Response to interpellation 2025/26:65 on the future conditions of the transition study support
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 future conditions of the transition student grant and CSN's processing times. L argues that the government has taken measures through regulatory simplifications and added 160 million kronor beyond initial calculations 1. L believes that the processing times have been significantly shortened, that the waiting time has decreased from over 200 days to around 60 days 1 2 3 and that it is important to monitor that the reform works as intended through reduced bureaucracy 4. L believes that it is important that CSN continues the work and that the government has provided more resources 4. S argues that the government has not been sufficiently proactive and that the resources are insufficient 5. S claims that CSN warned of increased processing times without an extra 33 million kronor 6 and is concerned about not being able to provide a decision before the start of studies 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Gymnasie-, högskole- och forskningsministern Lotta Edholm (L)
Mr. Speaker! Niklas Sigvardsson has asked me what I consider to be a reasonable processing time for his application for transition study support to be handled. Niklas Sigvardsson has also asked me what I intend to do to ensure that CSN has the conditions to meet the processing time with reduced resources.
The government has introduced the transition study support exactly in the way that was announced in the bill Flexibility, transition capability and security in the labor market, which was adopted by the Riksdag with a large majority. The bill, in turn, is based on the agreement reached with the parties. That the government introduces the reform in the way announced in the bill means, among other things, that the support is introduced gradually in such a way that funds for the support are added and scaled up over time. The support shall be fully expanded by 2026.
The transition study support (omställningsstudiestödet) is a new study support, and the administration of the support has been complex and time-consuming. The Government has therefore taken a number of measures to facilitate CSN's handling. The Government has, for example, worked intensively to implement rule simplifications of the support. CSN has also received extensive funds for development and administration to ensure that the support can function as intended. It is important to emphasize that CSN has received as much money as was initially calculated and that the Government, in addition to this, has added 160 million kronor.
CSN shall also, according to the agency's regulatory letter, take necessary measures to ensure an efficient processing of the support. CSN is now continuing to implement system support, which reasonably should facilitate the processing further.
The processing times at CSN have now been significantly shortened, and it is a reasonable starting point that students should be able to receive a decision on their application before the start of studies. The government's extensive work, together with the major work that CSN is doing to shorten processing times, should mean that there are good conditions for efficient processing moving forward. The government is continuously monitoring how the reform is implemented and has a close dialogue with CSN and the parties regarding how the reform develops.
Niklas Sigvardsson (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Lotta Edholm for the answer.
2023, 2024 and now 2025 – the years have passed, but the defense of the transition study support needs to endure. The ministers for study support issues have been Mats Persson, Johan Pehrson and now Lotta Edholm. But regardless of which liberal minister sits in the position, the issue of the transition study support needs to be closely monitored. Every time, one has been disappointed.
I still interpret it as Lotta Edholm speaking warmly about the support. But the reform has not received the resources and the love it has needed. It is quite clear that some of the problems that have arisen were signaled already in connection with the bill and the investigation. But some have actually also been about the government not being sufficiently proactive and being slow when the authority and all thousands of applicants have signaled that it is going too slowly.
Something one can demand of a government is that it should be quick-footed and proactive when it has submitted a bill with a certain underlying spirit but it turns out that the development is not moving in the desired direction. But in that regard, the government has, regardless of the minister, been sluggish. It has meant that billions have been burned away and that billions will continue to be burned away.
In previous debates regarding the transition study support, I have tried not to talk so much about aggregate figures and billions here and there. This is actually about people who apply for the support because they want to educate themselves and develop themselves. It is not about budget items. It is not about the administration not working. It is about people not being granted the right to the education and the support for education that they seek.
This part of the transition study support is an important part of the large package that the minister was referring to in his speech. It is about the right that workers received to be able to transition and strengthen their position in the future labor market. That is why we Social Democrats have so strongly defended just this part of the reform and want it to function as well as it possibly can.
