Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the budget of the BBC World Service as part of the UK's efforts to counter Russian disinformation in African states.

The government strongly values the work of the BBC World Service and its independent and impartial broadcasting. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine means that BBC World Service channels are playing an increasingly valuable role in challenging disinformation emanating from the Kremlin.

The Secretary of State has made it clear to the BBC in her letter confirming the final licence fee settlement that it should continue to make a substantive investment from the licence fee into the World Service to ensure that it continues to effectively reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world - in English and through its language services.

As set out in the Framework Agreement the BBC should continue to agree objectives, priorities and targets for the World Service with the Foreign Secretary, as well as the languages in which the World Service is to be provided, and any changes to these matters. The World Service’s Spending Review settlement for the period 2022 to 2025 from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be confirmed shortly.

In addition on 24th March the government announced an additional £4.1m of funding for the BBC World Service, to support its Ukrainian and Russian language services. We are not considering providing any further additional funding at this time.