Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the BBC World Service received in government subsidy in each of the last ten years.

Prior to 2013/14 the Government provided the BBC World Service with Grant-in-Aid funding through the Foreign and ​​Commonwealth Office. From 2014/15 onwards core World Service activity was funded through the Licence Fee. In 2015 the Government announced additional funding for the World Service for the BBC World 2020 programme. £291 million will be invested from 2016/17 to 2019/20 to expand provision, including the creation of 12 new language services. New and enhanced services for BBC World Service will provide more people around the world with access to accurate, impartial and independent information.

The published BBC figures for government funding to the World Service, including Grant-in-Aid prior to 2014/15 and BBC World 2020 funding from 2016/17, are therefore as follows: