Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has applied EU state rules to the loan provided to the British Council; and whether those rules still apply after the UK's exit from the EU.
The FCDO has provided a £100m loan to support the British Council's restructuring plan. The loan was made in line with the Market Economy Operator Principle to ensure the UK government complied with state aid regulation. The UK is still required to be in compliance with several international obligations on state subsidies and needs to ensure that subsidies do not have a competitive advantage in the market it operates in and fair trade is not distorted.