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The UK government is investigating the reduction of its BBC’s world -renowned grant in the cost review, with the broadcaster advocating changes in its budget as a result of recently announced reductions in foreign aid.
BBC CEO Tim Davy said the corporation was preparing to get involved with foreign ministry officials regarding the outcome of the decision.
“In the last few days, we have been asked to prepare for further engagement with the FKDO (Foreign Office for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development) on the impact of reducing the costs of abroad development,” he wrote on the chairs of international development of parliament, culture, culture and external affairs.
He added: “We will be happy to let you know if this results in financial implications for world service in 2026-27 and beyond.”
Most of the world -class grant comes from the official aid budget, while a small part is extracted from other funding vessels at the Foreign Affairs Office.
Government officials said the BBC World Service Grant is among those being considered, but they insisted that no final decisions were made.
Sir Kir Starmer Plans announced last month to reduce aid in the UK in order to finance the cost of defense by 2027. Officials are now demanding about £ 6 billion savings from the official development budget over the next two years.
BBC directors are concerned that the government will use the reduction of overseas assistance to force it by further squeezing the budget for world service later this year.
Athonatan Munro, Global Director of the BBC Newsouse, told the Financial Times that “as the freedom of the press is drastically decreasing, the misinformation progresses and the role of state -backed media aggressively, the role of (world service) is increasingly important.”
He added: “We need a sustainable, long -term funding solution that allows world service to meet these global challenges and invest in services for the future.”
In the autumn budget, the department provided 30 % of state funding for the World Service in 2025-26, taking the government’s grant to £ 137m.
Davy told lawmakers last week that the money was “expiring in April 2026” and is “just to keep the show on the road, let alone (to make) an appropriate investment”.
He said he “did not know” about the implications of the government’s decision to change foreign aid, but added: “I would suggest that it is probably not positive.”
Champion Sarah, president of the International Development Committee’s labor, said: “The World Service is a gem in the UK crown, trusted the whole world. . . Where the services are reduced, Russia and China have filled the space with many different goals. “
Some at the BBC have used the idea for the government to fully fund the world service. BBC Chairman Samir Shah told the Committee MPs to the Committee that if the government “returned the payment of the World Service, it would save us several £ 100m a year. (But) it’s not in my gift. ”
Last week, UK Secretary of Foreign Affairs David Lami told FT that almost every element of the aid budget was considered a “line-line” for potential reductions as part of a Cross-Vithal spending overview.
People within the FKDO are ready for wider reductions in their department in spending over, out of the budget reduction. Reducing the diplomatic showdown of the department is another possibility that has caused an alarm in former tangerines.
Lami was previously a constant BBC defender, branding one of the key institutions that make up the UK’s soft power abroad, which he described as one of Britain’s “largest strengths” last year.
He criticized the Conservatives for undermining the broadcaster in the essay that set his foreign policy approach before the general election last summer.
FCDO officials said the BBC funding model should be considered in the upcoming review of the corporation charter.
However, they noted that the government’s support for the World Service was demonstrated on the budget last October.
Officials indicate that they are alive in arguments made by BBC insiders that the World Service is carrying out a key duty in opposing misinformation abroad.
FKDO said: “The government highly appreciates the BBC World Service, which reaches a global audience of 320 million and remains the most loyal international news of news in the world.”
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