Local govt employment trials may be extended

The government on Thursday submitted a proposal to supplement the government proposal on local government trials on boosting employment, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in a press release.

According to the proposal, six new regions would be added to the trial. In addition, one or more municipalities would be added to four trial regions already confirmed in the original proposal.

The supplementary proposal specifies that the tasks would be performed by the municipality of the trial area.

However, the municipality could agree to transfer the responsibility for carrying out a task to another municipality in the same trial region. Municipalities in the trial region could also agree on forms of cooperation for the performance of the tasks.

The purpose of the original proposal was to transfer the tasks and duties of the Employment and Economic Development Office to the municipalities during the trial. However, the proposal lacked provisions related to these tasks, which the new proposal now includes.

A total of 12 applications covering 38 municipalities were received during the application period for the local government trials on boosting employment. Ten applications were selected for further preparation. The applications were assessed on the basis of the pre-announced conditions and the feasibility of the plans submitted.