Email to the Chairman of the Committee
from the British Council
As I know you have an interest in the work of
the British Council, and in UK-Russia relations, I am writing
personally to brief you on forthcoming changes to our operations
in Russia.
The British Council regularly reviews its operations
in order to ensure that it is achieving the maximum impact and
efficiency with its use of tax payers' funds. As part of this,
our current corporate strategy places a greater emphasis on investing
resources in programmes rather than in fixed costs such as premises,
on maximising the use of new technologies to reach our target
audiences around the world, reflecting their changing needs, and
on building new relationships with local partners for the delivery
of activity.
te British Council's specific objectives in
Russia are:
— to build a platform of trust
between influential Russians and their UK counterparts; and
— to position the UK as an innovative,
flexible and effective European partner for Russia.
Within this context, we are reviewing how we
can best operate in Russia, to allow us to continue working across
the country, delivering impact for the UK more efficiently. As
a first stage, we have decided to transfer our network of nine
small regional centres, based in major cities across Russia, to
local partners, and will complete this process by the end of December
2007. We will retain offices in Moscow, St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg.
We have concluded that, in Russia, our regional
centres are now sufficiently established that they no longer need
to be run by the British Council itself. We will therefore transfer
them to local partners and will continue to support their operation
through partnership agreements, which will include the regular
updating of their printed and online resources and the professional
development of their staff. We believe that, under such arrangements,
the centres will be able to serve even wider groups of teachers
and students in the cities and oblasts where they are located.
We are also successfully introducing similar
changes to the work of the British Council across Europe, where
the benefits are already being seen in terms of impact and efficiency.
The British Council remains committed to its
range of programmes across Russia in the fields of education,
science and culture, and our funding for these will remain substantial.
If you would like further information about
these changes, please do not hesitate to contact me or my colleague
Kate Board, Geographical Director, on 020 7389 4196.
Martin Davidson
Chief Executive
11 October 2007
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