The study visit was organised as part of Component 1, one of the project's three substantive components. This component encompasses the institutionalisation of the financial audit of the Budgetary Central Government (BCG) budget and the financial audit of Statutory Public Authorities (SPA).

The Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh, Md. Nurul Islam, and a group of nine auditors participated in the inaugural study visit. The Bangladeshi guests were welcomed by NIK management – ​​NIK President Mariusz Haładyj and NIK Vice-President Jacek Kozłowski, who oversees the project.

The CAG expressed satisfaction with the cooperation under the project to date, highly appreciating the knowledge, experience, and professionalism of the NIK experts. He also confirmed his interest in expanding the cooperation beyond the current twinning project.

NIK President Mariusz Haładyj emphasised the importance of exchanging experiences between institutions. He pointed out that the Supreme Audit Office of Poland is currently undergoing a process of change and development. He noted that, in relations with OCAG, exchange of information on the audit of large infrastructure projects, digitalisation of the audit process, and analysis of budget systems would be particularly interesting. He underlined that expanding bilateral cooperation beyond the framework of the twinning project could bring tangible benefits to both institutions and deserves continued support.

Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh Md. Nurul Islam with
NIK President Mariusz Haładyj and NIK Vice-President Jacek Kozłowski

The OCAG delegation during its visit to the Supreme Audit Office of Poland,
together with NIK President Mariusz Haładyj

During the substantive sessions, the OCAG auditor group was prepared – in accordance with the requirements of the agreement signed with the Beneficiary – to transfer their acquired knowledge and skills to other auditors. A training session was conducted, titled "How to Become a Good Trainer." The approach used by NIK in conducting audits of the state budget execution and financial audits was discussed in detail, using selected examples. This allowed for the exchange of practical experiences gained by both parties during national audits in the indicated thematic areas, as well as a comparison and evaluation of the solutions adopted.

OCAG representatives visited the Ministry of Justice, where they learned about key issues concerning the relationship between NIK and the audited entity. They also met with Secretary of State Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they discussed the current cooperation between the two countries and identified possible future directions. The Minister underscored that Poland is an example of a country that has successfully completed a political and economic transformation, allowing it to share its experience with international partners. He also highlighted the role of the Supreme Audit Office of Poland as one of the state institutions enjoying the highest public trust in Poland. He thanked NIK for its commitment to working with its Bangladeshi partners, emphasising that twinning is crucial both for institutional development and for strengthening bilateral relations. NIK Vice-President Jacek Kozłowski presented the project's assumptions and the cooperation with OCAG to date. He stressed that Poland, drawing on the experience and support received during the transformation period in the 1990s, now feels responsible for supporting the institutional development of its partners. He also noted that the cooperation is bilateral in nature – NIK also draws valuable experience from it.

Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski, Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh Md. Nurul Islam, NIK Vice-President Jacek Kozłowski / Meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

During the study visit, the auditors from Bangladesh also learned about NIK's operational model. During their visit to the Sejm, Przemysław Witek, a member of the State Audit Committee, presented the relationship and principles of cooperation between the Parliament and NIK. The OCAG auditors also met with the former President of NIK, Senator Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, at the Sejm.

SAI Bangladesh delegation at the Polish Parliament with MP Przemysław Witek.

During their visit to the NIK Regional Branch in Kraków, auditors from OCAG had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the activities of NIK regional branches and their reports, including those related to environmental protection and air quality. The key findings of recent audits conducted by the Kraków Branch provided an excellent starting point for discussion and exchange of experiences regarding similarities and differences in the performance of environmental audits and audits in healthcare facilities. They also discussed how to effectively ensure the proper implementation of audit recommendations, and discussed issues related to reporting to the relevant law enforcement authorities.

The SAI Bangladesh delegation during its visit to the NIK Regional Branch in Kraków.

During a meeting with NIK management, the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh emphasized the project's significant importance for developing OCAG's capacity to conduct audits in accordance with the ISSAI. He expressed his willingness to develop closer cooperation, particularly in the areas of digital transformation, data analysis, and climate and environmental auditing.

The discussions focused on the operation of the state and its institutions in the context of a protracted crisis. Topics addressed during the meeting included the effectiveness of measures applied in the defence sector, the energy sector’s resilience to air strikes and acts of sabotage, methods for the rapid reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, and cooperation between public administration and non-governmental organisations in the field of civil protection. The talks also dealt with ensuring the effectiveness of defence spending, combating corruption, and the role of humanitarian aid during wartime.

The experiences of institutions and individuals operating in wartime conditions provide unique insights into guaranteeing the continuity of state functions, civil protection and the maintenance of key public services in crisis situations. They also demonstrate what solutions can strengthen the capacity of the public administration and the Polish society to respond to emergencies and long-term threats.

Part of the visit involved participation in the international forum called The Future of State Audit in a Period of Global Challenges, organised by the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine. The event was attended by representatives of supreme audit institutions, parliaments, public administrations, international organisations and expert communities from 18 countries. The debates concentrated on the role of independent audit in building a state’s resilience, the functioning of audit institutions in crisis situations, and the importance of post-audit recommendations for the quality of public governance. The forum participants also talked about the transparency of public spending, the use of international support and the independence of supreme audit institutions. During the panel on the resilience of public finances, the introductory presentation was delivered by NIK President Mariusz Haładyj.

The Future of State Audit in a Period of Global Challenges forum organised by the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine (photo: rp.gov.ua)

President of NIK Mariusz Haładyj (photo: rp.gov.ua)

The knowledge gained during the visit will be utilised, amongst other things, in ongoing audits concerning the performance of tasks by regional civil protection authorities and the preparation of the civilian healthcare system to operate under conditions of armed conflict. It will also be helpful in preparing future audits in the areas of national security, defence and resilience. Ukraine’s experience in this regard represents a valuable source of knowledge, supporting the assessment of public institutions’ readiness to act in emergencies.

In addition to representatives of the Slovenian SAI, led by its President Jana Ahčin, the meeting was attended by the Heads of the Supreme Audit Institutions of: Austria - Dr. Margit Kraker, Czech Republic - Miloslav Kala, Hungary - Dr. László Windisch, Slovakia - Ľubomír Andrassy and Poland - Mariusz Haładyj. Also, Dr. Mehriddin Abdullayev, Acting Chairman of the Chamber of Accounts of Uzbekistan, attended the meeting as an observer.

Heads of SAIs of the V4+2 Group and Uzbekistan at the meeting in Bled, Slovenia

This was the first time NIK President Mariusz Haładyj participated in the V4+2 meeting. The Polish SAI Head presented NIK's new approach to state auditing, including organisational changes introduced through the institution's new charter. He emphasised that these changes are intended to improve NIK’s effectiveness and focus audits more strongly on the actual outcomes of state activities.

President Haładyj also discussed the need for broader use of modern technologies within NIK. He stressed that new solutions should be implemented only after their usefulness and security have been thoroughly verified. They should aim at supporting auditors and enhancing their work, while making sure that humans remain responsible for evaluations and final decisions.

The Head of the SAI of Slovenia underlined the importance of open experience exchange concerning key professional challenges and priorities in the work of SAIs. She noted that the auditing environment is evolving due to digitalisation and artificial intelligence, while the core principles guiding Supreme Audit Institutions, i.e. independence, impartiality, transparency, objectivity and effectiveness, remain unchanged.

The meeting participants agreed that successful audits depend on selecting proper audit topics and maintaining high-quality cooperation among those involved in the audit process. They also concurred that artificial intelligence will not replace auditors. Rather, it can serve as an assistant that boosts the effectiveness of SAI operations.

At the same time, data security, protection of intellectual property rights, and safeguarding sensitive information remain major challenges for Supreme Audit Institutions. As Dr. Margit Kraker, President of the Austrian SAI, remarked: "The issue is not the technology itself, but the way we implement it in our organisations."

Meeting of V4+2 Group in Bled, Slovenia

Particular attention was given to practical experiences of individual SAIs. Participants noted that AI deployment often begins not with selecting a technology, but with addressing a specific user’s problem. For example, the Slovenian SAI presented an AI tool that eliminates the need to manually transfer large volumes of invoice and document data into audit summaries. This allows auditors to focus on analysis rather than routine technical tasks. Solutions developed for one audit can subsequently be adapted for use in similar audit assignments.

Some SAIs, including those of Austria and Hungary, use artificial intelligence on two distinct levels depending on the sensitivity of the data involved. For instance, for public data, they employ widely available AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini, whereas for protected or confidential data, they rely on dedicated AI systems designed to work with secure internal resources.

Representatives of the Chamber of Accounts of Uzbekistan also attended the meeting as observers. The Uzbek delegation presented several advanced IT solutions supporting audit processes, with particular emphasis on the use of artificial intelligence.

NIK President Mariusz Haładyj symbolically assumes the role of host
for the V4+2 Group meeting in 2027

At the close of the meeting, the President of the Slovenian SAI symbolically transferred responsibility for hosting the next V4+2 meeting to Mariusz Haładyj, President of the Supreme Audit Office of Poland.

None of the eight operators audited ensured that the systems used to provide the key service were resilient to actions that compromise the confidentiality, integrity, availability and authenticity of the data being processed. Furthermore, the majority of operators (six) systematically ignored critical alerts generated by monitoring and security systems, and in extreme cases did not conduct such monitoring at all, even though the scale of cyber threats was steadily increasing. Consequently, they may not even have been aware that their systems had been attacked. 

In 2025, Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) at national level handled nearly 273,000 so-called incidents – 144.4% more than the previous year, which means that, statistically, an incident occurred in Polish cyberspace every two minutes on average. These include any event that disrupts the operation of IT systems, threatens data confidentiality or breaches information technology (IT) security policies.

Incidents affecting systems used to provide critical services are of particular significance, as their consequences may extend beyond the digital realm. A cyberattack on water supply systems, for example, allows the manipulation of water parameters. Increasing the chlorine content in the water, in turn, may endanger the health and even the lives of consumers. Hackers gaining control of electricity grids could lead to widespread and prolonged power cuts. Furthermore, as a member of the European Union and NATO, Poland faces threats from cybercriminal hacker groups or groups sponsored by foreign states.

In the face of the growing prevalence of technically sophisticated attack methods, such as malware or those using artificial intelligence (AI), maintaining and continuously improving security standards is no longer merely a technical matter. It is becoming an essential element of compliance with legal requirements and an expression of responsibility for the stability of the entire system, in which the activities of a single entity directly affect the operations of other market participants and consumers. According to the NIK, in the face of geopolitical and economic tensions, it is also crucial to identify even marginal cybersecurity threats.

NIK audited:

• the Ministry of Digital Affairs,
• the Ministry of Energy,
• the Ministry of Infrastructure,
• eight operators of essential services (from the following sectors: transport, power supply, and the supply and distribution of drinking water).

Period covered by the audit: 1 January 2021 – 16 February 2026

Malware – a general term for any form of malicious software. It is designed to cause harm to computers, mobile phones and systems. It can steal data, block access to files, destroy the system or spy on the user without their knowledge.

Ransomware – malware that encrypts files on a computer or locks the entire system. Criminals demand a ransom – usually in cryptocurrency – in exchange for a promise to restore access to the data.

Phishing attack – a scam in which a hacker impersonates a trusted company or public authority to steal someone’s passwords, money or personal data. Criminals most often use fake emails, text messages (smishing), or websites for this purpose. 

A DDoS attack – an attempt to disrupt an internet service by flooding it with artificial traffic from multiple devices simultaneously. Botnets (thousands of hacked computers, cameras and routers that send requests without their owners’ knowledge) are used for this purpose. 

Cybersecurity vulnerabilities – weaknesses in a system, such as code errors, misconfigurations or weak passwords, which can lead to data theft or a malicious takeover of a computer.

Access to high-quality internet fosters the development of digital services and businesses, while modern infrastructure enables the growth of e-services, e-commerce and automation. The European Funds for Digital Development 2021–2027 Programme is one of the main instruments financed by the European Union aimed at developing digital infrastructure in Poland, including ensuring access to ultra-fast broadband internet. 

The Digital Poland Project Centre (Centrum Projektów Polska Cyfrowa, CPPC) was the key body responsible for awarding and administering support to telecoms operators. Its tasks included preparing and conducting the call for proposals, assessing applications for project funding, concluding funding agreements, verifying payment claims, monitoring project implementation, and ensuring that the support complied with the relevant regulations.

As part of its audit, the NIK examined the implementation of measures under Priority I, ‘Increasing access to ultra-fast broadband’, of the EFDD programme, which is aimed at developing networks providing internet access with a bandwidth of at least 300 Mb/s, with the potential for further expansion to gigabit speeds.

Declining interest amongst programme beneficiaries and low take-up of funds

An audit by the NIK showed that telecoms operators, despite their applications for funding under the EFDD programme being approved, often abandoned projects following further technical, economic and legal analyses which indicated limited profitability of the investments, and in some cases even terminated agreements during the course of the project. Consequently, they failed to undertake almost half of the planned investments, which were intended to increase access to ultra-fast broadband internet in various regions of Poland in so-called ‘white spots’. By the end of 2025, only 61 out of 118 operators (i.e., 51.7%) whose applications for funding had been approved in the EFDD programme’s call for proposals were implementing projects.

Due to declining interest amongst businesses in utilising the support, in July 2025 the allocation of European Union funds earmarked for Measure 1.1 was reduced by nearly 60% – from PLN 4.5 billion to PLN 1.8 billion. As of 30 September 2025, the entire reduced amount had been contracted by the Digital Poland Project Centre (CPPC) for broadband network construction projects. In the opinion of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), the reallocation of part of the funds to other tasks helped to minimise the risk of the EFDD programme allocation going unused while at the same time confirming the limited capacity to absorb funds for increasing access to fixed broadband internet in so-called ‘white spots’.

By 30 September 2025, the CPPC had settled expenditure reported by beneficiaries totalling PLN 110.6 million, which represented 5.9% of the value of the funding allocated under the grant agreements. This means that after approximately 60% of the implementation period had elapsed (on average, almost 20 months since the signing of the grant agreements), beneficiaries had utilised and settled just under 6% of the contracted funds, with an average of 15 months remaining until the end of the eligibility period for expenditure.

Incorrect and incomplete data on address points

The lack of complete and accurate data on address points undermined the effectiveness of support for the roll-out of broadband networks under the EFDD programme in so-called ‘white spots’. The source of the problems was the inadequate quality of the data used to identify, verify and update the address points covered by the funding. Incomplete or out-of-date data meant that, even while projects were underway, it was necessary to amend their scope, in particular by excluding some address points and replacing them with others. This delayed network roll-out and limited the programme’s ability to achieve its intended outcomes. The scale of the problem indicates that these were not isolated errors, but a weakness in the mechanism based on data provided by telecoms operators, which was subsequently used in the planning and implementation of the support. Responsibility for the quality of the data and its use in the intervention process was fragmented. The data was provided by telecommunications operators and then collected and updated in the dedicated PIT (Information Point on Telecommunications) and SIDUSIS (Information System on Access to Fixed Broadband Internet Services), which fall under the remit of the President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) and the Minister of Digital Affairs, and were used to designate and verify areas eligible for support. The CPPC did not own this data, but it should have identified the impact of its insufficient quality on project implementation and reported such risks to the relevant institutions.

Following the amendment to the State Aid Rules, the CPPC failed to provide a documented analysis of whether, in the designated areas, existing networks could be upgraded to a capacity of 1 Gb/s without significant investment in network infrastructure. This risk was also not included in the risk management system, even though it could have affected the eligibility for and scope of the aid granted.

Delays in the implementation of investments

In 12 out of the 17 projects examined (i.e., 70.6%), the NIK identified irregularities. These included breaches of the provisions of grant agreements, delays in the implementation of broadband network projects, and problems with the submission of the required data to the PIT and SIDUSIS systems. 

In ten of the projects examined, there were delays in implementation compared with the original timetables, and in three of them these delays persisted despite the implementation of remedial plans. These plans postponed the completion date by six months. Consequently, the progress of the audited projects, as at the date of completion of the audit, was low in relation to the level of contractual obligations. The NIK audit revealed that, by the end of the audit, less than 10% of the network had been built (1,530 km out of the planned 15,819 km), and coverage extended to only 25% of address points. 

Almost one-third of the projects examined (29.4%) were being implemented in breach of the funding agreements. Furthermore, in the case of 13 out of 17 projects examined (76.5%), the provision of ultra-fast broadband internet access services had not yet commenced at all, which means that implementation remained mainly at the construction or technical coverage stage, rather than the actual provision of services to end-users. The underutilisation of the infrastructure was due to the services not having been launched, rather than a lack of interest on the part of residents. 

Frequent changes to the scope of projects

Delays in project implementation were significantly affected by changes to the scope of projects introduced by the CPPC, involving the exclusion of some previously planned locations (exclusion of address points). In 16 out of 17 audited projects, 12.6% of the address points planned for coverage were excluded from the investment. These changes resulted from incomplete and out-of-date data on telecommunications infrastructure, which was collected and updated by the President of the Office of Electronic Communications in the PIT system and by the Minister of Digital Affairs in the SIDUSIS system. Consequently, CPPC had limited scope to independently adjust the parameters of the support provided. 

Provision of data on telecommunications infrastructure by the surveyed businesses

Irregularities were identified in five of the 15 beneficiaries audited (i.e., 33.3%), consisting of the incomplete or late submission of data to the PIT and SIDUSIS systems. It should be emphasised that outdated or incomplete data may necessitate a reduction in the scope of the investment while the business is still utilising the support, and, in extreme cases, may lead to double funding of broadband networks in certain locations where networks already exist or are being built by several businesses. 

Recurring problems

The NIK notes that significant problems concerning the provision of fixed broadband internet access, previously identified as a result of an audit of the implementation of the National Broadband Plan (Narodowy Plan Szerokopasmow, NPS), i.e., the government document on the development of broadband networks, have not been resolved. They continue to relate to the insufficient quality and timeliness of data on telecommunications infrastructure.

In addition, one of the main objectives of the NPS has not been achieved, as by the end of 2025 just over 85% of address points were covered by broadband internet, instead of the planned 100%. The persistence of shortcomings in data quality increases the risk of further setbacks in the implementation of measures to improve access to broadband internet in Poland.

Conclusions and recommendations

As a result of the audit performed, the Supreme Audit Office asks the Minister of Digital Affairs and the President of the Office of Electronic Communications:

• to take action by the Minister of Digital Affairs and the President of UKE to ensure that the data on telecommunications infrastructure and address points used by the Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy and the Director of CPPC in the implementation of Measure 1.1 of the EFDD programme is up to date and complete;
• to take action by the Minister of Digital Affairs, in cooperation with the Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy and the President of UKE, to ensure proper verification of the modernisation potential of existing broadband infrastructure in the intervention areas.

The NIK notes that the audit findings confirmed that incomplete and out-of-date data on broadband infrastructure, including address points, have a significant impact on the planning and effectiveness of public intervention in the development of fixed broadband internet networks in areas requiring support.

Therefore, the recommendation addressed to the Minister of Digital Affairs following the NIK audit P/23/005 ‘Implementation of the National Broadband Plan’ remains valid. It concerned ensuring that data on telecommunications infrastructure and address points are collected within a single reporting system, alongside the standardisation of deadlines for their submission.

