Demand and supply of services are changing
The population structure of Finland is affecting the services available to residents of the nation’s municipalities and wellbeing services counties. Age groups are getting smaller and the proportion of the elderly population is increasing, which is shifting the focus of the need for services. The quality, availability and accessibility of the services are being threatened by concurrent declines and increases in demand. The number of comprehensive school pupils is decreasing and more services for the elderly are needed.
Urbanisation is emptying certain areas and filling others. Digitalisation and green transition are changing the way residents and companies use services and the way employees do their work. There is a shortage of competent personnel in local government and the work is demanding. In the future, basic services for people’s everyday lives will have to be secured with ever-tightening resources. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties share several tasks related to services provided to residents.
More than half of the municipalities already have fewer than 6,000 inhabitants. According to reports, the small size of a municipality is correlated with poor vitality and lack of attractiveness. The need for adjustments in public finances is also reflected in the economic forecasts of the counties.
It is reasonable to be concerned about the outlook of the counties, but we must grab hold of the opportunity to respond to these challenges and to build effective services. It is important that municipalities and wellbeing services counties make decisions that respond to future changes and open up new opportunities. This will enable us to uphold the service promise of the welfare society, which aims to ensure high-quality basic services also in the future.
Akava’s key policies in response to service upheaval
– The wellbeing and sufficiency of personnel shall be assured, as it is the most essential resource for municipalities and wellbeing services counties. The services provided by these personnel, which benefit families, young people, those of working age and the elderly, shall support inclusion and functional capacity and prevent the emergence and accumulation of social problems.
– Within the services, cost-saving and effective solutions shall be implemented through prioritisation, the utilisation of digitalisation and artificial intelligence and an exploration of new ways of doing things.
– The personnel shall be involved in the development work and planning of service solutions.
– The collaboration between municipalities as well as between wellbeing services countries should be developed, as should the collaboration between the municipalities and wellbeing services counties. Smooth co-operation between the public, private and third sectors shall be ensured.
– Multiple service providers shall be utilised for service production in wellbeing services counties as a means of meeting the growing need for services.
– Municipalities shall be sizeable enough to meet the service needs in a cost-effective and efficient manner.
– In addition to the crisis municipality procedure, a process shall be created that calls for the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Finance to engage in negotiations if a municipality falls short of the quality objectives for education services multiple years in a row.
– A commitment to solutions that promote carbon neutrality shall also be made on the local level.
– Employment and integration services shall be recognised as key vitality services for municipalities and funds shall be allocated to them.
1. There is strength in collaboration
Municipalities and wellbeing services counties have joint tasks related to the services provided to residents. Genuine and smooth co-operation to promote health and wellbeing, vitality and sustainable finances must be ensured through a clear agreement on practical responsibilities and practices, information flow and communication.
Close co-operation is essential to assure the availability and quality of services and the smooth flow of service chains within the context of educational, health and social services; services for children, young people and families; care for people with disabilities and substance abuse problems; services for the elderly; integration, safety and preparedness; and the promotion of employment. Actors and co-operation from public, private and third sectors are also required to meet the service needs of residents and businesses.
Multidisciplinary work focusing on student welfare, as well as co-operation with educational, health and social services, must be developed as a means of supporting the mental health of children and young people. Sufficient resources must be allocated so as to facilitate preventive work in the form of a low-threshold service, for example, in schools.
Good governance is a fundamental aspect of public services. Service users must be able to easily identify their rights and who to contact for their particular situation. Good public administration ensures the equal treatment of citizens. It is open, transparent and effective, while also listening to and engaging citizens. It is only through good administrative preparation and knowledge-based management that the desired results for services can be achieved.
– The availability of services and the smooth flow and quality of service chains shall be ensured through close co-operation at the interfaces of the municipalities and wellbeing services counties as well as between municipalities.
– Local government shall ensure that the right of residents to good governance is realised.
– The opportunities for participation shall be increased by making use of, for example, digital solutions and ensuring clear communication.
