Government increases BBC World Service funding by £33m over three years

The government will increase funding of the BBC World Service over the next three years, the foreign secretary is to announce on Thursday.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) will boost funding by an additional £11m per year for the next three years – a total of £33m and an 8% increase on the previous year's government contribution.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the World Service "offers clarity, accuracy and an independent voice where reliable information is increasingly difficult to access".

The BBC welcomed the funding settlement, which it said "ensures it can deliver trusted, independent journalism to audiences around the world, and counter the rising tide of disinformation globally".

Currently, the government provides about a third of the budget for the World Service, which reaches more than 300 million people weekly, with the BBC licence fee covering the rest.

Although the BBC welcomed the increase, the corporation has indicated it wants the government to take back responsibility for funding the World Service in its entirety, as it did until 2014.

The BBC's budget declined by 21% between 2021/22 and 2025/6, mainly because of BBC cuts.

The World Service provides independent and impartial news to global audiences through its 42 language services. Nearly three quarters of the World Service audience is based in countries with no or little media freedom.

The foreign secretary  said: "In a world of rising disinformation, the BBC World Service provides hundreds of millions with journalism they can trust and rely on. 

"We are seeing in real time how the BBC Persian service is playing a crucial role in ensuring impartial, accurate news is reaching the Iranian people.

"This further increase in FCDO support ensures that independent, impartial reporting continues to reach audiences who depend on it."

In countries such as Iran, where - despite the BBC being banned - one in four people sought out access before the internet shutdowns in January, the FCDO said.

In February, the BBC launched an emergency radio service in Iran, in addition to existing BBC Persian digital and TV channels.

The FCDO added: "The provision of accurate news reporting around the world has never been more crucial, as countries which don't share our values increasingly invest in their global media operations.

"By increasing funding for the BBC World Service, the government is acting in Britain's interests, supporting our security and promoting our culture and values to the world."

A BBC spokesperson said: "The need for the BBC World Service has never been greater. The events of the past few days and weeks have shown the immense value and worth of our journalism for audiences around the world, in times of instability and insecurity.

"Amid intense global competition and changing audience needs, we will need to make some changes in the months to come and transform our offer, so it is fit for the future.

"We will also further transition to digital, combat media blocking, and provide more journalism for women and girls around the world. Meanwhile, we look forward to discussing the longer-term vision for the World Service as part of the Charter process."

The chairman of the House of Commons public accounts committee, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said last week that the service's "prominence is being diminished by poor governance and short-sighted funding decisions".

Now there is more certainty around future funding, at least for the next three years, but the committee also criticised BBC management, saying the broadcaster had failed to make a clear case for continued government funding.

There have also been "weaknesses in BBC governance" of the service and in the management of its transformation to digital services, it said.