Central government organisations still have differences in their capacities to protect themselves against corruption risks, although progress has also been made. The organisations should strengthen the identification of corruption risks affecting their activities.
The audit focused on the capacities of central government agencies to effectively combat corruption. In this audit, anti-corruption work is understood as a comprehensive set of measures aimed at preventing, detecting and addressing corruption within organisations. The audit also examined whether the national anti-corruption strategy and its action plan have enhanced the capacities to combat corruption.
The audit was carried out because anti-corruption work promotes the sustainability of public finances and builds trust in public administration and the rule of law. Corruption undermines the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of state funds, which means that it can have considerable indirect effect on central government finances.
Central government agencies often have limited abilities to identify and detect corruption. Audit findings suggest that corruption risk assessment is not particularly well established and may remain rather restricted. In some organisations, there was uncertainty regarding how suspected cases of corruption should be reported.
Central government agencies should strengthen the identification of corruption risks as part of their risk management. Increasing general awareness of corruption by means of communication and training also emerged as an important development area.
The key coordinating policy instrument in anti-corruption work is the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and the related Action Plan. As anti-corruption activities are decentralised and not subject to joint performance management, the importance of this document is emphasised as a signpost for common objectives and activities. The steering effect of the national strategy has naturally been the most significant for the agencies to which it assigns specific responsibilities.
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