In spring 2025, the first simultaneous county and municipal elections will elect the decision-makers responsible for the services that are central to each of our daily lives. The councillors elected in these elections will decide where daycare centres are located, what size schools and school groups are attended, how to ensure that young people can play and grow up safely, and how to support the health and wellbeing of senior citizens. A safe, healthy and accessible living environment is largely up to policymakers. Cooperation between municipalities and wellbeing services counties lays the foundations for the wellbeing and health of residents and ensures that those who need help and support in their daily lives have easy and timely access to the services they need. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must also invest in supporting the activities of third and fourth sector actors (e.g. organisations) and in cooperating with local businesses.
The Left Alliance’s County and Municipal Election Programme 2025
Municipalities are responsible for a wide range of services that people encounter in their daily lives on an almost daily basis. Municipalities have a strong autonomy and thus discretion in deciding how to organise their functions and how to deliver services and plan their finances. Although municipalities are no longer responsible for social, health and emergency services, wellbeing services counties are their key partners in promoting the wellbeing, health and safety of their citizens. Resources for special education, remedial education, small groups and special schools must be guaranteed in municipalities at all levels of education, from early childhood education onwards.
The reform of the wellbeing services counties has led to a significant reduction in municipal expenditure and revenue, as social, health and emergency services have been transferred to the wellbeing services counties. With the exception of the health and wellbeing coefficient (HYTE), which was introduced as a basis for state funding, municipalities have little influence on the state contributions they receive but, by carrying out long-term and comprehensive work to promote health and wellbeing, they can influence their own spending.
In a changing world, municipalities must be able to cooperate more closely with other municipalities and the third sector in the provision of services. Strong cooperation can avoid the use of scarce resources for duplication of work with neighbouring municipalities, as well as possible reductions in service levels or forced closures. Voluntary municipality mergers can also be an opportunity to safeguard municipal services.
Children are the future. Early childhood education and care is an investment that contributes to the wellbeing of society as a whole, through children and families. Every child has the right to high-quality early childhood education and care, regardless of the family’s life situation.
Early childhood education and care must be available in a comprehensive way throughout the municipality. Municipalities must ensure that families in different life situations have the opportunity to live an easier life by providing quality early childhood education and care services and by ensuring that there is sufficient nonstandard hour childcare in early childhood education and care. Staffing levels must be based on the 3+1 model, whereby a fourth staff member with appropriate skills and training is hired for as many groups or units as possible, on top of the legal minimum of three. There must be enough in-house staff to ensure that staffing levels are not dependent on the availability of substitutes. It is important that there are more permanent adults in the daily lives of children. A good daycare centre is staffed by a range of professionals from different backgrounds, all of whom play a meaningful role in providing quality early childhood education and care. A prerequisite for quality early childhood education and care is that staff are well paid and have a high level of work-life wellbeing. Continuing training and public funding in this area must be secured.
As a rule, early childhood education and care must be provided by the municipality itself. There must be a cap on the amount of private childcare and a limit on service vouchers. The uncontrolled growth of private early childhood education and care will easily lead to disparities in the quality of services within a municipality and to an even greater wage gap due to poorer collective agreements in the female-dominated sector, suffering from labour shortages. Despite non-discrimination regulation, the private sector is able to select children using opening hours, additional fees and the provision of learning support, thus accelerating segregation. Municipal childcare is an investment in the local economy. In this way, profits are not lost to foreign investors in multinational companies. It is a long-term objective of the Left Alliance to ban profit-making in early childhood education and care.
It is important that groups of children in early childhood education are formed in a way that supports their growth, development and learning. Small daycare centres must not be closed down and merged into larger units just for financial reasons. The most important thing is to guarantee functional and sufficiently large facilities and playgrounds and small group sizes. This will ensure that staff can provide high-quality early childhood education and that the needs of every child are met. Each daycare centre must have its own equality and non-discrimination plan, and training must be provided to ensure that staff have diversity skills. Early childhood education and care must be gender-sensitive and municipalities must provide the necessary training.
Early childhood education and care must work closely with the family, especially with the child health clinic, to support the child’s healthy and safe growth, development, and parenting. Where concerns arise, support and services must be provided in a timely manner and according to individual needs.
Basic education must be strengthened to ensure that every child and young person has sufficient basic knowledge and skills and they are adequately prepared for transition to secondary education. This requires strengthening the resources of basic education so that support for learning and growing is fully available for all pupils. Municipalities must provide digital educational equipment for pupils. The use of own digital devices should not be a default choice in primary education.
Both pupils and school staff have the right to a safe, healthy and accessible learning environment. Bullying and violence must be tackled and support provided to both the perpetrators and the victims of violence. Anonymous reporting channels for children and young people on bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence must be promoted. Support for learning must be guaranteed for all pupils in need.
Group sizes in primary schools must be learning-friendly and smaller than at present. Municipalities must ensure that sufficient numbers of qualified teachers, guidance counsellors and special education teachers are available in the groups. Teachers in preparatory education must have sufficient specialist knowledge. Municipalities must organise preparatory education in groups of 8-10 pupils and continue to provide language support for pupils when they move on to basic education.
The right to a local school must also be guaranteed in sparsely populated areas. Municipalities must ensure that the facilities used for teaching are healthy, safe and accessible. Access to school health and care services must be improved.
The total amount of weighted education must be kept at a reasonable level and provided equitably for all. Weighted curriculum must not be used as a basis for class division. In order to reduce segregation in residential areas and increase equality in education, municipalities must review the availability of weighted classes, such as physical education, language and music classes, so that it is effectively possible for everyone to enrol in them. Equal access to optional subjects must also be ensured throughout the municipality. Municipalities must draw up and implement action plans to promote equality in education. The Finnish model of hobbies must be used to increase the number of hobbies available in municipalities. Municipalities must provide school transport for children living alternately in the different homes of divorced parents. Multilingual pupils in basic education must also be offered the opportunity to learn their mother tongue in their own language. Schools and libraries should provide educational materials and fiction for linguistic minorities to borrow. Distance learning could also be used for mother tongue learning, for example through regional cooperation.
