Bribery Act 2010: Post-legislative Scrutiny (Select Committee Report)

Lord Rogan Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd February 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Rogan (UUP) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the Select Committee’s report and commend its members for their sterling work in producing it, especially and including my noble friend Lord Empey.

One of the great privileges of serving in your Lordships’ House is the sheer volume of knowledge and expertise that we possess as a collective body. We are also not known for giving compliments lightly, particularly when it comes to our primary role of scrutinising legislation from the Government of the day. It is therefore noteworthy that the Select Committee report describes the Bribery Act 2010 as

“an excellent piece of legislation which creates offences which are clear and all-embracing”.

To be fair, Ministers did have quite a bit of time to give proper consideration to its provisions, since the Bribery Act received Royal Assent 121 years after the first attempt to put the common law offence of bribery on to a statutory footing. However, coming eight years after the Act became law, the Select Committee report makes it clear that the wait was worth it and that the legislation can now rightly claim to stand as an example to the rest of the world on how to combat bribery.

Of course, there is always room for improvement in an ever-changing world. The report offers some helpful suggestions on how the Act’s measures might be made even more effective. I echo the comments and suggestions made by the noble Lords, Lord German and Lord Empey, regarding SMEs.

Over some 40 years as an owner and director of several Ulster SMEs, I have been fortunate to experience many different countries and diverse cultures in my commercial working life. I welcome in particular the Select Committee’s recommendation that Her Majesty’s Government provide UK companies with support on corruption issues in countries to which they either currently or expect to export, and on the business norms and culture in countries where they currently operate. The report adds that such support should be provided by properly trained officials and that smaller embassies should have at least one official who is an expert in local customs or cultures who can contact officials of foreign government departments on behalf of companies facing problems in this field. In its formal response to the Select Committee’s report in May 2019, the Ministry of Justice, to its credit, endorsed these helpful suggestions.

The ministry’s response also stated:

“The DFID-funded Business Integrity Initiative … is currently undertaking pilot work in Kenya, Mexico and Pakistan”—


countries in which I have done business—

“… to identify appropriate ways to support UK companies operating in these markets and … provide new guidance and tools for staff in post.”

It further stated that

“as evidence from the … pilot emerges, DIT will consider how to include business integrity work in its future activity”.

I would be grateful if the Minister could update the Committee on the progress of this pilot. What lessons have been learned and what measures have since been introduced as a result of the knowledge gained?

Those of us who supported Brexit were promised that it would allow the UK business community to access new markets in all parts of the world that were previously either fully out of reach or difficult to get into. I hope that those commitments still ring true. If Brexit is to be the success that we all hope it will be, no matter which stance noble Lords took in relation to the referendum, it is critical that UK businesses are given proper, professional advice and guidance about those markets with which they may not be sufficiently familiar. The Select Committee in its excellent report has clearly identified this need. Once again, I commend it for its work.