– I hope that our recommendations will help the state conduct its economic policy, since the ability to pursue effective public policies in every area – economic, social, defence, healthcare, environmental protection, infrastructure, digitalisation, etc. – depends on the state of public finances – said the President of NIK.

NIK pointed out that systemic problems rarely arise overnight. They are usually the result of a build-up of decisions taken over the years.

Key findings of the budgetary audit

In 2025, the state budget was characterised by a significant imbalance. Expenditure significantly exceeded revenue. The largest expenditure items included: compulsory social insurance, national defence, family support and – less favourably – debt servicing costs. One of the factors enabling a significant rise in expenditure was the relaxation of the stabilising expenditure rule, which was intended to curb excessive growth in spending.

At the same time, the central government revenue fell. On the one hand, that was the result of the reform of local government funding, which was viewed positively. A portion of tax revenue was transferred to local authorities, thereby enhancing their financial stability. This enabled them to plan their investments and services for residents more effectively. On the other hand, for the third year running, tax revenues turned out to be lower than planned. The shortfall in planned revenue hampered the implementation of the state budget and contributed to an increase in extra-budgetary debt financing. This financing was not as high as in previous years, but it was still maintained. This contributed to a rise in public debt. Although this increased the size of the budget deficit, NIK viewed favourably the use of state budget funds to repay part of the liabilities incurred in previous years by the Polish Development Fund (Polski Fundusz Rozwoju, PFR) and the National Development Bank (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. BGK), as it reversed the effects of financing expenditure outside the budget.

A positive trend in 2025 was the improvement in the transparency of public finances and greater financial discipline. The highest proportion of positive assessments in recent years was recorded across the various audited entities.

For the first time in its history, NIK carried out an indicator-based comparison of the effectiveness of selected expenditure incurred by governors. Similar public services in different regions generated varying costs. Therefore, according to NIK, it would be worthwhile to introduce uniform standards for the provision of these services and rules for their funding.

NIK calls for planned, specific and gradual measures

– Serious threats rarely arise overnight. They are usually the result of a build-up of decisions taken over the years. We also wish to highlight potential risks and possible ways of countering them. With this in mind, in our risk analysis we have identified the risks we perceive, diagnosed the problems and formulated recommendations that can be implemented in the long term – emphasises NIK President Mariusz Haładyj.

The Supreme Audit Office of Poland points out that it would be advisable to take steps to reduce budgetary imbalances. The relatively favourable economic situation should be used to build resilience for harder times. Increasing fixed expenditure at a time when the revenue growth is failing to keep pace with the rate of increase in such expenditure does not enhance financial security. In such circumstances, even a gradual reduction of the imbalance becomes a challenge, as it is necessary to avoid undermining the economy’s long-term growth potential and to maintain the state’s ability to finance security, public investment and social expenditure. NIK recommends placing greater emphasis on reviews of public expenditure to eliminate those items that do not deliver the expected results. This could increase public acceptance of the adjustment measures resulting from a substantive, data-driven review.

– The state budget in 2025 was not in a state of crisis. Poland did not lose access to funding. However, to improve the long-term stability of public finances, it is essential to plan in advance measures to reduce the budget deficit and curb the rise in the public debt-to-GDP ratio. The problem is not even a high deficit in a single year, but its persistence over the longer term, which contributes to a high rate of public debt accumulation despite a favourable economic situation. Correcting the trajectory of growing fiscal imbalances at a sufficiently early stage will help limit the risk of far more drastic and costly measures in the future, should it become necessary to apply precautionary procedures. This is the aim of NIK’s recommendations. We are not calling for rapid or radical measures, which could have an adverse impact on the economic situation and hamper economic growth. We are recommending that gradual, yet concrete, efforts should be planned and undertaken so that they can be implemented optimally and effectively in a timely manner – states President Haładyj.

What was the public money spent on?

Description of the methodology for compiling the 2025 public expenditure map

This year, for the first time, we have published a map of state expenditure. This tool allows users to trace the structure of public expenditure and see which areas of the state activity absorbed the largest amounts of funding.

– The state budget comprises thousands of items and hundreds of billions of Polish zlotys (PLN). For the first time, we are also presenting state expenditure in the form of a map. We want data on public finances to be more accessible and understandable to citizens – explains President Haładyj.

Access to full analysis and audit findings

In addition to the Analysis of the Execution of the State Budget and Monetary Policy Guidelines in 2025, we have also provided access to a publication setting out key audit findings and a comprehensive set of information on the results of the audit of the implementation of the state budget in individual budgetary sections and financial plans (in Polish).

The lack of systematic and comprehensive preventive healthcare hinders the early detection of serious illnesses and congenital anomalies in children and young people, as well as cases of abuse by parents, legal guardians, or those closest to them. Such situations can be detected at an early stage by a doctor, nurse, or midwife when conducting systematic preventive check-ups.

The NIK carried out an audit at the Ministry of Health, five Voivodship Branches of the National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, NFZ) and eighteen primary healthcare centres in the following voivodships: Lubuskie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Śląskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie.

A small number of children and young people have undergone preventive examinations

Primary healthcare centres, apart from postnatal visits by primary healthcare midwives, have provided preventive examinations to only a small number of eligible children and young people. According to data from the Ministry of Health, nationwide in the individual years under review, primary healthcare doctors covered only between 25.2% and 26.2% of the population with routine child health surveillance, and between 39% and 42.3% with postnatal visits. In contrast, primary healthcare nurses covered with health screening between 43.2% and 67%, and with postnatal visits only between 16.9% and 18.2% of the population. More preventive examinations (compared to primary healthcare doctors and nurses) were carried out by primary healthcare midwives as part of their postnatal visits. Data from the Ministry show that they covered by preventive examinations between 126.6% and 128.9% of the population. The fact that the number of children covered by these services exceeded the number of children born in a given year, according to the Statistics Poland (GUS), was due to the fact that children born in the last week of December had their postnatal visits in January and February of the following year. The examinations performed by primary healthcare midwives were funded, in addition to the capitation rate (an amount set by the National Health Fund), by additional public funds for each visit.

Funding for primary healthcare, including preventive examinations

Between 2022 and 2024, the following amounts were spent from the state budget’s capitation rate to fund primary healthcare services, including preventive examinations for children and young people up to the age of 19, respectively: PLN 3.2 billion, PLN 3.6 billion, and PLN 3.8 billion. An additional PLN 37 million was paid in 2022 for postnatal visits by primary healthcare midwives, and approximately PLN 36 million in both 2023 and 2024.

Under current regulations, the National Health Fund pays healthcare providers a capitation rate for registered patients, regardless of whether they use the services or not.

No entries in medical records confirming that examinations had been carried out

The NIK audit found that in as many as 17 out of 18 primary healthcare centres audited, there were no entries in patients’ medical records confirming that a full range of preventive examinations for children and young people had been carried out by a primary healthcare doctor, nurse or midwife, as required by the Regulation on guaranteed primary healthcare services. The audit findings showed that either the required scope of examinations had not been carried out, or this had not been reflected in the medical records. The NIK concluded that the reasons for this situation were that preventive examinations were carried out during visits associated with a child’s illness, the complexity of the health problems reported by parents, and a lack of knowledge about the current regulatory requirements.

The Minister of Health’s lack of reliable knowledge about the state of preventive healthcare and failure to exercise oversight

The Minister of Health had limited knowledge about the state of preventive healthcare. The Minister was unaware of the actual number of children and young people covered by primary healthcare doctor services, the number of children covered by postnatal visits by primary healthcare nurses, the number of health screenings carried out by these nurses, and the number of children covered by primary healthcare midwife services. Despite the obligation to conduct statistical surveys, the Minister did not enforce the submission of MZ-11 statistical reports by primary healthcare centres, which were one of the sources of information on preventive healthcare services provided to children and young people. In 2022, 78.1% of the required entities submitted them; in 2023, 77.4%; and in 2024, 71.5%. The Minister attributed this to a lack of instruments that would effectively incentivise the submission of data. However, in the opinion of NIK, the Minister may, as part of the supervision exercised, take measures to encourage primary healthcare centres to submit such data by emphasising, in particular, that the provision of statistical data inconsistent with the facts, refusal to fulfil statistical obligations, and the submission of statistical data after the specified deadline are acts for which the Act on Public Statistics provides for criminal liability.

The Minister of Health failed to supervise the activities of the National Health Fund concerning preventive healthcare for children and young people within the framework of primary healthcare, as well as healthcare providers, despite being under an obligation to do so (as set out in the provisions of the Act on Healthcare Services Financed from Public Funds). The Minister did not request documents, information or explanations from the National Health Fund or healthcare providers and did not conduct any inspections at their premises. The Minister attributed this to the absence of any indications of irregularities.

In carrying out the coordination and monitoring tasks set out in the Public Health Act, the Minister failed to consider issues directly related to preventive healthcare for children and young people provided under primary healthcare.

This resulted in ineffective management, and the isolated measures taken by the Minister in this area did not lead to an increase in the number of preventive examinations performed.

Furthermore, the Minister was slow to proceed with work on amending the regulation on guaranteed primary healthcare services, the provisions of which – when setting out the deadlines for routine health checks and health screenings – continued to refer to lower secondary and upper secondary schools that had already been closed.

Lack of monitoring by the National Health Fund and failure to analyse data

The President of the National Health Fund, apart from isolated cases, did not monitor the implementation of preventive examinations for children and young people. The Voivodship Branches of the National Health Fund did not analyse the reports submitted by primary healthcare centres, even though the directors of these branches are required to monitor the implementation of contracts for the provision of publicly funded healthcare services. Only one of them analysed some of the services. However, in each of the audited branches, cases were identified where primary healthcare centres failed to report the provision of services; yet it was not established whether this was due to the services not being provided or to the examinations conducted not being included in the reports submitted. This resulted in a lack of reliable data on the level of service delivery.

Errors in the reporting of data on preventive examinations

The audit revealed inconsistencies between medical records and reported data. Only five out of the 18 primary healthcare centres audited submitted accurate data to the National Health Fund about preventive healthcare services provided to children and young people by doctors, nurses and midwives. Furthermore, in as many as 12 cases, the information provided in the annual Reports on the activities and personnel in outpatient health care (MZ-11) was inconsistent with the data established during the Office’s audit and with the data submitted to the Voivodship Branches of the National Health Fund. As established during the audit, the Minister did not use data from the National Health Fund (NFZ) to draw up the Health Needs Map because, in the Minister's view, it was of little informational value.

Conclusions and recommendations

To the Minister of Health for:

• taking measures to extend preventive healthcare within primary healthcare to cover a greater number of children and young people than at present, with a view to ensuring the early detection of serious diseases and congenital anomalies. One way of achieving this could be for primary healthcare centres to inform parents about the benefits of regular preventive examinations, including routine child health surveillance and health screening, and to send reminders about appointment dates via ICT systems, electronic means of communication or publicly available telecommunications services (e.g., the Internet Patient Account (IKP), the mObywatel app, text message alerts);
• amending legislation to enable the recording of the results of preventive examinations for children and young people in an electronic system, with the option of making these results available to doctors outside the primary care centres conducting the examinations. This would facilitate a more efficient flow of information on patients’ health status, improve the coordination of care, and enable faster diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making;
• requiring primary care centres providing publicly funded preventive healthcare services for children and young people to provide reliable information on the actual scale and types of services provided, to ensure a sufficient level of information for initiating, developing and monitoring the Council of Ministers’ policy on preventive healthcare for children and young people;
• placing the activities of the National Health Fund (including through audits) related to preventive healthcare for children and young people provided within the primary healthcare system under supervision, to ensure that preventive examinations are carried out and documented correctly;
• updating the provisions of the Regulation on guaranteed benefits in the field of primary healthcare by removing, from Annex 1, Part III, the provisions concerning already-closed lower and upper secondary schools and replacing them with the current stages of school education (primary and secondary schools), according to which preventive examinations are carried out.

To the President of the National Health Fund (NFZ) for:

• conducting inspections of primary healthcare centres regarding the provision, documentation and reporting of preventive healthcare services for children and young people, in a manner that enables an assessment of whether these services were actually provided and whether they were delivered in compliance with all the requirements set out in the applicable legislation.

To the Directors of Voivodship Branches of the National Health Fund (NFZ) for:

• the reliable monitoring of the implementation of contracts covering preventive healthcare services provided within the primary healthcare system, including, in particular, by verifying the data reported by healthcare providers on the provision of preventive examinations for children and young people.

The provision and funding of care for seniors is the responsibility of municipalities, supported by government programmes, including Care 75+, the Senior Citizens’ Support Corps, Personal Assistant for People with Disabilities for Local Government Units, and Senior+. These programmes are designed to increase the availability of services and ease the burden on local government budgets. Those using such services are required to pay a fee for them, based on a municipal council resolution setting out the detailed conditions for the provision of and payment for services, as well as the detailed conditions for partial or full exemption from fees and the procedure for collecting them. For those exempt from payment, the cost of the services provided is covered by the municipality.

In view of the growing scale of this social problem, the Supreme Audit Office, following a suggestion put forward by the Sejm Committee on Senior Citizens’ Policy, launched, in 2025, an audit of care for older people in rural and urban-rural municipalities, covering the most important forms of support provided in the home and in day centres.

The audit covered five forms of care for older people, namely care services in the home, specialist care services, care services in the home in the form of neighbourhood assistance, personal assistance services provided under the Personal Assistant for People with Disabilities for Local Government Units programme, and support in Senior+ Day Centres and Senior+ Clubs provided under the multi-annual Senior+ programme.

Key findings of the audit

Between 2022 and the first half of 2025, the proportion of people aged over 60 in the population of each of the municipalities examined rose steadily, ranging from around 20% to almost 30% of residents. Despite the ageing population, only 9 out of the 19 municipalities audited had separate programmes targeted at seniors. The remaining municipalities addressed issues related to older people within their strategies for tackling social problems, which included objectives concerning this group. Although social assessments were carried out prior to the drafting of these documents, they did not include projections of the number of older people requiring support nor a systematic analysis of their needs.

The lack of a systematic approach to identifying the needs of senior citizens meant that social care centres focused mainly on those already receiving support. The circumstances of older people not on the registers – particularly those living alone, who may require support in the future – were neither identified nor monitored. Nor did the centres usually analyse the situation of seniors living on the upper floors of buildings without lifts. None of the audited organisations had developed a system for identifying elderly people living alone, nor did they maintain a separate database on their life situation. Information on senior citizens was obtained solely through standard community interviews, and centre managers indicated that current regulations do not impose an obligation to collect data on loneliness or social isolation. Consequently, people in need may not receive assistance, as the centres only take action once a senior has been reported by a family member, a neighbour, the police, a healthcare facility, an ambulance service, or has reported the matter themselves. The social care centres audited, which provided support in the place of residence, covered, on average, just over 5% of older people living in a given municipality. Care was most frequently granted to people aged over 80 – around 10% of them received support. There were slightly fewer recipients among younger seniors, with around 4% aged 70–79 and around 2% aged 60–69. The centres audited did not refuse to provide in-home support to older people. Information on the need for support came mainly from the individuals concerned themselves or was obtained from them by social workers. In this context, however, it should be noted that one of the centres had concluded a cooperation agreement with the Seniors’ Council, aimed, in particular at identifying and assessing the needs of people aged 60 and over living within the municipality, as well as understanding their expectations in various areas of life, and improving the flow of information between the local community and support organisations. Nevertheless, this cooperation was not documented in any way. In the NIK’s opinion, this is a valuable initiative and an example of good practice.

Ex officio assistance was provided only in emergency situations when the person in need was unable to make a decision. Following a social assessment, benefits were usually granted immediately; however, some municipalities pointed out that it was not possible to provide care for all elderly people in need.

Home care and additional forms of support for seniors

In all the municipalities audited, the number of people receiving care in their own homes rose steadily. Care services were offered, some of which were funded by the European Union. Neighbourhood and specialist services were used less frequently, mainly due to a lack of interest among residents. Older people could also make use of personal assistance services, support from the Senior+ Day Centre or the Senior+ Club, whilst in many municipalities transport, the Handyman for Older Citizens service, rehabilitation equipment hire schemes and additional forms of support, such as psychological counselling and a helpline, were also provided.

Under the Social Assistance Act, care services are available to a person living alone who, due to age, illness or other reasons, requires assistance from others and is deprived of it. These services are one of the most commonly chosen forms of support for older people, as they enable them to remain in their own homes and cover a wide range of assistance with daily living, from personal care, hygiene, nutrition and household tasks to organisational support. In the four centres audited, internal standards for the provision of these services had been introduced, which – in the opinion of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) – improves their quality, facilitates the assessment of carers’ work and increases the transparency of expectations regarding the assistance provided. In all the cases examined, the allocation of services was preceded by a properly conducted social welfare interview, based on which an individual support plan tailored to the elderly person’s needs was drawn up. Some people were also offered additional forms of assistance, such as specialist counselling or support with administrative procedures. At the same time, in some centres, irregularities were found in the documentation of administrative decisions, consisting of imprecise definitions of the scope, location and timing of service provision, which made it difficult to monitor their implementation and verify whether they overlapped with other forms of support funded from public funds. In those cases where verification was possible, the activities undertaken during the provision of support were consistent with the agreed scope; however, in six centres, the nature of the tasks carried out was not specified, so it was not possible to make a reliable assessment of the correctness of the services.

Specialist care services provided in the home were available in 7 out of the 19 municipalities audited and were mainly delivered under the Care 75+ programme and projects funded by the European Union, meaning they were either free of charge or subject to a partial fee. In all the cases examined, social welfare interviews were performed correctly, the needs of older people were assessed, and individual care plans were drawn up, covering primarily rehabilitation and the improvement of bodily functions, as well as other forms of support, such as psychological counselling. The services were provided by staff with the required qualifications. However, there were delays in concluding contracts with voivodes for the implementation of the Care 75+ programme, which in some cases led to several-month-long interruptions in the provision of services at the beginning of the year.

The newest form of care in the place of living, in operation since November 2023, are care services provided in the form of neighbourhood support, i.e. services comprising assistance with meeting basic daily needs, basic hygiene and personal care – which should be understood as forms of support not requiring specialist knowledge or skills – and, where necessary and possible, facilitating contact with the wider community. These services were offered by 13 of the 19 centres audited, with 11 of them funded through the Senior Citizens’ Support Corps programme. It should be noted that contracts for the provision of services under this programme between voivodes and municipalities were concluded only in the middle of the year. Although these delays did not cause problems given the small number of people using this form of support, in the event of greater demand they could lead to financial difficulties for municipalities, which would be forced to temporarily cover the costs of the services from their own funds whilst awaiting reimbursement.

Personal assistance services provided under the Personal Assistant for People with Disabilities for Local Government Units programme were provided in all 19 municipalities where the audit was carried out. Over a three-year period from 2022, the number of people aged 60 and over, using the services of personal assistants more than doubled (from 201 to 466). The highest number of seniors used personal assistance services in the three audited local government units in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship. In five municipalities, additional regulations were introduced concerning the organisation of services, particularly in the event of high demand or shortage of assistants. Support was provided exclusively to those eligible who held a certificate of severe or moderate level of disability. Before assistance was granted, the senior’s situation was assessed, and an individual support plan was drawn up. The audit revealed no irregularities, such as the simultaneous care of several people the exceeding of hourly or cost limits, or the failure to utilise the allocated support hours.

