Frequently asked questions about rescue services reform

The responsibility for organising rescue services was transferred from the municipalities to the wellbeing services counties from the beginning of 2023.

The close links between rescue services and prehospital emergency medical services and the resulting benefits will be secured in the reform. Rescue services will be organised by the same wellbeing services counties and the City of Helsinki which will also organise emergency medical services in healthcare and social welfare. Rescue services will, however, continue to be a separate sector working in parallel with the healthcare and social welfare sector.

In addition, the reform will strengthen the national guidance and direction of rescue services in such a way that, under the leadership of the Ministry of the Interior, the rescue services can be developed cost-effectively and cost-efficiently on nationally uniform grounds. 

The operating environment of the rescue services is constantly changing. The rescue services reform aims to respond to changes in the threat model, from everyday incidents and accidents to large-scale crises.

The aim is to improve the ways of providing guidance to rescue services so that, in future, the operations and services of rescue services will be more consistent, and common information systems will be available throughout the country.

A further objective is that rescue departments can, in addition to their rescue service duties, continue to provide prehospital emergency medical services and first response services. Since the wellbeing services counties will be responsible for emergency medical services in future, the rescue services must also be transferred to the wellbeing services counties.

Close cooperation between the rescue services and emergency medical services ensures synergies between the health and social services and rescue services. The use of the rescue departments for the provision of emergency medical services, and for first response tasks and rescue duties means that the same support functions can be used, as can some of the same personnel, and the same operating models and joint exercises. At the same time, it allows for joint contingency planning and emergency and disaster preparedness. In this way, resources can also be directed efficiently during incidents and major accidents and in emergency conditions.

The rescue services reform was carried out so that public services can be kept at a good level far into the future. Additionally, the reform is aimed at harmonising the content of services, in which case the client's place of residence will have as little impact as possible on the services, instructions and advice that he or she receives from the rescue department.

The aim is to keep people's access to assistance in the event of incidents and accidents at least at the current level: this means that help will arrive at the scene as quickly as before. 

On 23 June 2021, Parliament adopted the key acts relevant for the establishment and operation of the new administrative level, i.e. wellbeing services counties. These include the Act on Wellbeing Services Counties; the Act on Organising Healthcare and Social Welfare Services; the Act on Organising Rescue Services; the Act on Organising Healthcare, Social Welfare and Rescue Services in the Region of Uusimaa; the Act Implementing the Reform of Health, Social and Rescue Services and Related Legislation; the Act on the Funding of Wellbeing Services Counties; and the proposals for amending legislation on central government transfers to local government, tax legislation, legislation on the personnel of wellbeing services counties and certain acts on general administration. The Act on Wellbeing Services Counties entered into force on 1 July 2021 and other acts at the beginning of 2023.

Many other acts were specified as the reform progresses.

The drafting of legislation was launched in autumn 2019. The Government’s draft legislation on the reform of health, social and rescue services was circulated for comments between 15 June and 25 September 2020. 

After the consultation round, the necessary amendments were made to the draft legislation. The Government submitted its proposal to Parliament on 8 December 2020. 

The Acts entered into force on 1 July 2021, and interim preparatory bodies for the wellbeing services counties have been set up to continue preparations. The first county elections were held in early 2022. The responsibility for organising healthcare, social welfare and rescue services was transferred to the wellbeing services counties from the beginning of 2023.
 

As a result of the reform, the employer of the personnel of rescue departments changed. The personnel of the existing rescue departments was transferred to the employment of the wellbeing services counties on earlier terms and conditions at the start of 2023.

The personnel employed by the Rescue Department of the City of Helsinki will not change employers, as the City of Helsinki will carry out the duties of the wellbeing services counties.

After the reform, the wellbeing services counties will be responsible for organising prehospital emergency medical services. As the rescue services will in future be organised by the same wellbeing services county, the rescue department can also provide emergency medical services.

Emergency medical services will continue to be provided  as a locally accessible service and the organisation of these services will take into account each county’s conditions, the division of responsibilities between the hospitals providing 24-hour services, and the different service needs of the residents. The aim is to maintain a good level of emergency medical services even as the population ages and people have an increasing need for services. This calls for a more effective use of the resources of emergency medical services and rescue services. 