Basic arts education must be widely available throughout the country for all, regardless of background. Municipalities must ensure that the selection criteria allow access from a wide range of backgrounds and that people of all ages can start basic arts education. Basic arts education must include the availability of loanable instruments and the possibility of flexible tuition fees to take account of financial circumstances.
Fees for morning and afternoon activities should be reduced and made available to pupils in years 1 to 4 as required. School-age children often do not eat breakfast at home and this directly affects their ability to cope and concentrate. The aim is therefore to introduce free breakfast and snacks in all schools. During the school summer holidays, free park meals for school-age children should be provided.
Gender-sensitivity and an intersectional approach are particularly important in guidance, so that pupils are not steered in a particular direction because of their class or ethnic background. Sex education needs to be strengthened at all levels of education. In addition to contraceptive education, the importance of consent, self-determination and pleasure must be emphasised. Sex education must take into account the diversity of gender, relationships and sexuality. Education must include an anti-discrimination and anti-hatred approach towards sexual and gender minorities.
With the growing skills requirements of the world of work, a secondary education is a necessity for all young people today. It is up to local authorities to ensure that upper secondary education remains free of charge in the future. Sufficient resources must be available for student and pupil services. Young people must have access to mental health and substance abuse services.
Adequate provision of quality local education is a key means of ensuring the quality of education. Resources for learning support for secondary school students in need must also be ensured. As a matter of principle, access to secondary education must be located close enough to students to avoid the need to move to another location. Municipalities should also promote cooperation between upper secondary schools and vocational schools, for example by offering students the opportunity to take a course of study at another upper secondary school.
Adequate resources for secondary education must be guaranteed. It is important to develop and improve learning support for both young and adult students, to improve the governance of vocational education and training to make them more responsive to the local needs, and to make the funding system more predictable and transparent. There is a need to increase opportunities for students to find traineeships and apprenticeships with local organisations and businesses, as well as with the services of municipalities and wellbeing services counties.
Functioning small institutions should not be closed down and merged into larger units just to save money. The most important thing is to guarantee functional and sufficiently large facilities and small group sizes. Special support must be provided for young people who need it. Special support in secondary schools must be adequately resourced and multi-professional. The number of special-needs teachers, vocational counsellors and school counsellors in education needs to be increased to ensure support. Young people with special needs must also be given the opportunity to train in as wide a range of fields as possible.
Vocational, upper secondary and higher education institutions need to ensure sufficient diversity and flexibility of learning opportunities to ensure that learning can take place in spite of constraints. Opportunities for hybrid and distance learning must be guaranteed, in the interests of equal opportunities for students. Institutions must have specialised staff to provide guidance to students with disabilities. Institutions, municipalities and wellbeing services counties must support work placements for students with special needs by providing places and the necessary support for the duration of the placement. Students with disabilities must be informed about the possibility of studying with rehabilitation subsidy.
As preparatory education becomes more widespread, both its accessibility and quality must be ensured throughout the country. Access to preparatory education must be guaranteed to all those who wish to take part. Increase resources for preparatory education for students with special needs.
Flexible pathways from secondary education to higher education must be created, which will contribute to meeting the local skills needs and ensuring its vitality. All upper secondary school students must have equal opportunities to pursue higher education during their studies. Every upper secondary school pupil should be offered an optional TET period, which can be spent exploring the world of work or higher education. Adequate resources for guidance and counselling must be ensured. There must be at least one full-time counsellor for every 150 students. It must be ensured that every secondary school student has the opportunity to choose printed materials instead of digital ones, and a sufficiently wide coverage of secondary school courses must be guaranteed.
Liberal education, including civic, folk, labour and summer universities, adult education centres, study centres and sports training centres, is the main non-work-related form of education for people outside the field of degree courses. Education is a value in itself, and important as an enabler of inclusion, skills development and wellbeing. The operation of liberal education colleges must be safeguarded at both municipal and provincial level, and it must be ensured that course fees remain reasonable and are not increased every year.
Liberal education institutions must be genuinely accessible. Municipalities must safeguard the resources for liberal education. Training, resourcing, accessibility and reasonable adjustments must ensure that local people with special needs can participate fully. The use of all-access Kaikukortti-cards and study vouchers in municipalities must be extended to guarantee fee reductions or free participation for those who need them.
People of different ages need different levels of support in digital skills, but everyone has the right to develop the skills they need. In addition to digital literacy courses, intergenerational digital literacy activities need to be stepped up and peer-to-peer learning among local residents supported. It must be ensured that citizens have sufficient skills and access to essential online services.
Access to basic adult education for all those who wish to participate must be safeguarded. Citizens’ competences also include language skills for people to be able to cope with everyday life and deal with everyday matters in the place where they live. All citizens must be guaranteed the right to learn the languages that have official status in their municipality. The learning of minority languages, such as Sami, sign languages, Karelian and Romani, must be supported.
Arts and culture strengthen and sustain a nation’s identity and sense of community, and maintain and support individual mental health, wellbeing and quality of life. Finland has a rich and vibrant art scene, rich in content and quality, and municipalities have a vital role to play in supporting it as the state cuts funding for culture. Care must be taken to ensure that there are appropriate working and office premises, adequate financial support and, among other things, sales and rental structures available for those working in the open arts. At the same time, care must be taken to ensure that the work of the artist is remunerated in accordance with fair remuneration practices and that, for example, the free arts provision that is desirable in itself is not based on the free work of a professional artist. In addition, there must be grants for work and projects for free cultural operators, and the municipality must actively facilitate cooperation between cultural operators and the city’s service areas. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties can also hire artists directly.
In the case of regional cultural institutions, care must be taken to ensure that financial resources also allow for visits and smaller productions to ensure diversity. Museums’ finances must take account of exhibition fees. Ticket pricing must support cultural accessibility. Where appropriate, cultural services must be provided on social or economic grounds by means of a “Kaikukortti” (all-access card), which must be introduced in all municipalities and wellbeing services counties. The diversity of cultural activities must also be seen as part of the basis for the wellbeing of local residents. Cultural activities and libraries must also be local services. Mobile libraries should be used, for example, as cultural spaces and meeting places.
