Ulkoistaminen kunnissa: Oikeudellinen tutkimus ulkoistamisen ilmenemismuodoista ja vaikutuksista sekä ulkoistamisen rajoituksista ja sille asetettavista vaatimuksista yhtenä kunnallisten palvelujen tuottamismuotona

Abstract

Kunnat ovat etenkin 2000-luvulle tultaessa ulkoistaneet entistä enemmän palvelujaan, mikä on vahvistanut kuntien roolin muutosta palveluiden tuottajasta niiden järjestäjäksi. Tutkimuksen keskipisteenä on, miten eri säännökset ohjaavat ja rajoittavat ulkoistamisia sekä mitä vaatimuksia ulkoistamisille on asetettavissa.

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan myös eri palveluntuottamismuotoja. Esimerkiksi erilaiset variaatiot tilaaja-tuottajamallista ovat yleistyneet. Tutkimuksessa arvioidaan kuntalaisten roolin muutosta asiakkaana esimerkiksi oikeusturvan näkökulmasta sekä luottamushenkilöiden rooleja eri toimintamuodoissa. Luottamushenkilöiden rooli on kehittynyt etenkin niissä kunnissa, joissa on siirrytty tilaaja-tuottajamalliin.

Uudentyyppiset toimintatavat ovat tuoneet kunnat uusien oikeudellisten kysymysten eteen, koska ulkoistamisissa liikutaan monella eri oikeudenalalla. Myös ulkoistamista koskeva sääntely on lisääntynyt ja hajanaistunut. Mikko Komulainen käy laajassa tutkimuksessaan läpi ulkoistamisiin välittömästi ja välillisesti liittyviä näkökulmia ja ilmiöitä ja avaa eri toimintamallien sisältöä ja käsitteitä.

Kuntien vaikutus- ja päätösmahdollisuudet ovat saaneet ulkoistamisten määrän ja koon kasvaessa aivan uusia elementtejä. Ongelmaksi kunnallisten palvelujen tuottamisessa nousee luottamushenkilöiden ja viranhaltijoiden ohjaus- ja valvontafunktion muutos, mikä ilmenee myös eri toimintamallien toimivuutena tai toimimattomuutena. Lisäksi ulkoistamisprosessin eri vaiheissa joudutaan tasapainoilemaan sen kanssa, mitkä asiat pitäisi ratkaista puhtaasti oikeudellisen tarkastelun pohjalta ja milloin pitäisi huomioida poliittisia linjoja.

Tutkimuksen perusteella ulkoistusten vaikutukset ovat moninaisia. Ulkoistamisen eri muodoissa on oikeudellisia, toiminnallisia sekä taloudellisia eroja. Ulkoistamisen muotoja on säännelty tarkasti, ja demokraattisen päätöksenteon liikkumatila aitoine vaihtoehtoineen joutuu monessa suhteessa entistä ahtaammalle. Tämä merkitsee vastuu-, johtamis-, ohjaus- ja palveluntuottamiskysymysten selkeyttämistä ja erottamista. Kunnanvaltuustolla on viime kädessä päätösvalta ainakin mittavissa kokonais- ja osittaisulkoistuksissa. Toisaalta eri palvelutuottamistavat, kuten monipalvelutuottajamallit, voivat tukea myös kunnan itsehallinnollista asemaa.

Abstract Mikko Komulainen (2010): Ulkoistaminen kunnissa: Oikeudellinen tutkimus ulkoistamisen ilmenemismuodoista ja vaikutuksista sekä ulkoistamisen rajoituksista ja sille asetettavista vaatimuksista yhtenä kunnallisten palvelujen tuottamismuotona. (Outsourcing in Finnish municipalities. A judicial study on the different forms and impacts of outsourcing, and the restrictions and demands placed on outsourcing as one form of local government service provision). Acta Publications No.222. The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities. Helsinki.

Since the turn of the 2000s , municipalities have increasingly outsourced their services, which has emphasized the change in their role from service producers to that of service providers. The focus of this study is on how regulations direct and constrain outsourcing and what requirements must be imposed upon it. For the purposes of this study, I have divided outsourcing into three categories: total outsourcing, outsourcing of subareas and partial outsourcing. This makes it possible to establish how outsourcing manifests itself in municipalities. Moreover, this study explores what is meant by outsourcing, what effects it has and what problems are associated with its various manifestations.