Funding and organisation of support for seniors

Running care centres, referring people in need of care to these centres and providing places in them, are among the municipality’s responsibilities. Support provided under the Senior+ Multi-Annual Programme was delivered by 16 out of 19 municipalities (84.2%) where the audit was carried out. Senior+ Day Centres operated in seven municipalities and Senior+ Clubs in 11, with two of these municipalities operating both Senior+ Day Centres and Senior+ Clubs. In one municipality, such a facility was not established, despite plans to do so. In another municipality, the facility was closed, but the three-year sustainability period for the project, as set out in the Senior+ Programme for 2015–2020, was maintained. Local authorities are obliged to maintain the operation of Senior+ centres and the declared places for at least three years after the completion of the project. However, the regulations and agreements do not specify whether the existing number of hours of activities must also be maintained during this period (in one of the municipalities, the number of hours of activities for senior citizens was halved during the project’s duration, from 20 to 10 hours per week).

In connection with the new programme for 2026–2030 (Active Seniors – ASY), the NIK highlights the need to clarify the concept of ‘sustainability’. The lack of specific guidelines allows for drastic reductions in the range of services on offer (even down to 1 hour per week), which may have a negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of older people. Under the current rules, the sustainability of the programme’s implementation will be maintained even in such cases.

During the audit, it was found that in seven municipalities, participation in Senior+ Clubs was free of charge for older people. In the case of those applying for care at Day Centres and Senior+ Clubs, the seniors’ situations were correctly assessed, the required social welfare interviews were performed, diagnoses and support plans were drawn up. The services offered included, e.g. social, educational, cultural, recreational, physical activity and therapeutic support. All facilities met the minimum standards for premises; however, in one of them, no physiotherapist was employed throughout the entire audit period due to a lack of funding. The NIK pointed out that the delayed transfer of funding to local authorities (in the second half of the year) hinders the timely recruitment of specialists, limits the continuity of care for seniors and prevents effective planning of activities, which has a negative impact on the quality and stability of the services provided.

Between 2022 and the first half of 2025, the audited municipalities systematically increased their expenditure on care for older people. The largest amount, approximately PLN 34.3 million, was allocated to the running of day centres and self-help clubs, of which around PLN 4.9 million came from the multi-annual Senior+ programme. Approximately PLN 27 million was spent on care services provided in the home. During this period, 13 out of the 19 audited municipalities used Care 75+ programme, under which a total of over PLN 14 million was spent on supporting seniors (funds from the programme accounted for almost 53% of expenditure on care services for the elderly). All the municipalities covered by the audit obtained funding from the Personal Assistant for People with Disabilities for Local Government Units Programme to provide personal assistance services. These services were free of charge for older people. In turn, specialist care services in the senior’s own home were provided by 6 out of the 19 social welfare centres audited. A total of approximately PLN 1 million was spent on these services during the years covered by the audit. 13 of the 19 social welfare centres audited provided assistance in the form of neighbourhood care services, on which over PLN 500,000 was spent. The managers of the social welfare centres stressed that the available funds were insufficient in view of the growing number of senior citizens and their increasing care needs.

The audit revealed that only one centre had a formal procedure in place for supervising care services, whilst in a further five centres the monitoring arrangements were set out in standards or procedures. Although the managers of all units stated that they carried out ongoing supervision of the support provided, this was not usually documented. The effectiveness of the support was assessed at least once every six months when the social welfare interview was updated, and whenever there was a change in the senior’s living situation. A survey conducted by the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), in which 500 older people took part, showed that nearly 70% of respondents believed that the services they received had, to a significant extent, enabled them to remain in their own homes and avoid the need for round-the-clock residential care, with a total of around 75% giving a positive assessment of the impact of the support on their ability to live independently.

As part of the audit, information was obtained from all voivodes regarding the aforementioned forms of support for senior citizens provided between 2022 and 2025 (first half) by rural and urban-rural municipalities. The information shows that in 275 of these, i.e. over 12%, care services were not provided to older people in their own homes. In contrast, in 185 municipalities across all voivodships, seniors did not have the opportunity to access care services or specialist care services, nor care services in their own homes in the form of neighbourhood support, i.e. the services specified in the Social Assistance Act.

Percentage of rural and urban-rural municipalities in individual voivodships that do not offer home-based care services to older people, as provided for under the Social Assistance Act

Source: NIK analysis based on data obtained from voivodes

Conclusions and recommendations

In light of the audit findings, the Supreme Audit Office has submitted post-audit recommendations to the Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy and the Head of the Prime Minister’s Office, calling for measures to be taken to:

• promote good practices related to the scope and manner of providing care services, as well as the qualifications of those providing them;
• establish, within the Multi-annual Programme for Older People Active Seniors – ASY for 2026–2030, principles for ensuring the continuity of the implementation of the Senior+ Day Centres and Senior+ Clubs initiative.

Home care is the form of support most sought after by older people. The organisation and provision of such care – in particular care services, specialist care services and neighbourhood-based care services – are mandatory responsibilities of the municipality. Consequently, a proposal has been put forward for municipalities to undertake ongoing measures aimed at assessing the life situation of seniors (including in terms of family circumstances, living conditions, income, health, and issues arising from the specific characteristics of the municipality in question), as well as taking action to provide support to those in need.

Regulating firearm access stands for administrative control of the state over its possession and use. In EU countries the firearm access is restricted and detailed principles are stipulated in the laws of individual countries. The regulations, though, should meet minimum norms set out in the EU Directive on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons (2021/555 of March 2021). It requires among others that the national regulations establish a system to monitor the compliance with the conditions for granting the firearm permit for the entire period of its validity, and that relevant medical and psychological information be evaluated. The permits should be reviewed in this regard not less than once in five years. Incomplete transposition of the EU regulations into the domestic law exposes Poland to the risk of financial sanctions.

Despite attempts, we did not manage to cover e.g. hunters, holders of sports or collector’s firearm permits with periodic physical and mental health checks. Such persons undergo only one-off Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). This is done at the stage of applying for the permit which is granted for an unlimited period. NIK has found that firearm owners in Poland are persons up to 100 years of age.

We also did not implement mechanisms enabling verification if the permit holder still meets the conditions, based on which the document was issued to him or her, e.g. if s/he still is a member of a collectors association (if the permit was issued for collecting purposes). If not, that person may lose this document. In such cases the Police or Military Gendarmerie are authorised, though not obliged, to revoke the permit.

In line with the EU requirements we have launched the Weapons Registration System but with a 5-year delay (in 2024 instead of 2019) and without complete data covering every firearm and each of its significant element.

Creating reliable statistics on the number of persons who received a civilian firearm permit and the actual number of actual firearm owners would require gathering information both from the Police and the Military Gendarmerie.

In reality, by the end of the NIK audit (in June 2025), the Police Headquarters – although it published information on its website about the number of firearm permit holders, it concerned only the number of granted permits which are issued depending on the firearm purpose – hunting, sport shooting or collecting.

The Police has changed the description of the published statistical data from “number of persons” to “number of permits” only following the NIK audit.

This is not the only problem, though. The permit specifies how many firearms the applicant may own for a concrete purpose (e.g. hunting). However, this is the applicant’s decision to what extent they make use of the permit. 

Another problem is the lack of information about the death of firearm permit holders. The query made by NIK has shown that firearms left after their owners’ death remained unsecured for up to 30 years.

None of the audited provincial Police offices - despite their access to personal identification numbers - conducted systemic verification of data in terms of possible death of firearm owners. If not secured in time the weapon left after its owner’s death may be lost. Unfortunately, it may also potentially be used by unauthorised persons, including criminals.

NIK stands in a position that reliable data on the number of firearm permit holders and firearm owners are pivotal.

The NIK audit – covering the period from 1 January 2022 to 8 August 2025 – has shown that we have implemented the EU regulations on the activity of dealers and brokers in  weapons trade.

Who may get a firearm permit?

The constitutional right to own firearms exists in the USA, whereas in the EU countries firearm access is restricted and detailed principles and the regulation methods are set out in the national laws of individual countries. The law in the Czech Republic is considered as one of the most liberal one across the EU. One can obtain the firearm permit there in a similar way as the driving licence – after submitting e.g. medical test results and the certificate of no criminal record. On the other hand, the regulations in Germany are viewed as the strictest ones: obligatory procedures under the German law involve e.g. credibility check. Also, the persons applying for the firearm permit in Germany are required to prove the need to own the weapon and sign the civil liability insurance agreement for at least EUR 1 million.

Legal firearm possession in Poland currently requires obtaining the following documents:

• private firearm permit – in case of natural persons (it is not granted for particularly dangerous weapons, such as e.g. machine gun),
• bearer firearm permit – issued e.g. to security companies or sports clubs,
• or consent to possess firearms which enables e.g. security workers, members of shooting galleries to use weapons being the possession of the company or the club.  

Black-powder (historic) firearms created before 1885 and their replicas can be possessed without a permit. However, the kinetic energy of projectiles fired from such weapons is often comparable to, or even exceeds, that of modern firearms chambered for fixed ammunition. Since these weapons are not subject to mandatory registration, they are untraceable in circulation and may be used e.g. by criminals as an alternative to modern firearms.

In 2019 - 2024 (July), 73 offences involving black-powder firearms were recorded, including 28 cases of homicide or attempted homicide. Weapons of this type were also used against Police officers on duty. Therefore, the Police Commander-in-Chief made a proposal to the Minister of the Interior and Administration to regulate access also to black-powder weapons. By the end of the audit, legislative work aimed at changing the regulations was ongoing.

The conditions for obtaining rights to use firearms include, among others: indicating an important reason to possess the weapon, adequate mental and physical state (confirmed by medical and psychological certificates), no criminal record, posing no threat, passed test on specific regulations and firearm skills.

In the audit period, the Police issued bearer firearm permits only to eligible persons, whereas the issuance of private firearm permits and consents to firearm possession was not always preceded by proper verification if the applicant met the conditions set out in the Weapons and Ammunition Act.

NIK auditors revealed e.g. the following cases: issuing firearm permits for personal protection despite the absence of permanent, real and above-average threat to life, health or property. The auditors also found irregularities in the process of verifying compliance with meeting requirements for obtaining authorisation to possess firearms – if they had no criminal record or if they did not pose any threat to themselves, to public order or safety. Besides, permits were issued without testing the applicants for their knowledge of regulations on firearm possession and use or firearm skills.

As a rule, proving good reason to possess firearms comes down to submitting documents which confirm having specific rights or membership in an organisation whose statutory activity is related to the purpose of possessing the weapon. The loss of rights or e.g. resignation from membership may result in withdrawing the permit. The Weapons and Ammunition Act of 1999 contains provisions which may be used for this purpose but only with regard to the holders of permits issued for hunting and sport shooting purposes. The Polish Hunting Association and management boards of shooting associations are obliged to annually provide relevant Police authorities with updated lists of members doing hunting or sport shooting using their own firearms. The problem is that none of seven audited provincial Police offices enforced annual lists of members from all obliged unions and associations – although such lists could be the source of information about the deaths of firearm owners.

As for the holders of other firearm permits, against the EU law, there are no mechanisms to allow verifying if the firearm permit holder still meets the requirements, based on which the permit was issued.

Periodic health checks obligatory, but not for all

In line with the EU regulations each firearm permit holder should undergo periodic physical and mental health checks at least once in five years. In Poland this obligation covers only civilians having firearm permits for personal protection and for the protection of persons and property. In the audit period, in one of seven provincial Police offices the verification of compliance with the obligation to submit periodic medical and psychological certificates was started only in 2025 and in five Police offices the health checks expired. In an extreme case the expiration date was exceeded by three years.

Other firearm permit holders – such as hunters, persons using firearms for sport shooting or collecting – do not have to undergo periodic physical and mental health checks. In their case the physical and mental skills are evaluated only once, at the stage of applying for the permit.

Police officers, professional soldiers and officers of other uniformed services (e.g. Internal Security Agency or Central Anti-Corruption Bureau) having a service firearm are subject to their own, internal periodic health checks. But when applying for a personal firearm permit they do not have to submit medical or psychological certificates.

In line with the provisions of law such documents may not be required from them, even if the Police or the Military Gendarmerie have information or even evidence pointing to the applicants’  problems with addictions or mental disorders. Therefore, both the Police and the Military Gendarmerie demand changes in the law. According to these services submitting the results of medical and mental health checks by officers and soldiers prior to obtaining a personal firearm permit will help eliminate doubts as to whether they pose a threat or not.

At the same time, the law enables the Police to appeal against the medical certificate issued to persons who – according to the Police - may pose a threat to themselves or to public safety and order. Each of the audited provincial Police offices exercised that right, and reasons included suspected alcohol or drug addiction or domestic violence applying for the permit. Doctors and psychologists, against whom the appeals were filed, did not confirm the judgement in the first instance about firearm skills in case of 32% to 100% reviewed cases (depending on the provincial Police office).

Also, the person applying for the firearm permit also has the right to appeal against medical or psychological opinion. The Military Gendarmerie may not appeal, therefore they demand a change in the law also in that matter.

Attempts made but without effects – will the law be changed?

An attempt to change the law on covering firearm permit holders with physical and mental health checks have been made twice recently. The deputies' project of 2024 assumed e.g. extending the periodic health check obligation to hunters firearm permit and increasing the frequency of health checks – once in two years for persons of over 70 years of age. The Sejm rejected the bill at its first reading in January 2025.

In September 2025, another bill was prepared which extended the periodic health check obligation to hunting, sport shooting and training firearm permits. However, by the end of the audit it was not submitted at the Sejm.

Recommendations

In view of the audit findings NIK has made, among others, de lege ferenda proposals to the Minister of the Interior and Administration to take efforts aimed at implementing the following legal regulations:

• obliging all firearm owners to undergo periodic physical and mental health checks;
• obliging bodies issuing firearm permits to monitor if the factual circumstances, based on which the permit was issued, persist;
• regulating the ownership of black-powder firearms;
• enabling the authorisation of the Police officers from units reporting to provincial commanders of the Police/ the Commander-in-Chief to control the conditions of storing firearms and ammunition by natural persons;
• extending the group of authorities entitled to appeal against medical or psychological certificates to relevant commander of the Military Gendarmerie unit;
• obliging officers and professional soldiers applying for personal firearm permit to submit medical and psychological certificates;
• ensuring that the Police obtain information on the termination of service in a systemic manner by officers of the state armed services who have a firearm permit other than for service purposes.

Apart from that NIK has made the following recommendations:

To the Minister of the Interior and Administration:

• to make sure the existing register of firearm permit holders and the register of firearms and their significant components operate in line with the initial assumptions;

to the Police Commander-in-Chief:

• to make essential modifications to the „Weapons” register in a manner allowing preparation of statistics based on the entire informational scope of the module, including the number of firearm permit holders and the number of firearm owners.

The need to adapt the law to new challenges

In 2024–2025, the Minister of Digital Affairs drew up drafts of three significant legal acts intended to strengthen the protection of children against overly easy access to pornography, violent content and ‘pathostreams’.

In the draft Polish Digitization Strategy until 2035, mental health and the protection of citizens from harmful content were recognised for the first time in a document of this calibre as elements of national security. The growing psychosocial costs associated with functioning in the digital environment were also identified as key challenges. In turn, the draft Cybersecurity Strategy of the Republic of Poland for the years 2025–2029 (June 2025) includes, amongst its objectives and tasks, measures to address current threats in cyberspace, with particular emphasis on trends posing a risk to children and young people.

NIK pointed out that the existing Cybersecurity Strategy of the Republic of Poland for the years 2019–2024 did not provide for decisive measures commensurate with the identified threats and their significant impact on the development of young people, despite the fact that research findings had for years highlighted problems associated with the negative impact of online content accessible to children and young people, such as financial loss, crime, and a destructive impact on the mental health of minors.

The draft bill, drawn up in March 2024 to amend the Act on the Provision of Electronic Services and certain other acts (implementing the DSA Regulation on digital services in the European Union into national law), was passed by the Sejm in December 2025; however, it ultimately did not come into force. Consequently, for nearly two and a half years, Poland has lacked legislation ensuring the application of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), including the measures it provides for to protect minors from threats such as: access to harmful content, addictive user engagement mechanisms, cyberbullying and ad targeting. Currently, Poland is the only EU Member State that has not appointed a digital services coordinator (an interim coordinator was only appointed in May 2025, after the European Commission brought a case against Poland before the Court of Justice of the European Union). Consequently, since February 2024, Polish users of digital services have been deprived of the opportunity to use, amongst other things, the individual remedy of lodging a complaint against intermediary service providers.

In its submission to the Minister of Digital Affairs, the NIK emphasised that, given the lack of regulations restricting children’s and young people’s access to harmful, dangerous and pornographic content, there is an urgent need to take the necessary legislative measures to ensure the protection of this group of internet users. This is especially true given that, between 2020 and 2025, the Ministry failed to develop either recommendations or best practices for electronic service providers which, pending the entry into force of legislation, would set out the optimal course of action to significantly limit the negative impact of harmful content on children and young people.

Between 2020 and 2025, the Ministry of Digital Affairs drafted significant legal acts related to the safety of the youngest internet users. In the drafts from 2022 and 2024, the Minister made two attempts to introduce statutory regulations governing the protection of children against access to inappropriate and harmful content online. The aim of both bills was to introduce mechanisms restricting minors’ access to such content, given their stage of development – which involves the formation of sensitivity, critical judgement and knowledge of the surrounding world – as well as the negative impact such content may have on children’s emotional, cognitive and social development.

However, when drafting the bill on the protection of minors from harmful content (in 2024–2025), the fundamental issue of defining harmful content was overlooked, citing a lack of sufficient research in this area. There was a lack of the necessary analysis of the types of harmful and dangerous content, as well as their sources and the means of restricting access to them. Consequently, the second draft was intended to regulate access exclusively to pornography, without introducing any changes to access to harmful and dangerous content. On this occasion, the Ministry did not perform a documented and comprehensive review of existing national legislation with a view to strengthening the current tools for protecting minors from inappropriate content, and in some documents, the Ministry even referred to the results of studies or reports, for example from 2017, which – given the rapidly changing digital media environment and the associated threats (particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic) – did not reflect the current situation.

All hands on deck – effective cooperation between institutions is needed

During the period covered by the audit, the Minister for Digital Affairs twice took the initiative to cooperate with the Ministry of National Education by providing lesson plans and recommendations on teaching cybersecurity. Staff from the Ministry of Digital Affairs took part in the work or meetings of groups and teams during which issues associated with the first and second draft bills on the protection of minors were discussed, or which focused on the broadly defined safety of children in the so-called digital world. The cooperation undertaken by the Ministry of Digital Affairs in this respect was of an ad hoc nature, although the need for broad and active cooperation was also recognised in the draft strategic documents drawn up in 2024–2025.

Ultimately, however, between 2020 and 2025, no permanent and effective cooperation was established with the bodies responsible for the protection and education of the youngest children (e.g. the Minister of National Education, the Police, the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights, the Commissioner for Civil Rights). The measures taken in this respect did not lead to the development and dissemination of solutions to support children’s safety in the digital world.

