15 October 2008
Jack Straw has made a statement on the UK's anti-corruption strategy following his appointment as the government's anti-corruption champion.
The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Jack Straw):
Having been appointed as the government's Anti-Corruption Champion this week, I am writing to inform the House of progress made in our anti-corruption efforts.
For two years, the government has undertaken a concerted programme of action to coordinate and to improve our anti-corruption systems through annual anti-corruption action plans driven forward by my predecessors John Hutton and Hilary Benn. The role of Anti-Corruption Champion is a personal appointment by the Prime Minister and the Secretariat and support functions remain within BERR [the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform].
Government investment in dedicated police resources has led to a dramatic increase in the number of investigations into allegations of foreign bribery by UK nationals and companies, up from four investigations in 2006 to over 20 live cases this year. Investigations are feeding through into prosecutions and convictions of wrongdoers.
We will make further significant progress in the next few months on the reform of the law on bribery. The Law Commission is expected to report in November on the full range of structural options. As announced in the draft legislative programme, we propose to publish a draft bill in the next session of Parliament, which will be informed by the Law Commission's review.
This week the Working Group on Bribery at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will publish a report on the UK's progress against its recommendations. We have written to the OECD about our plans to develop a comprehensive UK strategy for tackling foreign bribery. This strategy will build on the solid foundation we have established for combatting foreign bribery and strengthen our work with international partners, establishing a clear legal, regulatory and policy framework.