Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many letters to her Department relating to the British Council have received a substantive response since 5 July 2024; and what the average response time was.

As the Minister responsible, I have had a number of meetings with the leadership team within the British Council, details of which are routinely disclosed in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's quarterly publications of ministerial transparency data. My office also deals with a large amount of correspondence relating to the British Council and my other areas of responsibility, all of which we seek to respond to as promptly as possible.