Supplementary written evidence submitted
by the British Council
STAFF NUMBERS
Q27 to Q30. Mr Horam asked for figures on
staff numbers in the UK, which illustrate the reductions achieved
by efficiency savings in recent years and he also asked for forward
projections. Data requested for years up to 2010 and also data
for staff overseas.
The British Council's work in building ties
between the UK and the 109 countries it works in involves programmes
not only overseas, but also in the UK particularly in handling
inward-bound missions and exchanges and undertaking care of specific
groups such as Chevening scholars.
The UK staff support both Grant-funded work
overseas and in the UK, and the international revenue-earning
operations in development services and in English language teaching
and examinations administration. Information sector figures include
staff producing global web-sites and other e-based products.
Figures under the "Supporting" column
include: staff administering and managing contract work on behalf
of clients; staff working as part of the Council's role the EU
national agency for European programmes such as Leonardo, Socrates,
etc; and staff administering inward-bound scholarship schemes,
courses and seminars held in the UK but targeted at specialists
from other countries.
Advisory and professional staff, listed sector-by-sector,
are UK-based but serve the following specific functions: liaising
with UK sector specialists engaged by the British Council in its
international work; providing up-to-date resources and information
for use overseas; working with locally-engaged staff overseas
to provide products, services and events designed to engage target
audiences.
Central services staff include: finance and
audit, human resources, communications, corporate affairs, central
management, global facilities and estates management, central
IT services, change programme managers. Figures in the following
table exclude consultants, contractors and vacant posts.
Corporate services figures include 68 members
of staff taken on to implement the Finance and Business Platform
(FABS) IT programme currently being rolled out globally, which
would be reduced significantly once the roll-out has been completed.
| Total |
London | Manchester
| Belfast | Cardiff
| Edinburgh | Elsewhere
|
Advisory professional |
| | | |
| | |
| Arts | 80 7% | 79
| | | |
| 1 |
| ELT | 14 1% | 10
| 4 | | |
| |
| Education and Training | 60 5%
| 13 | 46 | |
| 1 | |
| Information Sector | 80 7%
| 8 | 71 | |
| 1 | |
| Governance | 12 1% |
| 12 | |
| | |
| Science | 8 1% | 1
| 7 | | |
| |
| Total | 254 22% | 111
| 140 | | |
2 | 1 |
| Supporting | |
| | | |
| |
| Development contracts | 116 10%
| | 116 | |
| | |
| English teaching schools in UK | 6 0%
| | 6 | |
| | |
| Educational contracts | 165 14%
| 121 | 7 | 21 |
1 | 16 | |
| Overseas Network | 28 2%
| 27 | 1 | |
| | |
| Teaching Centre Network | 44 4%
| 43 | 1 | |
| | |
| UK network, courses, and visitors to UK |
126 11% | 35 | 8
| 10 | 7 | 26 |
40 |
| Total | 485 41% | 226
| 139 | 31 | 8 |
41 | 40 |
| Central services | |
| | | |
| |
| Mainstream CS staff | 366 31%
| | | |
| | |
| FABS implementation staff 68 6%
| | | |
| | |
| Total | 434 37% | 322
| 111 | | |
| 1 |
| Grand Total | 1,173 100% |
659 | 390 | 31 |
8 | 43 | 42 |
| |
| | |
| | |
As part of the Spending Review triennium ending 31 March
2004, the British Council set itself a target of reducing the
UK headquarters headcount by 8% over the period of the review
(1 April 2001 to 31 March 2004). This reduction, from 800 to 734,
was met.
In the Spending Review 2004 round, the British Council was
not set specific headcount reduction targets. Efficiency savings
are being achieved under OGC guidelines, which lays an emphasis
on efficiency overall. This will result in savings of 2.5% per
annum up to 2007-08.
The Council is, however, embarking on a significant UK change
programme which will provide a more efficient staffing framework
for meeting the needs of target audiences overseas and matching
these to the requirements of UK stakeholders. Additionally, a
separate review has recently been completed which will lead to
the streamlining the Council's central services. We expect staff
reductions and increased efficiencies to flow from these processes.
DIVERSITY TARGETS
Q37 and 38. Mr Illsley asked whether the Council would
meet its 2006 targets for ethnic minority and disabled staff as
a whole and specifically for staff on the senior management team
and disabled staff in the higher pay bands. He asked what actions
were being taken to ensure targets were met, and whether the Council
had set diversity targets for its overseas staff, and to outline
the current position.
The table below (which covers both UK-based staff and UK
contracted staff working overseas) sets out the overall progress
made against British Council equality targets.
