Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what options her Department is exploring to support the British Council’s financial resilience, including grant support, loan refinancing, or alternative funding mechanisms.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I provided on 28 October in response to question 906060, and to the oral evidence provided to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 9 December by the Permanent Under-Secretary to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and on 16 December by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, where these issues were addressed at length.