Response to interpellation 2025/26:586 on disability policy
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that the government has implemented important initiatives within the labor market, health, and digitalization 1. M emphasizes that a knowledge center has been established, the Äldreomsorgslyftet has been expanded, Socialstyrelsen has been tasked with creating support material 1 2 and more has been invested in the flat-rate compensation than before 3. M wants to strengthen the support to heads of schools for students with neuropsychiatric disabilities 2 and is working for a nationalization of assistance 4. V argues that the government has made life worse by prioritizing tax cuts 5. V claims that it is harder to get assistance, that compensations lead to poverty and that the transport service (färdtjänsten) is too expensive 5. V wants to stop cuts in LSS, include accompaniment in new legislation and save the transport service and the interpretation service 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.
Socialtjänstministern Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! Nadja Awad has asked me what concrete measures I have taken since I took office to improve the living conditions for people with disabilities.
The government has during the mandate period implemented several important initiatives for people with disabilities in areas such as the labor market, crisis preparedness, health, and digitalization. Reforms in these areas are being prepared by other ministers. In this context, it is important to emphasize that all ministers are responsible for disability policy within their respective areas. Since the question is addressed to me and concerns the measures that I have taken, I will give some examples of measures within my area of responsibility.
It is extremely important that those who work with people with disabilities have the right competence. In February this year, the government therefore established a national knowledge center for issues regarding intellectual disabilities and autism. The purpose is to increase the competence of staff who primarily work in LSS housing so that they can meet the residents in a good way and thereby prevent the use of unauthorized coercive and restrictive measures.
The Government has also decided to strengthen and expand Äldreomsorgslyftet so that personnel in LSS activities also get the opportunity for competence development during working hours.
The Government has also tasked Socialstyrelsen to develop support material for the processing of LSS interventions. The support material shall, among other things, be based on the intentions of LSS and international conventions. In the assignment, particular focus shall be placed on the intervention companion service. The purpose of the assignment is to increase the equality in the municipalities' processing of LSS.
Personal assistance is an important freedom reform that must be protected. We see a need to create long-term and stable conditions for the intervention. In May, the government therefore appointed an inquiry with the mandate to present proposals for a clearer regulatory framework for long-term and stable conditions for personal assistance (dir. 2026:33). The purpose of the inquiry is to create a regulatory framework that is clear and legally secure both for individuals and for those who are to apply the regulatory framework.
Children and young people with disabilities are unfortunately a particularly vulnerable group when it comes to violence and abuse, which is highlighted in the government's new ten-year national strategy against men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, exploitation in prostitution and human trafficking, as well as honor-related violence and oppression.
That is why we, together with the Ministry of Employment, have made several initiatives to counter violence against children and young people with disabilities. The Agency for Participation, MFD, has been tasked with mapping and developing support materials to prevent, detect, and investigate violence against children and young people with disabilities and to carry out an in-depth mapping of honor-related violence and oppression against persons with disabilities (S2023/02178). MFD has also been tasked, based on the aforementioned assignment, to spread knowledge about violence against children and young people with disabilities, including honor-related violence and oppression (S2025/00473).
The Government has also granted funds to Stiftelsen Allmänna Barnhuset to carry out a study on violence against children with intellectual disabilities.
Persons with deafness have the same right to language, education, and healthcare as others. A well-functioning interpretation service is fundamental so that persons are not excluded from society. The Government has therefore decided to establish a national function for the coordination of the interpretation service at MFD. The function shall, among other things, contribute to long-term development and quality in the interpretation service for persons with deafness, hearing impairment, or deaf-blindness.
To strengthen rights and achieve the goals of the disability policy, coordinated work between several different actors is required. Therefore, the government has now appointed a national coordinator for disability policy (dir. 2026:65). The national coordinator will, among other things, increase coordination between state agencies, municipalities, regions, the business sector, and civil society and disseminate knowledge about the rights of persons with disabilities.
Nadja Awad (V)
Madam Speaker! Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson does not need to count in minutes and seconds how long a toilet visit or a shower may take for a person with a disability who needs to perform it in order to be able to receive personal assistance.
The Sweden Democrats' Jimmie Åkesson will never be forced to live on 12,235 kronor a month as a person with a disability who receives sickness and activity compensation is forced to do.
Vice Prime Minister Ebba Busch can move freely in society, have a coffee with a friend, go on holiday or go to a concert, while a person with a disability who does not receive either accompaniment, transport services, personal assistance, interpretation or assistive devices cannot do any of this.
Simona Mohamsson of the Liberals wants to build beautiful schools that give her goosebumps, but she doesn't seem to care particularly much that children and young people with disabilities actually suffer from being in Swedish school, regardless of what it looks like, because they do not feel they are succeeding in reaching their goals and therefore feel an enormous hopelessness regarding the future.
For four years, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and his government have made life significantly worse for people with disabilities and their relatives, while they have made life significantly much better for themselves and the wealthiest in society.
