Corruption in the United Kingdom, in the public sector, is defined by public servants using their office for private gain. Public sector corruption in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

is perceived to be mostly rare, according to

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...

's 2021

Corruption Perceptions Index The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index which ranks countries "by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys." The CPI generally defines corruption as an "abuse of entru ...

(CPI) where the United Kingdom scored 78 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("highly clean"); although Transparency International's own website details the damning true extent of corruption found in many areas of the UK, including parliament and the NHS. When ranked by score, the United Kingdom ranked number 11 among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked number 1 is perceived to have the most honest public sector. The United Kingdom currently has numerous laws that punish civil servants for

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

and other forms of corruption, with the

Bribery Act 2010 The Bribery Act 2010 (c.23) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers the criminal law relating to bribery. Introduced to Parliament in the Queen's Speech in 2009 after several decades of reports and draft bills, the Act rec ...

currently the most relevant. Although the UK has long maintained a high rating in the Corruption Perceptions Index, public discontent as well as dissatisfaction has persisted . There has also been criticism from newspaper columnists. This has largely been because of the UK's fall from the top 10 in the CPI. The

is currently the most relevant law in the United Kingdom that punishes public and private bribery. The law does not make any distinction in sentencing between those who bribe (or are bribed) in the public or private sector.

References

{{UK-poli-stub

See also

References