In the reform of the central government’s service and premises network, service network means all the service points that exist for in-person services provided by central government authorities.
In practice, this means the network formed by local tax offices, the service points of the National Land Survey of Finland, Finnish Immigration Service, Digital and Population Data Services Agency, and other service points that customers can physically visit when they need public services. In this context, the service network does not include health centres, early education centres, schools or premises used by public authorities for particular purposes, such as prisons or museums.
When the reform of the services and premises network began, the service network consisted of about 700 service points in use by specific public authorities and about 200 joint service points.
The aim of the reform of the central government’s service and premises network is to reshape the service network so that by 2030, the current network of authority-specific service points will be replaced by a network of joint Suomi-piste service points that provide services of central government, local governments and, where appropriate, welfare services counties.
The reform of the service and premises network is aiming to reduce the number of offices in the network by 2030. This is because changes to how people work, such as multi-location working, remote working and digitalisation, are having a significant effect on the need for space. The use of shared premises, or shared work environments, will make it possible to reduce the number of offices.
The service and premises network reform is implementing the central government premises strategy, which was approved as a government resolution. The objective of the strategy is that 25 per cent of central government employees will work in shared work environments by 2030. The average space efficiency target for office premises is 10 m² net floor area/person-year. This target will be applied in new premises projects, though the special characteristics and proportion of remote and in-office work of the government branches involved will be taken into account. Experiences from the shared work environment projects that have already been carried out and the occupancy rates measured in them have led to a more ambitious space efficiency target. The next shared work environment projects to be launched will seek to achieve a space efficiency of 4–6 m²/person-year.
Shared work environments are places where several different agencies work in the same building and share the same spaces and services. Shared work environments also involve operating models, shared roles, collaborative structures and ground rules relating to cooperation between different authorities. A concept for shared work environments has been created as part of the reform. This concept is the template for all shared work environments. The concept has been developed in cooperation between Senate Properties, the Government ICT Centre Valtori and the public authorities participating in the reform.
The reform is necessary because of the significant changes taking place in society in the 2020s. These include the increase in the availability and use of electronic services and the resulting significant decrease in the use of in-person services, the concentration of the population in urban centres, the increase in location-independent work and diminishing financial resources. These changes in society have made it necessary to develop the service and premises network for in-person services. Maintaining the network in the current form will not be sustainable from an economic or ecological perspective or from the perspective of the changes taking place in ways of working and in the needs of customers. The reform will ensure in-person services are available equally throughout the country.
Electronic services have become the primary way of using public services for an increasing number of people, and this is the baseline for the reform of the service and premises network. However, the network for in-person services needs to be reformed, because society must continue to ensure that people who are unable or unwilling to use electronic services have the opportunity to use in-person services. The goal of the reform is also to improve people’s ability to use electronic services and improve the availability of digital support.
The reform is also seeking to improve the experience and standard of in-person services. Gathering services under the same roof will make it easier to handle one’s affairs with public administration. The standard of service will also improve when the services of different public authorities are made more extensively available, for example, as remote services. The Strategy for Public Governance requires that all of public administration be developed to work together as a coherent unit. The reform of the service and premises network implements the Strategy for Public Governance.
The reform primarily involves the Regional State Administrative Agencies, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, the Finnish Immigration Service, the National Land Survey of Finland, the National Legal Services Authority, the Police licence administration, the Community Sanctions Offices of the Prison and Probation Service of Finland, the National Enforcement Authority, the Finnish Tax Administration and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela. Kela is involved in the reform particularly with respect to Suomi-piste service points. Other central government authorities that operate in a particular area participate in individual shared work environment projects on a location-by-location basis.
The reform is being carried out in close cooperation with municipalities and, as appropriate, wellbeing services counties.
The Ministry of Finance launched a remote service and remote interpretation service project that has developed and purchased a shared remote service and remote interpretation service system for public authorities. The system includes a remote service application and equipment for remote service spaces.
Remote services are a solution that makes it possible to use the services of experts working for public authorities via an audiovisual link in a similar way to in-person services. In addition to a video link, the remote service solution also allows the customer and expert to share documents. Remote services can be offered either with or without an appointment in the same way as other services. Remote interpretation services are similar to in-person services but use a video link. Using these services, an interpreter (or other third party, such as a personal assistant) needed by the customer can participate in the meeting via an audiovisual link in the same way as the public authority’s expert. Remote services are offered in accessible, private remote service spaces, which may be a room or a modular solution.
The Ministry of Finance is the owner of the remote service and remote interpretation service solution in 2025. After that, ownership will transfer to the Finnish Supervisory Agency, which will begin operating in 2026.
The solution will be piloted for six months in 2025 in Porvoo, Imatra and Nurmes. The Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela, the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, the Police and the Finnish Tax Administration will participate in the pilot. The Regional State Administrative Agencies will participate in testing the technical usability of the solution. A separate decision will be made on the national deployment of the first production version of the service in phases in 2026–2029. Shared remote services and remote interpreting services will make it possible to bring services closer to customers, particularly in Suomi-piste service points that are not part of the network of shared work environments.
The Ministry of Finance has set up and is leading the service and premises network project. The project is being prepared in cooperation between public authorities, Senate Properties and the Government ICT Centre Valtori.
The Ministry of Finance has appointed steering and preparation groups for the project. The steering group includes representatives of the ministries that guide the authorities involved, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela, the Association of Finnish Cities and Municipalities, the Finnish Commerce Federation and personnel organisations. The members of the preparation group include representatives of the public authorities involved in the project and the Association of Finnish Cities and Municipalities.
There are also project sub-groups that prepare the project’s national policies, for example, in relation to joint customer services and shared offices. The sub-groups include representatives of the public authorities participating in the project.
