Supporting Leading NGOs to Improve the UK’s Anti-Corruption Legislation

Photo credit: International Lawyers Project

Situation

Over the past five years, the UK Government has developed its approach to anti-corruption and the legislation that underpins it, as part of the realisation that the UK has historically served as a safe harbour for international corruption and kleptocracy across the globe. However, significant gaps remain. ILP’s partners, leading anti-corruption NGO Spotlight on Corruption and the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition (UKACC), required legal assistance with ensuring essential amendments to UK legislation were tabled, with inputting into the UK’s new Anti-Corruption Strategy, and with facilitating discussion on proposals on the UK’s new anti-money laundering policy.

ILP’s Action

ILP worked closely with Spotlight on Corruption and UKACC to support research informing amendments to the UK’s draft Public Office (Accountability) Bill, the most significant piece of anti-corruption legislation in the last decade. ILP also worked with UKACC and its members to provide recommendations on the content of the UK’s new Anti-Corruption Strategy that launched in December 2025: a key cross-departmental policy document that will guide the UK’s anti-corruption work over the coming years. We also helped convene a high-level expert workshop attended by UK officials and private sector experts on the UK government’s new anti-money laundering strategy, scheduled to be published in 2026.

Impact

As a result of ILP’s support, our partners were able to directly engage with the draft Public Office (Accountability) Bill, and the draft laid before Parliament in September 2025 incorporated many of our partners’ recommendations. For example, under this new legislation the largely ineffective criminal offence of Misconduct in Public Office is set to be upgraded to cover senior public servants as well, leading to wider levels of accountability across the public sector.

Similarly, the UK’s new Anti-Corruption Strategy – which was largely welcomed by UK civil society – contained several key recommendations put forward by ILP and UKACC partners, including the increased use of anti-corruption sanctions. The strategy is a promising step in the fight against corruption in this Parliament and beyond. Discussions on improvements to the UK’s anti-money laundering landscape were taken on board by UK government officials, with the government set to publish this strategy in 2026.