Around vocational colleges, adult education (komvux), and higher education, I meet people who want to transition. They are nursing assistants who want to begin their training to become nurses. They are people who have realized that it is the police training they want to start. They are people with education who want to start studying to become teachers because they see that it is what society needs. It is these people who are forced to wait for a decision month after month. Many of them have not received a decision before the start of studies and have therefore simply had to decline the studies because they do not know how they are going to finance them.
It is pleasing – to say something positive – that we are and have been on the right track regarding processing times. It is actually more people who receive notification before the start of studies. But now it is being signaled, primarily from the authority, that there is concern about whether this development will continue. That is why I am so worried about the future. CSN signaled that they needed 33 million kronor in increased appropriations for 2026 to manage the thousands of applications that come in – 33 million at a time when the budget for the support amounts to approximately 7.5 billion.
Therefore, the question to the Minister is: Is the Minister confident that the money the government has allocated will be sufficient for processing during 2026?
Gymnasie-, högskole- och forskningsministern Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I share Niklas Sigvardsson's love for this system for student support and for getting more people to transition a bit later in life. I think it is based on one of the more interesting settlements made in modern times and believe that it will serve us well. This applies to both Sweden as a country and, of course, the individual individuals who can take part in it.
The system is not fully developed yet. It is to be fully developed by 2026. It is important to remember that it has been a long and sometimes a bit tedious journey. When the Liberals took over the Ministry of Education, the waiting time was over 200 days. Today, we are down below 60 days per processing round and person, so it has really gone in the right direction. The idea, of course, is that we are to get the waiting time down even further, because that is reasonable. It is also reasonable to set requirements for the authorities to do this.
Nevertheless, it is the case that the reform has cost much more than the previous government assessed. That is why the government and the Riksdag have added approximately 160 million so that CSN can manage this important mission. The government's assessment is that the agency will manage it, not only because we have added more funds but also because we have made simplifications in the system.
I completely share Niklas Sigvardsson's view that it is an important and good system so that people a bit later in life can be given a reasonable opportunity to transition.
Niklas Sigvardsson (S)
Madam Speaker! All these questions concerning funding, regulatory simplifications, and everything else regarding the transition study support, I have personally stood and debated with several different liberal ministers. We Social Democrats are prepared to do what is required to assist the government and ensure that it reaches the Riksdag's table. We have implemented regulatory simplifications and legislative proposals in broad agreement here precisely because the support is so important.
That is why we Social Democrats are so frustrated. It is about a multi-billion investment. In the coming years, on the order of 7–8 billion per year will be set aside for this support. It is about approximately 30 million that CSN needs so that they can be secure in that they can give notice before the start of studies.
That was what the minister said in his opening statement. The starting point is that students should reasonably receive a notification before the start of studies. We also share that view because we see that it is important.
I wrote the interpellation because I had been given access to the underlying material that I know the government worked with when they were sitting and preparing their entire budget bill, and above all, the expenditure forecasts that CSN reports quarterly to the government.
There, CSN was explicitly concerned that if the government does not provide the requested funds, which in this case was over 30 million, it will have long-term consequences by CSN not being able to build up a high basic staffing level. Basic staffing ensures that one can train employees who can truly work effectively with the processing.
In the expenditure forecast that arrived this summer, CSN states what will happen if they do not receive the funds: If CSN is not granted this appropriation increase, the number of customers waiting for a decision will gradually increase again. Customers will not receive a decision before the start of studies, and processing times will become longer. A lack of appropriation increase could also have consequences in other areas of the agency. A return to longer processing times could lead to a decline in interest for the transition study support and that the utilization of the transition grant gradually decreases.
The sentence that made me really jump when I read it was: Customers will not receive notification before the start of the studies, and processing times will become longer. That is what I do not feel secure about when I read it. The Minister says that she is confident that such problems will not occur. But the authority says that if they do not receive increased appropriations for the handling of the transition study support, this will be the consequence.
