Articles

The recommendations the Audit Committee issued in 2019 usually led to measures.

51 per cent of the binding operation objectives were achieved. The prolongation of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the achievement of the objectives of the Education Division and the Social Services and Health Care Division in particular.

The economy of the city still has a sound foundation, even though the increasing operating costs have exceeded the limits determined by the City Strategy. The city has succeeded in reducing the loan portfolio in accordance with the strategy while the investment costs have been high. The social welfare and health care reform in 2023 will change the financing base considerably.

Secondary schools have increased the support available in order to remedy the loss of learning caused by distance education; however, allocating the support in the future requires reliable data.

Student counselling and the rate of studies completion have been developed in a diverse manner, but based on the survey of the personnel, there is not enough counselling available to students.

The number of employees in the services of open child welfare is at its statutory level, but due to the increased challenges families face, all needs cannot always be addressed. Furthermore, child welfare has open vacancies for social workers, but the vacancies remain uncovered.

Home care and service housing have introduced a guidebook for emergency situations and the mobile nurse service, but they are not utilised to their full potential. Closer cooperation should be established when discharging patients from hospital.

The city has strived to promote mental health rehabilitees’ access to housing services by turning the Aurora Hospital’s wards of rehabilitative psychiatry into housing units and by increasing the service selection of housing services in the competitive tendering of purchased services. However, the number of people on the waiting list for housing services has not decreased.

The actions of the Physical Activity Programme of Helsinki have largely been implemented. The majority of the three target areas’ actions have been either implemented or advanced on schedule.

The natural value of the city’s forests have increased in the long term, thanks to the nature management and planned exclusions from the management. The key actions promoting biodiversity were allowing forests to have moulder wood, favouring trees of different species and ages, and excluding sites recognised as important for biodiversity from the nature management.

The measures promoting a friendly attitude towards companies, for which the Economic Development Division of the City Executive Office was responsible, have largely been successful. In the future, the development of corporate cooperation and a favourable attitude towards companies will require contributions from the entire city organisation and the Economic Development Division in particular.

The city has prepared for digital security risks, but the level of preparedness should still be increased. For instance, the organisation of digital security still needs improvement.

At Heka, residents do not have authority in all the matters required by the Act on Joint Management of Rental Buildings. On the other hand, Heka’s tenant democracy has elements not required by the legislation. The activists for residents’ rights are unsatisfied with the actual influencing opportunities the residents have.

Most of the recommendations issued by the Audit Committee in 2018 led to actions.

The auditor has repeatedly issued recommendations on the following topics: memo vouchers, balance sheet breakdowns, the tracking of movable assets and the existence of assets, procurement activities and administration.

56 per cent of the binding operational objectives and targets were achieved. The binding operational objectives and targets were best achieved in the Central Administration and the Urban Environment Division.

It has been possible to reduce borrowing despite large investments. The increase in expenditure has exceeded the target of the City Strategy. The COVID-19 pandemic is causing economic uncertainty.

The costs of the Olympic Stadium modernisation and refurbishment project were almost EUR 127 million higher than estimated in the project plan. Additional and alteration work increased the costs the most. Another reason for the cost overrun is the fact that the costs of the project plan were not tied to the tender price index.

Areal segregation has not decreased, although Helsinki has been able to curb segregation through a long-term housing policy aimed at creating a diverse population and housing structure.

In line with its objective, the funding for positive discrimination (PD) has compensated for area-based differences in well-being in comprehensive schools caused by the urban structure. The appropriation is considered to be important and its criteria oriented in the right direction.

Good experiences have been gained with the measures taken to reduce inequalities between children and young people and prevent their social exclusion, but the permanence of the effects is uncertain.

The Social Services and Health Care Division has developed the treatment of people with substance abuse problems and harm reduction services and lowered the threshold for access to services. Cooperation with other operators, particularly child welfare services, needs to be developed.

Gender equality is taken into account in the different services of the Culture and Leisure Division, but the way in which information on service users’ gender is collected varies.

