and stable conditions for the intervention of personal assistance. It was also a bourgeois government that introduced LSS just over 30 years ago.

Part of the work with long-term and stable conditions is to investigate the introduction of an indexing of the flat-rate amount. The work is ongoing in the Government Offices, and we intend, from the government's side, to return when we are finished with the work.

Then we come to the presentation of the budget on September 18 last year. In connection with the presentation during the press conference on September 18, 2024, information was simply shown that did not correspond with what is stated in the budget text. It is extremely regrettable. I truly regret this. But mistakes are made from time to time. There has been no intention to hide or deceive. When there is conflicting information on the government's website, as in this case, it is important to promptly correct this. And it must be done in a clear manner.

In this case, we have strictly followed all such routines. The correct text has been entered, and an information text about what was incorrect information has been added. If you go to the government's website, you can see that we have not removed the incorrect image in the PowerPoint presentation. Instead, we have entered the correct text next to it.

What is stated in the budget text – and all members of Parliament know this – is what applies. It has consistently stated there that the intention is to investigate an indexing of the flat-rate fee within personal assistance. In this year's budget text, it states that this work is ongoing. We are investigating the possibility of an indexing of the flat-rate fee within personal assistance.

In the correction of the linked presentation slides, the following is stated: In the presentation slides linked in this press release, the information on page 7 is incorrect, namely that an indexing of the flat-rate amount shall be introduced with the budget bill for 2025. What appears in the press release is correct, namely that the government and the Sweden Democrats intend to investigate the introduction of an indexing of the flat-rate amount.

This correction was made when the error was discovered on September 25 this year.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Nadja Awad (V)

Madam Speaker! It is claimed that the information shown on the presentation slide from the Government Offices last year was in some way misleading, and now the information has been corrected a year later. It is appropriate that the information was corrected precisely when a cut of the assistance payment of 1.5 percent was to be presented – half of what was budgeted last year.

If the information presented during the press conference last year was so incorrect, why did the Minister for Social Services repeat the same information when she was present in the tent with the organization JAG in Almedalen this summer?

We have all the facts on the table. It does not align with what the Minister for Social Services is saying here and now. Admit that the government and the Sweden Democrats are choosing to betray the promise that was given last year and this summer! Admit that you have betrayed the promise because you have prioritized something else, for example, tax cuts for the very richest! It is no more difficult than that.

Madam Speaker! Somewhere, the government and the Sweden Democrats reveal their fundamental view of humanity when they carry out these cuts in assistance, that is, how they view people with disabilities and their rights.

Madam Speaker! Why is it only Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson who should be allowed to take a walk in the park with his dog, go to a theater performance, grill in the forest with his family, go on a sun holiday, or do something as fundamental as eating a home-cooked meal or being able to take care of his hygiene? Why should the person who has a disability and needs assistance not be able to do that?

It is the fundamental view of humanity that the government and the Sweden Democrats base their decision on when they cut back on assistance. Persons with normative functionality who do not have a need for assistance should be able to live a completely normal, independent life. But persons with a disability and a need for assistance should not be able to do that. They shall be forced to be isolated at home, live in involuntary loneliness, not get cooked meals and not be able to manage their hygiene as often. They shall become completely dependent on their relatives, who many times are women who are worn out and forced to reduce their working hours and receive a worse pension in order to be able to provide support when the assistance is missing.

Or should people with great needs perhaps be referred to institutional care? Is that the development the government wants to see? That is exactly the consequence when one underfinances the assistance.

Another consequence when the government underfunds the assistance allowance is that one of Sweden's largest professional groups – personal assistants – find it increasingly difficult to live on their wages. How are they supposed to afford to buy food, pay the rent, and buy winter shoes for their children when they receive an increase of only 5 kronor and 10 öre? Experienced, competent personal assistants are driven away if they are not entitled to education, workplace environment measures, or above all, a wage that it is possible to live on.

I think it is unworthy to fight against the truth and to not be honest about having betrayed the promise of the assistance here and now.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Christofer Bergenblock (C)

Madam Speaker! The disappointment and frustration within the disability rights movement regarding the bluff about the assistance is enormous. It is not only we in politics who are upset about how this has gone about, but it is boiling in the disability rights movement. I do not know if the Minister had the opportunity to take part in the demonstration that was carried out on October 2. But if the Minister did, she saw how upset people who are directly affected by the broken promise of the indexing are.

The Minister says that the government will continue to investigate the introduction of an indexing of the flat-rate amount. But, Madam Speaker, since one has not managed to solve a still relatively limited and simple task over a period of one year, the probability is not particularly great that one will do so during the rest of the mandate period either.

The Minister further says that information was shown that did not correspond with the budget text. But had the minister not read the budget text herself? It is strange in that case, given that the information stated during the PowerPoint presentation is what the minister has repeated throughout the year, most recently in Almedalen. It was only when the Finance Minister said that she was not aware of this that it was revealed that it had been incorrect. Given that the Finance Minister was not aware of the working group, which has been referred to throughout the year, one wonders if it has existed at all. There are questions to be answered here.

