The investigator, formerly the court councilor Krister Thelin, has after nine months of investigation of a national begging ban landed on the fact that it is not needed.
A reason for this is that the number of people who beg has decreased, according to Thelin.
There are many, many fewer today, he says at a press conference and adds that it has been difficult to get an exact figure.
No longer profitable
This is partly due to decreased use of cash.
This means that it is no longer possible to get together "150 kronor per day" as before, which makes it no longer profitable enough to travel from countries such as Romania and Bulgaria to beg in Sweden, according to the investigator.
Another reason why a ban is not needed, according to Thelin, is that municipalities already have the opportunity to introduce local begging bans – which about 20 municipalities have done.
Both The Moderate Party and the Sweden Democrats have previously advocated for a begging ban. The Sweden Democrats have stated that the party hopes to get one through during the term.
For The Liberals, a begging ban has been harder to swallow, but the Tidö negotiations resulted in an investigation being appointed.
In a comment, L's group leader in the Riksdag, Lina Nordquist, says that the investigator's recommendation is in line with the party's policy:
"We want to combat poverty, vulnerability, and mental illness, not ban people from asking for help," she says.
Will return
The task included "regardless of stance" to submit a proposal that means begging is prohibited. The investigator has therefore presented two different proposals on how a begging ban could be implemented.
The government will now send out the investigation for review.
I do not anticipate that process, says Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) and continues:
Then we will return to our choices ahead.
If the Tidö parties proceed with a ban, it can according to Strömmer "purely technically" be introduced before the 2026 election.
