Anti‑Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026: United Kingdom
Table of contents
The UK adopted the UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025 in December 2025. The Strategy’s overall objective is to “reduce the harm caused by corruption to growth, security and democracy in the UK and to UK interests oversees”. It is composed of 8 “strategy outcomes” articulated across 3 pillars. The Joint Anti-Corruption Unit in the Home Office oversees implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy.
In terms of institutions, the Cabinet Office is responsible for integrity standards in central government, including the management of Ministers’ and Special Advisers’ private interests. Civil servants’ private interests are managed within departments. The Ethics and Integrity Commission, launched recently in October 2025 to replace the Committee on Standards in Public Life, is an independent committee that promotes the highest standards in public life and reports to the Prime Minister on ethical standards. The Electoral Commission is the independent body that oversees elections and regulates political finance, and the independent Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists oversees transparency and conduct in lobbying.
The independent Information Commissioner is responsible for overseeing access to public information. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is responsible for MPs’ conduct, through monitoring the operation of the House of Commons Code of Conduct and Registers of Interest. The House of Lords Commissioners for Standards are responsible for the independent and impartial investigation of alleged breaches of the House of Lords Code of Conduct.
Note: 2025 and 2020 data or latest year available. Data for judicial integrity, prosecutorial integrity and disciplinary system are not available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
Data on where the United Kingdom’s integrity system is strongest and could be most improved can be found at the link below:
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
The UK fulfils 60% of criteria on the strength of strategic framework and 30% on practice compared to the OECD average of 38% and 32%, respectively.
The UK's UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025 contains strategic objectives for mitigating public integrity risks articulated across 3 pillars, relating to ‘corrupt actors’, ‘tackling the UK’s vulnerabilities’, and ‘global resilience’. While these objectives address corruption risks related to the areas of human resource management, public procurement, fraud and the private sector, the strategy does not contain commitments related to public financial management and internal control and risk management.
The Strategy includes a situation analysis which assesses existing corruption risks, such as bribery, illicit wealth laundering, corrupt public officials in high-risk areas (police and prisons) and the integrity of the defence sector. This analysis is also based on several inter-institutional bodies’ analytical reports on public integrity, including by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the National Audit Office. The Strategy did not undergo an extended public consultation, but an inter-institutional consultation was conducted.
The Strategy contains an action plan, but it does not contain any outcome-level indicators, nor any estimates for capital or operational expenditures. The Joint Anti-Corruption Unit of the Home Office is responsible for monitoring, reporting on and evaluating the Strategy.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
The UK fulfils 80% of criteria on lobbying regulations, and 67% on practice compared to the OECD average of 43% and 38%, respectively.
The Transparency of Lobbying Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act (Lobbying Act) defines both lobbying and lobbyists. The Act defines sanctions for breaches of lobbying rules including civil penalties of up to £7500 or referral to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Business Appointment Rules for Crown Servants establish cooling off periods for public officials. For senior civil servants, the rules apply for two years after leaving service, wherein individuals who meet certain criteria must apply to the Civil Service Commission for advice. However, there are no cooling off periods established for lobbyists entering the public service. There is also no centralised code of conduct supported by practical examples for lobbyists to follow.
In practice, the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists is responsible for overseeing the provisions in the Lobbying Act. The Registrar carried out 8 investigations in 2024 for non-compliance with the rules on lobbying activities. The lobbying register is available online.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
The UK fulfils 56% of criteria on conflict-of-interest regulations, and 22% on practice compared to the OECD average of 80% and 45%, respectively.
Ministers (based on the Ministerial Code), members of parliament (based on the code of conduct for MPs), newly appointed or reappointed top-tier civil servants (based on the civil service code) and public employees in a high-risk position must submit interest declarations on any financial or non-financial benefit which might, or could reasonably be thought by others to, influence their actions. Members of the highest bodies of the judiciary in England, Wales and Scotland must also submit interest declarations, but this does not extend to Northern Ireland. While there are no centrally defined sanctions in law for conflicts of interest, public entities are responsible for managing breaches by public office holders within their remit and according to departmental disciplinary policies and procedures. A range of sanctions are available for breaches of the Ministerial Code, and the Prime Minister is able to make decisions on appropriate remedies for breaches, including the application of sanctions, on a case-by-case basis.
100% of Ministers and 97% of members of parliament declared their interests according to the designated timeframes for the past six years. For top-tier civil servants, there is no centralised register to enable the calculation of submission rates or the ratio of declarations that have been verified. Not all declarations are submitted electronically although this is encouraged.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
The UK fulfils 80% of criteria on political finance regulations and 86% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 76% and 58%, respectively.
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act bans contributions from foreign states or enterprises as well as publicly owned enterprises, but anonymous donations are allowed up to £500. Both the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act and the Representation of the People Act set out defined sanctions for breaches of political finance rules, including civil sanctions and, in more serious cases, referral to prosecution authorities. The Representation of the People Act also states that a candidate or election agent who incurs or authorises expenses above the legal maximum, and knew or ought reasonably to have known this, is guilty of an illegal practice. Electoral campaign expenses are subject to statutory spending ceilings by the Act. Political parties face constituency-based limits, capped at £810,000 in England, £120,000 in Scotland and £60,000 in Wales. Third parties are subject to percentage-based limits linked to maximum campaign expenditure, with additional fixed thresholds. Individual candidates are also subject to spending caps, including a £100,000 limit for parliamentary by-elections.
The Electoral Commission has the mandate to oversee the financing of political parties and election campaigns. The Commission does not have certified auditors on its payroll, but party expenditures over £250,000 must be certified by external auditors. All eleven registered parties represented in parliament submitted accounts within the timelines defined by national legislation for the past five years and previous two election cycles. All financial reports are available online from a single platform in a user-friendly format.
Note: 2025 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026).
The UK fulfils 56% of criteria on transparency of public information regulations and 69% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 72% and 62%, respectively.
The Freedom of Information Act provides that all public institutions and private persons carrying out public duties are holders of public information, and that everyone, including non-citizens and legal persons, has the right to access information in all the forms available. There is a statutory deadline of 20 days for processing information requests and the authority providing the information is required to do so in the requester's desired format. The FOI Act also states that a complainant has the right to appeal in the event of refusal or inactivity related to an information request.
The Information Commissioner is the supervisory body responsible for public information issues. The Commissioner may issue recommendations to public bodies where they fail to comply with their legal obligations. Decisions taken by the Commissioner are legally binding and cannot be quashed by any executive body. The Data Protection Act 2018 establishes that the Information Commissioner is appointed for a fixed term of up to seven years and may only be removed following an address by both Houses of Parliament on grounds of serious misconduct or incapacity. The Cabinet Office publishes aggregated statistics on Freedom of Information requests quarterly and annually. The Information Commissioner’s Office conducts audits and investigations, with 24 audits and 194 sanctions carried out in 2024.
The UK proactively publishes many datasets, but government session agendas and ministers’ full agendas are not systematically published, and lobbying data is not aggregated in a single comprehensive platform covering both ministers and members of parliament.
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This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
Kosovo: This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/99 and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
The full book is available in English: OECD (2026), Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026: Harnessing the Integrity Advantage, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/16708b78-en.
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