The Minister for Asia and the Pacific (Mark Field)
Copies of the British Council’s annual report and accounts for the 2017-18 financial year have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities and it makes a significant contribution to projecting British values overseas. In doing so it makes a lasting difference to the UK’s security, prosperity and influence. It is the world’s leading cultural relations organisation, reaching over 758 million people in over 100 countries in 2017-18. This included 14 million face-to-face participants in British Council programmes, 42 million customers using British Council digital social media and learning products and 19 million visitors to British Council exhibitions. It is a significant driver of UK soft power.
The Council received £168 million grant-in-aid from the FCO in 2017-18. The FCO is committed to continuing its support of the British Council’s excellent work. The FCO has protected the British Council’s budget and has increased its overall grant over the current spending review period. It has also recently agreed to provide additional funding in this period specifically to support the British Council’s work in Europe and in the developed world.
The report can also be found at the British Council’s website www.britishcouncil.org.
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