A inquiry is now being set up to come up with measures that will better counteract crime within the system for personal assistance.
It will, among other things, provide proposals for a new order for how assistance benefits are monitored – something that is currently completely lacking.
It means that there are no opportunities to control either how the needs look or that the assistance is actually provided, says Waltersson Grönvall.
Previously, the Social Insurance Agency reviewed the right to assistance every other year, but in 2018, the so-called two-year reviews were stopped after criticism from, among others, the disability rights movement.
"Exploited and threatened"
According to the minister, it is not currently relevant to reintroduce them, but the investigator will come up with other proposals.
The investigator will also examine whether assistance provided by relatives should be regulated, and the government wants to see more effective controls.
We see that they claim that assistance has been provided for a certain number of hours that have not actually been provided, and the assistance recipients are exploited and threatened and dare not say anything, says Waltersson Grönvall.
The government also wants proposals for an inspection that will ensure that activities conducted according to the Act on Support and Service for Persons with Disabilities (LSS) are safe and of good quality.
"Get rid of crime"
The investigator will be Thomas Falk from the Social Insurance Agency, and the assignment will be presented to the government in January 2027.
Isn't it urgent to get to grips with this, don't we need measures here and now?
I assume that the responsible authorities, with the information they have, will act with all available means at their disposal today, says the Minister for Social Affairs.
Should companies (with ties to gang crime) be removed from the market?
The government is making a long series of different efforts now. A lot of legislation is on its way forward. What we need to do is to continue to act so that we get rid of this crime altogether, from all welfare activities.
Corrected: An earlier version contained an incorrect statement about when the inquiry will be finalized.
A joint authority report shows that all larger assistance companies have employees with ties to organized crime, and that as many as four out of ten users are estimated to have come into contact with personal assistants linked to gangs.
The presence of organized crime within the assistance industry has significant consequences, according to the report. It affects both individual users who risk receiving substandard care, while the compensation can be used to finance criminal activity.
Source: The Police and the Social Insurance Agency
