Service needs and investment pressure remain strong in a growing city

Net investments made by the Espoo Group amounted to EUR 409 million in 2024. The Group’s loan portfolio was EUR 3,783 million. The group loan portfolio was EUR 11,783 per resident, which was the highest in a comparison of the six largest cities. After the reform of social welfare, health care and rescue services, the city’s finances are in a new situation with cuts in tax funding. Tax revenue decreased by more than EUR 80 million from the previous year. The city’s annual contribution margin was EUR 306.9 million, showing a EUR 147.4 million decrease from the previous year. In a growing city, the annual contribution margin must be clearly higher than depreciations in order for the city to cope with replacement and growth investments and loan repayments as well as be able to secure the provision of basic services for its residents. Due to the uncertainties in the economic and operating environment and the structural reforms implemented, an emphasis is placed on the forecast for the city’s service needs, cost calculation of service provision and analysis of income financing as a whole.

The Espoo Story has been implemented with the help of the City Council’s objectives and annual performance targets as well as cross-administrative development programmes. According to an Audit Committee estimate, 7 of the 26 performance targets set for the city for 2024 were achieved, 10 were partially realised, 7 were not realised, and 2 targets could not be assessed. The two performance targets of Facility Services were not realised. Of the 32 performance targets  set for Group entities, 18 were achieved, 9 were partially realised and 5 were not realised. The unrealised city performance targets concerned, in particular, the well-being of young people, the function of the interface between Espoo and the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County, and the efficiency of the city administration. Due to the current economic situation, we did not manage to achieve the targets for youth unemployment and the number of business sector jobs. The unrealised targets of Facility Services and the Espoo Group were mainly due to the economy. In the view of the Audit Committee, the operation of cross-administrative development programmes and the resources available were not in line with the broad themes and ambitious targets of the development programmes. The Audit Committee considers it important to clarify the role of the steering groups and to ensure sufficient human resources as well as to make more active use of external funding opportunities in order to achieve the programme targets for the coming City Council term.

One of the assessment targets was the well-being of children and young people, along with anti-bullying initiatives in educational institutions. Under the Basic Education Act, pupils have the right to a safe learning environment consisting of psychological, social and physical factors. Bullying at schools is manifested, for example, as discrimination, harassment and violence. Based on a pupil survey conducted for 2024–2025, it is felt that there has been less adult intervention and that the bullying experienced by pupils has increased. In all cases of bullying, educational institutions must intervene immediately and in a multidisciplinary manner. Cooperation between the city and the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County as well as the timely access to services that promote the well-being of children and young people are key anti-bullying measures.

Sustainable transport and mobility are among the priority areas of the Climate-neutral Espoo 2030 roadmap adopted by the City Council in May 2024. The aim is to reduce transport emissions by 57% of 1990 levels by 2030. According to the 2023 outcome, transport emissions have decreased by 7% from 1990 levels, and achieving the target seems unlikely. The Audit Committee recommends that the City Council and the entire city organisation by area of responsibility take the necessary stepping-up measures to reduce transport emissions and achieve the climate neutrality target set by the City Council.

Prevention of regional segregation through urban land use will be implemented, for example, through diverse housing offerings and apartment types, support for improving the service level of the different regions, improving the quality of the local environment, and allocating investments equally to different parts of the city. During the planning phase, extensive segregation impact assessments must be conducted to prevent the occurrence of segregation in different areas of the city.

The 2024 assessment programme also included city communications, digital services and digital support, information security and data protection, employment services, library services, general upper secondary education, and the accessibility of school buildings. In addition, the implementation of the ownership steering targets set for Espoon Asunnot Oy, Espoo real estate companies and Omnia, the Joint Authority of Education in the Espoo region was assessed. The joint assessment topic of Helsinki Metropolitan Area audit committees was adaptation to extreme weather phenomena and preparedness. Assessment and their conclusions and recommendations can be read in the 2024 assessment report in Finnish.

For more information, please contact Paula Viljakainen, Chair of the Audit Committee, tel. +358 (0)50 5727 497. The assessment report was submitted to the Chair of the City Council on 5 May 2025.