Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has (a) made an assessment of the adequacy of resources available to the BBC World Service in advance of the next Spending Review and (b) had recent discussions with the BBC on the potential impact of its resourcing decisions on the UK's soft power.

Answered by Nusrat Ghani

The World Service is two-thirds funded by the Licence Fee, with the remainder provided by government. The FCDO is providing £283 million to the World Service over the current Spending Review (SR) period, plus an exceptional uplift of £20 million as part of the Integrated Review Refresh (2023). Government funding for the World Service after 2024-25 will be determined as part of the next SR. The BBC is operationally independent and therefore responsible for setting its own budgets.

The FCDO engages regularly with the BBC at all levels. The Foreign Secretary meets the BBC Chair annually to discuss World Service performance and progress towards targets. [https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-02-01/HLWS232]

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps he is taking to (a) support an extension of the mandate for the Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council, (b) support the (i) resourcing and (ii) access of that Mission’s mandate and (c) engage with African members of the Human Rights Council on that Mission.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK is proud to have led efforts in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) last year to establish the independent and international Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan (FFM). We fully support the FFM's mandate to ensure credible allegations of human rights violations and abuses in Sudan will be investigated impartially. We are concerned about the impact of the ongoing UN liquidity crisis on its work, and accordingly will support an extension to its mandate to ensure it is given the necessary time, resources and access. We will continue to engage States, including African States who are members of the HRC, on the continued need for and importance of the FFM.