There is variation in the judicial, operational and economic perspectives of the various forms of outsourcing. To put it concisely, total outsourcing can be taken to be a decision by a municipality to transfer a certain function as a whole to be produced by an external actor. One of the main judicial features of total outsourcing is that the service producer is a legally competent and independent organ. Outsourcing of subareas refers mainly to the transfer of an operatively and judicially distinguishable entity into the hands of an external actor. The supervision and monitoring of a detached part is frequently more problematic unless the isolation of the subarea in question can the operationally achieved in as unambiguous a manner as possible.

In the case of partial outsourcing a public organ or municipality produces the service in collaboration with a private organ. There may be several interfaces and legal liability may be less clear than in the other forms of outsourcing. Partial outsourcing is the judicially most unstable form of outsourcing because the service producer need not be an independent body; it is suffi cient that it is operationally and economically separate and an independent unit.

Along with these new modes of operation, municipalities have been confronted with new legal issues because the various forms of outsourcing fall within many diffe16 rent legal areas; also, the regulation governing outsourcing has increased and become more fragmentary. I will also use the classifi cation adopted for the study to examine the concepts directly and indirectly associated with outsourcing. While various combinations of the purchaser-provider model have become widespread, the various forms of outsourcing do not of themselves require one single action model or form of legal body. The role of elected representatives has changed, especially in those municipalities which have adopted the purchaser-provider model.

In a genuine purchaser-provider model the roles of elected representatives are more clear-cut. It is simpler to concentrate on monitoring and developing the outsourced service when ordering and producing are not the responsibility of the one and the same body.

Applying different aspects of law is problematic from the perspective of legal administration. In spite of delineations it is necessary at various stages of the outsourcing process to take account of the basic elements of the different areas of law. The analysis of the adequacy of the classifi cation of outsourcing contracts also provides an evaluation of what limitations and requirements these contracts should entail.

In the regulation of outsourcing the focus appears to be shifting increasingly from the regulations governing municipal governance in general to regulations governing competitive bidding and contractual arrangements. Examination of the regulations constraining and enabling outsourcing revealed an interaction of different legal provisions than in other forms of service provision in the municipality. With the increase in the extent and size of outsourcing the power of municipalities to exert infl uence and take decisions has acquired totally new dimensions.

Correct outsourcing is largely governed by norms. Special legal provisions with dual signifi cance can be deemed as strongly binding: On the one hand they place very detailed demands and legal obligations on both purchaser and provider. On the other hand they can be deemed to enable outsourcing, especially in situations in which the activity in question cannot be produced in-house.

The municipality cannot outsource functions that do not fall within its competence. The tasks and functions which fall within the sphere of municipal autonomy, however, do indeed create the fi nal framework for outsourcing within which partial outsourcing measures can be considered. Different service production methods support municipal autonomy, and, for example, the outsourcing of certain subareas does not of itself undermine municipal decision-making or the potential to exert infl uence. In all action models and outsourcing stages attention should be paid not only to the requirements set by regulations but also to democratic considerations so as to ensure optimal preconditions for municipal autonomy regardless of the municipality s mode of operation. Additionally it should be legally possible for municipalities to take a function whether total, partial or a subarea back in-house after a certain period of time.

A problem emerging in the production of municipal services is the change in the supervision and monitoring function by elected representatives and offi ce-holders, which fi ts poorly with traditional municipal administration. It is not unequivocally clear what problems are attributable to the municipality s transformation from a producer of services to a provider of services and what are due to other operational or legislative interpretations because failure to implement outsourcing may be due to factors both within and outside the operating environment.

From the perspective of residents the private organ to which the functions have been delegated may not in all ways follow the same regulations or obligations as personnel under an offi cial obligation by virtue of their employment. In ambiguous contracts concerning total or subarea outsourcing there is a danger that the limits of public power will become blurred and issues of liability become complex. One key issue in the outsourcing process from the perspective of residents is that the provisions for legal security are not compromised.

The extent and content of the concept performance of functions included in Section 2(3) of the Finnish Local Government Act is assessed from the perspective of outsourcing. This provision also entails the concept obligation to provide which in certain aspects is legally problematic. I will also examine statutory tasks whose outsourcing is restricted or which may not be delegated beyond the municipality or offi cial organization.

In the various stages of outsourcing a balance must be found regarding what matters should be resolved on the basis of purely legal considerations and at what stages political directions should be taken into account. There would appear to be two types of effects of outsourcing. At least in major total outsourcing and partial outsourcing issues the ultimate power of decision rests with the municipal council. However, all forms of outsourcing are strictly regulated and the leeway for democratic decision-making with genuine alternatives is often limited. At the beginning of the outsourcing process political and legal liability should be separated and kept more distinctly separate than before.