Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to review the impact on the UK's soft power of reductions in British Council staff.

This Government is providing a non-Official Development Assistance (ODA) uplift of £40 million across the Spending Review period (2026/27 to 2028/29) to the British Council. This supports our objective of a financially sustainable British Council for the long-term.