British Council response
THE BRITISH COUNCIL'S PROFILE AND "BRAND"
The British Council's Board of Trustees takes its
duty of protecting the British Council's good name and integrity
extremely seriously. In considering plans for further development
of our work, both the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board
take particular care to ensure that proposals, whether for a paid-for
service or a grant funded programme, meet the charitable objectives
set out in our Royal Charter.
English has been a core activity of the British Council
from our foundation. The English language services for which
we charge clients or undertake on a contract basis for national
governments are a key pathway for delivering cultural relations.
Research undertaken by IpsosMori on our behalf recently found
that English is the most powerful means of building trust in the
UK. Just as significantly, through our work in English we share
the UK's values with learners, teachers, policy makers and opinion
formers, for example by promoting freedom of expression, tolerance,
justice and equality of opportunity.
The global English language teaching (ELT) market
is huge, with demand far outstripping that which the British Council,
UK businesses and international competitors combined might offer.
The perception of a tension between our role as a promoter of
the UK's ELT sector and as a provider of ELT services is understandable,
but simplistic. Our brand is recognised overseas as a kite mark
of quality in the provision of English language teaching. Our
role as a partner for governments around the world also serves
the wider UK sector. We are able to bring together government
and partners to share best practice and promote opportunities
for winning new business. For example, next month we are convening
a meeting of UK ELT providers with representatives from Brazil
to showcase market opportunities for the UK, and facilitate networking.
THE BRITISH COUNCIL'S RESPONSE TO THE SPENDING REVIEW
The Committee's comments on the future funding of
the British Council are very welcome. Our response to reductions
in our Government grant over the course of the current Spending
Review period has enabled us to maintain impact for the UK, while
managing a 26 per cent real terms reduction in grant in aid.
This cut in core funding has been offset by increases in services
to paying customers, and by programmes funded by UK and commercial
partners. By the end of 2014-15, the grant in aid will make up
less than 20 per cent of total income, down from 33 per cent in
2010-11. We delivered efficiencies of £26m in 2011-12 alone.
Our efficiency savings have included a redundancy programme which
cut 400 posts in the UK, moving all UK offices to lower cost 'smart
working', and downsizing and sub-letting parts of the British
Council's London offices.
In its submission to the FCO for the 2015-16 spending
review, the British Council has identified further reductions
in its UK support services. A cut which exceeded those efficiencies
would pose serious challenges to our global reach and impact.
For example, there comes a point where small operations in individual
countries cease to be viable, necessitating closures and the consolidation
of operations at a regional level. Recent experience in North
Africa has demonstrated that having a presence on the ground is
crucial to being able to respond quickly to events. In Libya our
established networks and local intelligence played a key role
in the Government's response to the fall of the Gaddafi regime.
We could not have provided that critical advice and support in-country
were all our work carried out from a regional hub.
As the Committee notes, not only has our overall
grant been cut significantly, but an increasing proportion is
restricted for use in countries in receipt of ODA. There is significant
overlap between cultural relations and international development.
In many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, our cultural
relations work also has a substantial development benefit. However,
further restrictions on where we can spend our grant would severely
restrict our capacity to operate in North America, South East
Asia, Western Europe and other strategically important places
where we play a key role in forging links between educational
and cultural agencies, and convening international dialogues between
policy makers, practitioners and opinion formers.
Relying on our self-generated income to replace grant
funding can only take us so far. The bulk of the income we generate
is from cost recovery work from teaching services and Government
contracts. Some services generate limited surpluses which we
then reinvest in cultural relations work, but it is not possible
to simply substitute a £1 of grant with a £1 of self-generated
income. Overall our current portfolio of services generates a
surplus of £1 for every £10 we earn ? so to match a
£1 reduction in grant, we would need to increase our self-generated
income tenfold.
If our grant is further reduced and restricted by
Government, and the British Council becomes more dependent on
self-generated income, the business of raising income will inevitably
become a more significant driver in decisions on where we work
and what services and programmes we can offer, weakening the connection
between us and the UK's strategic priorities.
THE COUNCIL'S ROLE IN RELATION TO HIGHER AND FURTHER
EDUCATION
The Committee has noted our role within the higher
education sector, and our concerns over the damage to perceptions
of the UK's openness to international students and of the UK's
policy in relation to visas, and the communication of that policy.
Following the changes in the visa regime, student numbers from
India have shown a steep decline, while recent speculation of
possible changes to the visa regime for Brazilians saw serious
concerns registered with our staff across that country. In our
view there remains a worrying lack of understanding of the impact
of domestic political debates on immigration upon attitudes towards
the UK overseas, and the possible consequences for the UK's economic
and strategic interests.
Higher education is a key growth sector for the UK
economy and has a crucial role to play in generating trust in
the UK internationally. International students bring significant
benefits to universities and local communities, and not just in
tuition fees and local spending. International students enrich
campus life, bring their expertise and fresh thinking to research
projects and help forge the long term links that enable the expansion
of human knowledge in the sciences and medicine. The vast majority
of students who come to study in the UK return home at the end
of their studies, and do so with a much better understanding of
the UK and its people, and an openness to continue to engage and
do business with the UK in future.
We are working with UKBA to more clearly explain
the Government's visa policies and counter the negative publicity,
and have had some success in China, where incoming student numbers
have continued to show strong growth. We will continue to work
with colleagues in Government and the higher education sector
to ensure that the UK maintains its position as a market leader
in the increasingly competitive international higher education
sector.
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