Upcoming publications - National Audit Office of Finland

To be published on 5.12.2023

Report on the oversight of election campaign funding in the 2023 parliamentary elections

The NAOF oversees that those subject to the disclosure obligation submit a disclosure on their election campaign funding under the Act on a Candidate's Election Funding. In parliamentary elections, the disclosure obligation applies to those elected as Members or deputy Members of Parliament. The aim of the oversight is to increase the transparency of funding.

To be published on 15.12.2023

Fiscal policy monitoring report 2023

In its report, fiscal policy monitoring of the NAOF will assess compliance with the fiscal rules, the achievement of the objectives set, the preparation and implementation of the General Government Fiscal Plan, compliance with the central government spending limits, the realism of the forecasts of the Ministry of Finance, and the fiscal policy stance. The NAOF reports on the findings of fiscal policy monitoring twice a year, in spring and in autumn.

To be published on 20.12.2023

Special purpose entities in the planning of rail investments

The purpose of the audit is to assess the performance of the special purpose entity (SPE) model in the planning of major rail investments. The audit examines how well the application of the SPE model and the organisation of the entities support the achievement of the targets set for the SPEs. The audit also assesses whether the procurement processes of the SPEs comply with the legislation and whether their practices promote risk management and sustainability. The planning costs of the three major rail projects that are in the planning phase total around EUR 350 million. Decisions on whether these railway lines will be built will be taken at the earliest during the government term 2023–2027. The current estimates of the total costs of the Turku One Hour Train, Suomirata and Itärata projects are EUR 3.4 billion, EUR 4 billion and EUR 1.8 billion, respectively.

To be published on 22.1.2024

Preparation extending beyond parliamentary terms

The purpose of the audit is to assess, through example cases, whether a framework has been created to support successful preparation extending beyond government and parliamentary terms. The purpose is to produce information that supports the preparation of particularly extensive and long-term future projects, programmes and reforms in different administrative sectors. Major projects, programmes or reforms may be prepared during several government terms. In such cases, the changes in government terms cause discontinuity in the preparation that may weaken the cost-effectiveness. Ensuring effective preparation requires that such discontinuity has been adequately taken into account in the preparation. The audit approaches the topic by means of example cases that are significant for central government finances and that have been selected in the planning phase: the health and social services reform, the social security reform, the strategic capability projects of the Defence Forces (at programme level), the development of digitalization, and the use of artificial intelligence at the national level. The audit does not assess the content of the example cases; instead, the perspective is on the success of preparation extending beyond government terms.

To be published on 30.1.2024

Subsidies for agricultural investments

The audit assesses the impacts of subsidies for agricultural investments. These subsidies are targeted at various types of agricultural investments, such as the construction of cowsheds and pig buildings or the drainage of fields. The overall audit question is how the investment subsidies affect the profitability and competitiveness of agriculture. Investment subsidies account for only a small part of all agricultural subsidies. Of the agricultural subsidies totalling around EUR 2 billion, around EUR 100 million is spent on investment subsidies. However, investment subsidies are very important for the future of agriculture. In practice, no agricultural investments in Finland are made without subsidies, and investments shape the future agricultural production.

To be published on 19.3.2024

Report on the oversight of political party funding 2024

Each year, the NAOF audits political party funding and the government subsidies granted to political parties, i.e. party subsidies. The NAOF oversees that those subject to the disclosure obligation submit the disclosures prescribed in the Act on Political Parties on the funding they have received. The aim of the oversight is to increase the transparency of funding.

To be published on 27.3.2024

Effectiveness of the assessment procedure in balancing local government finances and safeguarding services

The purpose of the audit is to examine whether the municipalities’ assessment procedure, included in local government steering instruments, has succeeded in identifying and addressing problems in municipal finances, ensuring balanced municipal finances in the medium term, and safeguarding the availability of the statutory basic services in municipalities. The audit aims to provide information on the functioning and any development needs of the municipalities’ assessment procedure.

To be published on 1.4.2024

Relationship of Finland's RDI policy steering and other steering with the utilisation of EU programme funding

Relationship of Finland's RDI policy steering and other steering with the utilisation of EU programme funding The aim of the audit is to examine whether the state's RDI policy steering and other steering have been coordinated with EU programme funding and whether Finland has the prerequisites and incentives to utilise the EU's RDI funding as widely as possible. The audit aims to improve the effectiveness of the state's R&D funding and the knowledge base of the related decision-making. The audit focuses on the situation as from 2014. The audited entities are the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Business Finland, and the Academy of Finland. In addition, the Ministry of Finance is audited because it has participated in monitoring the utilization of EU programmes during the Horizon Europe period and has also participated in the preparation of an act and plan on R&D financing.

