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Demokratiskolan
The Knowledge services card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 59 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaKnowledge & technology
  • Centre of gravityCentral government
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe general election
Knowledge & technology

Knowledge services

Consultants, experts & organizers

Consultants, experts and organisers sell knowledge, and the public sector is one of their biggest customers. Municipalities, regions and the central government buy studies, IT support and expert advice for large sums every year. The power lies in procurement: the rules for how the public sector may buy knowledge, and your right to scrutinise what was bought.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · buys services, signs contracts · approx 25 %
  • Region · procures studies and it · approx 10 %
  • State · procurement laws and oversight · approx 45 %
  • EU · directives and the single market · approx 20 %

The central government sets the rules through the procurement laws, but they are built on EU directives. The general election matters most, the European Parliament election shapes the foundation.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe big buyer
The regionThe buyer in healthcare
Central governmentThe rule-maker · centre of gravity
Who decides?
The municipal executive board (kommunstyrelse), the committees (nämnder) and the municipality's procurement unit.
The regional executive board (regionstyrelse) and the region's procurement function.
The Riksdag (Sweden's parliament) enacts the procurement laws. The Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) carries out oversight, the National Agency for Public Procurement (Upphandlingsmyndigheten) provides support.
What do they decide?
Buys consultants for everything from comprehensive plans to IT systems. Decides what employees do themselves and what is bought in.
Buys studies, management support and IT for healthcare, often through large framework agreements.
The Public Procurement Act (LOU) and the other procurement laws: when the public sector must advertise, how tenders are compared and how decisions can be reviewed.
Where are decisions made?
In the committees' budgets and in procurement notices, which are public.
In the region's procurements and board decisions, which are official documents.
In the Riksdag and at the agencies. The administrative courts decide reviews.
Who pays?
Municipal tax. Consultancy costs appear in the budget and the annual report, both public.
Regional tax. Consultants and agency staff are recurring budget questions.
The central government budget. The state is also itself a large buyer of consultancy services.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Request contracts and invoices, put questions to the committee, submit a tender as a business owner.
Regional election Scrutinise the region's contracts through the principle of public access to official documents (offentlighetsprincipen), contact the region's auditors.
General election A referral response on legislative proposals, a tip-off to the Competition Authority about suspected errors.
EUThe procurement rules are built on EU directives, and the single market gives companies across the EU the right to submit tenders. Shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case The municipality hires a consultant
  1. EU

    The directives set the frame

    The EU's procurement directives decide that public purchases above certain amounts must be advertised openly across the whole union. The foundation is laid far from the town hall.

  2. State

    The Riksdag turns directives into law

    The Public Procurement Act, LOU, translates the directives into Swedish rules. The Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) watches over compliance.

    Point of influence

    The general election steers the legislation. Changes to the law go out for a referral that anyone can respond to.

  3. Municipality

    A need becomes a procurement

    The committee needs a study, for example ahead of a new swimming hall. The administration writes a specification with requirements and advertises the procurement openly.

    Point of influence

    The specification is public. Companies, associations and residents can ask questions before the tender deadline runs out.

  4. Municipality

    Tenders are compared and a contract is signed

    The tenders received are evaluated against the requirements, and the supplier that best meets them wins. Losing companies can request a review in the administrative court (förvaltningsrätt).

    Point of influence

    The award decision and the tenders become public. Anyone who wants to scrutinise the deal can request the documents.

  5. Your everyday life

    The report shapes your swimming hall

    The consultant's study lands on the committee's table and may decide where the swimming hall is built. What you swim in three years from now was shaped by a procurement you could follow.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. What should a municipality do with its own employees and what should it buy in?

  2. How would you find out what the consultants in your municipality actually achieved?

  3. Does the knowledge stay in the building when the consultant goes home, and does it matter?

  4. Small companies compete with large firms for public assignments. What would a fair playing field look like?

  5. Which decision in your municipality would you like to see the supporting documents behind?

Glossary

LOU
The Public Procurement Act: the rules for how the public sector buys goods and services.
Anbud
A company's offer in a procurement: price, solution and terms.
Ramavtal
A framework agreement that lets the public sector order on an ongoing basis from selected suppliers.
Överprövning
When a losing supplier asks the administrative court to review a procurement.
Offentlighetsprincipen
Your right to read the documents of agencies and municipalities, for example contracts and invoices.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.