Municipalities and wellbeing services counties should draw up a programme of principles for public art, which should include a policy that a municipality or wellbeing services county should spend at least 1% of the total costs of public construction on art. Municipalities should systematically apply the percentage principle to all public works as a way of bringing art and culture closer to the daily lives of local residents. Municipalities should commission work in the arts and culture sector on a salaried basis, through genuine work cooperatives or by contracting it out to a company with a business ID.
People from special groups, such as sign language speakers, people with disabilities and Sámi, must also have the right to create art for themselves and to enjoy culture and the arts. For example, sign language theatre and other arts must be available outside the major cities. Municipalities must support arts and culture by people with disabilities.
Youth work is in the best position to do effective work to promote wellbeing and health, and to support young people’s growth, independence and sense of community. Youth work must respond to young people’s needs and the presence of youth professionals must be targeted in particular at young people who are not involved in any other guided activity or hobby. Municipalities must invest in digital and mobile youth work, especially in schools. Youth work must take into account the diversity of young people and the needs of young people from different backgrounds. Youth work must be gender-sensitive and support gender equality, equality and democracy education.
Municipalities must enable youth organisations to operate through both financial and operational support and work in strong partnership with other actors working with young people. Municipalities must secure funding for youth outreach and youth workshops and integrate them into the overall service system. The participation and role of youth councils and youth representatives must be strengthened and they must be more involved in decision-making, especially in matters concerning young people.
LGBTQ specific and LGBTQ sensitive youth work must be organised for LGBTQ youth, which supports their wellbeing and increases their participation in all services for young people.
Finnish cities must be sustainable and vibrant. Urbanisation is a global phenomenon, with people moving from sparsely populated rural areas to urban centres in search of work and education. Already 70% of Finns live in or around cities. At their best, cities offer residents climate-friendly housing, jobs and education, diverse culture, leisure and sports facilities.
The challenges of rapid urbanisation will be met by investing in housing built around efficient public transport connections. Successful urban and transport planning will ensure that daily travel within the city to work, school or leisure does not require a car. By building closer to public transport, we also preserve nature and recreational areas. Enough new and affordable housing must be built to keep house prices from spiralling out of control. We will reduce and prevent inequality between neighbourhoods by building a diverse range of housing in each neighbourhood and by investing in the quality of local schools and the amenities of neighbourhoods. Basic services must be available nearby and accessible by public transport. Accessibility must be improved so that both housing and public spaces are accessible to all. An ageing population increases the need to invest in accessible housing.
Rapid urbanisation has led to a situation where sparsely populated peripheral municipalities, particularly around regional centres, have suffered from population decline. Despite the changing situation, it is important that both national and local policy-making also aims to support the vitality of areas with a smaller population, the quality of services and the opportunities for a good life for residents. Cooperation will create the basis for vibrant cities and rural areas, taking into account the specific characteristics of the regions.
Municipal planning and land use policies promote and regulate development that serves residents, businesses and the community at the same time. Municipal planning and regulation of land use and construction must make it the norm to minimise greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard carbon sinks and biodiversity, and adapt to climate change through measures such as abundant green spaces, tree cover, improved stormwater management and wood construction. Urban development should support the construction of green roofs and the installation of solar panels on the roofs of apartment blocks. In large public works projects, the municipality must be responsible for monitoring both the cost and the quality of construction.
Building with wood is a climate-resistant and healthy method of construction. While cement and steel production chains generate significant emissions, wood construction sequesters carbon and is a healthy alternative from an indoor air point of view. The public sector must become a pioneer in the use of wood and other low-carbon building materials. The use of green factors, such as green roofs, in planning processes must be promoted. More green spaces, such as wooded courtyards, should be introduced, especially at daycare centres and schoolyards.
Construction accounts for more than 20% of emissions over the life cycle of a building. By favouring older building stock, emissions from the built environment can be reduced. As a building approaches the end of its life cycle, the possibility of extending its life cycle needs to be assessed. Preferring old building stock to demolition and new construction can reduce emissions from the built environment. Cost-effectiveness alone should not be sufficient justification for demolition, provided that renovation is technically feasible. However, if demolition is necessary, the demolition permit must be subject to a demolition survey from the point of view of recycling construction waste. The granting of ARA guarantees for loans for renovation work by housing companies must be made possible.
The preferred method of land disposal, especially in growing localities, is renting. Particularly in areas where the value of land is increasing, plots must be kept in the ownership of the municipality as a matter of principle, including through adequate land acquisition for the future. However, in sparsely populated areas with large numbers of detached houses, the municipality can benefit more from selling plots than from renting them.
Municipalities should build accessible sports facilities, parks, playgrounds and outdoor recreation areas, including local sports facilities. The conditions for specialised and applied sports must also be safeguarded. Municipalities must ensure that all citizens have access to beaches and water bodies in their municipalities. Municipalities must maintain the amenity and safety of official bathing areas and improve access to winter bathing sites.
The high cost of housing affects the livelihoods of low-income earners and renters in particular. It also creates inequalities in housing choices, as long commutes reduce the quality of life and wellbeing of the whole family and reduce parents’ ability to be present in their children’s lives.
Everyone must have the right to choose where they live and how and with whom they live, regardless of their income or functioning, disability or illness. To make this possible, we must build rental, shared ownership and owner-occupied housing in all neighbourhoods and ensure that affordable housing is built everywhere. The introduction of a rent brake should be explored. In areas with high housing costs, at least 40% of new housing production must be ARA subsidised. If ARA production is not sufficient to increase the supply of affordable housing, municipalities should increase their own production of owner-occupied housing.
In order to reduce segregation in residential areas, ARA projects are also planned for areas where affluence is concentrated when planning infill housing. Housing affordability can be promoted by making parking regulations more car-free. Currently, each tenant pays for parking spaces in a building as part of their housing costs.
