On the control of chief guardians over how many assignments guardians have. Also criticism of the City of Stockholm’s Chief Guardian Committee for shortcomings in this regard

Summary of the decision: It is not uncommon for chief guardians to have difficulty recruiting an adequate number of people willing to take on the assignment of guardian. These recruitment issues increase the need for both so-called professional guardians and others who take on a large number of guardianships to the extent that may even be able to support themselves in this manner. The Parliamentary Ombudsman notes the risk that guardians who take on too many assignments will be unable to adequately serve the interests of all clients. The number of assignments must therefore be considered when assessing the suitability of guardians and administrators.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman states that the ability to undertake multiple assignments must be assessed individually based on the type of guardianship in question, how many other assignments the individual already has and their competence and experience. She emphasises that a chief guardian must be expected to have a good overview of how many and what type of assignments a prospective or already appointed guardian actually has. This knowledge should include assignments from other municipalities.

In the case in question, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has reviewed procedures at the City of Stockholm’s Chief Guardian Committee to check how many assignments a guardian has. The committee does carry out certain enhanced checks both prior to the appointment and during the ongoing review of guardians who have multiple assignments from its own municipality. The Parliamentary Ombudsman is critical of the committee’s failure to consider assignments from other municipalities.

The Parliamentary Ombudsmen have made a number of statements concerning the activities of chief guardians during the spring and on a couple of occasions drawn the Government’s attention to the decisions reached. In this case too the Parliamentary Ombudsman finds reason to send a copy of the decision to the Government for information.