Education and prevention for parents too

Between 2020 and 2025, the Minister commissioned the NASK National Research Institute to implement tasks related to education and prevention concerning the safe use of digital technologies and so-called ‘digital hygiene’, including projects such as Digital Hygiene, Cyber Lessons and Safe Online. On the website www.gov.pl/web/cyfryzacja, the Ministry published announcements and educational content, and, at the Minister’s request, a series of radio programmes about cybersecurity and the safe use of the internet were broadcast (in October and November 2024). The Minister provided funding to NASK to support the operation of the Dyżurnet.pl team as a contact point for reporting illegal content online. NASK, as the operator of the Nationwide Education Network (Ogólnopolska Sieć Edukacyjna, OSE), in cooperation with the Minister, developed the mOchrona parental control app in 2021, enabling parents and legal guardians to set rules for the use of the internet and apps. Between 2020 and 2025, NASK, whilst performing public tasks co-funded by the Minister, prepared lesson plans and recommendations on teaching cybersecurity, which the Minister subsequently forwarded to the Minister of Education. 

The Ministry of Digital Affairs did not have detailed information on the manner and scope of the implementation of the above tasks. No assessment was carried out to determine whether NASK’s activities, within the framework of tasks commissioned under grant agreements and within the scope set out in the Act on the Nationwide Education Network, had an impact, for example, on the level of awareness among children and young people, the amount of time spent by children and young people using the Internet, the number of reported cases of abuse and offences related to illegal content, or the number of children and young people who come into contact with pornography for the first time (and subsequently on a regular basis). No verification was carried out to determine whether the measures taken were optimal in view of the diverse needs of individual user groups, including parents and legal guardians. Furthermore, when commissioning tasks, no assessment was made of their effectiveness to date, nor of whether they addressed the problem comprehensively, for example, whether they covered all identified types of risks. In the NIK’s view, obtaining such knowledge was justified by the need to take previous experience into account in subsequent planned measures.

Measures taken following the audit

Following the completion of the audit by NIK, at its meeting on 2 June 2026, the Council of Ministers adopted a package of draft bills:

• on the prohibition of the use of mobile phones in public and non-public primary schools (excluding secondary schools);
• on the protection of minors from access to pornographic content on the Internet, submitted by the Minister of Digital Affairs. The draft, originally developed by the Ministry in 2024, was intended to provide broader protection (also covering various types of harmful content). However, in its current form, it restricts access to pornographic content. The provisions impose an obligation on digital service providers to effectively verify the age of users;
• on amendments to the Act on the Provision of Electronic Services (UC141). The provisions of the draft Act enable the application of the DSA Regulation and grant powers to, for example, the police, the public prosecutor’s office, the National Revenue Administration, the Border Guard and victims to apply for an order restricting access to illegal content. New obligations will affect service providers (blocking content based on a decision), whilst the President of the Office of Electronic Communications (Urząd Komunikacji Elektronicznej, UKE) will maintain a register of domains used to disseminate illegal content;
• on amendments to the Act on the Provision of Electronic Services (UC140), including the fulfilment of obligations arising from the DSA Regulation, e.g. by appointing the President of UKE as the national coordinator for digital services, the possibility of reporting illegal content, and the liability of digital platforms.

In addition, on 9 June 2026, the Council of Ministers adopted a resolution on the adoption of a strategy for the digitisation of the State, submitted by the Minister of Digital Affairs.

In turn, on 11 June 2026, the Sejm passed an amendment to the Criminal Code, introducing a new type of offence in Article 255b (the so-called ‘pathostreaming’ Act), which, following its adoption by the Senate on 25 June 2026, was subsequently forwarded to the President of the Republic of Poland.

NIK Recommendations

Despite the measures taken by the Ministry, the recommendations made by the NIK to the Minister of Digital Affairs following the audit remain fully valid. The NIK recommended: The NIK recommended:

1. The urgent implementation of legal and organisational measures, based on a comprehensive analysis of the types of threats, their sources, and recognised methods of restricting minors’ access to harmful, dangerous and pornographic content online.
2. The establishment of broad cooperation with key State entities responsible for the welfare of children and young people (including the Minister of National Education and other ministers, the police, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Ombudsman for Children’s Rights, the Commissioner for Civil Rights) with a view to ensuring that children and young people are protected from accessing harmful, dangerous and pornographic content online.
3. Given the responsibility of parents and legal guardians for a child’s emotional, cognitive and social development, intensifying educational and information initiatives aimed at this group concerning the principles of safe Internet use by children.
4. With respect to commissioned tasks related to education, prevention and digital hygiene, establish – in line with identified needs – indicators (e.g. quantitative and qualitative) that enable the verification of their effectiveness and a reliable assessment of expenditure in this area.

NIK joins the debate on children’s safety in the digital world

On 8 July 2026, at the NIK headquarters, participants in an expert panel discussed a common standard of responsibility for the safety of minors online. The discussions were set against the backdrop of issues identified by the NIK whilst conducting an audit on the protection of children and young people from harmful, dangerous and pornographic content on the Internet.

The meeting was chaired by Mariusz Haładyj, President of the Supreme Audit Office, and participants in the discussion included Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski, Minister for Supervision of Government Policy Implementation Maciej Berek, and Deputy Head of the President’s Chancellery Adam Andruszkiewicz, Under-Secretaries of State: Paulina Piechna-Więckiewicz from the Ministry of National Education and Sławomir Pałka from the Ministry of Justice; the Children’s Ombudsman, Monika Horna-Cieślak; and representatives of central authorities, the National Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Police Headquarters, the Office of Electronic Communications, the Commissioner for Civil Rights, as well as judges, police officers, lawyers, teachers, academics, representatives of NGOs and local government.

The first part attempted to draw up a list of essential measures aimed at the systematic protection of children and young people in the digital environment. Topics discussed included the question of when Poland might introduce an effective age verification mechanism to restrict minors’ access to pornographic content. Participants also spoke about the potential changes that the Polish Digitization Strategy, adopted in June, would bring.

In the second module, the discussion focused on developing optimal response strategies. This concerned a possible protocol for parents, teachers and the child, as well as crisis guidelines for situations where a child becomes a victim of or witnesses an online threat. Attention was drawn to the role of local government bodies as the authorities responsible for running schools.

The third part of the discussion was devoted to defining standards of digital wellbeing for children at school and at home – that is, guidelines for the safe and healthy use of technology, covering, for example, appropriate screen time, privacy protection, a balance between online and offline activities, and a culture of communication.

The discussion highlighted that the effective protection of minors requires a comprehensive approach, encompassing appropriate legislative measures, educational initiatives and close cooperation between public institutions, the education sector, parents and experts, with particular emphasis on the views of the young people themselves.

From the perspective of the Supreme Audit Office, there is no doubt that effectively responding to the challenges of the digital world is one of the main tasks of the State administration today.

Mariusz Haładyj, President of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), proposed – and this was unanimously accepted – to continue this fruitful discussion by drawing up a joint set of recommendations for future action, reflecting a shared responsibility for the safety of minors online. The participants in the debate agreed to publish the jointly developed recommendations.

But the shortage of doctors is only one side of the coin; the other is the overload on EDs. As revealed by an audit carried out by the NIK, almost half of the patients who ended up there did not require emergency care in emergency departments. Of those transported by emergency medical teams, more than six in ten did not require further hospitalisation, and only 6.2% of patients were in the highest-risk group. The Office’s auditors found that the highest number of patients was recorded on weekdays during the day, which suggests that EDs were being used as an alternative to queues at clinics.

The NIK also audited medical dispatch centres and emergency medical teams (EMTs). According to data from the Statistics Poland, there were 1,664 EMTs operating in Poland at the end of 2024. However, the audit findings reveal significant disparities in actual access to emergency medical services. After nearly 25 years of the system’s operation, in each of the voivodships covered by the audit, there were areas where in more than half of all call-outs emergency medical teams exceeded the maximum expected time to reach the patient, and in some cases, this was as high as nine out of ten call-outs. Residents of these areas therefore had a significantly lower chance of receiving effective medical assistance in the event of a medical emergency. The expected parameters for the dispatch of emergency medical teams and their response times were also exceeded.

Despite the irregularities identified, the NIK gave a positive assessment regarding the provision of the necessary medical equipment and apparatus in ambulances, helicopters and emergency departments. The EDs provided patients with access to diagnostic imaging (ultrasound, X-ray, CT scans, and MRI) and laboratory tests. The location of the EDs also met the requirements, but irregularities were found in three hospitals regarding the requirements for certain rooms. The Office’s auditors identified the highest number of such irregularities at the Grójec District Medical Centre, the most serious of which concerned the failure to ensure properly functioning ventilation in the operating theatre and in the ED isolation room.

In turn, two out of the five operators of emergency medical teams audited had equipped their basic EMTs with medicines which neither the paramedics nor the nurses within that system were authorised to administer independently. Furthermore, one of the ambulances contained a cylinder of medical oxygen that exceeded its expiry date by 162 days. In this context, the NIK points out that there is no standard regarding the minimum supply of medicines in ambulances, and that individual EMT dispatch centres decide what is carried in them. Hence, one of the Supreme Audit Office’s post-audit recommendations addressed to the Minister of Health concerns precisely the establishment of such a standard.

This is not the first time the NIK has audited the State Emergency Medical Services system. The Office had already highlighted a whole list of its problems back in 2019–2020 – a shortage of emergency medicine doctors, excessively long waiting times for the arrival of emergency medical teams, and excessive pressure on emergency departments. According to the latest findings, little has changed between 1 January 2023 and 1 September 2025. This is despite the fact that the Act of 2007, which sets out the principles governing the organisation, operation and funding of the emergency medical services system, has been amended numerous times – 45 times by the end of October 2025, and four times during the period covered by the audit. Some of these amendments were not intended to improve the system, but merely to make ad hoc adjustments to the law in response to emerging problems. This is evidenced, for example, by amendments to the regulations introduced in response to staff shortages, which broadened the definition of a ‘system doctor’ to include further specialisms, and even doctors still undergoing specialist training. Similarly, the deadline for the entry into force of the requirement for emergency departments to have a helicopter landing pad was also postponed. Two of the hospitals audited still did not have one. The National Health Fund (NFZ) was also prevented from imposing contractual penalties for the absence of a doctor in the specialist emergency medical team. None of these changes resolved the existing problems.

The NIK audited the Ministry of Health, five voivodship offices, the Polish Medical Air Rescue, 10 hospitals operating EDs, and five operators of emergency medical teams (EMTs). The audit covered the voivodships of Lubuskie, Lubelskie, Zachodniopomorskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, and Mazowieckie. The audit covered the period by: 1 January 2023–1 September 2025.

The number of basic emergency medical teams is increasing, whereas the number of specialist teams is decreasing

The NIK examined one medical dispatch centre in each of the five voivodships covered by the audit and has no reservations about their organisation, staff qualifications, or the equipment at the dispatch desks. In each of them, however, the auditors found that medical dispatcher posts were not fully staffed, with this being the case on every day covered by the audit in some instances. Between one and four staff members were missing from individual shifts, which was mainly attributed to a shortage of people willing to work.

• Medical Dispatch Centre – receives emergency calls and dispatches EMTs. These tasks are carried out by medical dispatchers. Medical Dispatch Centres operate within the structure of voivodship offices.
• EMT dispatcher – manages emergency medical teams, which comprise doctors, paramedics, nurses and drivers (specialist emergency medical teams) or paramedics, nurses and drivers (basic emergency medical teams).
• Emergency Department (ED) – provides healthcare services to people in a state of medical emergency. The medical staff of the ED consists of doctors, paramedics and nurses.
• Polish Medical Air Rescue – also called as Air Ambulance Service, operates air ambulance teams.

A particularly acute staffing problem concerned doctors in EMTs. Two out of five EMT dispatch centres failed to provide doctors for 25% of the scheduled shifts of specialist EMTs, which, unlike basic EMTs, must include a doctor. At the Voivodship Ambulance Station in Szczecin, between 2023 and 2025 (up to 31 March), the total number of hours of service provided by the specialist EMTs with an incomplete crew (without a system doctor) amounted to over 86,000 hours (i.e., 29.1% of the 295,500 hours recorded during the period under review). Even a significant expansion of the list of doctors recognised as so-called ‘system doctors’ failed to prevent this phenomenon. Emergency medicine specialists accounted for just 24% of the doctors in the EMTs.

The Office’s auditors also examined the working hours of certain doctors, nurses and paramedics forming part of emergency medical teams employed under civil law contracts. At all the audited emergency medical service providers, these staff members repeatedly worked continuously for more than 24 hours. An extreme case was that of a doctor at the Radom Emergency Medical Service Station who worked for 144 hours, equivalent to six days. At the Voivodship Ambulance Station in Szczecin, five doctors worked for more than 48 hours on 74 occasions, and in one extreme case for 120 hours – that is, continuously for five days. In June 2024, a paramedic there worked a total of 456 hours – which is as if he had worked round the clock for 19 days.

At the Voivodship Ambulance Station in Bydgoszcz, the doctor who worked the longest shift did so for 72 hours, while in 35 cases, paramedics worked for 48 hours. At the Voivodship Ambulance Station in Lublin, out of the 15 people surveyed (doctors, paramedics and nurses), 12 people worked for between 24 and as many as 70 hours in 92 cases.

At the voivodship ambulance services in Bydgoszcz and Lublin, work rosters for members of the emergency medical teams were drawn up in such a way that the same person, on the same day and at the same time, would finish work at one EMT and start at another, in a completely different location. At the Radom Ambulance Station, three doctors, after finishing their shift at one EMT, started working in another emergency medical team after a period ranging from 15 minutes to seven hours.

And all of this is in accordance with the law. The management of the inspected ambulance stations explained that the civil-law contracts concluded with these employees do not in any way limit their working hours, and that members of the EMTs do not provide care continuously while on duty and therefore have time to rest and recover between call-outs.

Instances of continuous work lasting more than 24 hours also stemmed from a shortage of doctors, coupled with the requirement that specialist emergency medical teams remain on constant standby. It was also pointed out that some individuals worked continuously for over 24 hours entirely knowingly and voluntarily, often at their own request. As they explained, the considerable distance between their place of residence and the EMT base meant that working for shorter periods was not financially viable for them.

During the state of epidemic threat, emergency medical teams were permitted to operate with reduced staffing levels. Following the lifting of this state of emergency, the Minister of Health exempted the National Health Fund (NFZ) from imposing contractual penalties in the event of a doctor’s absence from an EMT, provided that the team comprised at least three persons authorised to perform emergency medical procedures (paramedics or nurses). This measure, introduced as a temporary arrangement in 2023, is still in force, and the latest amendment to the regulations has extended its validity until the end of 2026.

How long does it take for an ambulance to arrive?

The law sets out specific parameters for the operation of medical dispatch centres. Thus, the dispatch time for an emergency medical team in a so-called Priority Code 1 should be no more than 30 seconds, and in a Priority Code 2, a maximum of 1.5 minutes. An audit performed by the NIK revealed that for the Priority Code 1, the dispatch time was exceeded in over 25% of calls (ranging from 25.7% in 2024 in the Lubuskie Voivodship to 42.6% in 2023 in the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodship). The most frequently cited cause of delays was the unavailability of free EMTs. Meanwhile, the effectiveness of medical assistance in a medical emergency depends to a large extent on the speed with which it is provided.

From the moment a call is received, an EMT should set off within 1 minute for a Priority Code 1, and within 3 minutes for all other calls. None of the dispatch centres audited met these time limits, though the extent of the delays varied (being noticeably lower at the Radom Ambulance Station). The reasons cited for the delays included technical issues, the increased distance between the staff rooms and the ambulance parking area, but also shortcomings on the part of the staff themselves, including a lack of motivation to respond quickly to calls for patients whom, in the opinion of the EMT staff, had not been seen by their general practitioners (GPs). As part of a pilot programme run by the Lublin Voivodship Office, cameras have been installed at the stations where emergency medical teams are based, enabling dispatchers to monitor ambulance call-outs, which is expected to significantly improve response times.

In turn, the maximum response time for an emergency medical team to reach a patient should not exceed 15 minutes in towns with a population of over 10,000, and 20 minutes outside such towns. In all the voivodships covered by the audit, these times were exceeded in between 21.5% of call-outs in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship and 37.8% in the Mazowieckie Voivodship.

Between 1 January 2023 and 31 March 2025, the Mazowieckie Voivodship had the highest number of inhabitants per EMT – almost 25,000 people – and the Lubuskie Voivodship had the lowest – over 17,500 people. Considering the area covered by each EMT unit, the best ratio was recorded in the Mazowieckie Voivodship, where one unit covered 161 km². In contrast, in the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodship, one unit covered an area nearly twice as large – 305 km².

The NIK found the highest percentage of EMT call-outs exceeding the maximum expected arrival time in the following municipalities:

• Nowe Warpno in the Zachodniopomorskie Voivodship – 99.1% with 349 call-outs, and
• Dzierzgowo in the Mazowieckie Voivodship – 96.9% with 388 call-outs.

Although, according to data from the Statistics Poland, 91 new EMTs were established between 2021 and 2024 (these were basic EMTs only; the number of specialist EMTs fell in three voivodships) access to emergency medical services was not the same in all the voivodships covered by the audit. This means that the voivodes, whose remit includes planning the deployment of EMTs, failed to take into account patients’ right to equal access to such services.

Polish Medical Air Rescue – lack of training for doctors on new medical equipment

Air ambulance teams work in groups of three (a professional pilot, a doctor and a paramedic or nurse). The NIK inspected two air ambulance service operational bases – in Płock and Warsaw – and has no reservations regarding their operation. Cases were identified within the air ambulance service where doctors worked continuously for over 24 hours, but these were isolated incidents, and the organisation of work minimised the risk of such situations arising.

However, the Supreme Audit Office found that doctors who were members of EMTs had not undergone the compulsory training related to changes to the medical equipment on helicopters – the fitting of new defibrillators, ultrasound scanners and chest compression devices. 134 out of 137 doctors (approx. 98%) working in air ambulance services had not completed the training. This was caused by an oversight regarding a provision in the Air Ambulance Service Operational Manual. Due to the limited availability of doctors in the air ambulance service, an e-learning format was adopted; however, even in this format, not all doctors completed the training – the largest proportion – almost half (40.2%) – completed the training on the use of ultrasound scanners.

Overcrowded Eds, yet almost half of patients do not require urgent care

According to data from Statistics Poland, 11 new emergency departments were established between 2021 and 2024 to provide medical care to people in a state of medical emergency. By the end of 2024, there were already 250 such departments, meaning that on average there was one for every 150,000 inhabitants. So why are these departments so crowded with patients?

The Supreme Audit Office (NIK) audited the A&E departments at 10 hospitals. The NIK audited EDs in 10 hospitals. Nearly half of their patients did not require urgent medical attention, and only 6.2% were in the highest-risk category. Almost 45% of those who arrived at emergency departments were assigned a priority category in the patient care management system (TOPSOR) that allowed them to be referred to primary healthcare. However, emergency department staff rarely made use of this option.