Municipalities need to enable affordable housing solutions in their centres, including in sparsely populated areas. Older people often want to live close to services, but the cost of housing is usually a problem. The challenge is compounded by the fact that, particularly in sparsely populated areas, the prices of detached houses have fallen so low that it is not possible to buy owner-occupied housing in a municipal centre with the proceeds from their sale. Municipalities and the wellbeing services county need to develop a joint plan for high-service-need groups of residents, which will allow them to coordinate housing solutions and services. Community housing must be supported.
Services for the homeless must take into account the needs of different groups, such as young people or women, and night shelters must be safe for all. Homelessness must be eliminated by ensuring that there is enough supported housing for all those who need it and by ensuring access to substance abuse and mental health services. Homelessness is also prevented by comprehensive housing advice and an adequate supply of affordable housing.
Transport is responsible for one fifth of Finland’s climate emissions, with passenger car transport accounting for more than half of this. Emissions from transport must be at least halved by 2030. In addition to reducing emissions, transport solutions must improve people’s daily lives throughout Finland.
Public transport solutions are key to reducing transport emissions and improving the quality of life of local residents. The primary way to provide mobility for all is through accessible and functional public transport, including on-call and on-service transport. We need to invest in smooth rail connections and to move away from fossil fuels in buses. In order to increase the use of public transport for inter-municipal transport, attention must be paid to effective connections and intermodality.
While electrification of road transport reduces emissions from cars, reducing car use in cities is desirable as it improves the safety and comfort of public spaces and makes room for other modes of transport and green spaces. The public transport network must be comprehensive enough to enable car-free living. Public transport, on-call services and shared transport in built-up areas should be provided where possible and appropriate. Municipalities should experiment with inter-village shuttles and shared transport.
The Left Alliance’s aim is to make public transport as affordable as possible throughout Finland. In terms of ticket prices, public transport must be a cheaper alternative to car ownership and accessible regardless of income level, age, health or disability. Free public transport must be tried out in local transport.
All municipalities must draw up a programme to promote walking and cycling. Walking and cycling are the preferred modes of transport when planning new areas. In city centres, pedestrian walkways, cycle paths and cycle lanes should be increased. Cycling must be promoted at regional level through the construction of main cycling routes with fast and clearly separated cycle routes. Winter cycling must be encouraged by developing winter maintenance methods for cycle paths and by prioritising winter snow ploughing of cycle and pedestrian paths. Physical activity for children and young people must be promoted by ensuring safe access to primary school by bicycle where the distance to school allows it. To increase cycling in sufficiently large municipalities, bike-sharing schemes should be implemented.
Converting as much as possible of the necessary car fleet to electric and gas vehicles is important in reducing emissions. At present, systems are fragmented and incomplete. Municipalities will draw up a plan to expand the refuelling and charging network and put it out to tender. A coherent and extensive charging network will enable the expansion of the use of these modes of transport. Car sharing should be supported through parking planning and charging points. Municipal and local authority cars can be opened up for shared use when not in use for official purposes.
All Finnish municipalities must aim for zero climate emissions by 2035 and carbon neutrality thereafter. In addition, municipalities must draw up local climate change adaptation programmes to prepare for the changes brought about by climate change, such as extreme weather events. All decision-making must take into account the climate impact of activities, prevent climate change from advancing and safeguard biodiversity.
Protected land and forests are among the most important ways to safeguard biodiversity. Municipal forests must be managed in an ecologically sustainable way, promoting biodiversity, carbon sequestration and recreational opportunities, as a rule using continuous cover forestry methods, either selection cutting or small-scale clear-cutting. In municipal forests, clear-cutting is only an acceptable solution in exceptional circumstances. The protection of municipal forests must be stepped up in accordance with local nature conservation networks and nature surveys. Adequate resources should be allocated to maintaining nature reserves and restoring protected areas. Planning must take into account the natural values and adequate ecological corridors for the safe movement of animals from one place to another. Biodiversity must be ensured by applying the principles of controlled unmanaged nature management in municipalities and providing the vegetation necessary for pollinators. In rural areas, the restoration of traditional biotopes must be ensured in order to increase biodiversity and protect the species that depend on them.
To implement animal rights and combat climate change, there must be a shift towards the increased use of plant-based products in the procurement and provision of public food services. Their share must be increased to at least 50% of procurement. Municipalities need to raise awareness to reduce food waste. Municipalities need to organise the sale of surplus rations from schools and workplace catering. Municipalities need to introduce food waste monitoring systems that allow for the creation of waste reduction strategies and informed action in public institutions to minimise food waste with the involvement of students.
The capacity of control veterinarians to carry out control work must be improved. It must be ensured that veterinary services remain affordable. A joint body of animal welfare actors, including animal welfare organisations, the police and local animal welfare services must be set up. Municipalities should be responsible for the capture and transport of stray animals found in the wild, and for the cost of this. Municipalities must provide a wildlife rescue service to ensure that a sick, injured or otherwise helpless wild animal receives appropriate care.
The vitality of migratory fish stocks must be improved by restoring rapids where possible and building fishways around hydroelectric power stations. Lower-capacity hydropower plants can be dismantled to improve fishways and restore wildlife. Decommissioned power plants should be dismantled as a matter of priority and, where possible, restored or landscaped to their original natural state.
Public employment and business services will become the responsibility of municipalities from 2025. Municipalities will have to be able to effectively coordinate employment services, municipal education services and municipal business policy. It is sensible and humane for municipalities to promote the rehabilitation, employment and training of unemployed jobseekers. Municipalities must ensure that the availability and quality of employment services are improved by the reform.
Municipalities should invest in increasing labour market training and self-directed learning with unemployment benefits. Study opportunities should be marketed openly and unemployed people should be encouraged to study. The capacity of those working in the employment services to guide the unemployed towards suitable studies should be developed.
Municipalities need to work closely with their local vocational education and training providers on the reform of employment and integration services. Close cooperation is also needed with wellbeing services counties to ensure that unemployed jobseekers receive the social and health services they need to strengthen their ability to work. Among unemployed jobseekers, it is necessary to identify those who are looking for work but are not actually able to work, and to facilitate their retirement and referral to appropriate social and health services.
