Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 26
18th Report - The financial sustainability of the British Council
Published 30 Oct 2026
Public Accounts Committee Financial sustainability of the British Council All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We questioned the British Council about the scale of these changes. It told us that staffing levels had already reduced by 34% since March 2020 and that the implementation of the turnaround plan would leave the organisation around 46% smaller than it had been before the pandemic.57 The British Council told us that reductions were taking place across the organisation in the British Council’s four offices in each nation of the UK as well as overseas.58
From: Public Accounts Committee, 18th Report - The financial sustainability of the British Council (HC 100), 30 October 2026
Government response
Government response awaited: deadline 30 December 2026.