2. An educated and culturally rich municipality is stable, competent and successful
Education and cultural enrichment are among the core tasks of a municipality. The statutory tasks of early childhood education and basic education will continue to be carried out as local services within municipalities. The activities of libraries and the provision of liberal adult education must be safeguarded. The level of competence shall be increased and every young person shall be guaranteed an upper secondary qualification. Equal access to student welfare services shall be guaranteed throughout the country.
High-quality early childhood education is the foundation for the entire learning path. There must be a sufficient number of qualified personnel for teaching and other areas of early childhood education, and each child must be provided with the necessary support. More children need to be able to participate in early childhood education. Municipalities must facilitate children’s right to participate in early childhood education. The municipal supplement to the child home care allowance must not hinder this possibility.
Municipalities must ensure that all children in first and second grade have the opportunity to participate in afternoon or club activities. Every child must have the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities. The youth work of municipalities plays a significant role in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people.
Municipalities must adopt the long-term objective of ensuring that all their residents have attained at least some type of upper secondary qualification. Increasing the level of education supports employment and inclusion, prevents inequality and improves health and quality of life.
Municipalities must ensure the availability and accessibility of general upper secondary education and vocational education and training. The quality of general upper secondary school education and vocational education and training must be improved and the development work continued in order to realise the compulsory education.
Municipalities need high-quality cultural services. Library, museum, cultural and sports services, as well as basic art education and liberal adult education provide opportunities for people of all ages to learn and develop. Culture binds us to our community and contributes to a safe everyday life. Youth work supports the wellbeing, active involvement and voluntary learning of young people and facilitates their growth into active, fully engaged citizens.
– Early childhood education and basic education shall be implemented as local services.
– Municipalities shall increase co-operation in order to safeguard quality education services in areas where there are few children.
– Wellbeing services counties shall assure that student welfare services are at the level required by legislation and are implemented primarily as local services. They must also advance the smooth flow of information transfer between student welfare, school healthcare and education providers.
– Youth work must be called upon to contribute to supporting the wellbeing of children and young people, also as part of the school community. The financial and human resources of youth and sports services shall be sufficient in order to meet the objectives set by the Youth Act and the Act on the Promotion of Sports and Physical Activity.
– In order to ensure the quality of education, each municipality shall have an up-to-date education policy programme as part of the municipality’s strategy documents.
– Access to basic art education and its link to schools must be improved. The goal is for more children to have the opportunity to pursue and study art in a goal-oriented way.
– Individual educational paths for immigrants and broad support for their studies shall be considered a special focus area. Endeavours shall be made to provide immigrants support in their own native language.
– Library resources shall meet the needs of their expanded tasks and further development. The possible combining of positions in cultural tasks and services must be appropriate.
3. Vitality through companies, experts and services
The vitality policy ensures that the municipality grows and is able to provide high-quality services to its residents. It is important for municipalities to invest in employment and entrepreneurship, RDI activities, digitalisation, as well as competence and work-based immigration.
Municipalities must provide adequate conditions for a diverse company base, an innovation ecosystem and the emergence of networks. The operating environment and image of municipalities must support the attractiveness of those companies that operate within them in the eyes of international investors. In addition to the size of the municipality, these aspects of attractiveness include opportunities to utilise emission-free energy and heat as well as digital capabilities.
The municipality can support RDI activities between companies or the public sector and higher education institutions by providing the necessary facilities and infrastructure for business and higher education encounters. In addition, municipalities, in their capacity as large customers, must offer a pilot platform for scalable solutions and, through their procurement activities and infrastructure, support the development of artificial intelligence, automation, circular economy, climate technology, telecommunications or quantum computing solutions. Innovative procurement must be the fundamental approach for municipalities.
The economic policy of municipalities plays a key role in supporting green transition and productivity growth. The carbon neutrality objective contributes to a dynamic community structure, where a cost-effective infrastructure can be built that supports companies, emissions-free measures, but also the quality of life. Municipalities must support the energy savings solutions of housing companies and enable them to produce their own energy.