Municipalities must support the employment of people with disabilities and minorities through their own policies, and provide flexible solutions to meet their own labour needs, and assume their human responsibility as public actors. Employment management must be carried out in strong partnership with organisations and make full use of their expertise.
The skills and skills potential of migrants must be fully taken into account when municipalities are looking for new recruits, ranging from performance to specialist jobs. Integration, employment and language learning are key ways of engaging migrants in the community and society. If successful, integration services cut across all municipal services. Integration services and language courses must also be guaranteed to those outside the labour force.
Municipalities, together with local businesses and universities, must be able to identify the vitality policy priorities that will ensure that residents can continue to enjoy a good everyday life in the future. Particular attention must be paid to the opportunities offered by a fair green transition in business activity.
Business advisory services in the municipality must be strengthened to ensure that those planning to start or grow a business receive the support they need. Through a procurement strategy and transparent procurement, the municipality can also enable local businesses, sole traders and small businesses to participate in public tenders.
Municipalities and wellbeing services counties need to support those who employ people who are hard to employ, as well as employing them themselves. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties should pilot the introduction of disability quotas.
Wellbeing services counties are responsible for organising the social, health and emergency services in their area. Although the responsibility for these services lies clearly with the wellbeing services counties, municipalities also have a key role to play in promoting the wellbeing, health and safety of the residents of the region through their own services. The provision of services is crucial to ensuring the quality and accessibility of services, as well as the rights, wellbeing and pay of the workers who provide them.
Elected regional councillors face major challenges in reconciling inadequate state funding with the growing service needs of the region’s residents. The starting point in this moment must be for the State to ensure that the wellbeing services counties are adequately funded. Services must be based on existing needs and must be able to accommodate changing service needs in the future. At present, funding for the wellbeing services counties is being drastically cut. Severe cuts in a context where the counties are struggling with large deficits is an impossible equation that threatens to plunge them into crisis and force them to cut services. The investment regulation, which is intrinsically linked to the additional borrowing powers, must also be corrected to allow for investments essential to the wellbeing services counties, for example in new premises or ambulances. The government should be prepared to provide additional funding to areas that need it. The obligation to cover the deficit must also be extended to four years and the index of the wellbeing services counties must be revised to be more realistic. Wellbeing services counties must be given the right to tax.
Since the wellbeing services counties do not have the right to tax, their revenue comes not only from State contributions but also, and in particular, from customer contributions. In spite of the payment ceiling, customer charges are a particular burden on low-income earners, which is why more than 400,000 social and health care customer charges end up in enforcement every year. Wellbeing services counties must not only reduce customer charges, but also make use of the possibility provided by law to reduce or waive them where their collection puts the customer in an unfair situation. Health centre fees must be abolished altogether. Private collection companies should not be used to collect client fees. It must be easy to apply for fee reductions and exemptions, and policies must be clear and accessible to all low-income people.
Wellbeing services counties must work closely together in cooperation areas to share best practices and policies. It also makes sense to work closely together between the cooperation areas, for example in the provision of procurement and support services, as well as some specific services.
The effectiveness of primary health care is one of the key issues for the functioning of the health system. Services must be accessible to people, either locally, on the move or remotely, taking into account the specific characteristics of the area and its inhabitants. The opportunities offered by digitalisation and e-services must be exploited to a greater extent in services and for different customer groups. The wellbeing services counties must provide digital assistance for smoothly functioning remote services. Communication in the wellbeing services counties needs to be accessible and multi-channel and multilingual, e.g. sign language and plain language.
Everyone must have access to a health centre doctor or other appropriate social services or health professional free of charge within one week of contact. Wellbeing services counties must strive to implement a seven-day guarantee of care throughout primary health care. Primary health care resources must be strengthened to ensure that people get the care they need as early as possible. This will contribute to reducing the burden on emergency services and specialist care. Access to emergency care for undocumented migrants must be ensured.
Reducing and centralising local services will necessarily mean increased travel costs for society and for people living outside urban centres, as not all services can be delivered digitally. The cost of travel, on the other hand, may mean that people on low incomes are left without access to care, or are forced to compromise on other basic needs. The wellbeing services counties must therefore ensure that, when deciding on the service network, the negative impact on people living in remote areas, especially children and other vulnerable groups, is assessed and minimised.
Specialist health care services must be available on a flexible basis, not only in hospital but also in the community. Access to gynaecologists must be made easier through the public health service. In particular, the expertise of outpatient clinics should be more widely used in primary health care. Emergency services at hospitals must be reasonably accessible to the public, and distances that are too long must not pose a threat to patient safety. Hospitals need to cooperate strongly with each other and share work within the area of cooperation on the basis of mutual agreement.
In cooperation with municipalities and the third sector, the wellbeing services counties must be able to shift the focus of mental health services from specialist care to preventive measures. Services must be targeted in adequate proportion to the need for services. Service chains, pathways and structures must be effective and known by both clients and professionals.
Mental health services need more rapid, low-threshold services that can be accessed without referral. Access to treatment without a threshold is simple for patients and makes it easier to seek treatment before the situation becomes serious.
Mental health professionals need to be integrated into schools and educational institutions. Schools must have sufficient services of psychologists, education welfare officers and psychiatric nurses to ensure low-threshold access to help. The situation of schoolchildren is also made easier and more community-oriented by the presence of school coaches or youth workers in schools. Quality legal support for pupils must be the starting point for action. This can be complemented by school outreach services, youth workers or similar forms of multi-professional cooperation to facilitate the situation of pupils and increase the sense of community. Mental health impacts must be taken into account in all decision-making and mental health impact assessments must be introduced to support municipalities and wellbeing services counties in making mental health-friendly decisions.
All social and health care centres should provide basic mental health expertise and services. The need for treatment must be assessed as soon as someone seeks help, and psychosocial care and support must begin within one month of the assessment, or sooner if the situation becomes critical. Intermediate model services need to be stepped up for acute crises, where services need to be accessed quickly but there is no need for emergency care. The provision of couple and family therapy services by municipalities and wellbeing services counties will be expanded and waiting lists reduced. Each wellbeing services county will be required to employ coordinators for preventive work on domestic violence and substance abuse.
