Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Finland

10/13/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/13/2021 06:32

Comprehensive reform of the Municipality of Residence Act to begin – working groups to lead preparations

Comprehensive reform of the Municipality of Residence Act to begin - working groups to lead preparations

Ministry of Finance
13.10.202115.16
Press release

Minister of Local Government Sirpa Paatero has launched a full reform of the Municipality of Residence Act. The steering group and the law-drafting group of the legislative project will prepare the reform. First, they will identify the needs to change the legislation on people's municipality of residence, and then, based on these needs, they will prepare a proposal for a new Municipality of Residence Act and for the necessary changes to other legislation.

The Municipality of Residence Act provides how a person's municipality of residence and place of residence are determined. In spring 2020, a working group set up to determine the need for changes to the Municipality of Residence Act proposed an overhaul of the act, which would mean enacting a new act to replace the current one. The current act is more than 25 years old, and it has been amended on many occasions.

The legislative project is set to examine the current state of legislation on municipality of residence and identify the need for changes. The project is to pay particular attention to problems that have emerged in the application of the Municipality of Residence Act and the ways it affects people's rights and obligations laid down elsewhere in legislation.

A key objective of the project is to ensure that the municipality of residence entries made in the Population Information System are up to date and accurate so that other authorities can trust them in their own decision-making. Another aim is to safeguard people's fundamental rights.

A number of other acts and decrees refer to the Municipality of Residence Act or to a person's municipality of residence. This means that changes to the Municipality of Residence Act may have an impact on the activities of many branches of government. For this reason, the steering group and law-drafting group preparing the reform will have representatives from the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities and from the ministries and agencies that play key roles in the application of the Municipality of Residence Act.

The project runs from 12 October 2021 to 31 March 2023. The steering group is chaired by Permanent Under-Secretary of State Päivi Nerg and the law-drafting group is chaired by Senior Ministerial Adviser Ville Koponen from the Ministry of Finance.

Inquiries:
Tiina Isotalus, Special Adviser, tel. +358 50 473 4811, tiina.isotalus(at)gov.fi
Päivi Nerg, Permanent Under-Secretary, tel. +358 2955 30149, paivi.nerg(at)gov.fi
Ville Koponen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 2955 30504, ville.koponen(at)gov.fi

Governance PolicyLocal Government AffairsSirpa Paatero