The majority of patients assessed in EDs were those who had arrived at the hospital on their own. Only 29.4% were transported by emergency medical teams, and of these, only 38.4% were subsequently admitted to hospital.

The decision as to whether a patient’s treatment will be continued in another hospital department (or at another hospital) should be taken by a doctor in the emergency department, within a timeframe specified by the hospital manager. This should limit patients’ prolonged stays in EDs and thus ensure that further treatment is initiated without delay in cases where this is required. The audit revealed that in six out of ten hospitals such time limits had not been specified, and in a further two they were in force only for part of the period covered by the audit.

At the same time, the organisation of work in the wards to which ED patients are transferred should ensure that beds are available to them as quickly as possible. It is the responsibility of hospital managers to determine the number of beds required. Only two out of ten hospitals fulfilled this obligation, and it is precisely this information that is useful to the voivodship emergency medical services coordinator, medical dispatchers, and emergency medical teams' managers.

Shifts are covered, but some staff worked a record 144 hours without a break

The NIK also audited the competence of medical staff in emergency departments and highlighted that only 3.4% of doctors working in these departments were specialists in emergency medicine. It was therefore no surprise that, during certain periods covered by the audit, the heads of EDs in three hospitals – the Medical Centre in Nowy Dwór, the Independent Public Healthcare Centre in Choszczno and the Independent Public Healthcare Complex in Gryfice – did not possess the required qualifications. In the latter case, although the doctor in charge of the department had a specialisation in internal medicine, he was not a specialist in emergency medicine, did not have completed such a specialisation, and it was not demonstrated that he had at least three thousand hours’ experience of providing healthcare services in EDs over the past three years. During part of the period covered by the audit, the person acting as ward nurse in the ED at the District Medical Centre in Grójec also failed to meet the requirements. This was because she did not have the required five years’ experience of working in an emergency department. The supervisors of these individuals explained that they had been entrusted with managerial positions due to difficulties in recruiting suitable specialists.

In the vast majority of the hospitals covered by the audit (eight out of ten), NIK auditors did not find any irregularities regarding the required staffing levels for on-call duties in EDs. On certain days, the Independent Public Healthcare Centre in Choszczno failed to ensure this. Meanwhile, at the Medical Centre in Nowy Dwór, although the technical capacity existed, no records of doctors’ working hours were kept, which made it impossible to verify staffing levels in the EDs. This does not mean that there were no staff shortages in the other hospitals. These were made up for through overtime, including by medical staff employed on fixed-term contracts. At the District Medical Centre in Grójec, this applied to all six doctors employed on permanent contracts, although two of them did not give the written consent required by law. In 2024, the excess working hours of ED doctors at this hospital ranged from 24 hours 32 minutes to 397 hours 55 minutes, and in 2025 from 20 hours 45 minutes to 198 hours 20 minutes per month (in two-monthly pay periods). Meanwhile, at the 10th Military Research Hospital and Polyclinic IPHC in Bydgoszcz, in Q1 2025, nine staff members – nurses and paramedics – worked in excess of the maximum working hours, ranging from 1 hour and 40 minutes to 65 hours and 45 minutes.

In the case of work carried out under civil law contracts which do not limit working hours, in almost all of the hospitals audited (9 out of 10) some of the shifts worked by ED staff lasted longer than 24 hours, although the scale and nature of this work varied. The NIK examined various groups of medical staff (doctors, paramedics, and nurses), ranging from a few to a dozen or so people per group, and covering various periods.

The holder of the record for overwork worked in the ED of the Independent Public Healthcare Centre in Sulęcin for 144 hours, which is equivalent to six days, while in seven other cases, staff worked for 120 hours (five days) each. In Q1 2024 and Q1 2025 alone, a total of 58 cases were identified in which doctors worked at this hospital for more than 24 hours without a break, and one paramedic worked for between 36 and 48 hours on four separate occasions during the periods covered by the study.

At the 10th Military Research Hospital and Polyclinic IPHC in Bydgoszcz, of the 14 doctors included in the study, eight provided care continuously for over 24 hours in 120 cases – ranging from 31 hours and 10 minutes to a maximum of 107 hours, and on top of that, some were on-call by telephone following an extended shift of 13 hours. In 42 of the 120 cases, these doctors worked for at least 48 hours.

At the Independent Public Healthcare Centre in Gryfice, some doctors’ shifts not only lasted more than 24 hours but also involved other duties at the same time. In just one month, one doctor worked seven consecutive 48-hour shifts in the ED. Another worked simultaneously in the ED, the Internal Medicine Ward and carried out so-called endoscopy shifts. In two instances, another doctor provided care in the emergency department, carried out administrative duties at the hospital, and remained on ‘standby’ to provide care during hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions for a total of 30 hours and 35 minutes. In one instance, a nurse worked in the ED for 32 hours without a break.

At the Voivodship Multidisciplinary Hospital in Gorzów Wielkopolski, the longest working hours recorded among doctors ranged from 32 to 72 hours without a break. At the Multidisciplinary Hospital in Inowrocław, five doctors provided care continuously for over 24 hours on 20 occasions, working between 31 hours 10 minutes and 55 hours 30 minutes. At the Independent Public Healthcare Centre in Choszczno, each of the five doctors providing services in the ED worked for over 24 hours on one to four occasions. The longest period of uninterrupted work amounted to 72 hours.

As with the dispatchers of emergency medical teams, ED managers attributed such situations, on the one hand, to difficulties in ensuring sufficient staffing levels and, on the other, to the absence of working time standards for staff employed under contracts other than employment contracts.

Figures pulled out of thin air

The Patient Service Mode in the Hospital Emergency Department (Tryb Obsługi Pacjenta w Szpitalnym Oddziale Ratunkowym, TOPSOR) is a nationwide IT system managed by the National Health Fund, designed to streamline the work of emergency departments and organise the order in which patients are admitted. TOPSOR was intended to collect and analyse data by recording the times taken for each stage of patient care. A correctly recorded process should comprise seven elements: the time a ticket is collected, the registration time (call time), triage time (medical triage), assignment of urgency category, time of medical consultation, time of discharge from the ED, and time of removal (of an untreated patient who left before triage, after triage, was referred to primary healthcare, failed to attend after being summoned, for whom a ticket number was generated accidentally, or whose admission was refused).

An audit conducted by the NIK revealed that the completeness and reliability of the data entered into the TOPSOR system by individual hospitals varied considerably. For example, at the 10th Military Research Hospital and Polyclinic IPHC in Bydgoszcz, only one instance of medical consultation was recorded, despite the fact that triage times were recorded over 68,300 times. Conversely, in all the EDs audited, the number of triage calls was higher than the number of registration calls – the difference ranged from six at the District Medical Centre in Grójec to almost 21,000 at the Independent Public Healthcare Centre in Gryfice.

The TOPSOR system also failed to provide reliable data on the time spent by doctors attending to patients. During the period covered by the audit, there were over 127,300 entries for all the audited hospitals, recording both the time of the patient’s discharge and the time of medical attendance. In almost 97,000 cases (approx. 76%), the difference between these times did not exceed 10 seconds, which would mean that the doctor spent exactly that amount of time admitting and examining the patient – something that is physically impossible.

Inaccurate entries limited the ability to carry out the analyses for which the TOPSOR system had been introduced. The heads of emergency departments explained that providing medical assistance to people in a state of medical emergency takes priority over recording the individual stages of the treatment process in TOPSOR.

Conclusions and recommendations

The Supreme Audit Office recommends:

To the Minister of Health for:

• taking comprehensive measures aimed at increasing the number of doctors within the system, in particular specialists in emergency medicine within the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system;
• including in the voivodship action plans for the system the number of beds in organisational units of specialist hospitals providing the healthcare services necessary for emergency medical care, reserved for people in a state of sudden medical emergency who are admitted to these units from the emergency department;
• specifying the minimum stock of medicinal products to be kept in ambulances.

To voivodes for:

• taking into account, when planning the deployment of the EMTs, patients’ right to equal access to healthcare services;
• ensuring the required staffing levels for dispatch centres.

To the managers of hospitals operating EDs for:

• defining the time limits within which an ED doctor must decide on admission to a ward and transfer to another ward for the purpose of continuing treatment;
• determining the number of hospital beds in units specialising in the provision of health services essential for emergency medical care for patients transferred from the ED.

This audit – which has been in preparation for some time – concerning the introduction of systemic mechanisms leading to salary increases will also consider the request from the Prime Minister to conduct a comprehensive audit of the funding of salaries and services provided by medical staff in publicly funded healthcare facilities, which was received by the Office on 19 June of this year.

The working hours of medical staff have a direct impact on the quality of care and patient safety. Significantly extending these hours has negative consequences for healthcare workers and may adversely affect the health or lives of patients. The result is extremely high salaries for some persons, whilst posing a risk to the quality of care provided.

NIK on healthcare – ongoing audits

The latest audit in this area, which has just been published, concerns standards for the provision of perinatal care. It showed that, although the quality of these services in Poland is steadily improving, systemic changes are needed and supervision of standards must be strengthened.

Among the irregularities identified were, amongst other things, excessively long working hours – the requirement to ensure 11 hours’ daily rest and 35 hours’ weekly rest was not being met by salaried doctors. In all the hospitals audited, doctors employed on civil-law contracts worked continuously for over 24 hours (719 such cases were recorded). The longest shifts lasted as long as 96 hours, posing a direct threat to patients and the doctors themselves.

In the coming weeks, NIK will publish the results of three further audits in the healthcare sector:

• June: teaching hospitals – whether they properly performed their clinical, teaching, and research activities,
• early July: Warsaw South Hospital – clinical activities as well as asset and financial management,
• late July: the emergency medical services system – whether it ensured an efficient response to medical emergencies.

In each of these audits, one of the areas examined was working hours of medical staff – as this has a direct impact on the quality of care and patient safety.

How does NIK work?

Audit work is a process that takes place over time. It involves collecting and verifying data from a number of entities, analysing documentation, establishing the facts, and drafting a post-audit report. For audits covering several entities, the Office compiles a summary report of the findings, containing conclusions, assessments, and recommendations.

The Supreme Audit Office operates according to an annual work plan, adopted by its Board. However, when it receives reports or identifies areas where irregularities may have occurred, the Office analyses the validity of the claims and the feasibility of taking action. In each case, the results of previous audits and activities already planned in the NIK’s work plan or intended to be undertaken as part of ad hoc activities are also considered.

The NIK is open to requests concerning matters affecting the functioning of the state and the Office itself, submitted by external bodies – including representatives of the government, self-government, civil society organisations, or citizens.

Pursuant to the Act on the Supreme Audit Office, the Office also undertakes audits at the request of the Polish Parliament (Sejm) or its bodies and following consideration of a request from the President of the Republic of Poland or the Prime Minister.

The aim of the Office's activities is not merely to identify irregularities, but also to formulate observations and recommendations that will lead to a tangible improvement in the functioning of the audited entities and the areas for which they are responsible.

Ensuring the right to education for refugee children stems, among other things, from Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The implementation of this right, combined with the massive influx of children from Ukraine into the Polish educational system, were among the primary reasons why NIK launched audit activities regarding the realisation of compulsory schooling and compulsory education by Ukrainian children in Poland.

The audit was conducted in parallel with an international audit titled “The Realisation of the Right to Education for Ukrainian Children in Schools Across European Countries,” which was coordinated by the Supreme Audit Office of Poland. The objective of the audit was to verify whether the right to education for Ukrainian refugee children is being properly realised in host countries, specifically in schools across Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hesse (a federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany), as well as through distance learning in Ukraine.

The audit covered the activities of the Ministry of National Education, selected Regional Educational Superintendent's Offices, local government units, and schools from 2022 to 2025.

Growing number of Ukrainian students in the Polish education system

Before the outbreak of the full-scale war, according to data from the Education Information System, as of 30 September 2021, nearly 73,000 students from Ukraine were studying in Polish schools. Following Russia's aggression, this number rose sharply. According to the Ministry of National Education, by the end of September 2022, there were already over 152,000 Ukrainian children and youth in the Polish education system, and over 146,800 a year later.

Following the introduction of mandatory education for students from Ukraine on 1 September 2024, 160,200 students were fulfilling compulsory schooling or education, representing an increase of over 9% compared to 2023. In subsequent years, Ukrainian students accounted for 3.9%, 3.6%, and 3.8% of all students in Poland, respectively.

Ukrainian Refugee Students in Over Half of Polish Schools

The Supreme Audit Office of Poland positively assessed the actions of the minister responsible for education and upbringing in terms of providing the legal, organisational, and financial conditions for Ukrainian children to realise their right to education following the outbreak of the war. The minister systematically cooperated with the Ukrainian side to ensure the right to education for children arriving from Ukraine. Following the introduction of compulsory schooling on 1 September 2024, the minister established a Team for the Educational Integration of Children Who Are Citizens of Ukraine, which, among other initiatives, prompted the development of the “Friendly School” government programme for 2025–2027, aimed at equalising educational opportunities for children and youth from Ukraine.

However, NIK auditors established that the state initially did not possess complete and consistent data regarding the number of Ukrainian children realising compulsory schooling and education remotely within the Ukrainian educational system. A significant change occurred after 1 September 2024, when Ukrainian children were required to realise compulsory schooling and education within the Polish education system. At the same time, the entitlement to the “800+” child benefit was linked to the realisation of compulsory schooling and education.

According to data presented in the audit findings, following the introduction of these measures, the number of Ukrainian students in Polish schools increased by approximately 13,000. Restricting the payment of the “800+” child benefit to individuals who did not meet the statutory conditions led to a reduction in state expenditures by over PLN 101 million.

Funding for the Education of Students from Ukraine

Local government units received funds from the Aid Fund to implement additional educational tasks related to the education of children from Ukraine. Total expenditures on the education of Ukrainian children from 2022 to 31 March 2025 amounted to over PLN 7.8 billion. This amount, calculated and transferred to local government units between 2022 and 2025 (up to 31 March), included expenditures on additional educational tasks related to the schooling of Ukrainian students. The highest amount of funds was spent in 2023 and 2024 – over PLN 2.6 billion in each of those years.

Between 2022 and 2024, the government provided material assistance to Ukrainian refugee children and youth through school scholarships and school allowances. Authorities also allocated funds for the purchase of textbooks, educational materials, and exercise materials for primary school students. All local governments covered by the audit organised transportation for Ukrainian refugee students to their schools.

Language, Psychological, and Organisational Support in Schools

In response to the needs arising from the influx of people from Ukraine, a range of solutions was introduced to quickly integrate children and youth into education. These measures included allowing the establishment of preparatory classes for Ukrainian students in schools, organising additional free Polish language classes, and increasing student capacity limits in classrooms. To integrate these students into the school environment, schools provided them with support from individuals fluent in the Ukrainian language and intercultural assistants. Furthermore, schools organised additional psychological and pedagogical support, integration activities, and initiatives helping students with a migration background adapt. Not a single instance of a school refusing admission to a refugee student from Ukraine was found in any of the audited institutions.

Organisational Problems

At the same time, the NIK audit revealed that institutions realising the right to education for children from Ukraine in Polish schools faced organisational challenges. Some of the audited schools failed to follow the proper procedures for qualifying Ukrainian students into school classes. They also mismanaged additional Polish language classes by failing to maintain the required weekly number of hours, and failed to properly organise education in preparatory classes.

Conclusions

In NIK’s opinion, it is necessary to further improve the mechanisms used by the Minister of National Education to monitor the realisation of compulsory schooling and education of Ukrainian refugee students, as well as their educational needs regarding psychological-pedagogical assistance and Polish language teaching.

Furthermore, the Supreme Audit Office of Poland points out that the dynamic increase in the number of Ukrainian students in Polish schools requires both local governments and headteachers to support teachers in their professional development for working with foreign students. In light of the above, NIK requests headteachers and governing authorities to:

• support teachers by organising internal school meetings and training sessions dedicated to the issues faced by foreign students,
• refer teachers to training programmes in teaching Polish as a foreign language.

The NIK audit showed that successive ministers of environment designated nearly 98% of special areas of conservation of habitats with delays ranging from 7 months to nearly 10 years. The delays were mainly caused by the fact that successive ministers of environment failed to submit projects amending national regulations to ensure their consistency with European regulations. That is why, the effective deadlines for the approval of conservation task plans and conservation plans for Natura 2000 habitat and bird sites are still not in line with the requirements of these directives.

The General Director for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ), who supervised the functioning of areas being part of the network, did not make sure (as of 12 November 2024) that the regional directors for environmental protection prepared planning documents for 140 areas. In the audit period, the cost of drafting documents exceeded PLN 11.6 million but finally it will be higher as establishing these documents requires further financial outlays.

At the same time, the directors of maritime offices submitted to the Minister of the Environment draft conservation plans for a total of 11 (out of 28) marine areas of Natura 2000, of which the Minister approved only two in the audit period. That was an aftermath of long-term works on draft ordinances on approving plans for marine areas supervised by the directors of maritime offices. That resulted in serious financial consequences, because after such a long time the documents needed update. The Director of the Maritime Office in Gdynia spent nearly PLN 1.4 million extra on that purpose. In turn, the cost of three draft plans of marine area conservation incurred by the Maritime Office in Szczecin reached nearly PLN 800 thousand in 2013. Though, until the end of the NIK audit, the plans were not submitted to the Minister.

NIK considered such conduct as wasteful and recommended that the Minister of Infrastructure and the General Director for Environmental Protection eliminate the situations where additional costs of long-term development of conservation plans and their update need to be incurred.

The planning documents were also missing for the Natura 2000 sites being part of national parks and partially reaching beyond their boundaries. The conservation plan is prepared for each national park. The NIK audit revealed that such documents were developed only after the conservation plan for a given national park was approved. That was usually done with a year-long delay, despite the 6-month deadline. By 20 January 2025, the conservation plans for 10 of 23 national parks were not established. The delays ranged from one month to over 10 years.

NIK made a recommendation to the Minister of Climate and Environment to stop establishing conservation task plans for a Natura 2000 area going beyond the national park boundaries only after the conservation plan for that park has been established.

According to NIK, considering the possibility of obtaining funds as part of the FEnIKS 2021-2027 Programme (European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment Programme for 2021-2027), it is essential to develop and establish as soon as possible the missing conservation task plans for the Natura 2000 areas in whole or in part covering the area of national parks. Otherwise, the European Commission may start another proceeding against Poland concerning its failure to prepare draft planning documents and to establish them within the deadlines set by the EC.

Since there were no conservation plans or conservation task plans in place, by the end of June 2024 no objectives or protective measures were specified nationwide for 241 Natura 2000 areas, i.e. for more than 25% of sites covered by the network. As a consequence, some habitats were not properly protected for nearly 17 years, whereas in case of special protection areas for birds it was over 20 years.

Also the adopted model of financing tasks related to Natura 2000 areas did not ensure their stability or continuity. Funds for that purpose came mainly from the EU funds and were acquired in cycles of individual financial perspectives so the stream of financing was not ongoing. The problem occurred after the EU projects were completed. The scope of efforts related to the creation, management and supervision of Natura 2000 areas fell significantly as no sources of their financing were planned for that period. At the same time, in each of six audited regional directorates for environmental protection the performance of tasks related to the network was directly determined by the availability of external funds.

