MPs call for most of British Council’s £197m debt to be written off — The Guardian

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has called on the UK government to consider writing off most of the British Council’s £197 million debt. MPs proposed converting as much of the loan as possible into a grant or a similar form of funding, The Guardian reports.

Loan has more than tripled

The British Council received a £60 million loan from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the organisation’s English-language teaching and examination activities abroad were suspended. The loan was provided on commercial terms under Boris Johnson’s government, and its amount has since risen to £197 million.

The loan was initially due to be repaid this year, but it was restructured over the next 15 years. The committee said the government has no “positive vision” for the organisation’s future, although its contribution to the UK’s soft power is estimated at £1 billion annually.

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Staff cuts and closure of operations

The British Council has already cut about a third of its staff and sold historic assets. Its financial recovery plan envisages a further 25% reduction in staff, the sale of additional assets and the closure of operations in nine countries. The British Council forecasts that the organisation will not generate an operating surplus until 2029–2030.

British Council employees across Europe have held strikes and protests against the cuts. Following the planned layoffs, the workforce will be almost halved compared with 2020, while since 2021 the organisation has lost more than 2,000 full-time equivalent posts.

Committee chair Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said that the British Council needs the government’s full support, rather than being treated merely as a debtor. The organisation operates in nearly 100 countries and says it reaches more than 700 million people annually. About 15% of its annual income comes from grant funding from the UK foreign affairs department, while teaching and examinations provide most of its revenue.