What’s new

The National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF) is changing its organization. The aim is to clarify the management model and strengthen the audit and monitoring activities.

The National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF) expects administrative reforms and policy measures to be planned and steered more strongly. The NAOF has submitted its annual report to Parliament. The annual report provides a summary of the results of the NAOF's audit and monitoring activities.

Public finances continue to face challenges. This emphasises the role of a cost-effective central government and transparent use of public funds. The NAOF's audits provide information for example for the planning of several measures set out in the Government Programme.

The National Audit Office (NAOF) has updated its audit and oversight plan, which guides its work, for the years 2023–2026. Twelve new audit topics were added to the plan. Changes are expected in the focus areas of fiscal policy monitoring.

A customer ordering an information system may be stuck with a particular vendor’s technology, which may limit the possibilities of using the technology, solution or service they have purchased with other operators besides the original vendor. Vendor dependence is not always a negative issue, however. There are also ways of avoiding it.

The right to a clean environment is enshrined in the constitutions of Finland and many other countries. Nevertheless, the resolution the UN passed in July to recognise it as a human right is significant. Arguably, there is an unexplored connection between environmental auditing and many human rights such as the right to a healthy environment. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) may have a key role in incorporating human rights perspectives into environmental auditing. In addition, environmental audits can have a role in realising the right to a healthy environment.

The issue of silos, overlaps and policy coherence between administrative branches has been discussed for many years but the problem is how to tackle them. The FOD analysis developed by the United States Government Accountability Office (U.S. GAO) provides auditors and evaluation researchers with a new method. Audits carried out on the basis of the FOD analysis may help central government actors and policy makers to identify and solve these challenges.

Sustainable development combines economic, social and environmental aspects. It requires a high level of policy coherence from governance – that different actors work in the same direction towards common goals. The UN Sustainable Development Goals have given a boost to political coherence. Tools for assessing policy coherence are also becoming available.