At least half of the country's wellbeing services counties say they will not be able to cut spending by as much and as quickly as the law requires.
By law, wellbeing services counties must cover their accumulated deficits by the end of 2026. Now, regional councils that make budget decisions are having to break the law in many areas, because they cannot carry out millions of euros’ worth of budget cuts quickly enough.
Based on their budget proposals, some regions expect to blow past the official deadline by as much as four years.
Yle has found that at least 12 wellbeing services counties will miss the legal deadline. As of the beginning of this year, health, social and rescue services have been provided by 21 wellbeing services counties as well as the City of Helsinki.
Blowing past the deadline
So far, four wellbeing services counties have already decided to break the law, meaning that their budget-balancing timetables are clearly slower than the law allows.
On Tuesday, the South Karelia regional council announced it will cover its deficit of 128 million euros by the end of 2028 – two years late.
Similar decisions have also been made in the Eastern Uusimaa, Central Finland and the Vantaa-Kerava counties.
Regional governments in six other wellbeing services counties have proposed missing the deadline, but have not made final decisions yet.
According to the budget proposals for South Ostrobothnia, South Savo, North Savo, Kainuu, Central Uusimaa and Lapland, these counties will clearly miss the 2026 target.
Kymenlaakso and Päijät-Häme may also face the same situation. These regions have not estimated when they will balance their books, but admit that they will not be able to do so by the end of 2026.
Regional councils are to finalise the wellbeing services counties’ budgets later this year.
Regions demand more time and funding
Most budget proposals acknowledge that the law is not being followed.
For example, the budget proposal for the Lapland wellbeing services county directly admits that it was prepared in violation of the Act on Wellbeing Services Counties of 2021. The region has pledged to cover its deficit by 2030 at the latest.
Several budget proposals highlight the impossibility of achieving the necessary savings within the required timeframe. They say this would only be possible with additional funding.
The regions also justify violating the law by saying that, according to the constitution, they must secure statutory social, health and rescue services.
For example, the wellbeing services county of Central Uusimaa said in its financial plan that it is following the constitution rather than the Wellbeing Services Counties Act.
No immediate consequences
Even if regional councillors decide to break the law, there will be no immediate consequences for them.
Kari Hakari, Director General of the Department for Steering of Healthcare and Social Welfare at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, predicted that failure to comply with the law will simply result in official warnings.
The state has two main options if wellbeing services counties do not achieve savings: these county may be subject to assessment procedures or a regional division study, which may lead to the merger of areas.
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