To be published on 18.4.2024

Promoting the battery value chain

The audit is targeted at the central government measures to promote the battery value chain. The purpose of the battery value chain is to increase the value of minerals extracted from the Finnish soil responsibly, to attract investments in the battery sector to Finland and to increase the export potential of the sector. The audit questions are related to the objectives set for the promotion of the battery value chain, the measures taken to this end and the prerequisites for effectiveness. The audit also assesses the role of Finnish Minerals Group in the battery value chain. The objective of the audit is to produce information on the actions of different government authorities in promoting the operation of the battery cluster, on the coordination of different actions and on the potential added value provided by the battery value chain.

To be published on 8.5.2024

Steering, financing and effectiveness of the management of water resources and marine environments

The audit examines how the central government has tried to ensure the effectiveness of the management of water resources and marine environments in Finland and the use of central government funds allocated to them, and how this has succeeded. Eutrophication caused by nutrient loading is the single biggest problem in the inland and coastal waters of Finland, and most of the nutrient load comes from agriculture. Therefore, the audit pays particular attention to the effectiveness of the activities aimed at reducing nutrient loading in agriculture and to the steering measures public administration has taken to address the challenges identified in them. The purpose of the audit is to provide Parliament, public administration and the relevant stakeholders with information that can be utilised to ensure the effectiveness of the river basin management plans, the marine strategy and the related programmes of measures adopted by the Government in 2021. In addition, the results can be used in the forthcoming updates of these plans and programmes. The audit is mainly targeted at the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. In 2015–2022, approximately EUR 210 million in total have been allocated to water resources and marine environments management in the budgets of the Ministry of the Environment. In the same period, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has allocated approximately EUR 2 billion to activities that have at least partly had objectives related to the promotion of water resources and marine environments management. Environmental compensations for agriculture account by far for the biggest part of the amount.

To be published on 15.5.2024

Centralization of health services: functioning of the division of tasks and emergency service levels in specialized health care

The audit examines the steering and practical implementation aimed at concentrating the hospital and emergency services network in specialized medical care. The aim is to assess in particular whether the division of tasks in specialized health care and the reorganization of emergency services have achieved the objectives set for the reform in terms of quality, client and patient safety, availability and accessibility of services, and curbing cost growth. It is important to audit the measures taken to centralize health services in order to obtain information on how the measures to increase the efficiency of health services have been implemented in practice and what kinds of expected and unexpected effects the centralization has had. The audit also aims to produce information on how the activities based on agreements between hospital districts have been carried out.

To be published on 12.6.2024

Information system projects of the police and the judicial administration

The audit assesses the causes of the problems in three key information system projects and the current status of the projects, especially as regards their interoperability. The audit is targeted at the ERP (enterprise resource planning) system project VITJA of the police, the case and document management system project AIPA of the Finnish Prosecution Service and the general courts, and the operational development and client data system project ROTI of the Criminal Sanctions Agency.

To be published on 15.8.2024

Targeting of government agencies’ activities at their statutory duties

The salary costs of the staff of government agencies are the largest expenditure item in the central government’s activities. In 2022, the salary costs amounted to approximately EUR 4.2 billion. The purpose of the audit is to ensure that the agencies’ activities are focused on their statutory tasks. The audit examines whether the agencies use their working hours essentially for their statutory tasks and whether the ministries have set such performance targets for the agencies that cover their statutory tasks. In addition, the audit examines whether the agencies have reported on the achievement of these targets appropriately in their financial statements.

To be published on 17.9.2024

Government funding for universities of applied sciences

The audit is targeted at the Ministry of Education and Culture and the universities of applied sciences falling within its remit. A key objective of the audit is to find out how reliably and based on what information the central government makes decisions to grant government funding to universities of applied sciences. Another objective is to obtain information on how the universities of applied sciences monitor the use of government funding and how they have organised the accounting that supports the monitoring. In addition, an objective is to determine the reliability of the knowledge base on which the universities of applied sciences base their reporting to the funding provider, the Ministry of Education and Culture, i.e. how their accountability is realised.