British Council

Baroness Northover Excerpts

Tuesday 9th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

As my noble friend knows, the loan was made on commercial terms to ensure compliance with the UK Subsidy Control Act, which means that interest rates are set at market rates. For the last five years, the British Council has made losses of around £50 million per year, greatly in excess of the loan repayments. The priority, therefore, is for the British Council to address these ongoing commercial losses, return to surplus and implement its financial turnaround plan, to get itself back on to a long-term financially sustainable footing. In the meantime, the British Council continues to do excellent and important work, funded by grant in aid.

[Baroness Northover (LD)]

My Lords, it is excellent that the British Council has been appointed as the UK’s national agency for the Erasmus programme. As we seek a closer relationship with the EU, how can we make sure that the British Council can play a full part in this, unhampered by this huge Covid debt?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right: the Erasmus programme is an important part of the work the Government are doing with Europe, and the British Council has a big role to play in that. That is not one of the British Council’s commercial activities, as I understand it—but I will correct that if I have got that wrong—and therefore will continue and will not be affected by the discussions about the loan.