National Audit Office of Finland

The transport network, a central physical part of society, has been built over the centuries. Many parts of it have even been repaired several times. Waterways have been mapped, ports have been constructed, and access from lake Saimaa to the sea has been leased from Russia. Roads and railways have also been built by the past generations. Even now, significant new projects are being planned, especially in the rail network.

The coronavirus pandemic has given us a wake-up call to examine the crisis tolerance of our society and reflect on our future after the crisis.

The National Audit Office of Finland is currently chairing the Working Group on Environmental Auditing of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI WGEA). The working group aims to increase the effectiveness of environmental policies and to improve the efficiency of the use of public funds. In January, Finland hosts a global Assembly meeting of the working group with the main theme of circular economy.

The timing and scope of the fiscal policy measures taken by the Government to manage the corona crisis have been along the right lines. The National Audit Office assesses that the employment decisions taken so far during the parliamentary term improve general government finances only modestly.

Transferring the responsibility for organising healthcare and social welfare services and rescue services to areas larger than the municipality is appropriate. The proposed funding and steering model is to be welcomed as, in the initial part of the reform, service organisation would be mainly based on central government funding. However, the incentive to curb the increase in costs provided by the funding model for service organisers is low. Among other things, the efficiency of service organisation and service cost-effectiveness will depend on the counties’ success in integration and supervision of the services and their mutual cooperation. Amendments made to the draft government proposal based on the round of comments clarify the statutes on the wellbeing services counties’ own service provision and the outsourcing of services. Even more detailed provisions on the principles and practices of self-monitoring carried out by the county and service providers should be laid down in the statutes.

At present, there are prerequisites for good lifecycle management of building assets in Senate Properties, the Governing Body of Suomenlinna, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. However, the effectiveness of the new practices of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs should be monitored closely.