There is reason to seriously reflect on the frustration one has created by bluffing about the indexing, saying one thing last year, changing one's mind during the year, and now coming back with a completely different message in the budget.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Nils Seye Larsen (MP)

Madam Speaker! I agree with what the previous member described. The reason for the enormous disappointment and perhaps why there is a boiling point in the assistance movement is precisely that the long-term conditions have been missing for such a long time. And the promise to finally deal with the temporary, constant, budget-based and many times too low adjustments by having a long-term, sustainable system with indexation was a lifeline.

I intend to focus on the part of the interpellation response concerning the risk of welfare crime or unscrupulous actors. Just as I mentioned in my first speech, the assistant and person who day in and day out follows me or a severely disabled child throughout the day is decisive for that person's life. We must remember that it is precisely when it is difficult to be able to offer long-term, sustainable conditions and one cannot find people who can work with this that there is a risk that people who are not suited for the job are ultimately the only ones one can get hold of.

This makes it impossible for serious actors to provide sustainable personal assistance and opens the door for unserious providers. I believe that is why the disappointment is so great. I want this to be seen in context.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Agneta Nilsson (S)

Madam Speaker! I agree with what the previous speaker has said regarding the concern in the operations of both those who are entitled to the assistance and those who organize the assistance.

I feel that I did not receive any answer to the question I asked. The assistance providers mean that it is not possible to cut more than what is being done today. If nothing changes regarding the assistance allowance, it will affect those entitled to assistance in the future.

My question is still: What does the Minister think about the fact that assistance providers feel that it will soon no longer be possible to conduct their operations and that, in order to manage this, they had hoped that the promise of a model for indexing – which now did not happen – would be fulfilled in the budget?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Socialtjänstministern Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Madam Speaker! It is important to emphasize that the correction, which is very clear and transparent, was made immediately when the error was discovered.

I have expressed myself positively about indexing. That is exactly why the government continues to investigate what such an indexing could look like. But it is human to make mistakes, and a mistake has therefore been made regarding a single image in a PowerPoint presentation. On the government's website, one can access both the text that was incorrect and that which is correct.

I repeat – and all members of Parliament in here know this – that it is the text that stands in the budget bill and which has been negotiated by all four Tidö parties that applies.

The government safeguards personal assistance. In our four budgets, we have increased by an average of 2.125 percent per year. Now that the other side is raising the issue of safeguarding, I want to point out that the left side, during their eight years in power, only increased by 1.665.

This shows that there are very many empty words from you in the opposition. During these eight years, we were also plagued by high inflation. We inherited it from you but have fought it, which benefits all groups in our society. The picture becomes even clearer if we look at the eight alliance years that preceded your eight years in power. During that time, the right-wing increased it by an average of almost 4 percent per year.

It must end with this image that it is the left side that invests in those in need. When you look at it in black and white, you see that it is moderate-led governments that have stood up for those who truly need society's support. I am even more surprised that we have a Social Democrat participating in this debate. In the Social Democrats' budget, there are, in fact, no funds for reinforcement in this area.

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Nadja Awad (V)

Madam Speaker! The Minister for Social Services said in various contexts over a period of more than a year that an indexing of the assistance allowance would be presented this autumn in the budget bill. We have a video of when the Minister for Social Services in a tent in Almedalen says: In the autumn, we will present an indexing of the assistance allowance. One has therefore not only spoken well of such an indexing, but one has promised.

Now they are trying to mislead us and everyone who is listening and watching this debate by saying that one has only spoken positively about an indexing. That is not true. I do not intend to let the Minister for Social Services and this government get away with misleading and gaslighting us and making it appear as if we have made this up. It is, in fact, the minister's own words.

In hindsight – it has been a year – when one is about to slaughter the assistance allowance and halve it, one claims that one has just discovered the incorrect information and therefore has corrected it in the presentation. But no one believes what the Minister for Social Services is saying. For this, one will be held accountable before the 2026 election.

I want to be clear about what we in Vänsterpartiet want. We want to increase and index the assistance allowance, so that it follows the cost development. We budget according to the mark, that is, twice as much as this government does. We want to rectify the needs assessments, and we want that to happen within the nationalization of the assistance. We shall ensure that LSS interventions are given to those who are entitled to them. The Swedish justice system shall live up to the intention of the LSS Act. LSS is a self-evident part of Swedish welfare. Therefore, we shall demand that prioritization. We are ready to implement this when we replace the Tidö government.

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Socialtjänstministern Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)

Madam Speaker! I thank Nadja Awad very much for the debate.

It is important to start from the premise that the government safeguards personal assistance and works in a long series of ways to strengthen that effort and create long-term and stable conditions for it. Part of this is to investigate the introduction of an indexing of the flat-rate amount. This work is ongoing in the Government Offices. It was clear in the text of the budget bill from last year, and it is clear in this year's presentation before the budget bill for 2026.

Regarding the press conference, I can only regret that a mistake has occurred. But on the government's website, we explain very clearly and transparently how the error looked and what should have stood there instead. I believe that the vast majority of people understand that mistakes sometimes happen where we humans work. There has been no intent to in any way deceive or mislead. I do not believe that taking a defensive tone regarding a bluff benefits the political conversation, because it really is not about that, but about a mistake that has been corrected. The government is working and investigating the possibility of introducing an indexing of the flat-rate amount.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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