politics
British Council to Close Offices in Nine Countries but Keep Development Funding Unchanged
The British Council will end its permanent presence in nine countries by closing offices and withdrawing staff. It will receive £40 million in additional non-aid funding over three years while maintaining prior levels of official development assistance.
Jul 13, 11:27 AM·1m read1 source
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The British Council will close offices and withdraw staff from nine countries, ending its permanent presence there, The Independent reported. The countries include Botswana, Chile, Croatia, Mozambique, Peru, Tanzania and Trinidad and Tobago. Six of the nine receive UK aid funding, while Croatia is funded separately.
The organisation will receive £40 million in non-aid funding over the next three years under its Spending Review settlement. It carries a government loan that has grown to £197 million after the Covid-19 pandemic reduced commercial income from English language programmes.
The British Council said it would continue delivering development programmes at the same level of official development assistance funding as in previous years.
A spokesperson said the nine countries were selected after review of operating costs, UK government priorities, opportunities for growth and existing contracts. The British Council is reviewing the implications of the Spending Review for its programmes.
Nick Dyer, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s interim permanent undersecretary, told members of parliament last week that influence does not have to depend on a physical presence.
“One mistake I think we can make is to conflate physical presence with effect,” he said. “We need to focus on the output that we are looking to achieve, which is improved trust in Britain. Can we achieve that through a digital presence as much as through a physical presence?
That is the challenge that we are now facing, as a lot of the market is moving online. ” The closures occur as international aid organisations face reduced official development assistance. UN Women warned this week that at least one million women and girls had lost access to critical services after aid cuts forced organisations to scale back or shut programmes supporting survivors of gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive healthcare, legal assistance and livelihoods.