It is harder today to get assistance and to maintain the assistance, and one risks becoming liable for millions of kronor in repayments. When people struggle within the system to get assistance, they need to state in minutes and seconds how long a toilet visit, a shower, or dressing and undressing takes. As a visually impaired person, it is harder than ever today to get guidance, and people living on sickness and activity compensation live in poverty. Those working in daily activities get poorer opportunities for a job and an education, and they also receive an all too small habilitation allowance for the work they do.
People living in LSS housing have guards monitoring them in their own homes because there is a lack of qualified staff. The housing is also not sufficiently adapted, while at the same time the rents are skyrocketing, and assistive devices cost different amounts depending on which address one has.
The transport service is too expensive, and people are losing the right to it today. The interpretation service is also not available, so deaf people do not get an interpreter at work. They can even be operated on and wake up without having an interpreter by their side.
It is harder to get a job today if one has a disability. Children and young people with disabilities do not receive support in time or at all in Swedish school and education, which have been hit by record-breaking cuts.
In a crisis or war, it cannot be guaranteed that people with disabilities will get a place in a shelter in time.
The government and the Sweden Democrats have had four years to rectify this systemic error. Instead, they chose to prioritize tax cuts for themselves and the very richest, amounting to up to 110 billion kronor. They betrayed their promise regarding the assistance payment so that we in the Left Party had to file a report with the KU against three of the government's ministers. We were upheld by the committee.
At the same time, the Tidö parties have voted down proposal after proposal from us in Vänsterpartiet – proposals that would give people with disabilities a life of freedom and participation, like everyone else.
Madam Speaker! My question to the Minister is: Why should people with disabilities and their relatives give the Tidö Government renewed confidence when they have been so gravely let down for four years?
Socialtjänstministern Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! The short answer could possibly be that everything was done over four years with the system error that the member himself raised, which must therefore be a system error that the Tidö Government inherited and which Magdalena Andersson, Nooshi Dadgostar, or for that matter Nadja Awad had eight years to change. But nothing happened connected to skills development in the way it is happening now. Nothing happened connected to interpretation services, as the member raised, in the way that has now occurred.
What the member mentioned regarding record-breaking savings is also not correct. Very large sums have been invested. If we look specifically at the flat-rate setting, we see that more has been invested during these four years than what was done during the eight years when the member's party was involved in supporting the S-MP government.
No, as I once again have the opportunity to state, it is a very high tone when I and the member meet in these debates. If one looks at the eight years preceding the last four years, one sees that quite a lot has actually happened. It is we who have commissioned the investigation that is to address the minute assessments.
The investigation that I mentioned in my opening remarks and which the government appointed in May has the task of presenting a proposal for a clearer regulatory framework for long-term and stable conditions for personal assistance. In that, the government has listened to the assistance providers and to the disability movement, who have asked us to pause the introduction of state assistance. We will not pause the work on it, but the continued preparation of it will take place in parallel with our review of an investigation concerning the basic needs.
This is exactly what we are doing, and the previous government, which was supported by the member's party, had eight years to do it. But absolutely nothing happened. If one is to have that tone in this kind of debate, perhaps one should bring a bit more in one's luggage than the member has.
Nadja Awad (V)
Madam Speaker! Only during three of the last twenty years in the Swedish Riksdag have budget proposals from Vänsterpartiet together with Socialdemokraterna and Miljöpartiet passed. For over 15 years, right-wing budgets have governed Sweden in all areas: welfare, the social insurance system, and so on. It is therefore right-wing budgets that have delivered, for example, cuts in the Swedish school system, elderly care and healthcare, cut back on LSS, worsened the social insurance system and not directly ensured that the transport service is equal across the entire country. We can list a lot of other things.
As the Minister was in, I think we need to talk about facts. It is actually right-wing politics that has governed Sweden during the last 20 years. But I will not stand here and defend the Social Democrat-led governments, because we have been in opposition for very many years.
We have seen that governments in succession have not taken responsibility in the field of disability rights as is needed for there to truly be a change for people with disabilities and their relatives. It is therefore – for there to be a change – that we have submitted proposal after proposal in the Swedish Riksdag, and it is therefore that I have submitted a number of interpellations. We have not had debates on legislative proposals. The Minister and the government have hardly submitted any propositions on the field of disability rights. A number of investigations are lying and gathering dust at the Government Offices.
I can mention, for example, the paratransit investigation, which has not been picked up. Instead, the cost for public transport was halved, but not for paratransit, which remains expensive. Furthermore, people with disabilities sometimes are not even granted the right to paratransit, or they lose the permit they have had, perhaps for many years. It is downright discriminatory. Why should people with normative functionality be able to get halved public transport costs but not people with disabilities, who are dependent on paratransit?
We also have the interpreter services investigation. There are deaf or hard of hearing people who cannot get a job today. Employers cannot afford to hire them because they cannot pay for an interpreter. There is an interpreter services investigation that could be picked up by the Minister and the government to ensure that these people do not end up in and continue to be in long-term unemployment. We have seen nothing of that investigation.
When it comes to LSS, there is a very high level of finger-pointing regarding what is said about the municipalities and what responsibilities they have. But what responsibility does the government have? You had four years to appoint an inquiry to rectify the needs assessments in order to then introduce a nationalization of the assistance. Nothing has happened in that area.