Services must be built from the perspective of whoever needs them, and the transition between services must be flexible and rapid. Wellbeing services counties must draw up a mental health and substance abuse treatment plan, including treatment for addictions. Substance use should not be a barrier to accessing mental health services. Both rehabilitation and residential services must be available to all those who need them. A suicide prevention centre must be set up in every wellbeing services county.
Substance abuse services must be accessible and easy to find. Access to services must be as simple and accessible as possible. The stigma attached to the use and users of drug services must be broken by training all social and health professionals. Help must also be offered to relatives of people with mental health and substance abuse problems. Housing for people with substance abuse problems must be organised in such a way that substance abuse does not lead to homelessness and that getting rid of substance abuse is not a condition for access to housing. Preventive work on substance abuse must be carried out in cooperation with municipalities and the third sector. Statutory adult day service centres must be strengthened.
Social work helps and supports people in many different life situations. Social work can ensure that the most vulnerable people also have access to the services they need. Cooperation between welfare services and the cultural sector needs to be strengthened and the role of arts and culture in maintaining mental health and functional capacity needs to be recognised. Social work must be effective at individual, family, community and structural levels. The introduction of drop-in centres needs to be explored. The effectiveness and quality of social work must be promoted by taking into account post-crisis intervention recommendations.
Social work services must be available alongside health services in social welfare centres, so that people can get help and support for their problems quickly and at a low threshold. Social services must be accessible and inclusive. Services must be easy to find and as simple as possible to access. All services must ensure that there are sufficient skills and resources to meet and help victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and abuse. Adult health clinic is a good way of getting adults and older people into social and health services and providing the necessary counselling services.
The threshold for access to sexual and reproductive health services must be lowered. Wellbeing services counties should offer free contraception to people under 25 and those who have given birth within one year, and to clients of substance abuse services, regardless of age. National coverage of infertility treatment must be improved. Free menstrual protection should be provided, for example for adolescents and clients of substance abuse services. Family counselling services need to be increased. In particular, services for families going through separation need to be developed. More expertise is needed in family counselling on family diversity.
The number of women’s shelter places needs to be increased in line with the recommendations. Women’s shelters and preventive services should be available throughout the country. Shelter services for battered women need to be more responsive to the needs of women with disabilities, gender and sexual minorities, Roma women, women from immigrant backgrounds, undocumented women and women refugees and asylum seekers. Aftercare in shelters must be promoted. Low-threshold services for survivors of domestic violence must be available throughout the country.
Families with children need long-term, multidisciplinary support. The regions must invest in preventing problems from worsening, i.e. in child health clinic, early support for families, adult social work, substance abuse and mental health services and the prevention of domestic violence and bullying.
Child health clinic must be a local service, with resources for home visits even before the birth of the child. The whole family and the immediate community of the newborn child must be taken into account. Home visits and other practical everyday support prevent parental exhaustion. These services must be available free of charge to all those who need them. Free and timely services and preventive and supplementary income support are key tools for reducing child poverty.
Cooperation between wellbeing services counties and municipal services must be seamless. Services for children and young people, such as pupil and student care, must be provided in the everyday environment of children and young people, i.e. in daycare centres, schools and educational establishments.
Child welfare must be able to safeguard children’s rights. In order to guarantee client safety, a child welfare social worker must have a maximum of 25 children under his/her responsibility. In the open care system, sufficient resources must be ensured to provide support measures in the best interests and needs of the child. The support of family carers must be strengthened, and unnecessary changes of placement prevented. Access to child welfare supervisors is severely congested in many places. This affects the position of children, for example by preventing access to post-divorce right-of-access and maintenance agreements. It is necessary to reduce the queues and ensure that child welfare supervisors have sufficient knowledge of family diversity and shared parenting.
Shared parenting must be taken into account for both households throughout the service system, including housing allowance, transport under the Disability Services Act, access to non-emergency social and health services and child welfare services. Single parents need support, for example during school holidays, which for many are very challenging in terms of length. We need to ensure that single parents, carers and foster parents can cope by developing services for municipal family care and child welfare and by facilitating access to home help.
Wellbeing services counties must increase the number of child welfare units and professional family homes. Development work must take into account the perspective of children and young people who seriously endanger their own lives, development or health and are a danger either to themselves or to the environment. The need for special care has increased, requiring cooperation between child welfare services and child and adolescent psychiatry. State school homes need to be integrated into the services of the wellbeing services county in which they are located. Profiteering in foster care services for children must be stopped.
The circumstances of children and young people are increasingly challenging, and a multidisciplinary approach and close cooperation with, for example, child and adolescent psychiatry are required to ensure care and education. Children with severe mental health problems must have access to adequate health services that meet their needs, and the lack of these services cannot be compensated for by child welfare.
Ensuring the dignified care and support of older people must be at the heart of the services provided to older people by wellbeing services counties. The counties must ensure that older people have timely access to the services they need. They must provide older people with services that support their ability to function and are based on a genuine identified need in all situations. The majority of services for older people must be provided by wellbeing services counties themselves and, where necessary, services provided by the counties can be supplemented by those provided by local and regional operators.
Increasing community living and flexible housing solutions for older people will create opportunities for older people to live independently and with a sense of ownership. However, it should be borne in mind that community living cannot replace the need for 24-hour care and nursing care if an elderly person requires this type of service. Carer provision must be fully met in 24-hour care units.
Home care must be organised in such a way that carers have genuine time to meet the elderly person. Home rehabilitation, recreational activities, outdoor activities and, if necessary, a doctor’s visit must be part of the range of care services. The elderly person must be able to decide for themselves, taking into account their condition, when home care is no longer sufficient for them and when they need more care.
Older people on low incomes must be exempted from client fees that restrict access to health centre visits, oral health care and home care.
