Future of the British Council

That this House notes with concern the impact of the global Coronavirus crisis on the ability of the British Council to continue its work across the world; notes that the British Council was founded in 1934 and is a Non-Departmental Public Body which assists in the teaching of English in over 50 countries and employs 1175 staff, 938 of whom are employed within the UK; further notes that in the past year over 4 million people have taken an English exam with the council generating £125 million for UK exam bodies and that in the last financial year the income of the Council exceeded £1.25 billion; is concerned that necessary measures taken in relation to Covid-19 have resulted in the closure of 203 out of 221 schools run by the British Council as well as the closure of 26 out of 41 test centres; is aware that the closures have had a devastating impact on the financial reserves of the council with funding likely to run out by May; further notes that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided some additional funding however this is unlikely to enable to Council to survive post Covid-19 due to a continued funding gap which may lead to mass redundancies and pay cuts in the near future; and; calls on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to commit to immediate, long term funding to ensure the continuation of this vital British organisation.