The Minister for Security (Mr John Hayes)
Today my right hon. Friend the Government Anti-corruption Champion (Sir Eric Pickles) and I wish to inform the House that the Government are publishing a progress update on the UK’s first cross-Government anti-corruption plan, on the same day that the Prime Minister is hosting a global anti-corruption summit in London—to galvanise international action against corruption.
On 18 December 2014, we published the UK anti-corruption plan, which set out, for the first time, all of the UK’s anti-corruption efforts under one cross-departmental plan, including how we are tackling the threat of corruption and taking action to reduce corruption risks across a range of sectors, both in the UK and overseas.
In the UK anti-corruption plan, we committed to publishing a progress update on the actions, ensuring that this was a living document which evolved alongside the nature of the threat from corruption and our response. The inter-ministerial group on anti-corruption, which we co-chair, has been overseeing delivery of the commitments and we have been working with colleagues across Government and civil society to drive forward this agenda.
The progress update highlights the UK’s performance in delivering its anti-corruption commitments—62 out of the 66 actions (94%) are complete or on track to be delivered—and sets out the positive progress that has been made: to build a better picture of how corruption is affecting our society and economy; to strengthen our legal and operational tools and activity; to enhance our law enforcement response; to deny use of our financial system for those who are trying to abuse it; and to step up our efforts internationally.
While there is still more to be done, the positive developments outlined in the progress update, coupled with the international leadership being shown by the UK through the global anti-corruption summit, demonstrates the UK’s commitment to rooting out corruption in all its forms. Moreover, the new cross-agency taskforce to respond to any wrong-doing resulting from the “Mossack Fonseca” papers, sends a strong message that tackling corruption is a key priority for the UK and that we take decisive action wherever criminal activity arises.
A copy of the plan will be placed in the Library of the House and also made available on the Government website at: www.gov.uk.
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