Transparency is key to increasing accountability in procurement. Some corruption might have been uncovered more quickly, or even deterred, if there was more transparency around public procurement.
Open Contracting Partnership
OPC opens up public contracting through disclosure, data and engagement so that the huge sums of money involved are spent honestly, fairly, and effectively. They work across sectors and along the whole process of government contracting to use the power of open data to save governments money and time, deliver better goods and services for citizens, prevent corruption, and to create a better business environment for all.
Corruption in local government: the mounting risks
Transparency International’s report ‘Corruption in Local Government: The Mounting Risks’ warns that an unintended consequence of recent changes, such as those made in the Localism Act and the Local Audit and Accountability Act, may be the creation of an enabling environment for corruption. It identifies sixteen recent legislative changes which increase the risks, as well as other trends such as the decline in scrutiny by local press and the move to more private sector out-sourcing. This report includes twenty-two recommendations, including that the Government should conduct a corruption risk assessment and strengthen whistleblowing procedures.
Corruption Perception Index
The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. More than two-thirds of countries score below 50 on this year’s CPI, with an average score of just 43. While there are exceptions, the data shows that despite some progress, most countries are failing to make serious inroads against corruption.
The relationship between business integrity and commercial success
The claim that corruption acts as a “grease in the wheels” contributing to a country’s economic development has been comprehensively laid to rest. There is now an overwhelming consensus that high levels of background corruption in a given country or market are harmful to business in two mutually reinforcing ways.