The accompaniment became an action plan, but no new legislation.
Socialtjänstministern Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! I began by describing a long series of parts that I have completed during these years which are linked to a long-requested national function when it comes to persons with intellectual disabilities and autism.
The government has ensured that even people who work within LSS are now covered by the Äldreomsorgslyftet. The interpretation service has begun. It is somewhat remarkable if the member has not noticed that the investigation has resulted in just concrete proposals. The government is now preparing the other proposals, so this is under work at the Ministry of Social Affairs.
There are also a long series of other things ongoing, while it has previously stood more or less completely still.
Since the member is requesting more, I can say that much else has occurred linked to these questions where also my colleagues have been involved. Regions and regions shall, for example, take the preparatory measures needed when it concerns activities with heightened readiness. The Government has allocated 300 million kronor annually in the form of a state grant to the municipalities for measures to strengthen the social services' and the health and medical care's readiness so that it can be maintained also during heightened readiness. These are questions that are also linked to information security, continuity management, readiness planning, training and exercise.
In April this year, the government decided on a mandate for the Civil Defence Agency where, based on the UNCRPD, it shall, among other things, analyze what accessibility means in the context of civil protection. This means that it concerns producing a basis so that we can be able to map the status of shelters, and it is then about accessibility adaptation. A methodological support is also to be produced for our municipalities.
On January 1 of this year, the government lowered the ill-regarded and unjust "funkisskatten" (activity tax). It involves removing income in the form of sickness and activity compensation to remove the difference compared to earned income. This amounts to approximately 1,700 kronor per year.
Regarding students and school, the government has tasked the National Agency for Special Needs Education in the regulatory letter for 2024 to strengthen the work of providing advice and support to principals when it concerns students with neuropsychiatric disabilities and extensive absence.
I could go on for a very, very long time listing measures. Another positive example is my colleague Erik Slottner, who invited the functional movement regarding the digital transition to ensure that digitalization becomes inclusive and not exclusive. It is another important part of coordinating dialogue with relevant actors and promoting, supporting, and following the work in order to achieve increased digital inclusion and a safe use of digital services for everyone. The Accessibility Directive is another part of this.
The chairman raises the concern linked to the fact that LSS is legislation to be implemented by the municipalities. And yes, it truly concerns me that municipalities are making different assessments than those made previously regarding people whose needs have not changed. It could involve measures that have been granted for 20 years, where the municipality is now making a completely different assessment despite the fact that these people's needs have not changed. Yes, I am therefore very concerned that we have municipalities that I believe do not take their responsibility.
Nadja Awad (V)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the Minister for this interpellation debate and the previous debates we have had.
I think that those who have followed this debate and previous debates have likely been able to identify the ideological differences in what Vänsterpartiet and what a right-wing government want in the area of functional disability.
For us, it is important to stop cuts in LSS and to place accompaniment separately in a new piece of legislation. It is important to ensure that access to assistive devices is equal across the entire country and is not governed by someone's postal address. We shall save the transport service and the interpretation service. We shall make Arbetsförmedlingen accessible, and we shall stop the cuts in Swedish schools. No child shall be left behind. We will also ensure that people in crisis or in war have a shelter available.
It is a number of different proposals that we have placed on the Riksdag's table to be voted on, which the Tidö parties have repeatedly voted down. We have also in the opposition gathered a number of proposals that we have had passed in the form of a notification to the government. These concern everything from assistance compensation to accompaniment. But the government has chosen not to proceed with this, even though it has been democratically right to do so.
The government has thus chosen to ignore the majority of the Riksdag in these issues, and I think that is symptomatic of how this government and the Sweden Democrats have chosen not to prioritize the area of functional rights. They have wanted to prioritize something else. I hope those who have followed this debate and previous debates with us can confirm that.
Socialtjänstministern Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you very much, Member, for the interpellation!
One has to look at how Vänsterpartiet acts where they sit and govern if one really wants to make a comparison and see how it can go in the so-called reality when Vänsterpartiet has influence. Then, one can, among other things, look at how Vänsterpartiet has acted in Gothenburg, where the party is responsible for these issues.
There we see quite frequently that person after person and their relatives describe how the support has decreased and been cut back. Assessments have been changed for people who have exactly the same needs today as they had 20 years ago. People who are active and successful in the Paralympics, for example, receive changed interventions because they have succeeded in being independent – which is the very intention of the legislation in LSS.
I note – and I have now repeated this on several occasions – that there are a number of different parts that this government has implemented during these four years. There is an ongoing work being carried out which, among other things, concerns a nationalization of assistance, which we Moderates pushed for even when we sat in opposition. We are now working further in parallel to ensure that this is not a postcode lottery. It should not matter where you are located; instead, you should have the right to an equivalent and legally secure assessment regardless of where you live in Sweden.
So that is how it shall be when it comes to this legislation, because there this government will continue to work further so that there will be equal conditions and that these intentions shall be lived up to across the whole country.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.