Access to non-urgent care is provided at health stations mainly within the time limits prescribed by law, but not in accordance with Helsinki’s own objectives or in an equal manner.

Preventive communal student welfare has been promoted in accordance with the Student Welfare Act, but the pupils’ right to receive psychologist and welfare officer services in student welfare was not realised within the statutory deadline.

The implementation of the Urban Environment Division’s participatory budgeting projects has been successful, despite limited human resources and a tight schedule. However, communication about the progress of the projects and the involvement of residents in the implementation of the projects reached only a small group of residents.

Young people’s influence and participation can best be supported at school. This requires closer cooperation between the Education Division and the Culture and Leisure Division.

The Urban Environment Division and Helsinki City Housing Company have taken numerous measures to reduce emissions. In order for the objectives of the Carbon-neutral Helsinki 2035 action plan to be achieved on schedule, a considerable number of energy refurbishments of private housing companies will be required.

The environmental policy objectives set by the City Council in 2012 have not been fully achieved in the City of Helsinki’s procurement. Although environmental criteria have been set in several procurements with significant environmental impact in the past, more extensive development has only begun in recent years with the Carbon-neutral Helsinki 2035 action plan.

The objectives of the City Strategy have been furthered during this council period of office. Half of the measures planned for the early years of the Maritime Strategy have already been implemented either fully or for the most part.

Corporate governance of business premises companies has for the most part been organised appropriately. However, the assessment found needs for supplementing the corporate governance principles.

With the introduction of the new management system and City division model, the controllability of the City organisation has improved. However, control and direction have become more fragmented, and there is a lack of clarity regarding who directs what.

The recommendations issued by the Audit Committee in 2017 led to measures except the fact that the dual role of elected representatives and office holders who belong to the Helsinki Group’s administration continues to be problematic.

The City divisions that were the most successful in achieving their binding operational objectives and targets were the Education Division and Central Administration.

The City’s finances were strong in 2019. The coronavirus pandemic will weaken the City’s finances in 2020.

The results obtained on enhancing the use of space and changing the measures used for this purpose have varied in different services of the City. However, taking the views of customers and staff into account has been found to be important in facility alterations.

The ownership steering of sports and cultural services is organised in an appropriate manner for the most part. At City level, the problem is that the division of labour between the mayor and deputy mayors has not been defined.

The objectives set for early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the City Strategy were achieved for the most part, but the staff shortage may undermine the achievement of the objectives in the future.

The integration of families with children has been promoted in the Education Division, but the division must increase the development of the skills of its own staff with regard to integration.

The accessibility of the built environment was actively promoted in the 2010s, but there is still a need to increase cooperation with disability associations. The realisation of the accessibility of the built environment according to plan should be ensured.

The quality of the City of Helsinki’s digital services is good for the most part when compared to the national quality criteria for digital services. However, there is room for development in the findability and functionality of the services.

The electronic health care services are high quality, but not all residents of the municipality are able to use them. Because of this, the availability of traditional service channels must also be ensured in the future.

Basic education currently has sufficient and functional digital environments, systems and equipment, but they must be developed and replaced. The digital and pedagogical skills of teachers have not improved as planned, and there is a lack of sufficient monitoring data on the development of pupils’ skills.

The quality control of the 24-hour care of the elderly can be considered to be satisfactory in the City’s own service provision and sufficient in purchased services.

The oral health care services of the City of Helsinki are high quality, but access to care has been difficult, particularly due to problems in making contact and the lack of non-urgent appointments.

The family centre model has increased cooperation between different professionals according to the objectives. Family centre work is just beginning in several areas of Helsinki, and there are still needs for development.

Not all large-scale traffic projects of the City have been implemented in such a way that it would be possible for them to stay within the original cost estimate or schedule.

The City is unable to monitor the great number of worksites to a sufficient degree or intervene in operations efficiently enough in the event of issues. Disturbances caused by street construction sites are assessed by major professional construction operators, but they are only responsible for roughly half of the excavation sites within the city.