Supreme audit institutions are meeting to discuss the future of public sector auditing as well as the strategic management and administrative tasks of EUROSAI, the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions.

In the early 2000s, the heading would have been considered Mission: Impossible, like in Hollywood. We accepted the task, however, and started to renew the support services and improve their profitability. Now that we are approaching the 2020s, it’s time to study the results. The support services have become versatile expert services that produce innovations and solutions for the everyday needs of their customers in addition to their basic duties. In the change of the central government structure, the providers of support services have been a vital resource in the development of the profitability of public administration.

The National Audit Office (NAOF) assesses that Finland has complied with the EU fiscal rules . The central government spending limits have also been followed. It is important in the management of general government finances that the Government sets such economic policy targets that can be monitored explicitly.

Emergency medical services are an essential part of citizen security. This has prompted the NAOF to audit the functioning of the emergency medical service chain. Concentration of the services in fewer locations, ageing of the population and the need for more services as a result will increase the need for emergency medical services. At the moment, emergency care units must manage a large number of non-urgent tasks that should be carried out in a different manner. Closer cooperation, better information collection and better planning of resources could also help to make emergency medical services more efficient.

The steering and management of digitalization are fragmented, and the knowledge base is insufficient. The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education should clarify the responsibilities and duties of the actors participating in the digitalization as well as the operating models, and also improve the knowledge base.

In the spring 2019 report, the National Audit Office assesses compliance with the central government spending limits and the EU Stability and Growth Pact in 2018. The report also contains an assessment of the contents of the General Government Fiscal Plan published in the spring of 2019 and whether the recent forecasts of the Ministry of Finance are realistic. The monitoring of fiscal policy promotes transparency and intelligibility of fiscal rules as well as stable and sustainable general government finances.