Annual negotiations with the wellbeing services counties, City of Helsinki and HUS Group

The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and Ministry of the Interior hold annual negotiations with each wellbeing services county on the implementation of the functions that the county is responsible for organising and on the financial management of the county. 

The Government sets national strategic objectives for the counties. The negotiations aim to provide strategic support for the effectiveness, economic efficiency and performance of the counties. They also provide strategic guidance for the counties' responsibility to organise services. The negotiation process for counties is also applied to the HUS Group, which is the joint authority for Helsinki and Uusimaa. The City of Helsinki and the counties in Uusimaa participate in the negotiations with the HUS Group.

The negotiations monitor the achievement of the county’s responsibility for organising services and assess the actual and future development of the costs and funding of the county.  They also cover cost management measures to secure the performance of the county’s functions and to secure the availability of services with the funding at the county’s disposal. 

If necessary, the ministries must provide the county with recommendations for measures to support the county’s effectiveness and performance with respect to finances and organising services. The monitoring and assessment of the realisation of the county’s responsibility for organising services makes use of the county’s annual reports, expert assessments from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and Finnish Supervisory Authority  and, if necessary, assessments from other authorities.

Minutes are kept of the negotiations. The minutes record the matters discussed and the conclusions reached in the negotiations as well as any recommendations for measures that may have been issued by the ministries.

Contact information
Timo Ukkola, Special Adviser
Department for Steering of Wellbeing Services Counties,
Tel. +358 2951 63333
timo.ukkola.vm(at)gov.fi