Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment the Department has made of the potential impact of the Covid-era loan repayment obligations on the British Council’s ability to maintain its global network and cultural programmes.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I provided on 13 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.