What is The Bribery Act 2010 ?

The Bribery Act 2010 is the UK’s main legislation around ani-corruption and bribery. The guidance surrounding this helps organisations to implement procedures to prevent bribery in the workplace.

The Bribery Act 2010 introduced four new categories of offence:

• Offering, promising or giving a bribe to another person
• Requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting a bribe from another person
• Bribing a foreign public official
• A corporate offence of failing to prevent

Amongst the plethora of policies and procedures already burdening businesses, more weight had been added with the introduction of the fourth of these offences, that of failing to prevent bribery. It was no longer enough to simply run a clean operation and avoid engaging in any unscrupulous practices. Now, effective procedures must be in place to demonstrate that your business is actively preventing the practice of bribery.

Faced with the threat of severe financial penalties and the risk of prosecution under this new legislation, the UK business communities took action. Corporate giants tweaked their existing anti-corruption policies and re-launched them amid much fanfare. Large businesses stirred themselves, diverting resources to amending existing procedures. In reality, adequate procedures required to prevent bribery need only be proportionate to the risks faced and the size or structure of the business.

Under the Act, the government guidance advises that procedures are built on the following core principles:

• Proportionality
• Top-level commitment
• Risk assessment
• Due diligence
• Communication (training)
• Monitoring and review

Bribery and transparency in the bidding process

Tender losses and failed contract negotiations are more easily explained away by the alleged ‘brown envelope’ of a competitor than by admission of personal failings or an inadequate proposal. Although transparency in tendering is key, it is often believed that authorities have a ‘favoured bidder’ in mind a when entering into the procurement process for a contract, and as such, some companies can be deterred from the bidding process entirely.

The Act itself makes it an offence to influence a decision maker, which includes the context of tendering for a public or private sector tender.

In an attempt to regulate transparency and prevent bribery from entering the public sector procurement process, directions such as the following are in place to ensure all suppliers are not only aware of the opportunities available to them, but are then able to bid successfully:

• The open advertisement of all public sector contract opportunities over the threshold of £30,000
• The introduction of the standardised PQQ (or now, PSQ), and at times, a one-stage tender process
• Reducing the turnover requirement to bid, encouraging SMEs to bid
• The increase in frameworks and smaller value contracts
• E-procurement — contract and bidding information available to all parties in one place.

The Bribery Act in your tender response

PQQ and ITT documents will contain questions on your company’s understanding and adherence to the Bribery Act. Example tender questions are likely to include risk management, due diligence undertaken for any third parties, ethical practices and training for staff on bribery and corruption prevention. Your policies and procedures in this area will need to be robust and abide by the current legislation, otherwise you may be excluded from the bidding process as you can be seen as ‘risky’ to the authority.

At Executive Compass, we assist our clients to ensure that this non-negotiable area is one where they can have total confidence, and therefore ultimately submit a compliant and high-quality bid. We work with organisations to ensure the tender proposals they submit exceed all requirements and successfully secure contracts.

Executive Compass bid and tender writing support

To discuss how our team of expert bid writers can support you, contact us today on 0800 612 5563 or email info@executivecompass.co.uk