Municipalities must allocate funding and skilled personnel for specific employment areas with consideration for the needs and future objectives of the region. Highly educated people must be considered as an important target group, whose unemployment is often the most expensive and whose successful employment would benefit many. Employment services for persons with a partial work ability or disabilities must also be secured. There is a need to increase the awareness of those with a partial work ability concerning the different forms of support that are available and to provide them with the necessary support to enable them to start their own businesses. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must invest in co-operation in employment, integration and health and social services as well as in education. Municipalities should, as far as possible, undertake joint procurements in employment services. Efforts must be made to improve the cost effectiveness of employment services.
Vibrant municipalities attract a skilled workforce. High-quality and accessible services make it more attractive for skilled workers and their possible families to move to and settle in Finland. The aim must be to simplify systems by providing services as far as possible on a one-stop-shop principle. The quality of integration training must be ensured by including it in training offered by authorised education providers. Access to language training must be guaranteed regardless of the reason for entry to the country. The professional networking of immigrants must be strengthened through mentoring and by direct provision of labour market training to higher-skilled immigrants.
High-quality cultural and recreational services are attractive factors, since they attract not only residents but also skilled labour and tourists.
– Municipalities shall intensify co-operation with higher education institutions, vocational education institutions, working life, organisations, research institutes and industry in order to create a favourable operating environment for entrepreneurship and innovation.
– Municipalities shall create opportunities for viable business activities, for example, by dividing procurements into smaller entities, offering business facility solutions and engaging in dialogue with companies.
– Municipalities shall invest in the condition of the roads, pedestrian and cycling paths, the natural surroundings and the comfort of residential areas.
– Municipalities and regional councils shall strengthen co-operation in land use planning and sustainable development.
– Municipalities shall ensure adequate housing production so as to guarantee affordable housing.
– Municipalities shall acknowledge that employment services are one of their key vitality services and promote rapid employment as far as possible.
– The return of parents to working life shall be supported by offering services that promote employment to those on family leave at the latest when their child is two years of age.
– The professional networking of immigrants shall be strengthened through mentoring and by allocating labour market training to highly skilled immigrants.
– Multilingual early childhood education services shall be increased in order to attract highly skilled internationals.
– In central government transfers to municipalities, a higher level of foreign language, educational background and unemployment coefficients shall be set.
– Municipality of residence registration shall be facilitated by amending the Municipality of Residence Act.
– The language requirements for jobs within municipalities and wellbeing services counties shall be appropriate and enable the accumulation of language skills alongside work.
4. Functional and high-quality social and health services for everyone
Social and health services are an important part of wellbeing and overall safety. Services must advance the prevention of diseases and problems, support health and functional capacity, enhance social wellbeing and promote mental health, as well as crisis resilience. Good governance and leadership founded on research-based knowledge guarantee functional and high-quality social and health care services. The resourcing of the administration must be sufficient to ensure the good planning and equal implementation of public services.
The service network and profile of a wellbeing services county must be reviewed on the basis of its specific service needs. Basic services must be strengthened and efforts must be made to reduce the health disparities within the population. Smooth service chains, service integration and the strengthening of preventive services and rehabilitation prevent the accumulation of problems and curb the growth of costs. Prevention and treatment of mental health and substance abuse problems, as well as multiprofessional collaboration must be strengthened in health and social services centres and through co-operation between municipalities and actors within the wellbeing services county.
Fast and easy access to services must be provided to everyone equally throughout the country and within the wellbeing services counties. Local, remote, digital and mobile services must be developed and provided when appropriate. Local services must continue to be available, taking into account the needs and digital capabilities of different population groups.
Pharmaceutical services, the assessment of pharmaceutical treatments and the expertise of pharmacies are part of the overall service package and contribute to the mitigation of costs. All wellbeing services counties shall introduce the TYÖOTE operating model in order to streamline the transitions between public health care and occupational health care and to reduce absences due to illness.