The new operating model will also enable better preparedness for various kinds of incidents beyond county boundaries.

The rescue services’ equipment of municipalities and joint municipal authorities was transferred to the wellbeing services counties at the start of 2023.

The properties owned by municipalities and contract fire brigades will remain in their ownership. The current fire station leases will be transferred to the wellbeing services counties on current terms and conditions for a three-year transition period. The wellbeing services counties will have the right to extend the validity of the lease by one year.

The purpose of the reform is to strengthen the role of contract fire brigades while also recognising their current and future challenges and special characteristics. 

As a result of the reform, the contract fire brigades' fire service contracts were transferred on earlier terms and conditions from municipalities to the wellbeing services counties at the beginning of 2023.

The funding of the wellbeing services counties will be based on central government financing, and the related provisions are laid down in the Act on the Funding of Wellbeing Services Counties. Since the counties will be self-governing, they will decide on the allocation of funding.

The funding for the wellbeing services counties will be universal and it will be divided among the counties based on imputed factors. The funding for rescue services will depend on the number of inhabitants, population density and risk factors. Differences in the service needs of counties and the conditions in which they are organised will be taken into account in the factors determining central government financing.

There will be a seven-year transition period in the funding for rescue services during which the difference between imputed and actual costs will be adjusted. The wellbeing services counties will also be eligible for additional funding to secure rescue services if the level of funding allocated to them jeopardises the organisation of services.

When the reform comes into force, the wellbeing services counties will not have the right to levy taxes, but the right of counties to levy taxes will be examined at a later stage.

The wellbeing services counties will receive the funding necessary for organising the services of rescue departments from the State. The services provided by rescue departments are public services, so taxpayers pay for the services both now and in future. 

When the reform comes into force, the wellbeing services counties will not have the right to levy taxes, but the right of counties to levy taxes will be examined at a later stage.

The funding for wellbeing services counties is based on the municipalities’ costs of organising the transferable tasks of healthcare and social welfare and rescue services. In the first phase, the counties will not have the right to levy taxes. 

A comprehensive imputed finance model will be introduced in 2023 when the reform enters into force, which means that changes in needs-based factors will be fully taken into account. The estimated increase in service needs will be fully taken into account in the first two years. However, during the transition period, the difference between the transferable costs and the computation for the funding for the counties will be adjusted by means of transitional equalisation that takes into account the difference between the imputed costs and the actual costs of the municipalities in the wellbeing services county.

The transitional equalisation will be paid in a progressively diminishing amount from 2023 to 2029, when the difference in the level of funding will have been adjusted by each wellbeing services county to EUR +150/-50 per capita. Thereafter, any remaining difference in funding will be paid as a continuous transitional equalisation that would be in use for the time being.

In order for wellbeing services counties to start operating, part of the funding for January 2023 was paid in advance as early as December 2022.

The Government will confirm the national strategic objectives for rescue services for a four-year term. The Government can also decide on the centralisation of some special tasks carried out by the rescue services so that these are handled by one or more wellbeing services counties.

The Ministry of the Interior will guide and direct the organisation of the rescue services of the wellbeing services counties and the City of Helsinki. The counties and the Ministry of the Interior will hold annual negotiations to provide guidance and direction concerning the organisation of rescue services. In addition, an advisory board for rescue services was established under the Ministry of the Interior. The ministries responsible for the guidance and direction of the wellbeing services counties and the counties themselves will participate in the work of this board. 

Guidance and direction of the wellbeing services counties is interactive and strategic in nature. Instead of providing detailed guidance on service provision, it will focus on the counties’ responsibility to organise services.

The Regional State Administrative Agencies will oversee and assess rescue services and the level and standard of their services, which must correspond to national, regional and local needs and the risk of incidents and accidents.

The rescue services aim to safeguard people's fundamental rights to the services throughout the country on uniform grounds. This means that central government guidance is required for rescue services because of this fundamental aspect, and the guidance must be stronger than in other sectors.

In addition to locally accessible services, rescue services are also a national organisation that may have to operate in a wider area than that of one wellbeing services county. This requires uniform operational arrangements as well as national guidance and direction. At national level, guidance will be provided only for matters relating to operational activities, not for the administration of the wellbeing services county.

The model will be the same as in the guidance and direction of health and social services in which the Government and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health also play a strong role.