Central government agencies and public bodies

Central government agencies and public bodies function under the responsibility of each ministry. There are about a hundred of these organisations altogether, performing various tasks and of various sizes. They employ over 20,000 persons.

Many government agencies and public bodies carry out administrative tasks (for example, the National Board of Customs and the National Board of Taxes). Some have extensive information management and registration duties, as is the case with the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland and the Population Register Centre.

Many agencies and public bodies are responsible for developing a specific sector and producing related information for society as a whole. These include bodies such as the National Board of Education and the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

State research institutes form an important group of public bodies, the largest of which include the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), Geological Survey of Finland and the Finnish Forest Research Institute. In addition, central administration encompasses several other smaller research institutes.

The Bank of Finland and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) are directly subordinate to Parliament. Under the Finnish constitution, the Bank of Finland operates under the guarantee and supervision of Parliament. Parliament appoints the nine-member Parliamentary Supervisory Council to supervise the Bank's administration and activities. Administratively, the Financial Supervision Authority works in connection with the Bank of Finland although it makes decisions independently.

Though supervised by Parliament, Kela enjoys considerable administrative and financial autonomy. The parliamentary supervision of Kela is exercised by the Trustees, who are MPs appointed to the task by Parliament.

Development of central government agencies and public bodies

Until the early 1990s, Finland had a system of central agencies, whereby about twenty central agencies shared responsibility for central administration with the ministries. As the central agencies were abolished, boards for the agencies and public bodies replaced the collegiate bodies, which led them.

Several new government agencies have been established within the last twenty years, as State service institutions have been transformed into State companies and State enterprises, whose business activities require directing and supervision. Agencies established in this context include the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority, the Finnish Rail Authority and the Finnish Vehicle Administration. The foundation of the Consumer Agency and the Finnish Competition Authority is linked with the strengthening market economy in society.

The structure of public administration has been renewed in the beginning of year 2010. New central governmental agencies were founded, some of the current ones were closed down and some duties were transferred from one agency to another. In this context Finnish Vehicle Administration became part of Finnish Transport Safety Agency and Finnish Rail Authority became part of Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency.