Personnel Risk:
Very Low
Score:
87/100
Leadership Behaviour
Q34
58/100
Do the Defence Ministry, Defence Minister, Chiefs of Defence, and Single Service Chiefs publicly commit, through, for example, speeches, media interviews, or political mandates, to anti-corruption and integrity measures?
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According to the MoD, senior officials regularly refer to anti-corruption in strategic internal communications. Officials are heavily involved in awareness raising campaigns and provide…
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Public statements by the Secretary of Defence and other top officials demonstrating a commitment to integrity and anti-corruption measures are rare [1]. In 2016,…
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Values & Standards training (which includes Integrity) is mandatory for Service personnel. Elements of the MoD are required to undertake mandatory fraud awareness training…
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Q35
100/100
Are there effective measures in place for personnel found to have taken part in forms of bribery and corruption, and is there evidence that these measures are being carried out?
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The Bribery Act 2010 [1] criminalises bribery and sets clearly defined offences in law that apply to the defence sector. These offences cover the…
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The Ministry of Defence Police investigate corruption involving the Ministry’s employees (including members of the UK’s armed forces) or contracts [1]. Instances of bribery…
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Q36
75/100
Is whistleblowing encouraged by the government, and are whistle-blowers in military and defence ministries afforded adequate protection from reprisal for reporting evidence of corruption, in both law and practice?
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The main legal framework through which whistleblowing is addressed in the UK is the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA), however, it only applies…
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The Ministry of Defence has a confidential hotline that can be used to raise concerns about fraud, damage to the environment, breaches of legal…
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A recent report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has expressed concern regarding PIDA’s capability to adequately protect whistleblowers [1]. Drawing upon the findings…
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Q37
58/100
Is special attention paid to the selection, time in post, and oversight of personnel in sensitive positions, including officials and personnel in defence procurement, contracting, financial management, and commercial management?
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Personnel in sensitive positions are vetted to ensure operational effectiveness, and mitigating corruption risk falls within scope of this objective. However, there is limited…
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MoD fraud prevention mechanisms include “the rotation of staff through posts, the separation of duties between those authorising and paying for work and well-established…
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DE&S runs CE chaired Function Performance panels which provides top level oversight of the effective operation of the Functions. In DE&S the Function matrix…
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Payroll, Promotions, Appointments, Rewards
Q38
100/100
Is the number of civilian and military personnel accurately known and publicly available?
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The number of civilian and military personnel is updated on a quarterly basis. The UK Armed Forces Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics publication provides information…
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The UK Armed Forces Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics publication contains information on the number of civilian and military personnel, disaggregated by rank bracket [1].
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A review of media sources, Hansard, as well as an interview, indicate that there is no evidence to suggest that the UK military has…
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Q39
100/100
Are pay rates and allowances for civilian and military personnel openly published?
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Q40
92/100
Do personnel receive the correct pay on time, and is the system of payment well-established, routine, and published?
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With the exception of a payroll glitch that delayed receiving of a bonus in 2018, there is no indication to suggest that there are…
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The majority of the time, military personnel receive the correct pay on time and there are no systemic issues in the salary payment system…
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The payment and allowances system is openly published. It includes all of the following: pay brackets for all ranks, disaggregated by seniority; details on…
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Q41
92/100
Is there an established, independent, transparent, and objective appointment system for the selection of military personnel at middle and top management level?
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Section 10 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 requires the selection of people for appointment to the Civil Service to be ‘on…
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Some high-level appointments at the MoD are subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by the House of Commons [1]. The People Committee was established to provide…
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Information on the appointment process is publicly available and includes the selection criteria for each rank [1, 2].
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Q42
81/100
Are personnel promoted through an objective, meritocratic process? Such a process would include promotion boards outside of the command chain, strong formal appraisal processes, and independent oversight.
