§ Lord Steel of Aikwoodasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have considered the report of Transparency International that the United Kingdom has "neither centralisation nor adequate co-ordination" of overseas anti-corruption efforts; and what response they will make. [HL1694]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe fight against corruption overseas covers a wide range of issues and inevitably involves different actors. At the level of central government, co-ordination is assured by the Cabinet Office, with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) taking a lead role as the investigative agency of choice. The SFO assumed this lead role for all overseas bribery cases in summer 2004, thereby simplifying co-ordination. It may be that Transparency International's assessment was written before this date.