BBC World Service: Sustainability

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure the sustainability of the BBC World Service.

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government highly value the BBC World Service; it is a soft power asset and the world’s most trusted news provider. The significant uplift in our funding to £137 million this financial year, despite the difficult fiscal context, demonstrates our support for it. Grant-in-aid funding for the next three years is being decided through the FCDO allocations process and will be made before the 2026-27 financial year. Potential longer-term funding mechanisms will be considered through the BBC charter review.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for that Answer, and I am delighted that the settlement has been announced. The BBC World Service is one of the greatest instruments of soft power that we have. It is a lifeline to many in our difficult and divided world, including those in Iran, and I pay tribute to the very brave journalists of BBC Persian. When the world is full of dangerous propaganda, the World Service projects and protects our democratic values while delivering value for money. Although I am grateful for the information provided by my noble friend, I urge her to ensure that, in due course, funding will be moved back to the Government to provide stability and long-term planning. That is important for the service and for the journalists who serve the service.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend. Her support for the World Service is long-standing and well known, and quite right too. The longer-term funding proposition for the World Service will need to be considered as part of the charter review. To be absolutely clear, the £137 million funding uplift that I referred to in my initial Answer is for this financial year. I think my noble friend may have misheard what I said. The allocations for next year will be made very shortly.