Last fall, a dispute was resolved between Värmdö municipality and a private preschool in the district court. The court considered that the preschool was not entitled to charge the parents for diapers, in addition to the maximum tariff for child care. Since the Supreme Administrative Court, just before Christmas, decided not to take up the case, the judgment of the Chamber of Appeal gained legal force.

Many interpreted it as the fact that all municipalities that apply maximum tariffs must pay for diapers, but SKR does not agree.

- We do not think that this conclusion can be drawn from just this judgment. Then you have to get more solid evidence for such an assessment. Alternatively, the Supreme Administrative Court takes up a case and decides, because it is the precedent that will make decisions that provide guidance for the application of law, says Germund Persson, chief lawyer at SKR.

Not a precedent

SKR does not consider that the Court of Appeal's ruling is prejudiced. Among other things, SKR points out that there are four court cases in the country and that practices may vary between the different courts.

- We see it as entirely conceivable that other courts may judge differently on this issue, says Germund Persson.

In addition, SKR points out that in this case it is a municipality where a single independent preschool levied a diaper fee, while municipal and other independent preschools did not. It is unclear what the outcome would have been in a municipality with the same routines at all preschools, according to Germund Persson.

Practice varies between municipalities when it comes to diapers in preschool. In most municipalities, parents may pay an extra fee or bring their own diapers. The question of whether it is fair or not is up to the municipalities to decide, according to SKR.

- There is, as we see, the scope for municipalities not to do exactly the same in all respects, responds Germund Persson.

Many millions

If all municipalities are forced to bear the diaper cost, this would mean increased costs for already strained municipal funds. Last year, the City of Malmö made a preliminary calculation for diaper costs for the more than 20,000 children at the municipality's 240 municipal preschools. They reached a price tag of SEK 3.5–10 million.

But care about the municipalities' finances is not behind SKR's decision not to currently recommend changed routines, but it is a purely legal assessment, Germund Persson points out.

At the same time, SKR says that there are reasons to closely follow the legal development.

In many municipalities, the consequences of a changed practice are being investigated and many have waited for SKR's recommendation