Carer’s care for a loved one because of disability, illness or other reasons. The care recipient may be their spouse or child. Family care is the provision of 24-hour care for a person outside their own home in a private home.
To ensure that carers can cope, wellbeing services counties need to invest in quality services to support carers and family care. Providing a variety of short-term respite care arrangements can encourage carers to take the time off they are entitled to and support their ability to sustain their wellbeing. For example, respite care can be provided in the carer’s own home. Budgetary constraints in wellbeing services counties should not limit the support available to carers, but should always be provided where necessary. Support services must be provided according to the needs of the carer’s family.
Wellbeing services counties must inform their residents about the possibilities of becoming a carer so that everyone has access to statutory support and services. At the same time, the gendered nature of caring must be taken into account and it must be ensured that no one becomes a carer against their will. The family carer’s allowance must be raised and the criteria for granting allowance and its amount must be harmonised. Opportunities for carers to hold local or regional positions of trust must be improved by means of substitute care arrangements.
Level of service and rapid access to emergency services must be ensured in all Finland’s wellbeing services counties. The decision on the level of service must be based on a careful risk assessment and drawn up in cooperation with other actors in the area, such as municipalities.
Emergency services and related training must take into account both the specific characteristics of urban areas and the needs of rural areas.
Cooperation between rescue services, emergency services and other social and health services must be seamless and implemented in such a way that the human resources and operational capacity of rescue and emergency services are not fragmented, as specified by the service level decisions. The wellbeing services counties must safeguard the operational capacity of contract fire brigades and endeavour to enable them to operate throughout the county.
Almost a third of Finns live in Uusimaa. Justified by their large population, the municipalities in Uusimaa were given the separate solution they demanded in the social welfare reform. The entity of HUS, which provides specialised health care, and five separate wellbeing services counties will not, as in the rest of the country, reduce administration and eliminate the sub-optimisation and friction in the organisation of services caused by separate administrations. The democracy deficit in Uusimaa affects the management of the HUS group in particular, but it also obscures the responsibility of the decision-makers in the wellbeing services counties. As experience with the new governance model is gained, the wellbeing services counties in Uusimaa must deepen their cooperation and increase transparency in the decision-making of the HUS Group. If governance cannot be made to work properly, we must be prepared to implement the integration that was at the heart of the health and social services reform by merging administration in the same way as other regions.
Five years ago, when the right-wing government came to an end, municipal finances were in the worst situation in history, according to the Association of Local and Regional Authorities. In 2019, municipalities responsible for social and health services were more than €3 billion in debt. Municipalities with ageing populations in particular were facing increasing difficulties, but the largest growth centres were also experiencing increasing problems in organising social and health services as waiting times grew.
The social welfare reform merged municipal service providers into provincial hospital districts responsible for specialised health care. The reform not only allows for administrative savings by replacing hundreds of responsible organisations with dozens, but also for savings through the rationalisation of services, as people can be treated in a timely fashion in primary health care instead of expensive specialised care. In Uusimaa, specialised health care was left to HUS and the region was divided into five primary health care wellbeing services counties.
In the reform, funding for social welfare services was transferred from the municipalities to the State, increased by an annual index, so that the funding is changed step by step from very different levels in municipalities throughout the country to reflect actual need.
After the reform, part of the previous financial deficit was transferred from the municipalities to the wellbeing services counties, leaving them with a funding gap of more than EUR 1 billion. In addition to the increase in demand for services brought about by the ageing population, the deficit is being increased by higher-than-average wage increases, for example, which are necessary to meet the shortage of employees.
Since a majority in Parliament scrapped the provincial tax, the wellbeing services counties are dependent on the State to finance services. It would still be irresponsible for wellbeing services county leaders to further undermine services in response to right-wing government blackmail. The starting point must be everyone’s right to adequate services in a timely manner and, failing that, the statutory right to ultimately rely on additional State funding.
The financial situations of municipalities differ more than those of wellbeing services counties. A reform of state contributions to municipalities is necessary after the reform of social welfare but, if the government stalls, municipalities will have to ensure sufficient revenues through their own taxation under the current rules.
For workers, municipal taxes are currently paid rather fairly according to income, but for pensioners and the unemployed this progression is not as good. The level and balance of income tax, property tax and miscellaneous levies varies between municipalities, but what they have in common is a small margin of increase. The adjustment of municipal finances must give priority to adjustments on the revenue side if basic services are at risk. The main structural problems in Finnish taxation lie not with the municipalities but with the State, which often taxes the least those with the greatest ability to pay through capital income.
Regardless of the state’s future solutions, water supply networks must remain in municipal ownership. The sale of productive municipal assets, especially so-called natural monopolies such as electricity and water supply networks, must be viewed critically and their retention in national, public ownership must be safeguarded. Similarly, municipalities must continue to safeguard the vitality of their regions by holding on, as far as possible, to rented housing that is exempt from regulation and to well-located social housing.
Self-determination is at the heart of disability policy and the services that people with disabilities need. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must ensure that all activities respect the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other human rights conventions.
People with disabilities must be able to decide for themselves how they are treated. People with disabilities and their family members must be able to participate in decisions that affect them. The disabled person and his or her family members must also be consulted on matters and services that affect them. People with disabilities and their families must be provided with concise information in plain language about what services are available. Wellbeing services counties must have dedicated professionals to advise people with disabilities and their families.
People with disabilities are first and foremost residents and citizens. They are not just clients or patients of the wellbeing services counties. Disabled people use all kinds of services provided by municipalities and wellbeing services counties. They have the right to live a dignified life and to participate and influence. A person with a disability must have the opportunity to work, study, pursue a hobby, participate in society, start a family and choose how, where and with whom to live.
Accessibility and accessibility in society must be understood in a broad sense. It is important that people with disabilities have access to social and health services for all residents. The facilities used by wellbeing services counties and the services and supports they provide must be accessible.
