Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of British Council offices overseas on British soft power.

The British Council is operationally independent from the UK Government. Decisions relating to the size and model of its overseas network are operational matters for the British Council. In a digital age, the British Council's impact should be judged by the outcomes it delivers through its programmes and operations, rather than its physical presence.