1 Introduction
1. The Foreign Affairs Committee has conducted
an annual inquiry into the FCO's expenditure plans and wider administrative
matters since 1981. In 1991, Government departments first began
publishing annual departmental reports setting out their work
for that year and expenditure plans for the future. Since that
time the Committee, like most other departmental select committees,
has used the relevant Department's reports as a basis for its
scrutiny of the Department's administration and expenditure. We
also scrutinise the work of the non-departmental public bodies
associated with the FCO, the British Council and the BBC World
Service. In previous years, we have considered the annual reports
of both organisations as part of our over-arching inquiry into
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Departmental Annual Report.
This year, we decided to publish separate reports on the work
of the British Council and BBC World Service.
2. The British Council is the UK's international
organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.
Its purpose is to "build engagement and trust for the UK
through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide."
As well as education, it runs programmes in the arts, science,
sport, governance and English language from 110 countries and
territories worldwide.[1]
2009 marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment
of the Council. It receives Grant-in-Aid from the FCO for its
public diplomacy activity: £209 million 2008-09, a 6% increase
from 2007-08.[2] The full-year
grant income included a one-off £6 million 'Foreign Exchange
Compensation Allowance' given by the FCO as partial relief against
the impact of currency movements. Grant income represents approximately
32% of total income. For every £1 of government grant the
British Council receives, £2.21 is earned from other sources.[3]
3. The British Council's Annual Report was published
in July 2009. We took oral evidence from Martin Davidson, Chief
Executive, Gerard Lemos, Acting Chairman, and Sue Beaumont, Regional
Director Near East and North Africa, on 4 November 2009 and also
received written submissions.
Activities in 2008-09
4. In 2008-09 the British Council carried out
projects and programmes in over 100 countries. It also managed
14 contract programmes, each worth over £3 million, along
with many smaller projects. In its memorandum the Council highlighted
a range of activities undertaken in 2008-09 which it said achieved
"real success and impact for the UK while responding to the
global economic downturn".[4]
These activities included:
- 2,700 international school-to-school
partnerships; teaching English to more than 300,000 people, generating
£262 million income (a 30% increase on last year (2007-08));
- delivering 2 million UK examinations
and qualifications—earning £42 million in exports for
UK exam boards; working with the state school system in West Bengal
to improve English-language teaching for over 3 million young
learners;
- showcasing the best of the UK's creative and
cultural talent at the Venice Biennale, supporting the focus on
India at the London Book Fair and nurturing new talent in the
UK's creative economy through the Young Creative Entrepreneurs
programme;
- improving educational and health outcomes for
over 500,000 young people through International Inspiration, the
2012 sporting legacy programme.[5]
1 www.britishcouncil.org Back
2
British Council, Annual Report 2008-09, p. 95 Back
3
British Council, Annual Report 2008-09, p. 94 Back
4
Ev 10 Back
5
Ev 10 Back
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