Audit office says guidance for contract fire brigades is inadequate

Guidance for Finland’s contract fire brigades is inadequate and receives very few resources, the National Audit Office of Finland said in a review reported by Yle.

The Ministry of the Interior has relied mainly on guidance through recommendations and information, with limited results, the audit found. The ministry has also allocated very few resources to the work.

“For rescue services, the guidance of contract-based operations appears partly inadequate, unclear and fragmented overall. For example, operators have been unsure whether the ministry’s instructions are binding,” senior auditor Tiina Palonen-Roihupalo said in a statement.

Wellbeing services counties have nearly 600 agreements with contract fire brigades and almost 5,000 individual agreements with part-time personnel. Most counties had updated their fire brigade agreements by 2023, but some agreements were outdated or incomplete.

Contract-based fire brigade operations are considered a highly cost-effective way to organise part of the rescue services. Last year, wellbeing services counties paid about 40 million euros in compensation and personnel costs, less than 10 per cent of total rescue services costs.