The long-term service procurements audited included direct procurements for which competitive tendering should have been carried out. In three of these cases, the contracting entity was the Finnish Immigration Service and in one case, the KEHA Centre (Development and Administrative Centre for the Ely Centres and TE Offices.
The audit assessed long-term public procurement of services. In this audit, long-term procurement refers to a situation where the central government has purchased certain services from the same service provider for a long time. The audit covered six central government contracting entities and a total of fourteen long-term procurements.
A significant part of the central government’s operating expenses is used for procurements, a major part of which consists of service purchases. In 2022, the central government purchased services for EUR 3.3 billion. Procurement competence and good management of the purchased services are of great importance to the success of the central government authorities in their activities.
Of the fourteen cases audited, four included direct procurements for which competitive tendering should have been carried out. In three of the cases, the contracting entity was the Finnish Immigration Service and in one case, the KEHA Centre. No other substantial shortcomings were found in the procurement procedures applied.
The economic efficiency of the procurements was assessed from different perspectives. The audit showed that overall, the central government’s position as a service buyer had not weakened in such a manner that the service prices would have increased substantially. However, there were risks associated with the economic efficiency. The most important risk was the lack of competition: the average number of tenders received was low, and there were some procurements for which competitive tendering had not been carried out at all.
Based on the audit, the Finnish Immigration Service and the KEHA Centre should ensure that competitive tendering is carried out appropriately for procurements and pay attention to the appropriate archiving of procurement documents. More generally, the central government contracting entities should pay attention to the number of tenders and strive to ensure that sufficient competition is achieved and several good tenders are received in competitive tendering.
Additional information
Matti Vedenkannas
Principal Legislative Adviser, LL.D., trained on the bench
Audit