Project groups have been appointed for each region to design the service and premises network during 2021–2026. The project groups include representatives from the participating public authorities and the municipalities and county of the region in question. Each regional project group will draw up a regional plan defining the desired state for joint customer service points and offices in the region by 2030 and the phases required to achieve that state.
Senate Properties is responsible for leading and implementing shared work environment projects on a concrete level.
A legislative amendment is being prepared in the service and premises network project. The amendment will transfer the coordination and development of the network of Suomi-piste service points to the Finnish Supervisory Agency when it begins operating at the start of 2026.
The aim is for the nearest Suomi-piste service point to be no more than a one-hour drive away. In addition, Suomi-piste service points should have a sufficient population residing within one hour of them so that there are sufficient customers to ensure high-quality service. The criteria for the service network are confirmed for each parliamentary term in a national plan for the availability of central government services and the location of functions.
The above criteria for the service and premises reform will guide the planning of the service network. Regional planning will use the criteria to define where the Suomi-piste service points will be established.
The aim is for services of central government authorities, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela and municipalities to be available in all Suomi-piste service points. (See also the answer to the question “What public authorities are affected by the reform?”)
The project will look into what services of wellbeing services counties are suited to being offered in Suomi-piste service points.
Most people are able and willing to interact with public authorities digitally, and the digital services provided by authorities are being continuously developed. The service and premises project also supports the development of digital services, and the reform assumes that functional and easy-to-use digital services will be the primary service channel. However, there are also people who are unable or unwilling to use digital services provided by the authorities, and society must continue to provide these people an equal opportunity to use in-person services in the future.
The goal of Suomi-piste service points is for services that require in-person visits to be available to people at a high standard at a single location. Suomi-piste service points will also provide digital support for using electronic services provided by the authorities.
Digital support, in other words support for conducting one’s affairs electronically and using electronic services and devices, is a key part of the concept for Suomi-piste service points. Suomi-piste service points encourage customers to use electronic services and provide digital support for the public services provided at the service point.
In situations where a person needs more in-depth support, for example, using digital devices or using services other than the ones provided by public authorities, more demanding digital support will be provided in cooperation with national and regional digital support entities.
Shared work environments are places where several different agencies work in the same building and share the same spaces and services.
Many different kinds of office work are done in shared work environments. Shared work environments often also have a Suomi-piste service point for customers who want to use the services of public authorities in person.
Shared work environments are what are called activity-based environments. They have different spaces for different kinds of work, for example spaces for work that requires concentration or quiet, spaces for online meetings or for work that requires making telephone calls. In addition to shared spaces and services, shared work environments involve operating models, shared roles, collaborative structures and ground rules relating to cooperation between different authorities.
While shared work environments are in common use, it is possible to include areas in them with restricted access or spaces for the sole use of a single public authority if the operations of an authority require this.
The government’s shift to shared work environments is being driven by new ways of working and changes in how people use public services, which are having a major impact on how spaces are used. Shared work environments will be established in 18 municipalities by 2029, mainly in existing government buildings. The network of shared work environments is nationwide. It supports multi-location working and the provision of in-person services in a customer-oriented and effective manner. Shared work environments provide financial savings and promote the low-carbon and circular economy. They aim to provide a good and consistent experience to customers and employees.
Shared work environments can be used by all the public authorities that have bought the right to use the spaces. The price of shared spaces is based on the use of the spaces rather than on floor area or person-years. Shared work environments also have some small spaces for occasional use by other public officials.
Shared work environments are based on the shared work environment concept. The Ministry of Finance led the development of the shared work environment concept in the project for the reform of the central government’s service and premises network in the 2020s. The shared work environment concept provides guidance for the consistent implementation of shared work environments across the country.
The planning and implementation of the reform of the central government’s service and premises network are proceeding on the national and regional levels. The reform has been divided into three stages: stage 1, 2021–2023; stage 2, 2024–2026; and stage 3, 2027–2023.
Stage 1 of the reform involved designing the concept for shared work environments and launching regional implementation and planning in the first three regions.
Stage 2 of the reform includes completing regional planning, adopting the remote service and remote interpretation service and transferring customer service tasks to the agency level.
The lessons learned in stage 1 of the reform and the proposals for further development received were compiled in the first interim report of the service and premises reform, which was published in early 2024.
Stage 3 of the project will continue the implementation of the joint service and premises network. Suomi-piste service points will be established throughout the country in the 2020s. By 2030, Finland will have a new network of Suomi-piste service points that has replaced the current network of authority-specific service points. The reform of premises will also have been implemented by 2030 in accordance with the central government premises strategy.
The first Suomi-piste service points were opened in Lahti, Lappeenranta, Joesuu, Pori and Kouvola in stage 1 of the reform. The Suomi-piste service points in Lahti, Lappeenranta and Pori are the first ones designed based on the concept for shared work environments. In addition to the public authorities’ own services, they provide general service counselling and digital support. The range of services in Joensuu and Kouvola is narrower.
The number of Suomi-piste service points will increase as implementation of the reform progresses. Over the next few years, the services and premises of Suomi-piste service points will be expanded so that more public authorities will start offering their services under the same roof.
The opening hours and range of services of the Suomi-piste service points are available on the Suomi-piste.fi website.Link to an external website
Shared work environments can be used by any public authorities that have signed a lease agreement for the space. A shared work environment (in a regional city) can primarily be used by the personnel of the public authorities that have an office at that location. However, employers can sign a lease for 1–3 person-years at a shared work environment where the public authority in question has no other activities. Shared work environments also have a few workstations for occasional use by other public officials.
From the start of 2026, the network of shared work environments will shift from contracts based on person-years to contracts based on right of use.
It is important to note that a public official’s place of work and possibility for multi-location work is always decided by the employer.