Strategic public procurement management in Finland 2021

In January 2021, KEINO conducted a follow-up survey on the current state of strategic management of sustainable and innovative public procurement. (First survey was made in 2018.) The survey was carried out as an electronic survey and received a total of 178 responses. The majority of respondents (total of 88) represented municipalities, the state (total of 43) and parishes (total of 28). The rest of the respondents represented non-central government units (total of 3) and other organizations (total of 8).

Level of strategic management

61% of the organisations that replied to the questionnaire have strategic guidelines for procurement. The most common of these was the strategic orientation for the whole organisation as a separate document endorsed by the decision-making body (39%). The second most common response was that strategic guidelines are part of the overall organisation's strategy (14%). Some respondents (8%) had policies for a single industry or unit. 19% of respondents replied that they have no strategic guidelines on public procurement at all. The organisations that chose the option 'something else' (7%) have, according to open answers, for example, an internal guideline on the organisation and direction of the procurement operation.

The implementation of strategic guidelines is regularly monitored by only a quarter of organisations (24%). One third of respondents have irregular monitoring (31%). In total, 65% of organisations have some form of monitoring. 14 % of the respondents reported that there was no follow-up at all and 14% of respondents reported that monitoring was planned but not yet in use.

Nearly half of the respondents (47%) have drawn up an implementation plan or equivalent to implement strategic guidelines. Almost half (21%) of these organisations have an implementation plan for the whole organisation and it is mainly or fully responsible and scheduled and 14% of these respondents have an implementation plan, but it is not responsible or scheduled. About a quarter of these (12%) have been drawn up an implementation plan only on a sectoral or unit basis. Approximately one third of the respondents (32%) do not have an implementation plan at all.

Sustainable and innovative procurement

The survey also examined the consideration of social, ecological and economic sustainability in procurement policies or similar. Half of the respondents reported that financial sustainability has been taken into account in general terms throughout the organisation. In general, ecological sustainability has been taken into account in just under half (47%) of organisations, as well as social sustainability (44%).

The survey also examined the consideration of innovations and the SME perspective. 35% of organisations have taken the innovation aspect into account in general throughout the organisation. The SME aspect has generally been taken into account throughout the organisation by 40% of respondents.

National Public Procurement Strategy (Procurement Finland Programme)

The survey was also used to investigate the awareness of Finland's National Public Procurement Strategy (Procurement Finland Programme) and its impact on the strategic guidelines for procurement of organisations. Well over half (64%) of the respondents replied that the organisation is aware of the national procurement strategy. 22 % of respondents said they were unfamiliar with the national strategy in question.

Overall, almost 70% of respondents said that the national public procurement strategy affects their organisation's procurement strategic guidelines. Of these, more than half (40%) said that they are formulating the guidelines of the national strategy slightly. 20% of respondents said that they only take some of the policies into account. 9% of respondents said that the national public procurement strategy does not affect their organisation's procurement strategic guidelines.

Procurement policies and coronavirus disease

Lastly, organisations were asked whether the current pandemic situation (Covid-19) has affected or will affect the organisation's strategic procurement policies or their implementation/procurement practices in the future. Half of the respondents said that the pandemic situation has no impact on their organisation's strategic guidelines on procurement. Around one third of the respondents (29%) said that strategic policies have already been or will be affected by the pandemic situation.