Anna Kinberg Batra invests in the residence – “Offensive and injudicious”

Last year, the budget for representation at the governor’s residence was overdrawn by almost one million. A partial explanation for the three times higher amount is that extra money had to be spent for the celebration of the King’s 50th anniversary. But when this year’s budget for operations at the 17th-century residence Tessinska palatset matches how much was spent last year, it causes outrage among unionists at the authority. This is especially because the authority has less money to move with this year and tough savings requirements have been imposed on other units. This has meant an increased workload for the employees, according to the union.

– We have received savings claims of a number of millions. There have been major surveys to see how much we can save and corrections in the budget to meet the expenses. Then it becomes very offensive to see the priorities that the governor sets for his business. It is offensive and inconsiderate, says Susann Sass Jonsson, chairman of Saco-S at the authority.

Absent additions upset

It is not only Governor Anna Kinberg Batra’s attention to dubious recruitments that creates outrage at the Stockholm County Administrative Board. The feelings are the same for the vacancies that have not been filled with the consequence that fewer people have to do more. In addition to that, according to the union, staff feel that there has been a reduction in the necessary continuing education required to keep up-to-date with regulations and laws.

The savings requirements have been justified by the fact that the 2024 state grant does not cover increased costs for, among other things, premises rent and personnel costs that have followed inflation. The budget for the Stockholm County Administrative Board as a whole was 465 million kroner last year, while this year the authority has to make do with 461 million kroner.

– We have a number of services for the business to function. If we have vacancies, there will be more pressure on the employees who are in the building and need to prioritize tasks that are important to fulfill the legal requirements we have, says Lisa Palmér, chair of ST at the authority.

On occasions when outsiders are invited to meetings at the authority, it has happened several times that staff have had to pay for coffee out of their own pockets. It may seem like a small detail, but since the increased budget space for the Ticino Palace will also go to representation, it stands out extra.

– Apart from the vacancies and continuing education, you are therefore not allowed to offer coffee unless you do it with your own money, says Susann Sass Jonsson.

The Ticino Palace’s budget has tripled

In 2023, the budget said that the activities at the Tessinska palatset, which houses the governor’s private residence, will have to spend 300,000 kroner, the same as the previous year. But instead, approximately SEK 1.2 million was spent on “internal and external representation”, according to the county board’s information. One of the explanations has been extra expenses in connection with the king’s 50th anniversary, for which the county board was responsible.

But the 2024 budget has been set to match last year’s total spending. In practice, this means a tripling of the business’s budget.

“The county board’s mission includes collaborating with various actors who can contribute in different ways to good development in the county. Therefore, representatives of politics, administration, business, culture, academia, civil society and the like are invited to various activities in the Ticino Palace. The purpose of the representation in the Ticino Palace is to bring them together for meetings and conversations.“, writes Jonas Johansson, head of communications at the Stockholm County Administrative Board in an email to Arbetsvärlden.

New governor with new ambitions

But the mission to promote the county’s development is not new for 2024. The wording is the same in the authority’s regulatory letter for 2023. But Jonas Johansson does not consider 2023 to be representative because it concerned operations under a different county management.

“The budget laid down for 2024 is the first budget made based on the fact that we have other conditions, including a new governor,” writes Jonas Johansson in his email.

And that is also the interpretation that the union makes. What has been different is the governor Anna Kinberg Batra and her ambitions.

– This governor that we have now has different ambitions than previous governors. An ambition to be both outward-looking, but the clear agenda is not entirely clear, says Susann Sass Jonsson.

However, high ambitions are not the problem in themselves. But the outward-looking ambition gets a higher priority and goes beyond both the staff’s working environment and the opportunity to complete their tasks, the union believes. And why the governor has prioritized as she does, the trade unions do not consider that they have received an answer.

– The money could have been used to recruit and re-fill vacancies. Money could go to continuing education, we need to be in step with regulations and practice. We work with supervision and must work efficiently and legally, says Susann Sass Jonsson.

Anna Kinberg Batra has declined an interview