Länsi-Uusimaa halts 290,000-euro consultancy deal

Länsi-Uusimaa, a Finnish wellbeing services county, has suspended a planned communications consultancy contract worth up to 290,000 euros with the company of Green MP Inka Hopsu’s spouse, Yle reports. The authority says it acted too hastily by deciding to make the purchase without competitive tendering.

Wellbeing services county director Sanna Svahn said the authority should have considered a wider range of options. She plans to propose that the regional board revoke the procurement decision.

The purchase drew public criticism because its value was only 10,000 euros below the statutory threshold for competitive tendering. Helsingin Sanomat reported on Tuesday that the deal was linked to high-level politics.

The contract was set to go to Uncle Tell, a communications consultancy founded in July by Lauri Korkeaoja, Hopsu’s spouse. Korkeaoja has previously worked as communications director at the Finnish Medical Association.

Regional board deputy chair Johanna Värmälä questioned on Facebook whether the official who made the decision had the authority to do so. She noted that the decision was made by the personnel director, while the authority’s guidelines state that purchases of up to 500,000 euros should be approved by the head of the relevant area.

Markus Syrjänen, director of the wellbeing services county’s group services, told Yle that there was no such problem. He said the personnel director also serves as the head of the relevant area and that the procurement limits had not been exceeded.

Legal expert says higher threshold may apply

As a general rule, consulting and communications services must be competitively tendered if their value exceeds 60,000 euros. The wellbeing services county instead applied a 300,000-euro threshold allowed for certain special services.

Kirsi-Maria Magga, a professor of public financial law, said the higher threshold may be possible for some public administration service contracts, and that a contract of this kind might fall into that category. The Market Court would ultimately decide whether the correct threshold was used if the case reaches it.

At least two requests for rectification have been filed over the procurement decision.

Hopsu briefly served as a deputy member of Uncle Tell’s board. The appointment was later cancelled to avoid misunderstandings.

Korkeaoja said a one-person company must have a deputy board member and that Hopsu was chosen because she would know where the company’s documents were kept if something happened to him. He told Yle that his spouse had no other involvement in the matter.

According to Korkeaoja, the wellbeing services county approached him about the work, and he suggested providing the services through his own company. The duties would involve public affairs work for which his background at the Finnish Medical Association and health companies would be useful.

Hopsu said she could not and did not want to influence the procurement decision. She is not a member of the wellbeing services county council.

The authority and Uncle Tell had not signed an actual contract before the procurement was suspended. The company submitted an offer for five months, while the wellbeing services county decided on a contract lasting more than two years. Syrjänen said the original idea was to allow additional services to be ordered if needed without making a new decision after the initial five-month period.