Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria they use to prioritise the British Council's presence in fragile or strategically important regions, particularly where UK security interests are engaged.

While the British Council is operationally independent from the Government, as an arm's length body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), it is expected to strategically align with FCDO and wider Government priorities through its strategy and planning process. The British Council consults the FCDO on its overseas presence through this process.

Regarding the British Council's long-term sustainability, I refer the Noble Lord to the evidence provided to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 9 December 2025 by the former Permanent Under-Secretary, and on 16 December 2025 by the Foreign Secretary, as well as to the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 26 March (Statement UIN HLWS1489).