BBC World Service funding freeze risks ‘opening door to hostile states’, MPs say | BBC World Service
Parliament’s spending watchdog said ministers risked reducing international confidence in the BBC World Service and “opening the door to propaganda from hostile states” by allowing its funding to be frozen at a critical time.
The cross-party public accounts committee (PAC) said it was deeply disturbed that the service was still uncertain about its funding just weeks before the end of the current deal. He also echoed the BBC’s warnings about the growing influence of Russian and Chinese state-backed media.
It is understood the World Service will receive a literal funding freeze from the government and a deal is expected next week.
The deal is expected to disappoint BBC staff as they try to expand the service at a time of international instability.
MPs said the budget had fallen by 21% in real terms over the past four years, largely as a result of reduced contributions from the falling license fee. It comes at a time when China and Russia are investing between £6bn and £8bn a year in global media and Donald Trump is determined to cut public funding for US-backed international media.
Chinese state broadcaster’s trust scores increased from 62% to 70% from 2021 to 2025; The Russian state broadcaster’s trust scores saw a similar increase, from 59% to 71%. The BBC’s trust level remained steady at 78%.
The company said its World Service now reaches 313 million people in 43 languages, and MPs concluded it was “a crucial soft power tool for the UK government”.
But the committee said trust had been compromised by “poorly substantiated decisions and unclear lines of liability”. These weaknesses, he said, “could increase the risk of losing further ground to these rivals.”
MPs pointed to an 11% drop in digital audiences between 2022 and last year. They also expressed concern that the BBC failed to clearly explain the reasons for decisions taken as part of its savings programs and failed to easily prove value for money.
The bulk of the World Service’s £400 million budget comes from the license fee, but the Foreign Office contributed £137 million last year.
“The BBC risks losing the trust of its World Service viewers, undermining its vital role in the fight against misinformation globally,” the MPs said. “The World Service is paid for by UK taxpayers as license fees and [Foreign Office] “grant aid should more clearly demonstrate the value this investment has purchased.”
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the committee’s Conservative chairman, said the World Service was “a jewel in the crown of the UK’s soft power efforts around the world” but was “diminished in importance by poor management and short-sighted funding decisions”.
“The government must be alert to the realities of the BBC World Service’s declining audience,” he said. “When it is cut, there is a risk of opening the door to propaganda by enemy states such as Russia, which fill the void it leaves behind.
“Both the government and the BBC should seriously consider how the World Service’s impact can be increased around the world, rather than risking its reach slowly diminishing year on year.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We welcome the PAC report, which recognizes the importance of the BBC World Service as the most trusted provider of international news worldwide and the need for secure, long-term funding.
“We are therefore calling on the government to defund the World Service in full as part of its BBC contract review.
“We are making changes to strengthen how we demonstrate value for money and improve management and documentation.”