Also, the shortage of funds made it impossible to approve all planning documents for protected areas within the network (as of 20 June 2024) and fully protect all Natura 2000 areas subject to the supervision of regional directorates for environmental protection.

No regulations = insufficient protection

Natura 2000 is a European ecological network which has operated in Poland since 2004 under the Nature Conservation Act and two EU directives. As part of the Habitats Directive of 1992 protected areas are designated, updated and liquidated depending on habitat types as well as plant and animal species of priority importance. The Birds Directive of 2009, on the other hand, regulates issues related to special protection of wild birds. Once a site being part of the Natura 2000 network has been approved by the European Union, its Member States have a maximum of six years to designate a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) there and to establish priority conservation measures and objectives.

Natura 2000 network in Poland (data as of the end of June 2024)

1013 protection areas:

• 868 Special Areas of Conservation for Habitats (SACs),
• 145 Special Protection Areas for Birds (SPAs),

including 10 connected Natura 2000 sites.

The protection areas within the network cover almost 1/5 of the country's land area.

One of the objectives of the Habitats Directive is to prevent degradation and damage of valuable habitats and to eliminate threats for wild fauna and flora. At the same time, in the NIK audit period, successive ministers of environment and general directors for environmental protection assumed that the Natura 2000 network designated before 2019 was generally complete and did not plan its development.

As a result there were no rules for obtaining and using information e.g. from the National Monitoring of the Environment, that would imply that changes to the network were necessary. That is why, the regional directors exercising supervision over Natura 2000 areas were not obliged to implement internal procedures regulating the proposing, changing boundaries, updating or liquidating areas being part of the network. Therefore, the requests to create a new protected area were submitted only after the European Commission filed its formal charges.

According to the General Director for Environmental Protection, in 2019-2023 Poland met nearly all (except three) EU obligations related to the Natura 2000 network. However, in December 2024, the European Commission has re-identified 107 habitats and species, for which the site network being significant for the European Community was insufficient (to a variable degree).  

To prevent such cases from occurring the Nature Conservation Act needs to stipulate rules for proposing, changing boundaries, updating or liquidating Natura 2000 areas as well as updating relevant information. The failure to define these rules may have an adverse impact on preservation or restoration of natural habitats and species of wild fauna and flora being of the EU’s interest. The Habitats Directive does not indicate that once designated and protected, the network areas are sufficient to maintain the network coherence.  

Agricultural and forestry management in Natura 2000 areas

In 2019-2023, in Natura 2000 areas the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (or: the Agency) identified over 1000 cases of conversion of permanent grassland of high natural value by farmers. The permanent grassland is a type of land used to cultivate grasses or other herbaceous forage plants which were not ploughed or covered by crop rotation for at least five years. The conversion identified by the Agency posed a threat to protected habitats and species.

The Agency had relevant information and data at its disposal to develop conservation plans and conservation task plans. The General Director for Environmental Protection and the regional directors did not use the data, though. The lack of knowledge made it impossible to take potential preventive or remedial measures to mitigate the risk of deteriorating condition of habitats or species related to those conversions.  

According to NIK the data gathered by the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture were essential to exercise comprehensive and reliable supervision over Natura 2000 sites.

The failure to use this information posed a risk that the condition of some habitats or species would deteriorate. The NIK audit revealed such cases. It also showed the absence of supervision or insufficient supervision exercised by regional directorates for environmental protection over Natura 2000 areas located in forest areas.

NIK also points out that conducting business operations in Natura 2000 areas without establishing adequate planning documents entails the risk of, among other things, damaging valuable natural resources. Activities such as clear-cutting (one-off felling of all or almost all trees in a specific area) in valuable habitat areas may lead to long-term, negative ecological consequences which will have impact on the environment protection level in a given area.

Lack of stable financing

The creation and management of Natura 2000 sites were financed primarily from EU funds, which were acquired in cycles of individual financial perspectives. The funds from the state budget mainly secured own contribution needed to obtain these funds. Money for this purpose also came from the budgets of local governments, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and its provincial branches.

Main sources of expenditure in 2019-2024 (until 30 June):

• EU funds – nearly PLN 142 million (67%);
• funds from the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and its provincial branches – nearly PLN 46 million (approx. 22%);
• funds from the state budget – nearly PLN 23 million (approx. 11%).

The problem occurred after individual EU projects were completed – the scope of activities related to the creation, management and supervision of Natura 2000 areas decreased significantly at that time, because no sources of financing were planned for that time.

Despite the shortage of money, successive ministers of environment failed to submit information to the European Commission about the estimated amount which the EU should earmark to co-finance the protection of areas of priority importance designated in Poland. That was done in violation of the Nature Conservation Act and despite the government's annual consent to submit a list of changes to Natura 2000 areas to the European Commission.

The General Director for Environmental Protection did not provide calculations to the Ministry. Besides, he did not verify to what extent the EU and domestic funds planned for 2014-2020 were used in the Priority Activity Frameworks for the Natura 2000 network. Although the General Director ensured financing of tasks related to the creation and management of areas being part of the network, the funds were scarce.

Recommendations

In view of the audit findings NIK has made a recommendation for the Minister of Climate and Environment to provide a stable system of financing activities related to the creation, management and supervision of Natura 2000 areas, that would guarantee continuous task performance.

Specialist foster care is the most desirable form of support for children with intellectual disability. However, the number of specialist foster families in Poland is still too small. That is why, minors with intellectual disability are referred to the following social welfare homes: either the ones designed for children and youth with intellectual disability (where in fact adults are also placed), or combined social welfare homes, dedicated also to adults with this kind of disability.

In practice, there are no social welfare homes in Poland where only minors would stay. The age diversification in these facilities has an adverse impact on ensuring required support and safety to children and young people.

As of 31 December 2024, there were 35 social welfare homes for children and youth in Poland, offering nearly 2.5 thousand beds, as well as 65 combined social welfare homes with over 5.5 thousand beds. According to the data from the Ministry of Family, Labour, and Social Policy the number of vacancies for children exceeded 4 thousand. In reality, however, more than 1 thousand minors resided in these facilities, occupying 26% of the places reserved for them.

In line with the Strategy for the Development of Social Services, placing children in social welfare homes outside the foster care system, should be the last link in the support system, used exclusively in the absence of other opportunities of assistance. The problem is that the children who are sent to these facilities disappear from district statistics related to the foster care system. After they are placed in a social welfare home, a place in foster care is no longer searched for them.

Why are children with disabilities sent to social welfare homes?

The profile of children placed in social welfare homes is diversified. Some of them, because of serious health condition, require specialist care 24/7, yet they are sent to social welfare homes at their parents’ request who have full parental rights, pay for their children’s stay and eagerly participate in their children’s lives. Other children situated in these facilities come from foster families, from institutional care, are located there due to a difficult family situation or because they necessitated specialist, professional care and permanent supervision. Still other minors are referred to social welfare homes from dysfunctional families through the intervention process, but also due to the shortage of vacancies in family foster care or in care and medical facilities.  

“In such cases social welfare homes are an alternative for a dysfunctional family or another place which cannot cope with demanding care related to the child’s disability. In that case the child’s stay is paid in part or in whole by the municipality which has sent the child to the social welfare home” –audit coordinator Marzena Baradziej said.

Age distribution of population – theory and reality

The NIK audit was conducted in 9 social welfare homes, 7 district family support centres and 7 county offices. The key audit question was if the care of children and youth with intellectual disabilities provided in 2022-2025 (until 30 September) in social welfare homes was proper and diligent.

In 2022-2025, most residents of all the social welfare homes audited by NIK were adults.  “The places designed only for children were usually occupied by adults who – in accordance with the law – could stay in social welfare homes after they turned 30. In practice nearly all residents placed in social welfare homes as children stayed there until the end of their lives” – the audit coordinator explained.

The eldest residents of social welfare homes for children and young people were even 76 years old and in combined facilities the residents’ age ranged from 63 to 92. The youngest child who stayed in a social welfare home in the audit period was 7 months old.

Task performance and service access limitations

NIK has found that the audited social welfare homes completed their tasks related to social welfare and supported children and youth placed in those facilities. In all the social welfare homes, despite difficulties in access to specialists and long waiting time, the minors’ had their health needs satisfied. Also furnishing, clothes and toys were provided.

This does not, however, change the fact that the children who should be placed in foster care or nursing and care facilities are referred to social welfare homes. 

The majority of children living in social welfare homes attended educational or upbringing facilities. Minor residents of social welfare homes had limited access to occupational therapy, medical and social rehabilitation.

Children sharing accommodations with adults

The NIK report revealed that in all social welfare homes minor residents shared their rooms with adults or seniors. Since younger and younger children are located in social welfare homes, it becomes increasingly challenging to provide them with space tailored to their needs at early stages of their development.

It also happened that district family support centres, following consultations with heads of the social welfare homes, refused to admit minors with intellectual disability, despite available vacancies. The heads justified it with the residents’ safety. That approach violated the principle of equal treatment of children and youth with intellectual disability, whose placement in a social welfare home was ordered by the court.

No efforts to help children and youth leave social welfare homes

Over half of social welfare homes did not take any efforts, also did not cooperate with the institutions which could possible help the children and young people leave the facilities. The most frequent reason provided was that it was not a task of social welfare homes. At the same time, all the district family support centres promoted foster parenting. Despite these measures, though, in the entire audit period, no specialist foster family was in place in the area of four facilities. In other districts the number of such families ranged from one to five.

The audit also identified system barriers in terms of support for families with children with intellectual disabilities which may end in placing the children in social welfare homes. They included institutional barriers (like the shortage of specialists providing support, lack of coordination between the social welfare, education and health system,  insufficient staff prepared for work with families having children with disabilities, lack of financial support and barriers in access to services (long waiting time for health services, deficient offer of respite care services, stigmatisation and sense of loneliness in families).

Recommendations

To the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy

To initiate changes to the Social Welfare Act, Act on Family Support and Foster Care System and Ordinance on Social Welfare Homes in the following scope:

• introducing a requirement to place children and youth with intellectual disability in combined social welfare homes after excluding the possibility of locating them in social welfare homes for children and youth, upon meeting relevant safety requirements and in consideration of their specific emotional and therapeutic needs,
• establishing rules for the use of monitoring in social welfare homes, including collection, processing and storage of recordings,
• adapting the service standards in social welfare homes for children and youth, in view of their specific emotional and therapeutic needs, actual length of stay in social welfare homes and introducing the obligation to cooperate and exchange information with educational and upbringing facilities which they attend,
• establishing rules for safe storage and disposal of residents’ medications, particularly those containing psychoactive or narcotic substances,
• establishing rules for simultaneous placement in social welfare homes and foster care, as well as rules for terminating institutional care in cases of permanent placement in social welfare homes, which will prevent blocking of foster care vacancies and double financing of a child’s stay,
• introducing the so-called “long-term care,” which provides care for children and youth with intellectual disabilities even after they reach the age of majority, if they are unable to live independently.

To the Minister of Justice

• to prepare changes to the Mental Health Protection Act by introducing the obligation for the court to seek opinion of a forensic psychiatrist before issuing the ruling to place the child with intellectual disability for an indefinite time in a social welfare home.

The NIK audit also identified the following factors which contribute to placing children and youth with intellectual disability in social welfare homes: insufficient support for biological families, shortage of vacancies in specialist foster care, failure to provide courts with comprehensive information about the child’s situation or stopping to seek opportunities for minors to leave the social welfare homes after placing them in these facilities.

Therefore, NIK recommends that the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy as well as the Minister of Justice should develop joint strategy to support children who may be placed in social welfare homes and children already placed there, which aims at:

• providing their families with permanent access to long-term system forms of support,
• developing guidelines on searching foster or adoption families using e.g. social media to boost the search effectiveness,
• introducing an obligation for district family support centres to prove, at the stage of court proceedings concerning the placement of children in social welfare homes, that all possibilities of finding a vacancy in foster care have been exhausted,
• introducing an obligation for social welfare homes and district family support centres to cooperate with the guardianship court to search vacancies in family foster care for children placed in social welfare homes.

NIK recommends that the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy develop guidelines for:

• heads of social welfare homes, further specifying requirements regarding the form, dates or frequency of training in pre-medical first aid for therapeutic and care team employees in a way guaranteeing safety of residents of social welfare homes,
• governors, considering the need to register information on the age structure of residents of individual social welfare homes. The absence of this information may be misleading for the party requesting the placement of a minor in a specific social welfare home and for the courts adjudicating these cases.

Recommendations and good practices

Regardless of the de lege ferenda proposals and system recommendations aiming to refine the system for supporting children and youth with intellectual disability placed in social welfare homes, NIK has presented a catalogue of identified good practices to be disseminated by the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy among governors, the authorities that operate and commission the operation of social welfare homes for children and youth and heads of those social welfare homes. The catalogue includes:

• the family-based system of operating social welfare homes, i.e. dividing residents into groups and assigning permanent staff to them, including a permanent family caregiver, which may help increase their sense of stability, safety, build stronger bonds and strengthen the sense of belonging,
• increasing the number of meals for children and youth,
• ensuring access to psychologists in social welfare homes in the afternoon,
• assign a staff member working at a social welfare home on a rotating shift schedule as the primary point of contact for a child attending an educational facility to increase their availability.

Changes to tax offices came into effect on 1 January 2023. The new organisation was intended to facilitate the conduct of preliminary proceedings in criminal tax cases. The number of tax offices conducting preliminary proceedings has been reduced from 400 to 16 – one for each voivodship. In those offices whose heads have been appointed to conduct preliminary proceedings and represent the authorities in court in cases involving fiscal offences and misdemeanours, fiscal criminal divisions have been established, comprising fiscal criminal units.

The reorganisation was intended to enable effective staff management and to even out the uneven workload between offices within a given revenue administration chamber. It was also intended to facilitate the exchange of experiences among staff within the new multi-member fiscal criminal affairs units and to ensure the continuity of operations in the event of staff absences. As a result, the organisational changes were intended to have a positive impact on the quality and efficiency of the tasks carried out and to improve the operational efficiency of the revenue administration without altering its resources.

The audit covered the years 2022–2024 and was the first to examine the issue of preliminary proceedings in criminal tax cases conducted by the National Revenue Administration. Its aim was to ascertain whether KAS had conducted its preliminary proceedings correctly and thoroughly during the reorganisation.

Thorough preparation for the reorganisation

During the period under review, the mission of the National Revenue Administration was defined as ensuring stable and efficient public finances and high-quality services. On the one hand, KAS was intended to be a supportive organisation, assisting honest taxpayers and businesses, whilst on the other hand – it was to be efficient and effective in conducting criminal and fiscal criminal proceedings.

The preparations for the reorganisation were thorough – they were preceded by needs assessments, the legislative process for the regulation introducing the changes was smooth, and the directors of the revenue administration chambers generally implemented the changes to the relevant organisational regulations on time. The necessary measures are set out in the recommendations issued by the Ministry of Finance to the directors of the revenue administration chambers on 19 September 2022. They set out the scope of activities, particularly with regard to organisational matters, human resources and IT systems. With a few exceptions, the measures set out in the recommendations have been implemented in all the offices covered by the audit. An analysis of staffing levels was carried out, new job descriptions and authorisations were drawn up, training was provided, and staff in the fiscal criminal affairs units – designated to conduct preliminary proceedings – were granted access to the necessary applications and systems. However, despite the recommendations, not all offices have set up a team or position dedicated to key entities, a decision which was justified, among other things, by the fact that there were too few such entities. In two offices, it was found, amongst other things, that the job descriptions for staff assigned to conduct fine proceedings had been drawn up inaccurately or had not been updated, and that appropriate training had not been provided for some staff members.

Workload in offices

The reorganisation was intended to enable more efficient management of human resources and reduce excessive workloads. One of the tools for effective management was to be a workload assessment model. The Ministry of Finance has undertaken analytical work on its preparation, but this had not been finalised by the time the audit was completed. The heads of offices monitored and analysed the workload in the SKK units and took appropriate action in the event of an uneven distribution of tasks. However, a comprehensive analysis of the workload required taking into account, amongst other things, the significant caseload relating to the Accounting Act, the varying degrees of complexity of the cases, as well as the differing levels of competence and qualifications among staff. On an annual average basis, the figures per employee of the SKK unit for the years 2021–2023 were as follows: 41.1, 33.6 and 35.1 ongoing preliminary proceedings, and 44.4, 38.9 and 32.3 completed preliminary proceedings.

Achieving the planned results

An assessment of the initial effects of the reorganisation was carried out at the Ministry of Finance on the basis of an anonymous and voluntary survey of staff in the SKK units. Respondents mainly reported problems relating to the use of IT systems, including issues with hardware and software. Fewer than one in five respondents (18%) gave a negative assessment of their cooperation with non-designated tax offices in relation to tasks carried out in the area of criminal tax matters. Following the presentation of the survey results, the directors of the revenue administration chambers were obliged to report on the measures taken to improve the functioning of the SKK units following the reorganisation.

In April 2024, an impact assessment of the centralisation of fiscal criminal proceedings was carried out, which showed, amongst other things, that between 2022 and 2023 the number of staff employed in the SKK units fell by 8%, whilst the number of staff authorised to impose fines for fiscal misdemeanours increased by 15%. During the same period, the costs associated with the use of private cars by SKK units rose by 375%, whilst the amounts paid in allowances to SKK unit staff at tax offices increased by 158%. Furthermore, the number of proceedings initiated in cases involving offences under the Accounting Act has risen by almost 100%. The above analysis showed that the intended outcomes of the reorganisation had been achieved. Nevertheless, its negative effects have also been identified. 

During the period covered by the audit, there were personnel changes within the SKK units. Following an initial 2.7% decline in employment between 1 January 2022 and 1 January 2023, there was a 3.3% increase as of 1 January 2024.

A downward trend in some of the statistics relating to proceedings

The downward trend in the number of preliminary proceedings initiated and concluded between 2022 and 2023 was reversed in 2024, i.e. in the second year of the reorganisation.

It is true that in 2024, compared to the previous year (2023), there was an increase of almost 24% in the number of proceedings initiated and of almost 21% in the number of proceedings concluded, nevertheless, in the first two years of the reorganisation (2023–2024), compared to the preceding years (2021–2022), the total number of proceedings initiated was lower by almost 20%, and those concluded by over 33%. Therefore, trends in this area require monitoring, and the impact of the reorganisation must be analysed in the coming years.

At the same time, the value of tax receivables at risk or reduced in cases involving fiscal offences and fiscal misdemeanours rose by 36%, totalling PLN 6.2 billion between 2021 and 2024. Furthermore, in 2024, this figure fell by more than 8% compared with the previous year (2023). Between 2021 and 2024, the total amount of fines and sums paid under the voluntary settlement scheme amounted to PLN 226.5 million. In 2024, there was an 11% increase compared to 2023, whilst there was a decline of almost 22% between 2022 and 2023.

Following the reorganisation, the target set out in the annual action and development plan of the National Revenue Administration regarding the proportion of completed preliminary proceedings out of the total number of ongoing proceedings for 2023 and as at the third quarter of 2024 has been achieved. The target for the value of seized assets for 2023 was also achieved, but by the third quarter of 2024 it had not yet been fully met, partly due to the complexity of the cases and the need to carry out additional procedural and operational activities.