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Personnel promotions are conducted through formal appraisal processes and promotions boards for all personnel, and rank promotion is clearly defined [1]. Promotions to senior…
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Promotion Selection Boards will consider, very exceptionally, any Captain/Colonel, Commander/Lieutenant Colonel, Lieutenant Commander/Major or Lieutenant/Captain who, although above or below the zone, is recommended…
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The list of senior military personnel is publicly available and it includes name, rank, job title as well as other details (not relevant for…
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Research did not identify any centralised portal/database where posted promotions would be regularly published. Promotions are occasionally reported in the news section of the…
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Conscription and Recruitment
Q43
NA/100
Where compulsory conscription occurs, is there a policy of not accepting bribes for avoiding conscription? Are there appropriate procedures in place to deal with such bribery, and are they applied?
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Q44
100/100
is there a policy of refusing bribes to gain preferred postings? Are there appropriate procedures in place to deal with such bribery, and are they applied?
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The Bribery Act 2010 [1] criminalises any type of bribery (including for soliciting preffered postings) and sets clearly defined offences in law that apply…
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The penalties for committing a crime under the Act are a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment, along with an unlimited fine, and the potential…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as no cases of bribery were identified. Out of the few UK military-related corruption cases reported in…
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Salary Chain
Pay16 – ‘The Armed Forces Pay Model’, separates chains of command and chains of payment throughout the ministry and armed forces [1].
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Values and Standards
Q46
81/100
Is there a Code of Conduct for all military personnel that includes, but is not limited to, guidance with respect to bribery, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and post-separation activities? Is there evidence that breaches of the Code of Conduct are effectively addressed?
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The Army Leadership Code [1] makes reference to integrity as one of the Army’s core values, however it does not address corruption or offer…
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The Queen’s regulations for the Army, Air Force, and Navy, are available for public access online. The Army, Air Force, and Navy’s Values and…
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The Army’s Values and Standards document states that ‘every breach of Values and Standards requires prompt and unambiguous action to be taken’ [1]. Similarly,…
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Evidence suggests that guidance on the Army’s Values and Standards document, which covers integrity as one of the core values, is provided upon induction…
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Q47
88/100
Is there a Code of Conduct for all civilian personnel that includes, but is not limited to, guidance with respect to bribery, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and post-separation activities? Is there evidence that breaches of the Code of Conduct are effectively addressed?
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Civilian Personnel are subject to the Civil Service Code [1], which has statutory underpinning by virtue of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010…
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The Civil Service Code, the Civil Service Management Code as well as the Personnel Manual are publicly available [1][2][3]. These codes are also available…
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There is little publicly available information on the enforcement of the Civil Service Code of conduct within defence institutions. The Civil Service Commission hears…
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Guidance on the Civil Service Code is publicly available on various government websites [1, 2]. In addition, the MoD’s Fraud, Bribery and Corruption training…
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Q48
83/100
Does regular anti-corruption training take place for military and civilian personnel?
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The UK is part of “Building Integrity”, a NATO-led capacity building programme providing practical tools to help nations strengthen integrity, transparency and accountability, and…
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Evidence suggests that the training provided within ‘Building Integrity’ is delivered five to six times annually for senior military officers and officials [1]. Outside…
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Evidence suggests that the training provided within ‘Building Integrity’ is delivered only for senior military officers and officials [1]. Other rank brackets receive some…
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Q49
100/100
Is there a policy to make public outcomes of the prosecution of defence services personnel for corrupt activities, and is there evidence of effective prosecutions in recent years?
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There is a policy to make outcomes of all prosecutions publicly available. The Military Court Service publishes court martial results from the military court…
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Both the charges and results of prosecutions are made publicly available [1]. For court martials, information is released to public as matter of course.…
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There is no evidence to incidate that there is any undue political influence when cases are investigated [1]. Cases are investigated through formal processes.
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Q50
83/100
Are there effective measures in place to discourage facilitation payments (which are illegal in almost all countries)?
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The law is insufficiently clear on the issue of facilitation payments. As per Sect.13 of chapter 23 of the Bribery Act: 13. Defence for…
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Cases are investigated through formal processes and prosecutions are made publicly available [1]. There is no substantive concern expressed from independent commentators over undue…
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A review of the list of prosecutions under the Bribery Act for the last 6 years suggests that faciliation payments in general are very…
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