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Bribery Bill [HL]

My Lords, we were pressed on the issue of a draft of a draft. Given the general support for the amendment, perhaps I do not need to detain the House by talking about it but, since I have been half-invited to do so, I shall. It is our intention that our first draft should form a basis for discussion with stakeholders. Our work to date has been largely a research and information-gathering exercise, in which we have gratefully received help from a number of quarters, including our business stakeholders and NGOs. A wealth of material exists, so this stage of the development of guidance is bound to take some time. It is important, as I am sure all noble Lords will agree, that we ensure that we have the benefit of a comprehensive survey of existing guidance. I can indicate today the current proposals on the content of structured guidance, which will obviously be subject to continuing development and discussion. We envisage the guidance containing a section dealing with the legal background and detailing domestic and international obligations. Our research indicates that it may be useful to offer a section setting out broad principles for the prevention of bribery, such as I referred to in the paper that we circulated before Committee, to be elaborated in further sections. Examples of the principles that we think the guidance should contain include the importance of the board of directors taking responsibility for anti-corruption programmes and appointing a senior officer accountable for oversight; assessing risk specific to the organisation, which might include risks linked to the nature or location of the organisation’s activity; establishing clear employment procedures and training of new and existing staff in anti-bribery procedures; having internal financial controls and record-keeping to minimise the risk of bribery; and establishing whistleblowing or speak-up procedures so that employees can report corruption safely and confidentially. We envisage that later sections of the guidance will cover, for example, what organisations can do to plan, implement and monitor anti-bribery policies. These sections are likely to deal with how organisations might ensure that policies cover risks specific to the organisation concerned—for example, by looking at those of its operations that are particularly susceptible to bribery because of the nature of the supply chain or location in which they are carried out. Organisations might also have documented policies through a board-level statement, code of ethics or strategy document, as well as gift and hospitality registers. Other topics may include how organisations might embed their anti-bribery programmes into their administrative structures and ensure that employees, particularly operational staff, understand the new policies through effective communication and training. Special cases, such as facilitation payments and corporate hospitality, will be covered specifically, as will challenges faced by organisations when seeking to put into place measures designed to deal with the risk of bribery on their behalf by subsidiaries and other organisations with which they are associated in a joint venture. It may be useful to include a section detailing further useful reading materials—guidance published by the Serious Fraud Office, by business groups such as the ICC and by NGOs such as Transparency International and the Institute of Business Ethics. These are examples of our current proposals for guidance. It is a work in progress and our discussions will continue in earnest with a view to producing a working draft in the near future. I hope that that has been helpful to the House. Amendment 10 agreed. Clause 8 : Section 7: supplementary provision Clause 8 : Section 7: supplementary provision Amendment 11 not moved. Amendment 12 Moved by