Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the soft power value to the UK of the news programming provided by the BBC World Service; and whether they intend to fund fully the BBC World Service language services.

The Government strongly values the BBC World Service as a UK soft power asset. It is the world's most trusted international broadcaster. Consisting of 42 language services, it provides impartial accurate news to a global audience of 320 million across more than 120 countries.

The Government is committed to a successful BBC World Service and ensuring its financial sustainability. Ahead of Charter Review, the Government will keep an open mind about the future of the licence fee and how the World Service is funded, and engage with the BBC, the public and other stakeholders before making decisions.