Governance

Download the Impact Report section from our 2025 Annual Report

Home (plc)
/
Our impact
/
Governance

Our responsible business foundations

We remain committed to operating responsibly and maintaining the highest standards of governance across every aspect of our business. Fulfilling our Purpose, and our Vision of being the partner of choice to governments globally, relies on strong governance that drives ethical and effective decision-making.

Ethics and integrity (E&I)

Our Values and high ethical standards inform our actions and decisions. We aim to act with integrity in all that we do. We believe this is the right thing to do, for our people, our business and our stakeholders. Failure to Act with Integrity is identified as a principal risk underlining the importance of E&I, including human rights, at Serco.

For more information access our key supporting documents:

Our E&I programme

Our E&I programme is a fundamental part of our organisation – educating, engaging and empowering colleagues globally to do the right thing.

Female colleagues from Serco Skills contract in training session

The programme is structured to incorporate leadership and oversight, risk assessment, learning and engagement, monitoring and assurance.
The scope of our E&I programme includes anti-bribery and corruption, fraud, other financial crimes, competition law, trade sanctions and export control, human rights and prevention of modern slavery, and whistleblowing.
Our global network of E&I champions helps embed the programme locally and inform its further development.
We use data to monitor the effectiveness of the programme.

Highlights include:

Launched the EthicsMatters brand to bring a cohesive identity to the E&I programme. The launch campaign reinforced our Values-based approach, highlighting what acting ethically means in our work, and emphasising the importance of speaking up.
Updated our fraud prevention improvement programme, including detailed risk assessments and the development and launch of a new Fraud Prevention Policy.
Implemented a Fraud Awareness toolkit during International Fraud Awareness Week to help colleagues spot and stop fraud.

mycode – our Code of Conduct

Based on our Values, mycode defines what we expect of our businesses and colleagues regardless of location or background. mycode outlines the rules and procedures that all colleagues should follow. It covers looking after each other, doing business the right way, keeping assets and information safe, making difficult decisions and speaking up.

Find out more on our dedicated myCode pages.

Serco Essentials

Serco Essentials is our mandatory training programme for all employees. Core modules are refreshed periodically and include safety, prevention of financial crime, data protection, information security and our Code of Conduct (includes bribery and modern slavery). All colleagues are required to complete training when they join Serco and there is an ongoing annual programme, differentiated for managers and non-managers.

Male and female colleague looking at Serco's Values signage on wall

Speak Up

We foster a culture of speaking up, reporting concerns and aiding investigation without fear of retaliation. We maintain multiple channels for speaking up, including our confidential reporting service, Speak Up, hosted by an independent third party. Reports can be raised anonymously. We encourage colleagues, partners and the public to report any suspected breach of mycode, our Values or relevant laws.

Find out more on our dedicated Speaking Up page.

Human Rights

Human rights are fundamental rights and freedoms, and standards of treatment to which people are entitled. Serco is committed to respecting the human rights of individuals in all aspects of our business, wherever we operate. We strive to respect and protect the dignity and human rights of our colleagues and service users, addressing complex social challenges in the most appropriate, humane manner.

Highlights include:

Refreshed our approach to assessing human rights risks for the organisation. Through our Business Lifecycle Review Process, we also take reasonable and appropriate steps to identify, prevent or mitigate risks of adverse human rights impacts in our operations.
Continued our partnership with Slave-Free Alliance, working with them on training, potential improvements to due diligence and our modern slavery reporting as well as trialling an in-depth supplier assessment for key suppliers within high-risk product categories.