British Council (Hansard, 19 September 2002)

§ Mr. Lazarowicz
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide support to the British Council to enable it to undertake its proposals to develop further its Connecting Futures programme. [73197]

§ Mr. Macshane
In his statement to the House on 15 July my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced increases of £5 million, £10 million and £20 million in the grant-in-aid for the British Council over the next three years; an average annual increase of 3.0 per cent. in real terms. This increase, on top of the 3.3 per cent. average annual increases after inflation in the 2000 Spending Review, will have increased the total grant funded activities of the British Council by nearly £50 million since 2000–01.
The additional funding will enable the Council to press ahead with a number of important initiatives, including its Connecting Futures Programme.
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§ Mr. Lazarowicz
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide assistance to enable the British Council to open new regional centres in(a) Kaliningrad, (b) Banya Luka and (c) Sarajevo. [73194]

§ Mr. Macshane
The British Council has had an office in Sarajevo since 1994. In its recent Spending Review bid the British Council set out various proposals for increasing its activities, including opening regional centres in Kaliningrad and Banja Luka.
In his statement to the House on 15 July my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced increases of £5 million, £10 million and £20 million in the grant-in-aid for the British Council over the next three years, an average annual increase of 3.0 per cent. in real terms. This increase, on top of the 3.3 per cent. average annual increases after inflation in the 2000 Spending Review, will have increased the total grant funded activities of the British Council by nearly £50 million since 2000–01.
The additional funding will enable the Council to press ahead with a number of important initiatives. Decisions about the opening of new offices are expected in the autumn.