Irregularities in the conduct of preliminary proceedings

The audit revealed that, with regard to the grounds for refraining from initiating preliminary proceedings, in four (out of the seven examined) designated offices, the assessment of negative procedural grounds was carried out on the basis of internal regulations that were inconsistent with the provisions of the Fiscal Penal Code. Irregularities were also identified in relation to the unreliable documentation or lack of documentation of: negative procedural grounds identified, legal bases or circumstances taken into account when assessing the existence of negative procedural grounds, as well as instances of irregularities in the decision not to initiate preliminary proceedings or formal irregularities.

The audited authorities did not always conduct proceedings relating to fiscal offences and fiscal crimes correctly; however, in most cases, the irregularities identified were few in number and did not have a significant impact on the activities under audit. Only one of the seven audited offices received a negative rating in this area. The irregularities identified during the audit concerned, amongst other things: delays in initiating proceedings, failure to apply in a timely manner or failure to apply for an extension of the time limit for conducting an investigation into a fiscal offence or a fiscal misdemeanour, allowing the statute of limitations to expire, failing to notify a party to the proceedings of a change in the authority conducting the preliminary proceedings, and the improper conduct of preliminary proceedings (resulting in the premature discontinuation of proceedings where available evidence has not been exhausted, or the court issuing a ruling to refer the case to the head of the office to remedy significant deficiencies), delays in submitting applications to the court for permission to voluntarily submit to liability.

Recommendations

NIK is submitting a proposal de lege ferenda to the Minister of Finance and the Economy to regulate the transfer of materials necessary for conducting preliminary proceedings from non-designated to designated tax offices. It also calls for the effects of the reorganisation to be monitored and analysed in the coming years.

NIK requests the directors of the revenue administration chambers to:

• ensure that decisions are issued regarding the extension of preliminary proceedings and regarding the approval of orders to discontinue, suspend or refuse to initiate such proceedings before the expiry of the time limit within which, pursuant to Article 153 of the Fiscal Penal Code, the proceedings should be concluded;
• remove from current internal regulations the grounds for refraining from initiating preliminary proceedings that are inconsistent with Article 53(7) of the Fiscal Penal Code;
• strengthen oversight of preliminary proceedings conducted by heads of tax offices and ensure that decisions not to initiate such proceedings are made correctly.

NIK requests the heads of the designated tax offices to:

• ensure that applications for the extension of preliminary proceedings, as well as decisions to discontinue, suspend or refuse to initiate such proceedings, are forwarded to the revenue administration chambers for approval before the expiry of the time limit within which, pursuant to Article 153 of the Fiscal Penal Code, the proceedings must be concluded;
• strengthen oversight of representatives of the head of the tax office authorised under Article 118(3) of the Fiscal Penal Code, with regard to the prompt initiation of preliminary proceedings.

State special-purpose funds are a specific organisational form of public finance sector entities. They constitute an exception to the principles of unity and universality of the state budget by setting aside specific categories of revenue and allocating them to finance a precisely defined, narrow range of state tasks. In theory, this should lead to improved operational efficiency and ensure stable funding.

The Fund for Victim Support and Post-Penitentiary Assistance – the Justice Fund (the Justice Fund or the Fund) was established in 2012, primarily to assist victims of crime. Legal, psychological or financial support for these individuals, funded from sums awarded against the convicted persons, was intended, on the one hand, to be an expression of social justice and, on the other, to demonstrate the state’s concern for victims.

The implementation of these objectives has been regularly scrutinised by the Supreme Audit Office (Najwyższa Izba Kontroli, NIK) in recent years (Assistance to victims of crime under the Victim Support Fund – in 2018; Implementation of the state budget in 2018, part 37 - Justice and the implementation of the financial plans of the Victim Support and Post-Penitentiary Assistance Fund – the Justice Fund and the Fund for the Vocational Activation of Convicts and the Development of Prison Work Schemes – in 2019; Implementation of the tasks of the Victim Support and Post-Penitentiary Assistance Fund – the Justice Fund – in 2021), and the findings of the audit were forwarded to the Fund Administrator, namely the Minister of Justice. “The findings of these audits revealed that funds intended primarily for victims of crime were in fact spent on other purposes, and in an uneconomical and irresponsible manner,” says Paweł Gibuła, the acting deputy director of the NIK’s Department of National Security, who oversaw the audit. Given that those acting as Fund Administrators until December 2023 rejected requests/motions made by the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), either by failing to act on them or by implementing them in a manner entirely at odds with their actual content, the NIK Council, in August 2023, included a further audit of the functioning of the Justice Fund in the NIK Work Plan for 2024.

Circumstances surrounding the conduct of the audit

The audit by the Supreme Audit Office (NIK ), which began in May 2024 (covering the period from 1 January 2021 to 9 May 2025) was intended, in addition to summarising previous audits, to enable the development of recommendations that would systematically counteract the wasteful use of public funds and restore to victims of crime the funds due to them. The audit coincided with law enforcement activities in connection with an investigation into irregularities in the expenditure of funds from the Fund. It was therefore conducted under exceptional circumstances, which included: the seizure of documentation by law enforcement bodies; the detention of senior management from certain audited entities in a remand centre; and the refusal of those responsible for the identified irregularities to give evidence or provide explanations, invoking the threat of criminal liability. This resulted in the need to extend the audit at the audited entities, but did not affect the scope or significance of the findings made by NIK.

– As part of this audit, NIK once again conducted a comprehensive examination of all aspects of the Justice Fund operations, focusing on the proper and effective use of funds by the Fund Administrator and 22 beneficiaries: one university and 21 non-governmental organisations, with which 30 contracts were concluded with a total value of over PLN 260 million, representing just over 30% of the total value of contracts in force during that period – explains Paweł Gibuła. The audit covered all areas of the Fund activities:

• post-penitentiary assistance;
• assistance provided to victims of crime and witnesses;
• crime prevention.

The free and uncontrolled use of funds

Legislative changes introduced in 2017, which broadened the Fund objectives to include the broadly defined and vague concept of ‘crime prevention’, resulted in funds being allocated to such a wide variety of tasks that , in the opinion of the NIK, the Justice Fund has, in practice, ceased to function as a dedicated fund. By introducing the so-called non-competitive grant allocation procedure, the Minister of Justice has ensured that funds could be allocated to virtually any institution and for any purpose. Those who held the post of Fund Administrator until December 2023 consistently disregarded the assessments, comments and motions made following successive audits by NIK and awarded grants for projects that only appeared to fulfil the objectives of the Justice Fund. As part of crime prevention measures, funding was provided, for example, for: a construction project used for the Foundation’s own purposes; the development and maintenance of websites on which material supporting specific political parties was published; the purchase of a camper van (under the guise of providing, amongst other things, legal advice); mountain and road races; film festivals; and legal and management training for selected groups of people. As part of the support provided to victims of crime, over PLN 66 million was allocated to a project implemented by the Profeto.pl Foundation, which was required to provide such support for just one year (for more information on the use of public funds by beneficiaries of the Justice Fund, see The Functioning of the Justice Fund).

Contests in name only

“NIK’s negative assessment primarily concerned the way in which grants were awarded from the Justice Fund. When allocating these funds, the Administrator not only failed to ensure equal treatment of all entities applying for funding, but actually favoured certain applicants and made arbitrary decisions as to which of them should receive support” emphasises Paweł Gibuła. In doing so, the Administrator took steps to counter allegations that his decisions were arbitrary by securing favourable recommendations from selection boards for the entities he favoured.

A detailed examination of 15 open tenders (contests) for the award of contracts to non-governmental organisations revealed flagrant breaches of the principles of fair competition. These mainly involved staff at the Ministry of Justice providing informal assistance to certain entities in preparing their bids even before they were officially submitted, and even before the respective contests were announced. The selected bidders (Fundacja Mocni w Duchu, Stowarzyszenie Fidei Defensor, Fundacja Centrum Pomocy Pokrzywdzonym i Prewencji Przestępczości, Stowarzyszenie Przyjaciół Mediów, Instytut Prawa Ustrojowego, Fundacja Warszawskie Seminarium Aksjologii Administracji) were thus given guidance on how to amend or supplement their applications to improve their chances, whilst the Minister thereby had grounds to argue that he was indeed supporting the highest-quality bids.

Pressure on members of selection boards

Another mechanism used to subsidise bids favoured by the Ministry’s leadership at the time was to exert influence over selected members of the selection boards and the substantive assessments they made. The substantive assessment forms were reviewed by the management of the Justice Fund Department or other staff designated for this task, following which these individuals submitted their suggestions regarding changes to the assessments in order to achievethe scores for individual bids expected by the Ministry of Justice. This mechanism was applied, amongst other things, in the case of the Profeto.pl Foundation, resulting in that organisation being awarded a higher score, and the scores of the other participants in the contest being reduced.

Another mechanism identified during the audit that influenced the outcome of the tenders was the referral of selected bids for re-evaluation. It was applied to at least four bids that had initially received a low score and were ineligible for funding. They were then forwarded to other assessors, who this time awarded them marks and scores sufficient to secure funding.

The lack of fairness in contests

The contests examined were organised in an unreliable manner and did not provide the conditions necessary for an objective and independent evaluationof the bids. First and foremost, the Administrator has not drawn up guidelines specifying which elements should be awarded extra marks and in which cases negative marks should be awarded. As a result, members of the selection boards made their assessments on a discretionary basis, evaluating, for example, identical bids and identical circumstances in completely different ways. This has even been sanctioned by the Administrator, who has introduced an additional, entirely subjective evaluation criterion in certain crime prevention tenders – the so-called overall (letter) grade. The letter grade took precedence over the official assessment criteria set out in the Fund Regulation and the number of points awarded.

Competitions for grants from the Fund, which were poorly organised, lacked transparency and were decided on a discretionary basis, were one of the main causes of irregularities in the other areas covered by the audit. – In the case of contests in the field of crime prevention, NIK went so far as to conclude that they were not designed to address real-world problems. Instead, they served as a pretext for using public funds to support a specific group of entities – they financed their day-to-day operations rather than the implementation of the Justice Fund objectives. This resulted in 16 out of the 18 grants in this area being awarded inappropriately, amounting to a total of PLN 98.7 million – adds Paweł Gibuła.

Unsecured contracts, unchecked funds

The Fund Administrator failed to adequately safeguard the interests of the State Treasury in the contracts entered into. He allowed a situation in which a significant proportion of contractors received unjustified, substantial revenue from administrative costs that were settled on a lump-sum basis and were not properly documented. He failed to prevent conflicts of interest involving those responsible for deciding on the allocation of public funds and the beneficiaries of those funds, and did not put in place effective mechanisms to oversee the implementation of contracts. Nor did he carry out a thorough review of the outcomes and costs of the tasks assigned to contractors under grant contracts. The findings of the NIK auditors indicate that the actions of persons acting as the Administrator of the Justice Fund between 2021 and 2023 were unreliable. What is more, such actions were often deliberate and stemmed from a desire to use the Fund resources to support a specific group of entities.

A similar situation arose in relation to activities designed to promote the Justice Fund – decisions regarding the focus and intensity of the promotion, as well as the communication channels used, were made on an ad hoc basis and were discretionary in nature. The contractors for the promotional activities were selected in an unreliable manner, in breach of the regulations, i.e. without applying public procurement law or by maintaining only the appearance of competition, and the activities themselves also served to promote the image of specific individuals. A particular surge in such activities was observed in 2023, during the election campaign for the Sejm and Senate.

Fund management costs have exceeded the limits

NIK also criticised the fact that the Minister for Justice, in breach of the provisions of the Regulation on the Fund, twice exceeded the permissible limit for the Fund operating costs. This happened for the first time in 2021, when the limit stood at PLN 6.4 million and was exceeded by almost PLN 1 million (15%). The service charge threshold was then raised from 2.5% to 4% of projected revenue, but this did not prevent the regulations from being breached again. In 2023, the limit had already risen to PLN 11.6 million, yet it was still exceeded by PLN 16.6 million (142%). This was primarily due to a drastic and unjustified increase in the costs of promoting the Fund during the 2023 election campaign and in the period immediately preceding it, and meant that funds earmarked for assistance to victims of crime or the rehabilitation of former prisoners were used contrary to the applicable regulations, including for the purpose of promoting the person and the circle of the then Fund Administrator.

Lessons not learnt from previous audits

NIK also gave a negative assessment of the measures taken by the Fund Administrator immediately following the conclusion of the audit in 2021 (Implementation of the tasks of the Victim Support and Post-Penitentiary Assistance Fund – the Justice Fund). Not only were the systemic irregularities, identified at the time, not rectified, but on the contrary, their scale has increased.

Furthermore, the measures taken by the Minister of Justice from December 2023 (until the end of the audit) have only improved the legal and organisational framework for the operation of the Justice Fund to a limited extent. – Although NIK welcomes the introduction in December 2024 of regulations designed to limit the risk of discretionary and non-transparent allocation of public funds, there is still neither a detailed list of the Fund tasks nor specific recommendations regarding changes to its operations. The situation was not improved by the establishment of the Council for the Victim Support and Post-Penitentiary Assistance Fund – the Justice Fund – specifically for this purpose, notes Paweł Gibuła.

Conditions for remedial action

During the period covered by the audit, the Justice Fund revenue showed a steady and significant increase – from nearly PLN 377 million in 2021 to almost PLN 470 million in 2024.

The vast majority of revenue came from payments of fines and financial penalties ordered by the courts. Despite steadily rising revenue, successive Administrators within the Ministry of Justice have failed to build up the human and organisational resources necessary to ensure the effective management of these funds. Furthermore, the Administrator was unable to plan the tasks he assigned to individual entities in a reliable manner, and significant amounts of unused funds remained in the Fund bank account (this situation occurred prior to 2017 and has clearly re-emerged since 2024).

Recommendations

The Supreme Audit Office has concluded that urgent, systemic remedial measures must be taken to prevent the wasteful and inappropriate use of Justice Fund resources in the future. NIK presented recommendations to the Fund Administrator of both a legislative nature (proposals de lege ferenda) and an organisational nature. They refer, in particular, to:

1. Implement the organisational changes necessary to ensure the smooth running of the Fund.   The Administrator should establish an effective system for managing tasks relating to the operation of the Fund. In particular, this system should include structures designed to: analyse and plan the Fund intended areas of intervention (e.g. identifying the types of crime to be targeted by prevention measures during a given period), organise calls for tenders, oversee and account for the funds allocated, and evaluate the outcomes of projects financed by the Fund.
2. Develop reliably the programme content, taking into account mechanisms for identifying the issues they address, as well as indicators for assessing the outcomes of their implementation.
3. Draft notices of open calls for tenders (contests) in a manner that clearly sets out the Administrator’s expectations, including, in particular, a precise description of the purpose and method of carrying out the task for which the grant is awarded, together with the expected outcomes and indicators.
4. Develop solutions and establish criteria to enable a substantive, comprehensive and objective evaluation of tender submissions, as well as provide selection boards members with the conditions necessary for a fair assessment of bids, including the development of guidelines enabling the independent assessment of individual bid items and tools for verifying the realism of market prices included in the bids.
5. Introduce legal and organisational measures to prevent conflicts of interest and the emergence of corruption-inducing mechanisms, both at the level of the Ministry and among grant beneficiaries.  The procedures adopted should prevent:
   • the recruitment of staff involved in the assessment and processing of applications who, immediately prior to their appointment, were involved in the implementation of projects funded by the Justice Fund;
   • the employment, on a commercial basis, by associations or foundations of members of the board of a foundation or association acting as the contractor under a grant contract, their close relatives, or members of the governing bodies of such entities;
   • the combining of executive and supervisory roles (e.g. the person carrying out the work and the person approving the expenditure), the roles of those providing support and those verifying their tasks, the provision of support to members of one’s own family, and to individuals sitting on the governing bodies of foundations or associations.
6. Strengthening the Administrator’s oversight of the proper implementation of grant contracts by contractors, in particular by verifying the objectives set, the indicators achieved, the outputs produced and the expenditure incurred for this purpose.

In the opinion of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), the establishment of such mechanisms would ensure the rational use of public funds, inter alia by eliminating the duplication of funding for the same expenditure from different sources and by curbing the discretionary decisions of the Administrator regarding the allocation of funds in areas where he lacks sufficient competence or the capacity to act effectively.

The Supreme Audit Office has carried out an audit of the support provided by non-governmental organisations to people with disabilities and their carers. This support was financed from the Solidarity Fund, which was administered by the Minister responsible for social security (hereinafter: the Minister). The rules governing the provision of support were laid down by the Minister in the programmes adopted thereby (which were in force during the period covered by the NIK audit):

1. ‘Personal assistant to a person with disabilities’ and ‘Personal assistant to a disabled person’ in the 2022 and 2023 editions,
2. ‘Respite care for family members or carers of people with disabilities’ and ‘Respite care’ in the 2022 and 2023 editions.

 Personal assistance programmes were designed to ensure the availability of personal assistance services, i.e. support for people with disabilities in carrying out daily activities and participating in social life.  Respite care programmes, on the other hand, were designed to relieve the burden on family members or carers of people with disabilities by assisting them with their daily tasks. The respite care service was intended to provide periodic support in meeting the needs of people with disabilities, in place of family members or carers who provide their day-to-day care.

Non-governmental organisations received funding for the provision of these services under contracts concluded directly with the Minister or with local government units.

Lack of continuity in the services provided by non-governmental organisations

Contracts between the Minister or local government units and non-governmental organisations providing personal assistance and respite care services were concluded at intervals that did not ensure the continuity of these services. This is because these contracts were signed as long as several months after the expiry (in December of the relevant year) of the previous contract concerning the amount and method of transferring funds from the Solidarity Fund. As a result, non-governmental organisations faced difficulties in retaining staff providing services and in securing stable funding; consequently, they were unable to provide optimal care for people with disabilities and their carers during the first few months of the year.

It was clear from the programme specifications and the proposals submitted by organisations to the Minister that personal assistance and respite care services were to be provided from 1 January of the relevant year. In reality, however, until funding was secured, the activities of non-governmental organisations were essentially limited to preparatory work, including the selection of programme participants and the recruitment of assistants and respite care providers. Despite the possibility, as provided for in the draft contracts, of reimbursement for funds spent on implementing programmes from 1 January of the relevant year, non-governmental organisations remained uncertain as to whether they would receive the funds. One of the reasons was that the programme provisions stipulated that the Minister’s approval of the list of bids, together with the amount of funding allocated from the Fund, did not in itself give rise to a claim for the conclusion of a contract. To ensure business continuity, one of the NGOs audited had taken out loans (with the interest on these loans being charged to the organisation’s costs, as it could not be covered by the Solidarity Fund). In the case of contracts concluded with local government units, implementation took place once the contract had been signed.

As a result, during the first few months of each calendar year, those in need of support either did not receive it or the scope of that support was significantly limited.

NIK emphasises that the needs of people with disabilities and their carers are not time-bound and do not end with the current year. Practical support should be provided on an ongoing basis. The findings of NIK audit therefore point to the need to speed up the procedures for concluding contracts and, consequently, for the transfer of funds, in order to ensure the continuity of the services provided.