Solutions are needed due to the lack of skilled personnel within the field of social and health care services. The sufficiency and availability of social and health care personnel shall be ensured through the proper distribution of work and individual tasks. The work of social and health professionals must focus on tasks that correspond to their qualifications. The number of assisting and support service personnel must be increased to ensure customer and patient safety in all situations.
Public and private service providers and organisations and service vouchers shall be utilised in the production of services. The prerequisites for entrepreneurship within the social and health care sector shall be strengthened throughout Finland. As part of this, it shall be ensured that the negotiating position and contractual terms and conditions between self-employed persons and companies providing health services are in proper balance.
– The promotion of wellbeing and health is a key task of the municipality in co-operation with the wellbeing services county and regional organisations. Library, museum, cultural, sports and youth services as well as nutrition services increase wellbeing and, thus, prevent social and health problems.
– Multiple service providers shall contribute to the production of services and access to services must be ensured through a wide range of service modes.
– The costs of services provided by wellbeing services counties should be transparent and the monitoring thereof needs developing.
– Health and social service entrepreneurship shall be promoted through public procurement by dividing procurements and increasing procurement competence.
– Proactive and preventive services shall be increased. The availability of multidisciplinary rehabilitation services and low-threshold mental health services as well as adequate competence concerning the occupational health and work ability of those of working age in health and social services centres must be ensured. Preventive or low-threshold services would not, however, replace existing care services.
– Support services for families, children and young people shall be close by and rapidly accessible. School and student health care services shall be adequate and available as a local service.
– Preventive services that support functional ability shall be increased as part of the services for the elderly and adequate resources shall be assured for this purpose. In addition, the services intended for those in need of demanding care shall be safeguarded.
5. Satisfied personnel produce high-quality services
A fair and responsible employer policy is the best way to ensure the availability of a skilled workforce. In order to ensure the competence and availability of staff, it is important to improve working conditions and the attractiveness of work and to highlight the relevance of the work. This must be supported through good and interactive management, by ensuring wellbeing at work and by involving personnel in the decision-making, planning and development concerning their work.
The provision of proactive support for the work ability and functioning, wellbeing at work and mental health of the working population will ensure a sufficient and skilled workforce now and in the future. Personnel must be assured comprehensive occupational health services that effectively utilise multiprofessional expertise.
Qualified, competent, healthy and committed personnel guarantee the quality of the services. Due to the discontinuation of adult education support, the opportunities for personnel to develop their skills have weakened. Skill maintenance and development must be ensured by enabling employees of different ages to take part in further education and training as well as mentoring opportunities. This supports wellbeing at work and the ability to cope and continue working.
Supporting remote and multi-location work is a competitive advantage for an employer. Municipalities need shared remote work spaces that can also serve as a meeting place for the networking of experts.
Recruiting must be carried out in an open, transparent and responsible manner. Experts are also needed from abroad. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must pay attention to the equal treatment and diversity of personnel within the working community.
Segregation shall be reduced by assuring equal opportunities between genders to participate in competence development and by creating equal conditions for career advancement. The input of the personnel when drafting gender equality and non-discrimination plans shall be ensured through the involvement of a shop steward and/or occupational health and safety delegate.
– Work ability, age and change management shall be strengthened, working conditions improved and the possibilities for employees to influence their own work increased.
– Opportunities for competence development shall be safeguarded in order to respond to the lack of skilled personnel and employee competence surveys must be carried out at all workplaces.
– Absences due to illness shall be reduced. Personnel shall be provided with comprehensive and multiprofessional occupational health services. As part of occupational health care, employees shall have the right to short-term psychotherapy services and high-quality collaboration at the workplace to support mental wellbeing.
– Municipalities shall strengthen the diversity skills of their personnel and organise related training.
– Adequate numbers of higher education and staff in the field of early childhood education and health and social services shall be ensured by developing working conditions and management in the field.
– International recruitment shall systematically prevent the risk of labour exploitation. Anonymous recruiting methods need to be increased.
– Fixed-term employment relationships must have legitimate grounds.
– Compliance with the Equality Act shall be ensured, in particular, in connection with fixed-term employment relationships in order to prevent pregnancy discrimination.
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