Written questions, answers and statements

British Council: Coronavirus

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Question for Foreign and Commonwealth Office

UIN 63338, tabled on 23 June 2020

Question

Chi Onwurah
Labour
Newcastle upon Tyne Central
Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) amount of revenue lost by the British Council in English teaching abroad programmes as a result of the covid-19 pandemic and (b) length of time it will take the British Council to return to pre-covid-19 revenue levels.

This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.

Answer

Nigel Adams
Conservative
Selby and Ainsty
Commons

Answered on

30 June 2020

The British Council's commercial income has been heavily hit by Covid-19. We are currently finalising the terms of a £60m loan which will stabilize the Council's financial situation until mid-August 2020, while we conduct a strategic review of the Council's future strategy, operations and long-term sustainable funding models. Discussions are ongoing about the recommendations of this review.

Answered by

Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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