Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much they contributed to the BBC World Service in each of the past two years; and what percentage of that organisation's cost they contributed in each of the past two years.

In Financial Year 2023/2024, the government contribution to the World Service was £104.4 million. The Licence Fee contribution was £265 million, so we provided 28.3 per cent of the budget. In 2024-2025, the government provided £104.4 million of the budget, and in 2025-2026 we will provide £137 million - an uplift of over 31 per cent. The BBC will not publish the final Licence Fee contribution and total World Service budget for 2024/2025 until the summer, so we cannot provide the percentage calculation.