Ensuring that transport services and personal assistance are adequate and functional is an important way of strengthening the autonomy of people with disabilities and their ability to decide, for example, on their leisure time. The tendering process for transport services must set a genuinely competitive price level that fairly compensates the transport provider for the work done. The pay of personal assistants and occupational health care must be improved. Lifelong services for people with disabilities are not put out to tender in wellbeing services counties. People with disabilities must be able to decide for themselves where, how and with whom they live. Wellbeing services counties and municipalities must use disability impact assessments and cooperate with disability and patient associations. The involvement and influence of participatory bodies such as disability councils in municipal and wellbeing services county decision-making must be increased.
In a prosperous municipality and wellbeing service county, residents must have the opportunity to participate in decision-making beyond the voting process. The opportunities and conditions for participation must also be guaranteed for all. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must promote measures to improve the participation of groups that are under-represented in democratic decision-making.
All municipalities must introduce participatory budgeting to strengthen the influence of residents. Other tools of participatory democracy, such as citizens’ panels, should be developed alongside representative democracy, both in municipalities and in wellbeing services counties. The operating conditions of statutory lobbying bodies must be safeguarded and their views must be heard in decision-making.
Information on municipal activities, decisions and opportunities for influence must be actively disseminated on various platforms and in the languages spoken in the municipality. Minutes and other public material must be available electronically in a clear and accessible format. Municipal decisions must make the documents of municipally owned limited liability companies public to the same extent as they would be in the case of municipal companies in the form of municipal enterprises.
Democracy and a strong civil society go together. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must support the organisations operating in their area, for example by providing grants for associations and free meeting and activity facilities.
Today, full participation in civic life is difficult without adequate digital skills. People of different ages need different levels of support in digital skills, but everyone has the right to develop the skills they need. It must be ensured that older people have adequate skills and access to essential online services.
Services in municipalities and wellbeing services counties must take into account sexual and gender diversity and family diversity. For example, child impact assessments need to take into account the perspective of rainbow children and gender impact assessments need to understand gender in a pluralistic way. The forms used by municipalities and wellbeing services counties should include the option to select one’s own gender and family type. LGBTQ people must be taken into account in services from the beginning to the end of the life cycle, from child health clinics, daycare centres and schools to hospitals and services for the elderly.
Everyone must have the opportunity to participate in decision-making without fear of harassment or discrimination. Hate speech, homophobia, transphobia and other prejudice against minorities are a barrier to democratic debate. It must be ensured that municipalities have sufficient knowledge and skills to prevent and address violence, discrimination, hate speech and harassment. No decision-maker or candidate for election in a local authority or wellbeing services county should be left alone with their experiences; support must be available.
A good employer policy starts by promoting staff wellbeing. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must prevent exhaustion and excessive workloads at an early stage. Adequate resources for work must be guaranteed by providing adequate occupational health services, including access to brief psychotherapy and mental health services. In addition, training on wellbeing at work must be provided for supervisors.
Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must better understand the diversity of family forms, the different situations of families and the diversity of work, by training organisational management and supervisors in wellbeing at work and the promotion of work capacity. Combining care and work is not only a matter for families with young children, but can be linked to a wide range of other situations throughout life. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must be family-friendly workplaces. Combining work and family can be achieved in both shift work and office work, whether it be organising care for children, elderly people or relatives with special needs.
Minorities experience bullying and discrimination in the workplace, which needs to be addressed by training all staff on minority issues. A safer workplace policy for every workplace in the municipality and the wellbeing services county must be established and health and safety representatives, in particular, must be trained to act as harassment contact persons. Anonymous recruitment will be introduced in the recruitment process to increase the chances of people belonging to minorities of being hired.
In municipalities and wellbeing services counties, there are many LGBTQ people who conceal their identity in the workplace. Diversity awareness can be strengthened throughout the workplace by raising awareness and providing training. Furthermore, workplaces should also have gender-neutral toilets, changing rooms and break rooms.
Regular working hours should be reduced to 30 hours per week without reducing earnings, as far as possible across the various municipal and welfare sectors. As part of the transition, trials of shorter working hours must be implemented with different working time and pay models.
Municipal and wellbeing services county employees are the experts in their own work and their role in organising work is essential. In the case of municipal companies, the right of employees to representation in companies should be actively monitored and representation at board level should also be implemented in companies employing 25 or more people. Pay equity and equality must be promoted through systematic pay surveys. Separate equality plans should be implemented as part of targeted equality and equal opportunities planning. In companies wholly or partly owned by municipalities, employees must be guaranteed the right of initiative and voting rights in company decision-making.
In recent years, municipalities and wellbeing services counties have outsourced a large part of their activities to business enterprises and municipally-owned limited companies. A responsible municipality relies on its own efficient service provision and does not promote the trend towards corporatisation and outsourcing, as the services provided by the municipality itself are closer to democratic decision-making. In addition, municipalities providing services in-house increases the security of supply in municipalities and wellbeing services counties. If for some reason services need to be outsourced, in-house companies are the only sustainable option. Any positive results of the companies can be used to develop and support the company’s activities, as the money is not distributed to the owners through dividends.
Adequate staffing levels and permanent employment relationships must be the basis of employer policy in municipalities and wellbeing services counties. Temporary and agency work must be the last resort when it comes to resourcing municipalities and wellbeing services counties, as an in-house, skilled workforce is cheaper, more productive and of higher quality. The rights and protection of workers are also weaker in the case of temporary and agency work, and municipalities and wellbeing services counties must therefore resolve the issue of chaining of fixed-term contracts.
The key to addressing the skills shortage in the public sector is human resources policy. Working conditions and pay for professionals in the municipal and social welfare sectors must be improved. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties should draw up a programme of measures together with trade unions to identify recruitment needs and outline concrete measures to clarify the division of labour among professionals, improve work processes and improve working conditions.
To address skills shortages, we need a functioning education and training system and the opportunity for people to learn and develop their skills throughout their careers. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must provide their employees with real opportunities for training, supported by a minimum of three days of training per year. Training must not be limited to a particular locality or wellbeing services county, but must also be accessible by travelling for the necessary training. Municipalities and wellbeing services counties must also support language training for their employees, for example in Sámi, Finnish and Finnish-Swedish sign language, so that services are available in their own language.