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Fire Service Regionalisation in Finland Fire Chiefs Officers Association Annual Conference Comhdhàil Bhliantùil Chumann Phriomh-Oifigigh Dòiteàin 2012 Fire Service Regionalisation in Finland Olli-Pekka Ojanen Chief Executive Officer of Emergency Services Tampere Region Finland

FINLAND IN EUROPE

Basic Facts Finland 5,4 million inhabitants Geographical area: 338.000 km² Member of EU; 1.200 km Schengen border with Russia 15/01/2019 4 4

The early stages of the regional emergency services The structure of the Finnish fire and rescue services has been the subject of lively debate in recent decades. In the 1990s, the distribution of responsibilities between the state and the municipalities and the means to finance public services were discussed widely. This discussion also involved fire and rescue services and emergency service departments, the main question being whether they should be run by the State or by local authorities. Several studies were done on placing the emergency service departments either in municipal or State jurisdiction, the most significant being the one assigned by the previous Director-General Pekka Myllyniemi in 1999-2000. The aim of that study was to investigate the option of transferring the responsibility for fire and rescue services to the State.

MUNICIPALITIES (414) AND REGIONAL RESCUE SERVICES (22) Regional Rescue Departments

Reasons for seeking to reorganize the fire and rescue services include: The independence and strengthening autonomy of the municipalities were in conflict with State control.   Many of the municipalities were too small financially and operatively to organize fire and rescue services efficiently. The restricted staff of the small fire stations did not allow for efficient and flexible operations. There were no career development opportunities for the ageing staff within the fire and rescue services, nor opportunities to transfer them to tasks that would better correspond to their performance levels. The equipment was outdated.

Four basic options to organize fire and rescue services were identified during the study: - the existing system, in which municipalities were responsible for the organization of fire and rescue services - regional emergency services, in which the municipalities are responsible for the services - State-run emergency services  - emergency services that are financed by the State and organized by the municipalities.   The study resulted in a report that concluded that the best option would not be to transfer the organization of fire and rescue services to the State, but to leave it to the municipalities to create a regional structure.

This requires that regional emergency services are based on the following principles: 1. Operations are organized around a dense and decentralized fire station network. 2. The resources needed to perform the emergency service duties are appropriately located. 3. Tasks that do not require being close to the local people (the principle of subsidiarity), such as administration, finances, and procurement, are conducted on a regional level.

It should be ensured when appointing the responsibility areas for emergency service units that they meet at least the following requirements: 1. Independence – will not need detailed instructing from the Ministry. 2. The staff is sufficiently large – autonomous, flexible personnel policies for organizing tasks etc. 3. The economy of the area is sufficiently strong. 4. Operative resources are sufficient to cope with accident situations, regardless of their scale and severity.

It was stated in the study that transferring the responsibility for fire and rescue services to the State would be too radical a change in relation to the existing municipal system. The transfer would have required a relatively long preparation period, including fundamental changes in the legislation on emergency services as well as changes in the staff’s pay system and working conditions as a whole. One of the most critical aspects of the suggested reform was the continuation of voluntary fire brigade operations.  

Building of the current system The building of the present emergency service system in Finland started with the investigation process just described. Related legislation was amended and a law on regional emergency services given. Regionalisation plan was prepared by a separate workgroup within the Ministry of the Interior, which proposed that 15 regional emergency service units was to be founded. During political decision-making, the government increased the number of service units to 22. The current emergency service units have a staff between a hundred (100) and seven hundred (700) and an operative area between 2 700 to 92 000 square kilometres. Their budget varies between 7 and 50 million euros. Within each operative area, municipalities have made an agreement on the organization of regional fire and rescue services, their administration, and financing in accordance with the legislation.

The majority of the regional emergency service units are included in the organizational structure of the central municipality of the area. The two emergency service units where a different administration structure is used have a separate administration and decision-making organization (a consortium). The budgets for the regional emergency service units are prepared at the administration of the central municipality. Their administration is controlled by the central municipality in other respects also. Principally, the costs generated by the regional emergency service units are distributed between the municipalities in the region in proportion of their population. Helsinki City Rescue Department is the only exception to the above rule, since it is the only fire and rescue services unit in Finland that is maintained by only one municipality, the City of Helsinki.

The statutory duties of the emergency service units include: 1. providing information and instructions with the aim to prevent fires and other accidents and on preparing for accidents and learning to act in dangerous situations; 2. supervisory tasks relating to the fire and rescue services (fire inspections); 3. warning the population when danger is imminent; 4. providing rescue services; 5. providing emergency medical care if agreed upon with the hospital district.

Rescue services in Finland The rescue authorities are responsible for the safety of people in all kinds of everyday incidents as well as in the unlikely event of a disaster or war Rescue services are divided into accident and fire prevention, rescue services and war time civil protection

RESCUE SERVICES IN FINLAND Ministry of the Interior Department for rescue services Rescue Director (Fire Chief) Rescue Departments Regional administrative agencies (6+ Åland) 22 Regional Rescue Services Emergency response centres (15) Emergency Services College Emergency Response Centre Administration Fire brigades - volunteers