British Council

Baroness Alexander of Cleveden Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for his questions. As he knows, the problems that the British Council has encountered in Russia go back a long time, and we take very seriously the recent problems that he mentioned. It is not a comfortable position for the British Council at all. I do not know the specific answer to the question about IELTS, but I am happy to come back to the noble Lord on that.

[Baroness Alexander of Cleveden (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as deputy chair of the British Council. On current plans, it is likely that this Covid-era loan will be paid down for the next 15 years plus. Can my noble friend the Minister say why the Government have not accepted the British Council’s offer of using its art collection in lieu of the loan, given that HMRC regularly accepts artwork from private estates in settlement of tax liabilities? Why can a comparable arrangement not be found for the Government’s own soft-power agency? I am aware of the complexities of the matter, so I invite my noble friend the Minister to write to me on the specific issue of the art collection paying down the loan and to place a copy in the Library for other noble Lords.

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I am of course happy to write to the noble Baroness, but I make it clear that I hesitate, with my noble friend Lord Livermore sitting next to me, to say anything other than that the Treasury expects the loan to be paid in cash. He has made that point before, so I dare say he may have some views on this letter too. The art collection is a matter for the British Council to decide on, not for the Government.