Minority ethnic staff forms 13.4% of the Council's UK staff.
As there is no under representation in this area, the Council
has not set itself a target for UK minority ethnic staff.
The Council has already exceeded its 2006 minority ethnic
target for Payband level 10 (its top level management band), and
may succeed in achieving the target set for Payband 9 (senior
middle management). It may also achieve its target for the Senior
Management Team, though this unlikely.
Discussions regarding overseas equality targets are currently
taking place at senior management level, and these are expected
to be concluded by the end of the year.
The Council did not achieve its overall UK disability target
for 2004 of 3% of staff and it is therefore very unlikely it will
achieve its 2006 target of 5%. In common with many employers,
the Council faces problems in achieving higher levels of representation
of disabled people in its workforce, including low levels of disclosure
by those eligible to do so. The Council will be launching an organisational
framework to support the inclusion of disabled people in all areas
of its work worldwide, as well as providing guidance on mainstreaming
disability and achieving benchmarking against other organisations.
PROGRESS AGAINST
BRITISH COUNCIL
EQUALITY TARGETS
Further progress has been made in relation to the targets
set by the British Council, notably in relation to the payband
9 targets, where minority ethnic staff are now 4.9% and the percentage
of women at this payband has risen to 37.6%. Progress against
the payband 10 targets for minority ethnic staff is steady and
this target should now be revised upwards. However, little progress
has been made towards the disabled staff reporting target, with
one additional person since March 2004 declaring a disability.
STAFF PROFILE
AND PROGRESSION
Of the British Council UK-contracted staff, 13.4% (194 people)
are of minority ethnic origin, 53.6% (777) are women, and 1.8%
(26) identify themselves as disabled. The table below compares
this with previous years:
Category | 2001-02
| 2002-03 | 2003-04
| 2004-05 |
| | % | %
| % | % |
| Minority ethnic people | 11.9
| 12.1 | 13.6 | 13.4
|
| Women | 55.4 | 53.4
| 53.4 | 53.6 |
| People with a disability | 1.8
| 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.8
|
| |
| | |
PROGRESS AGAINST
TARGETS SET
IN OCTOBER
2003
Area | Percentage and
number in post
2002-03
| Percentage and
number in post
2003-04
| Percentage and
number in post
2004-05
| Targets | |
| |
| | |
| 2004 | 2006 |
2008 | 10 Years
(2013)
|
Total number of staff in post |
1442 | 1467 | 1450
| | | |
|
| Disabled staff | 1.7% (24) |
1.7% (25) | 1.8% (26) | 3% (38)
| 5% (64) | |
|
| Minority ethnic staff |
| | | |
| |
| Payband 9 | 4.6% (9) | 3.8% (8)
| 4.9% (10) | No target | 6% (11)
| 8% (15) | 9% (17) |
| Payband 10 | 4.9% (2) | 9.3% (4)
| 7.5% (3) | No target | 5% (2)
| 7% (3) | 10% (4) |
| SMT | None | None
| None | No target | 11% (1)
| Review
target | |
| Women | | |
| | |
| |
| Payband 9 | 35.7% (70) | 36.7% (77)
| 37.6% (77) | No target | 37% (72)
| 37% (74)
Review
target | 40% (78)
|
| Payband 10 | 24.4% (10) | 25.6% (11)
| 22.5% (9) | No target | 27% (11)
| 29% (12) | 29% (12) |
| SMT | 22.2% (2) | 33.3% (3)
| 30.0% (3) | No target | 33.3% (3)
| 33.3% (3) | 40% (4) |
| |
| | | |
| |
ESTATES
Q39. Lord Kinnock promised Mr Keetch a note which compares
the British Council to similar organisations with other countries
in terms of their "footprint" overseas and in their
host nation.
The British Council's aim is to have a smaller, more secure
viable and sustainable global estate which meets standards and
requirements under its 2010 strategy and provides an effective
operating platform which assists the organisation to deliver its
operational targets efficiently. The following tables chart the
reduction of size of BC estate in recent years, and provides data
for the Goethe Institut and the Alliance Francaise. The Goethe
Institut have told us they have no specific policy for reducing
the size of their offices at the moment.
BRITISH COUNCIL
GLOBAL ESTATE;
COMPARISON WITH
GOETHE INSTITUT
AND ALLIANCE
FRANCAISE
British Council
| UK | No of locations
| Floor space (sq m) |
| 2002 | 23 | 20,000 approx
|
| 2005 | 16 | 17,000 approx
|
| |
|
Notes:
1. In London, we have moved out of additional London
premises in Portland Place and temporary accommodation in Northumberland
Avenue and consolidated use of space at our Spring Gardens headquarters.
