HL Deb 22 June 2004 vol 662 cc119-20WA
Lord Stoddart of Swindon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the BBC received any funding by way of grant or loan from the European Union in the period 2000–04; if so, what was the amount paid in each year; and for what purpose. [HL3111]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Lord McIntosh of Haringey)

BBC's producers' guidelines make clear that co-funding from any third party is not appropriate for programmes aimed at a general audience. But the BBC does receive some EU funding for some specialised educational and support material (such as basic literacy and IT skills training for adults). For the period 2000–03, the BBC expected to be paid £375,828 by the European Social Fund to help to pay for community outreach work (workshops, publicity, telephone support, databases) among learners and tutors using the BBC's online Skillswise and WebWise sites, which provide literacy, numeracy and IT skills resources. For the period 2003–04, the BBC is expecting to receive a sum of between £130,961 and £139,959 in support of a pilot project which provides specially versioned online resources (basic skills and English as a second language) which are being used in community centres, learning centres (including UK online centres) and colleges.

The corporation also participates in various initiatives relating to the digitalisation and preservation of archives, which is funded from the Commission's R&D framework programme, the sums received or expected for these purposes being £74,837 in 2000, £52,024 in 2001, £133,394 in 2002, £195,125 in 2003 and £146,500 in 2004.

The World Service Trust is an independent charity which is not a division of the BBC, but it has also received some EU funding for media literacy, training and reconstruction projects across the world as follows:

1999–2000 £137,373
2000–01 £527,432
2001–02 £490,703
2002–03 £865,119
2003–04 £1,167,251

The BBC does not borrow from the EU, although its commercial subsidiaries do borrow from the European Investment Bank for commercial purposes.