At the same time, NIK notes that the draft Act on personal assistance for people with disabilities was referred to the Sejm Committee on Social Policy and the Family on 21 November 2025. The draft includes, among other things, provisions regarding the granting of assistance for periods longer than one year, which will ensure the continuity of the services provided.

Inadequate provision of personal assistance and respite care

The organisations audited met the criteria for receiving funding from the above-mentioned programmes. They provided support to the number of people specified in the bids attached to the contracts. The support was generally provided to those entitled to it. The support was aimed, amongst others, at people with a significant degree of disability and those with multiple disabilities (the simultaneous presence of at least two types of disability in a single person), as well as at children who absolutely require constant or long-term care or assistance from another person. One organisation provided support worth PLN 35,600 to two people with disabilities as part of respite care, even though the carers did not live with them; furthermore, the carer of one of these persons had not applied for the support.

The provision of services by assistants and respite carers was confirmed by signatures on the service records from both the service providers and the persons with disabilities or their carers. However, the audit revealed that some of the services had not been performed or had been billed twice; instances of incorrect billing documentation were also identified. An examination of this documentation revealed that, at the same time:

• one assistant, working in two different locations, provided services to various people with disabilities;
• one assistant, in one place, reported services provided to the same person under different programmes (run by the same or different organisations);
• several assistants were providing services to the same person with a disability at the same location;
• several carers provided services to the same person with a disability in different locations.

During an audit by NIK, one organisation corrected 279 hours of personal assistance services worth PLN 11.2 thousand and repaid the funds that had been wrongly claimed – in this case, according to the service records for a person with a disability, the services were supposed to have been provided at their place of residence. In fact, the person with a disability stayed at a centre providing round-the-clock care as part of the ‘respite care’ programme – both services were funded by the Solidarity Fund.

A total of 79 hours of overlapping service, worth PLN 3.2 thousand, were also identified between various non-governmental organisations. In these cases, the organisations were unable to verify the expense claims submitted by the assistants to another programme implementer. This gave rise to a risk that the programmes in question would not be implemented correctly, as well as the possibility that funds might be spent in breach of the programmes’ rules.

Despite being required to deliver the personal assistance programme itself, one of the organisations audited outsourced the provision of the bulk of the services to other providers. The role of this organisation was limited to administration and acting as a sponsor for the project, whilst the support services were provided by subcontractors. The total value of remuneration paid to third parties amounted to PLN 2.23 million, representing 83.4% of the funding received by the organisation and 92.5% of the funds accounted for as direct costs of the project.

Contrary to the terms of the contracts, one of the organisations did not keep separate accounts for the funds received from the Fund, and in one year it did not keep any accounts at all, despite being required to do so. In its programme implementation reports, the organisation accounted for costs amounting to the sums specified in the individual contracts, even though it did not have documentation confirming that these costs had been incurred in full. In its progress reports, the organisation did not provide any documents evidencing that expenditure had been incurred (receipts, invoices, payslips). The total value of undocumented expenditure amounted to PLN 372.1 thousand. This was also due to the fact that a lower pay rate had been set for assistants, whilst in the project implementation report the organisation stated that it had paid assistants the maximum rate. This indicates that there is insufficient oversight of the correctness of the accounting for funds by both the Minister and local government units (as the entities commissioning the performance of these tasks).

An assistant at one of the organisations failed to confirm that he had provided the services he was allegedly supposed to have carried out for a person with a disability. The organisation paid this person a total of PLN 12.8 thousand.

The total value of the audit findings amounted to nearly PLN 2.9 million. During the NIK’s audit and following the implementation of post-audit recommendations relating to the improper implementation of programmes, the organisations amended their previously submitted reports on the implementation of tasks and returned funds totalling PLN 86.3 thousand.

Recommendations and comments

Based on the findings of the audit, NIK formulated a total of 37 recommendations and post-audit comments. The key recommendations, addressed to non-governmental organisations, concerned the need to:

• ensure that non-governmental organisations carry out ongoing and proper verification of the service claim forms submitted by assistants, and take steps to investigate any irregularities identified;
• make corrections to expenditure reports for items not supported by source documentation, or which were used in breach of the rules of the programmes under review, and to make the corresponding adjustments to indirect costs;
• refund any funds that were unduly collected and misused, together with interest.

The audit covered the Central Board of the Prison Services (Centralny Zarząd Służby Więziennej) in Warsaw (hereinafter: (Prison Service Board or CZSW). Its aim was to assess the proper implementation of selected projects financed by the Fund for the Vocational Activation of Convicts and the Development of Prison Work Schemes (Fundusz Aktywizacji Zawodowej Skazanych oraz Rozwoju Przywięziennych Zakładów Pracy) (hereinafter: the Activation Fund or FAZ) by organisational units of the Prison Service.

During the period under review – from 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2024 – 509 grant applications were approved, totalling PLN 940 million, of which 59 applications, amounting to PLN 275.9 million, related to the construction or renovation of production halls.

The Supreme Audit Office has covered by its audit

• 50 investment projects totalling PLN 216.8 million, of which 43 involved the construction of new production halls (100% of projects of this type) and 7 involved the refurbishment of halls (44%);
• two grants totalling PLN 70 million for the construction of two complexes of buildings to be used as temporary accommodation for Prison Service officers.

NIK has given a negative assessment of the Prison Service Board’s actions regarding the planning and implementation of selected investments funded by the Activation Fund, as well as its supervision of Prison Service organisational units in this area. Illegal, ineffective, inappropriate and wasteful practices have been identified. The total financial impact of the irregularities identified amounted to PLN 149.5 million.

Successive Directors-General of the CZSW, in their capacity as Administrators of the Activation Fund, have, in managing public funds, allowed the following in particular:

• the allocation and expenditure, in breach of the law — i.e. outside the scope of the statutory purpose of the Activation Fund — of funds amounting to PLN 70 million, through the granting of undue subsidies to two prison establishments for the construction of temporary accommodation (flats) for Prison Service officers;
• thewasteful spending of FAZ funds amounting to PLN 34.5 million on unprofitable (loss-making) investments, namely the construction of 14 production halls in which no prisoners were employed and which, as at 31 December 2024, were not in use, whilst the costs of their ongoing maintenance were incurred (in 2023 these costs amounted to PLN 102,430, and in 2024 to PLN 179,110). The process of assessing the market in terms of the actual needs of local contractors, which preceded investment decisions regarding the construction of new production facilities and their location, was carried out in an unreliable manner;
• thewasteful and inappropriate spending of funds from the FAZ and the state budget, totalling PLN 45 million, on the unjustified commencement and execution of the construction of temporary accommodation for Prison Service officers in Racibórz.

The audit found that:

• the investment projects were carried out despite the absence of a formally established programme for increasing prisoner employment, i.e. solely on the basis of a letter from the former Director-General dated 30 May 2016, which set out indicative targets for the programme; these indicators were not updated, despite the passage of time and the general rise in prices and the inflation rate, which constituted an unreliable conduct; the values of the indicators were repeatedly exceeded or failed to be met;
• no evaluation was carried out of the outcomes of the programme to increase prisoner employment, which has been running since 2016, even though the level of public funding and the scale of the investments involved were significant; this was deemed to be unreliable;
• applications for grants from the FAZ were processed without regard to internal regulations on investment planning;
• the terms of the grant contracts relating to the requirements for employing prisoners and the leasing of newly built halls were repeatedly breached.

The significance of the irregularities identified highlighted weaknesses in the management control mechanisms at CZWS.

In its post-audit statement, NIK presented recommendations to:

• the Fund Administrator to cease to award grants for purposes not specified in Article 8(1) of the Act on the Employment of Persons Deprived of Liberty;
• ensure that internal procedures relating to investment planning are followed regardless of the source of funding, in particular by carrying out comprehensive analyses of the merits of undertaking an investment project in a given location;
• implement control mechanisms to strengthen the oversight exercised by the Director-General and the organisational units of CZSW over Prison Service organisational units regarding investment projects planned and carried out on their premises, the leasing of production halls and the employment of prisoners therein, including consideration of strengthening the staffing of organisational units carrying out on-site control activities.

Following the findings of the audit, NIK issued notices to:

• the Prosecutor’s Office regarding the reasonable suspicion of an act constituting an offence under Article 296(1) and (3) of the Criminal Code, consisting in causing financial loss on a massive scale within the meaning of Article 115(6) of the Criminal Code (i.e. amounting to PLN 149.5 million);
• the Public Finance Discipline Ombudsman regarding a breach of public finance discipline due to the award of a grant (amounting to PLN 70 million) in breach of the rules governing the award of grants.

Real property management is a responsibility of the local authority, whilst starosts (mayors of cities with district (poviat) status) carry out government administrative tasks in relation to real property owned by the State Treasury. The rules governing the management of such properties and those owned by local government bodies are set out in the Property Management Act. 

The day-to-day management of the municipality’s real property falls within the remit of the municipality’s executive body. Matters going beyond the scope of day-to-day management fall within the remit of the local council, which may adopt rules governing the acquisition, sale and encumbrance of real property, as well as its lease with/without the right to collect proceeds.

The main objective of the audit conducted by NIK between 2 December 2024 and 30 May 2025 was to verify whether municipalities had sold and let land correctly and reliably between 2019 and 2025 (up to 30 May). A total of 14 municipal offices were audited, including seven voivodship capitals: Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Olsztyn and Wrocław, as well as seven cities that do not have this status: Częstochowa, Giżycko, Piotrków Trybunalski, Toruń, Wałbrzych, Zakopane and Zamość.

Type of irregularity

The tasks relating to the sale and letting of real property in the 14 municipal offices audited were not carried out in a fully correct and reliable manner. The most significant irregularities identified during the NIK audit concerned breaches of the provisions of the Real Property Management Act and the Local Government Act, the Council of Ministers’ Regulation on the manner and procedure for conducting tenders and negotiations for the sale of real property, as well as the principles of sound financial management. This resulted in a number of negative consequences for municipal offices audited, including, amongst others:

• by foregoing the opportunity to sell the City of Lublin’s attractive properties at a profit in favour of exchanging them with estate agents (some of which were sold to developers on the very same day). Before giving their consent to the swap, the members of the council were unaware that the counterparties were estate agents, and that the valuation reports for two of the 17 plots had been commissioned by the estate agents, not the Mayor. As a result, the contracts benefited the estate agents, who sold the properties to developers at a higher price, and the owners of the properties purchased from them, as they avoided having to compete with other bidders in a tender. The potential amount lost by the City of Lublin from these two transactions alone amounted to PLN 395 thousand. An analysis of the location of the land under review revealed that 12 plots were situated in the immediate vicinity of properties already owned by subsequent purchasers (developers). Therefore, they could have been sold through a competitive process (tender), and the transaction prices could have exceeded the valuation;
• allowing resolutions that are inconsistent with the law to remain in force. In nine towns/cities (Wrocław, Wałbrzych, Bydgoszcz, Kraków, Zakopane, Lublin, Giżycko, Piotrków Trybunalski and Łódź), draft resolutions were submitted to city/town councils proposing that they assume powers reserved for the municipal executive body, or no action was taken to amend them. The general nature of the Act’s provisions regarding local legislation significantly increased the risk of irregularities;
• significant shortcomings in tender procedures (Wrocław, Bydgoszcz, Kraków, Zakopane, Giżycko, Olsztyn, Piotrków Trybunalski and Zamość) and non-tender procedures (Lublin, Zamość, Bydgoszcz, Zakopane, Piotrków Trybunalski, Wałbrzych and Wrocław), consisting, amongst other things, in a failure to comply with the principle of selling property by tender and the use of the non-tender procedure instead, which may result in the court declaring the concluded contracts null and void;
• failure to ensure a reliable valuation of the properties being sold (Częstochowa, Bydgoszcz, Zamość, Kraków, Zakopane and Lublin), which created a risk that the properties were undervalued;
• a lack of transparency in the management of property in all the municipal offices examined, and breaches of the principle of openness regarding the sale of public property.

Reasons for the irregularities

The main causes of the irregularities identified were: incorrect interpretation of the provisions of the Real Property Management Act and a failure on the part of staff at the audited entities to exercise due diligence when taking action regarding the sale and letting of land, as well as ambiguous provisions, open to arbitrary interpretation, governing the content of resolutions on the rules for the sale and letting of land, and the grounds for selling land in order to improve the development conditions of neighbouring land.

With the exception of one case (where a plot of land that had been unjustifiably designated for religious purposes was sold), land was sold for construction purposes in accordance with the adopted spatial planning documents. The terms of contracts for the sale or letting of public property were consistent with the outcomes of the proceedings. In fact, they also safeguarded the interests of the towns/cities.

Key findings of the audit

Although the audited offices had set up dedicated units and assigned them specific tasks relating to real property management, two of the offices had not drawn up any plans for the use of their property portfolios at all, whilst two others had drawn them up with delays ranging from seven months to almost two and a half years. In one town, despite this requirement, no plans had been drawn up for the implementation of the State Treasury’s property management policy, which, in the opinion of the Supreme Audit Office, was unlawful. The remaining irregularities concerned breaches of the principles of sound property management, mainly the inclusion of overly general provisions in resource utilisation plans, as well as delays in drawing up these plans and submitting them to voivods for approval.

Irregularities were identified in four local offices regarding the recording of properties forming part of the municipality’s property portfolio and those granted under perpetual usufruct. The misconduct included, amongst other things, the failure to include in the records information regarding the intended use of the property, claims made against the property, and ongoing administrative and court proceedings.

Irregularities in the wording of draft resolutions were found in eight offices and concerned, amongst other things:

• the inclusion in 20 draft resolutions of individual provisions granting consent to the sale of real property by tender or without a tender, which constituted a breach of the division of powers laid down in the relevant legislation;
• the draft resolutions on the rules for the sale of real property specified the form and procedure by which the property was to be sold, which contravened the law and led to the city/town council assuming powers reserved for the executive body;
• the introduction, in one instance, of a draft resolution on the rules governing the sale of real property, providing for a general exemption from the rule requiring the sale of real property by tender;
• provisions in draft resolutions concerning the rules for the sale of real property, granting general authorisation to waive the requirement to conduct a tender procedure for the conclusion of lease contracts for a term exceeding three years or for an indefinite period, which constituted an overreach of the powers of the city/town councils.

Similar irregularities, including instances where the city/town council encroached upon the powers of the executive bodies, were also observed in the letting of property in six municipal offices.

The executive bodies failed to take action to repeal or amend the provisions of the city/town council’s resolutions that were inconsistent with the Real Property Management Act, which constituted a breach of duty. In two cases, voivods lodged appeals seeking to have resolutions on the rules for the sale of property declared invalid. According to NIK, the provisions of the Act granting the relevant municipal council exclusive authority to determine the rules governing the management of real property are very general; they do not contain clear and unambiguous guidelines for the enactment of local legislation and, in their current form, make it difficult to correctly draft resolutions on the rules for the sale of real property. This results in numerous cases where they are declared invalid by supervisory authorities and administrative courts. As part of their supervisory role over the activities of municipalities between 2010 and 2025, voivods issued 790 final supervisory decisions declaring local council resolutions invalid in whole or in part. These rulings were most often justified on the grounds of a lack of a proper legal basis, exceeding the scope of statutory delegation, failure to publish in the Official Journal, infringement of the freedom of contract, the erroneous classification of resolutions as internal management acts, or the use of ambiguous and unclear wording.

Before giving their consent to the sale or letting of a real property, the members of local councils should be provided with comprehensive and accurate information by the local authority’s executive body regarding the land in question and the method and procedure for its sale or letting. Irregularities in this regard were found in two entities and concerned the provision of inaccurate information regarding who was interested in the properties being sold in exchange, as well as a failure to disclose the intended use of the plot being sold.

The property valuations (valuation reports) were carried out by qualified property valuers. In almost half (43%) of municipal offices irregularities were identified, including the failure of the town/city executive body to arrange for a property valuation and the acceptance of valuations prepared by parties interested in acquiring the property; the confirmation of the validity of valuation reports in a manner inconsistent with the law; failing to verify the valuation report thoroughly and failing to take into account current market data used in the valuation.

In three entities, it was found that rent rates had not been adjusted for inflation, which was unprofessional. The amount corresponding to the loss of rental income resulting from the decision not to implement comprehensive rent regulation amounted to PLN 1.3 million.

The regulations require the competent authority to draw up and publish a list of properties intended for sale or letting. Numerous irregularities were found in this regard in 13 offices. These included, amongst other things: a failure to draw up lists; the absence of required elements in their content; the unreliable publication in the local press of information regarding the display of the list in the locations specified by law; or the complete absence of such publication.

In the offices audited, there was a tendency to move away from the principle of selling or letting the property through a tender process. Of the 14 offices audited, only 1.3% of contracts of lease with the right to collect proceeds were awarded through a tender process, whilst only 0.5% of contracts of lease without the right to collect proceeds were concluded in this manner. For example, in Lublin, out of 10 tenders audited, only one bidder submitted a bid in nine of them. He submitted a single bid, and as a result, the purchase price was only 1% higher than the starting price.

Irregularities were identified in the tender-based sale of public property at eight municipal offices. The illegality or unreliability concerned, amongst other things:

• failure to meet deadlines that would have allowed the property sale procedure to continue without the need to draw up a new list (six cases);
• failure to introduce tender conditions for spouses participating in the tender (25 cases);

In seven offices (50% of those audited), 61 irregularities were identified in the sale of property and one in the letting of property without a tender. These related to the criteria of legality, reliability or economy and concerned, amongst other things:

• the conclusion of contracts for the sale of real property without a tender, despite there being no grounds for waiving the tender procedure;
• failure to safeguard the town’s interests in the report of the negotiations in the event that the other party withdraws from the contract;
• failure to document the outcome of negotiations with lessees.

The financial impact of the identified irregularities totalled PLN 2.3 million and resulted from the misappropriation of funds or assets in three municipal offices. Two cases involved the sale of property for over PLN 1 million, and one involved the letting of property for PLN 1.3 million.

Notices and recommendations

Following the identification of irregularities, NIK issued notices to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) and the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) to investigate whether anti-competitive agreements had been concluded or whether there had been an abuse of a dominant position in relation to the fact that only one bidder had submitted a tender in four tender procedures, and the exchange of 17 properties, which potential loss to the city/town. 

These irregularities led to 97post-auditrecommendations and two proposals de lege ferenda concerning the inclusion in the Local Government Act of the criteria which the local council should follow when adopting a resolution on the principles of managing public property, and to clarify the wording regarding the impossibility of developing a property or a part thereof sold without a tender by specifying objective and verifiable circumstances determining the impossibility of developing the property or a part thereof as separate property.

The Minister for Finance and the Economy set out his position on the report on the audit findings, casting doubt on the proposals de lege ferenda contained therein. In his opinion on the Minister’s position, the NIK President noted that the findings made during the audit justify the Minister taking appropriate action to implement them, which is undoubtedly in the public interest.

The recommendations submitted to the executive bodies of local government authorities concerned:

• taking steps to ensure that the costs of preparing the real property for sale, whether through a tender process or without a tender procedure, are included in the sale price;
• the inclusion in draft resolutions of local government decision-making bodies of clear criteria for the granting of discounts;
• reviewing the current resolutions of the city/town councils concerning real property management and checking whether they contain any provisions that infringe upon the division of powers between local government bodies.