We have also closed several smaller regional offices: Loughborough,
Glasgow, Southampton, Warwick and Brighton (in Dec 05)
2. In the UK only the Oxford premises are owned by BC
3. Floor space occupied in the UK has been reduced by
approx 15% between 2002 and 2005
4. Representation in UK centres outside London is required
for scholarship liaison, events organisation, and engagement with
partners involved in international work in Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland.
| Overseas | No of countries
| Floor space (sq m) |
| 2000 | 109 | 210,000 sq m approx
|
| 2005 | 109 | 185,000 sq m approx
|
| |
|
Notes:
1. Floor space occupied overseas has been reduced by
approx 12% between 2000 and 2005.
2. New country openings have been balanced by agreed
country closures.
3. We own 32 office premises overseas and lease the remainder.
GOETHE INSTITUT
Germany
HQ in Germany comprises buildings in Munich (2) and small
offices in Bonn and Berlin. There are a further 13 language school
premises in Germany (The Goethe has historically had a remit of
work inside Germany, including in the new Laender after 1989.)
Total floor space in Germany 19,127 sq m (all rented)
Overseas
138 offices worldwide plus an additional 51 "country
societies", 58 reading rooms, and 11 "dialogue points".
Total floor space overseas: 142,739 sq m
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE
France
HQ in Paris and 26 branches throughout France
Floor space in Paris 11,000 sq m
Overseas
Represented in 136 countries overseas in 1,074 different
locations
Total floor space overseas not known
Notes:
1. Alliance Française owns 206 buildings, rent
428, and occupy 182 rent free in non-owned buildings; the remainder
are very small presences within other organisations.
2. Figures for the Goethe Institut and the Alliance Française
do not provide exact comparators. For example, the British Council
also undertakes many of the equivalent functions of the German
academic exchange organisation, DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch
Dienst), PAD (Pedagogischer Austausch Dienst) and ifa (Institut
fuer Auslandsbezeihungen). The British Council also undertakes
a number of functions which in the case of France would be covered
by cultural attaches.
EFFICIENCY SAVINGS
Q42. Sir David promised Mr Hamilton a note showing the
actual proportion of the Council's total efficient savings dependent
on IT systems.
By 2007-08, the percentage of efficiency savings that will
be dependent on IT systems will be 62%— £8.1 million
of £13 million.
RUSSIA
Q59 and Q61. Sir John Stanley asked for a note detailing
the action taken by the British Council to get clarification from
the Russian authorities of its tax position. He also asked for
an indication of the size of the tax payments which the British
Council has outstanding with the Russian tax authorities.
In 1994, Russia and the United Kingdom signed a new UK-Russia
cultural agreement which designated the British Council as the
implementing agency on the UK side. The agreement encouraged both
sides, inter alia, to open information centres and language
teaching operations.
Issues of taxation were raised in several discussions between
the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Embassy and
the Director of the British Council and which informed the initial
negotiations on the Cultural Centres Agreement which began in
1997.
The British Council informed the Ministry of Culture and
the MFA of the intention to start English language teaching under
the terms of existing agreements: the position of the MFA was
that was viewed as an integral part of British Council activities.
The Council's intention was re-confirmed to the MFA when the Council
was urged to undertake such teaching by the Mayor of St Petersburg
to assist with the important Russian Resettlement Programme. Approval
by local authorities is required for this activity.
The MFA stated that the Council would be able to enter into
negotiation with the each branch of the tax authorities, but only
after the Cultural Centres Agreement was signed. The Council was
encouraged to discuss separately with the tax authorities what
the law was, in order to prepare its position. The Council raised
the issue of the sequencing difficulty this posed but was informed
by the MFA that that a gap between ratification on the Russian
side and ratification by Parliament on the British side (which
would take longer) should be used by the Council to prepare for
compliance.
In practice, while agreement on the UK side to the draft
was reached in 2001, and assurances were received regularly from
the Russian side that agreement from them would be forthcoming
with the last such assurance being received in early May 2004.
The Russian tax authorities then carried out unannounced tax raids
on BC premises at the end of May 2004 and the MFA now states that
the signing of the CCA will only take place once all due tax has
been paid.
The British Council has about £100,000 of tax outstanding
in St Petersburg, an amount that is currently being processed.
The total amount of tax paid, including both back tax and tax
due for the current year, is £1.4 million.
| 