As I said in my first post, it is not about money burning a hole in one's pocket. It is about thousands of individuals not being notified in time that they can access education. If a person does not know that their studies are being financed, there is a very large risk that they will decline the education because they do not know how they are to support their family in the middle of life during the period they are studying.
That is why my concern remains and I do not really become reassured by the Minister saying that she is confident that the development will continue. The Minister has now heard and surely previously read about what CSN's assessment is if they do not receive the grant.
In the bill that we are dealing with here in the Riksdag during the autumn, with a decision later in November and December, the 33 million kronor are not there. Now, the appropriation will not increase. Then, the processing times will probably increase and people will not receive a decision before the start of studies. Can the minister still really be confident with what I have now read out?
Gymnasie-, högskole- och forskningsministern Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! There are many things that affect how long the processing times are. It is about how much we add. We have added 160 million kronor beyond what was the previous government's calculation of how much it would cost. It is also about initiating regulatory simplifications.
Another dimension in this is that we have had quite a few applicants who have not been granted any transition study support, that is to say, people who would not have received it from the beginning. It is very difficult to know how large that group will be.
An assessment that can be made is that as time passes and the authority makes these types of different assessments every year, the number of those who apply will also [increase/change], even though they know that it is actually not meaningful to reduce. It is very difficult to calculate how much it can do for the time it takes.
Niklas Sigvardsson says that he has debated this a number of times during the government's term. That is certainly true. But it is also important to remember that every time Niklas Sigvardsson has stood here and discussed the issue, the processing time has also decreased. It is important to remember that it was over 200 days when the government took office and that it is now down to around 60 days. The development is truly going in the right direction, and it is not fully completed yet.
I naturally share Niklas Sigvardsson's commitment that the transition study support should function as well as is only possible. It is an important reform for people who feel that they would like to transition a bit later in life and obtain further education or a completely new education. I also consider the issues to be important.
Niklas Sigvardsson (S)
Madam Speaker! Being in opposition is about constantly being a thorn in the side of those who govern, in this case the government. The processing time has decreased, and I am the first to be very happy about that. That is what we have wanted.
We Social Democrats do not want to stand here and have the debate for the sake of debate. We want it so that all those people who apply for the transition student grant and are eligible to receive it shall receive it in a timely manner. That is what it is about. Our concern is that when CSN so clearly signals that they do not receive the funds they need, it will have the consequence that more people will not receive a decision before the start of studies. That is the reason for the debate.
With that said, we have been in favor of all the changes the government has proposed regarding the transition student support. We have been in favor of getting it in place as quickly as possible, because it is an important reform to protect.
One of the major disadvantages is that there can be very many who have tried to apply who are not entitled to apply. CSN has very clearly communicated that they cannot actively market the system together with the business community and trade unions because they are not confident that they can provide people with decisions before the start of studies.
It is explicitly the case that the unions have not marketed it as strongly as they could. The business community has also chosen to be somewhat passive. CSN has also not carried out the massive marketing efforts that such a new system would need because they are worried about whether they will be able to handle all the applications that exist.
The government now chooses once again not to provide the money that CSN needs to manage the processing time. According to the minister's own statement, one should be able to give a decision before the start of studies. CSN explicitly says that they might not be able to do so. In that case, it is very difficult to tell people: Apply, because you will receive a decision!
I thank the Minister for the answer and the continued discussion.
Gymnasie-, högskole- och forskningsministern Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! Sometimes it is very tiresome when honorable members are a thorn in the side on various issues. But in this particular issue, I appreciate this thorn in the side. This is an important reform. It is important that we monitor so that we get down the processing times and that the reform works as intended.
That is also why the government has allocated more funds than was originally intended, precisely because it is important. It is important that CSN continues the work. We have allocated more resources. It is also about reduced bureaucracy and regulatory simplifications in the system.
I appreciate Niklas Sigvardsson's commitment to this important issue.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.