Development: Aid guidelines to be tightened

CHARITIES APPLYING for British aid will have to sign up to anti- corruption clauses designed to prevent grants being mis-spent or used for bribes, Clare Short will announce tomorrow.

The move will be among initiatives to be launched by the Secretary of State for International Development in a speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. The clauses will be inserted into contracts for aid projects and for purchases made by the Department for International Development.

The poor suffer disproportionately from the effects of corruption, she believes. For example a national bribe index published in India showed that a new water connection required a bribe of 1,000 rupees (pounds 16.20), preventing the poorest families from getting clean water supplies.

Ms Short will also tackle the problem of misappropriated funds ending up in Western bank accounts where they are placed for investment or safe keeping and she will tell of project Britain is supporting in Uganda, which has brought senior figures to trial for corruption.