The municipality of Skurup does not want any new arrivals assigned to the municipality in 2027. This was decided by the municipal executive committee on Monday. The message to the County Administrative Board of Skåne will be that the municipality desires a municipal quota of zero – instead of the four persons included in the preliminary distribution. The decision passed by a narrow majority after a vote.

The municipal executive committee in Skurup decided on August 18 to inform the County Administrative Board of Skåne that the municipality wishes for a lower intake of new arrivals next year. The municipality’s message is clear: Skurup proposes that the municipal quota for 2027 be set to zero.

Otherwise, the County Administrative Board of Skåne’s preliminary distribution would have meant that four individuals would be assigned to Skurup municipality. In the municipality’s decision documentation, local conditions are cited as the reason for the request for a lower number.

New Law Gives Municipalities Greater Influence

The background is the new settlement law decided by the parliament on June 15, which comes into force on January 1, 2027. The change means, according to the municipality’s writing, that municipalities will have the opportunity to inform the county administrative board if they desire a higher or lower intake than what is proposed in the draft municipal quota.

The reception addressed by the matter concerns individuals living in the Swedish Migration Agency’s accommodations as well as quota refugees who have been granted residence permits and are assigned to a municipality for settlement. Municipalities are still obliged to receive people after such assignment.

However, the new order gives municipalities greater influence over the process before the municipal quotas are decided. Skurup is now making use of this opportunity by expressing the wish not to be assigned anyone at all in 2027.

Narrow Majority for Zero

The decision was preceded by a vote in the municipal executive committee. According to information from the Sweden Democrats’ group leader Lars Nyström, SD and M voted for the proposal and gathered seven votes. S, V, C, and the local party Kommunens väl voted against it, collecting six votes in total.

Thus, the proposal for a desired municipal quota of zero passed by the smallest possible margin. Nyström, who is the first vice chair of the municipal executive committee, welcomes the decision and describes zero as a reasonable level for “so-called refugees” given the municipality’s conditions, but would have preferred a negative number.

Skurup is governed by SD, M, and KD. The chair of the municipal executive committee is Johan Bolinder (M), while Lars Nyström (SD) is the first vice chair. Both are listed in the writing that forms the basis for the matter.

No Immediate Budget Effects

According to the decision documentation, the message to the county administrative board is not expected to have any direct budget-impacting effects. The actual financial consequences, according to the municipality, can only be determined once Skurup’s municipal quota has been finalized. Any costs will then be handled within the regular budgeting process.

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This decision does not in itself mean that the final municipal quota for Skurup has already been set. It is about the municipality’s message to the County Administrative Board of Skåne regarding the level it desires for 2027.

When the Swedish Migration Agency later makes a decision about the municipal quotas, the issue will be followed up and reported back to the municipal executive committee. For Skurup, the starting point for the continued process is thus clear—the municipality considers a reception of zero people to be the level that best matches local conditions.