The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) (amended 2015), the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the Communications Act 2003 (amended 2015) are the main laws regulating the financing of political parties in the UK.

There are some restrictions on the private income of political parties. Donations from foreign entities are banned as are anonymous donations. However, there are no bans on donations from corporations or trade unions. There are no limits on donations received during or outside of election periods.

Small amounts of public funding are available for political parties and are allocated based on the share of votes in the previous election and the representation in the elected body. Public funding can be used only for very specific purposes and this does not include campaign spending or ongoing party activities. There is subsidizes media access for parties and candidates as well as indirect public funding in the form of premises for campaign meetings and postage costs.

For regulations on spending, vote buying is banned as is the use of state resources for or against a political party of candidate. There are limits on spending for both parties and candidates.

Parties are required to keep annual accounts which much be made public. These must also report on their finances in relation to election campaigns. The identity of donors is revealed when a certain donation threshold is reached. Reports are overseen by the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. There are sanctions in the form of fines, forfeiture and under the criminal law. 

In the United Kingdom, Ministers, Members of Parliament, and Civil Servants are required to disclose debts, income received from outside employment, shares held in private or public companies, and income from trust funds. Additionally, Ministers and MPs declare real estate. Both MPs and Civil Servants must disclose private interests before participating in decision-making that concern them. Upon leaving office, Ministers are prohibited from lobbying Government for two years. These regulations are set down for Ministers in the Ministerial Code (2007, last amended 2016), for MPs in the Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members (1996, last amended 2015), and in the Civil Service Management Code (2010, last amended 2016) for Civil Servants.

While Ministers only make their statements upon appointment, Members of Parliament and Civil Servants make updates whenever changes occur. British law stipulates no sanctions for Ministers failing to meet disclosure requirements. Members of Parliament face fines should they make declarations late or not at all. No specifications apply to making false disclosure. Civil Servants face administrative sanctions for making late statements or failing to submit them, and may be imprisoned for false disclosure statements. The Permanent Secretary collects disclosure statements by Ministers, while the Register of Members’ Financial Interests does so for MPs. The Parliament’s Committee on Standards and Privileges verifies submissions, while no such body exists for Ministers or Civil Servants. Civil Servants make their declarations with the administrative superior. Only MPs’ declarations are accessible to the public.

The British Ministerial Code (2016) makes only a general regulation for members of parliament to avoid conflicts of interest. It also includes regulations on conflicts of interests for Ministers, who are restricted from accepting gifts, holding any other public appointment or position in a private company, and must avoid decisions in which they hold a private interest. For two years after leaving office, they must not lobby for government and abide to employment guidelines by an independent advisory committee. Meanwhile, the Civil Service Management Code (2013, last amended 2016) prevents Civil Servants from accepting gifts, holding government contracts, and participating in decisions that affect private interests. Only in exceptional cases may they engage in managing private or public companies, or holding board memberships. A two-year-long cooling off period applies.

No sanctions are specified for any official who violates regulations on conflicts of interest. For Ministers, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments gives guidance on the rightful interpretation of these laws, while the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards does the same for MPs. No such body exists for Civil Servants. An enforcement body is not specified for any public officials.

(Note: The Head of State is a monarch and thus exempted from conflicts of interests laws.)

Access to information in the United Kingdom is established by the Freedom of Information Act (2000, amended 2016). The FOI law applies to the executive and legislative branches of government, and other bodies which exercise functions of a public nature or provide services under a contract made with a public authority. Administrative or financial matters relating to the courts are included.

Specific exemptions to disclosure are outlined in the aforementioned FOI law, Official Secrets Act (1989), and the Data Protection Act (1998, amended 2011). However, there is a public interest test whereby exemptions to disclosure may be overridden in cases where the public interest outweighs the prohibition on disclosure.

Appeals may be filed with public bodies or the Information Commissioner, whose decisions are binding. Either the complainant or the public authority may appeal to the Tribunal against a decision issued by the Information Commissioner.

Fines may be applied to employees for preventing disclosure, but it is not clear which public body would impose the penalty. The Commissioner plays a central role in ensuring compliance with the Act. Duties include: promoting the observance of good practice by public authorities in implementing the law and its associated Codes of Practice; providing information to the public about the operation of the Act; issuing recommendations on good practice to public authorities, and reporting annually to Parliament on the exercise of his functions under the Act.

The British public procurement system is regulated by the Public Contracts Regulation (2015), and there are new draft (not yet implemented) regulations on Utilities Contracts Regulation (2016) and Concession Contract Regulations (2016). The public procurement body is the Public Procurement Advisory Unit, which is an organization under the Ministry of Employment and Economy.

The lowest minimum thresholds for conducting a public procurement tender is:

●         GBP 10,000 (ca. EUR 11,000) for goods,  works and services

The minimum number of bidders is 5 for restricted procedures and 3 for negotiated procedures, competitive dialogue and innovation partnership. The minimum submission period is 35 days for open procedures, 30 days for restricted procedures and 30 for negotiated procedures from dispatch date. The final beneficial owners do not have to be disclosed when placing a bid.

There is preferential treatment for EU countries in case of innovation partnership, and sustainability can be considered in the tendering process. However, there are several options for bid exclusion: not complying with the procurement documents, bids received after deadline, evidence of collusion or corruption, tenderers which do not have the required qualifications, or whose price exceeds the contracting authorities’ budget as determined in launching the procurement procedure. Bids can be also excluded because of abnormally low bid prices.

In the bid evaluation phase, there are conflict of interest restrictions on the composition of the evaluation committee. However, no form of independence of  the contracting authority is mandated for the evaluation committee.

There is no payable fee in case of an arbitration procedure, and court decisions are publicly released as judicial records.