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British Council |
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| Founders | United Kingdom Government |
|---|---|
| Type | Cultural institution |
| Founded | 1934 |
| Staff | Lord Kinnock (Chairperson) Martin Davidson (Chief Executive) |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Revenue | £551 million (2006/7) |
| Website | http://www.britishcouncil.org/ |
The British Council is a Quango of the United Kingdom Government which specialises in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is a non-departmental public body, a public corporation incorporated by royal charter, and is registered as a charity in England.
Founded in 1934, it was granted a Royal Charter by King George VI in 1940.1 Its current Chair is Lord Kinnock, the former leader of the UK Labour Party. Its 'sponsoring department' is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, although it has day-to-day operational independence. Martin Davidson is its Chief Executive, appointed in April 2007.
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The British Council's remit is "to build mutually beneficial cultural and educational relationships between the United Kingdom and other countries, and increase appreciation of the United Kingdom’s creative ideas and achievements." Its overseas network extends to 233 locations in 107 countries and territories. It has UK branch offices in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and Cambridge and a headquarters in Spring Gardens, off Whitehall in central London.
Of its total income of £551m in 2006/07, the British Council received £195m of grants from the British government. The rest was earned through charging for teaching English to individuals and organisations, examinations and commercial consultancy — often acting as a managing agent for UK Government departments, which it lobbies assiduously for business.citation needed Its main 'areas of activity', at least as reflected by its website, are 'Learning/Teaching, the Arts, Science and Society'.
After a successful Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs youth campaign in 2006, the British Council began the "Climate Change Champions" scheme to select young champions from 13 countries (three from each), representing the G8+5.2 The project's aim is to allow youth ambassadors to spread awareness about climate change's effects and mitigation solutions in their own communities.
The Champions first visited London in May 2008, where they developed three aspirational challenges for G8 Environment Ministers. Youths worldwide then voted for their favoured challenge. The Champions then presented the winning option for the "Kobe Challenge" in Kobe, Japan, and committed to complete a project in their own countries and report on progress.2
There are 70 British Council Teaching Centres in 53 countries. It taught 1,189,000 class hours to 300,000 learners in 2006/07.3
In its examination centres , the British Council administers 1.5 million UK examinations to over one million candidates each year. It is also working with the UK's award bodies to extend the range of professional qualifications available overseas. The Council also oversees British schools operating internationally through bodies such as COBIS, NABSS, and the European Council of International Schools.
The Council jointly runs the global IELTS English language standardised test with University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and IDP Education Australia.
In schools in England, the British Council is working with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to help three million children gain an International School Award to increase their "understanding and appreciation of other cultures". There are now 2,700 UK schools working towards an award. In the Middle East, the British Council runs a school links programme bringing children in the UK together with those in the region in order to break down negative perceptions of Britain and foster "inter-cultural dialogue". To date, 153 schools in the Middle East are involved in 53 collaborative projects.
Within the UK the British Council administers the International Association of the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE). This programme operates in over 80 countries worldwide4 and offers students, studying in the UK, the opportunity to take an internship as part of an international placement working abroad.5
The programme accepts highly motivated undergraduates studying a technical degree i.e. engineering, science, architecture or pharmacy, and are in their second year or above and have a strong desire to work abroad in a paid, course-related internship. Placements typically occur for 8-12 weeks during the summer months, however opportunities exist for positions lasting up to a year, suitable for anyone interested in working abroad during their placement or gap year.
The programme also offers employers the opportunity to hire high calibre foreign undergraduates.6 For many companies in industries which are currently experiencing a shortage of graduate’s e.g. electronic engineering, this can provide an important source of labour.
On playing fields in 40 countries young people have learned new leadership and team-building skills by being involved in "Dreams+Teams" sports festivals. The programme has trained 5,500 "young leaders" and has reached 280,000 people in their schools and communities. The British Council is expanding its activities to help more young people prepare for "global citizenship". 'Global citizenship' remains undefined, however, and this British Council term does not it seems extend to allowing its own staff working overseas access to Employment Tribunals in UK when they are fired - an issue which former British Council teachers have tested in the courts. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/may/20/tefl2
"English for peace" is an important and growing element of British Council English language work in Africa and other parts of the world. It works with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence to improve the English language skills of military personnel assigned to international peacekeeping duties through the Peacekeeping English Project (PEP). PEP is helping prepare approximately 50,000 military and police service personnel in 28 countries worldwide for peacekeeping mission duties. The Peacekeeping English Project is managed by the British Council and funded by the UK government global conflict prevention fund.
In 2007,The British Council China Region launched a new community website for English learners and teachers across mainland China and Hong Kong. The site has already over 30,000 members. English Online has social networking functionality as well as a range of podcasts for English learners - [1]7
The British Council has entered Second Life Teen Grid to create an educational island for learners of English as of 2007.8 9
In the UK and some other countries, the British Council runs cafés scientifiques, informal events to engage people with creative ideas about science. They take place in cafés, bars and bookshops and begin with a short talk from a UK scientist or science writer. Events so far have brought together audiences from as far away as India and Malaysia to discuss the social and ethical aspects of issues from Darwin to DNA, from global warming to artificial intelligence.
ZeroCarbonCity10 is the British Council’s global campaign to raise awareness about climate change and the energy challenges facing the world’s cities. It chose climate change as the major theme for its science work "to underline the leadership being shown by the UK in tackling this major issue, the Prime Minister's commitment to use the G8 and EU presidencies to renew efforts to confront the global challenges". The programme included a touring exhibition, an online global debate and series of seminars and conferences. 62 countries have participated in ZeroCarbonCity and 2.5 million people have been reached directly by the campaign.
The British Council-supported production of Love's Labour's Lost in 2005 was the first performance of a Shakespeare play in Afghanistan in over 17 years. The play was performed in the Afghan language of Dari and the capacity audience responded enthusiastically to the eternal and universal themes of Shakespeare’s play and to the local references and music. http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/kabul-30-years-ago-and-kabul-today-have-we-learned-nothing-1029920.html
The British Council has joined in work on promoting the UK experience with the creative industries abroad, including running a series of awards for young creative entrepreneurs worldwide such as the International Young Publisher of the Year and International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year awards.11
In recent years the Council has experienced difficulties operating in Russia, contributing to the sometimes tense Anglo-Russian relationship. It operates under a 1994 intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the fields of education, science and culture. The British Government has been seeking for some years to establish a new Cultural Centres Agreement (CCA) which would formalize the British Council's status in Russia 12. The British Council is now registered for tax in Russia and pays tax on its "fee-earning work". The Russian Government has also challenged their claim to have been exempt in the past from paying local taxation on their commercial language teaching courses and also over The British Council's support for Russian NGOs that are perceived as political.
Also regarding Russia, in late 2007 the British Council announced that it is to cease carrying out all ESOL and other English Language examinations in Russia with effect from 1st January 2008. It cites "circumstances beyond our control" as being the cause and it appears that some examinations that had already been booked have been cancelled.13 In addition, the British Council has stated that all offices in Russia, with the exception of Moscow, St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg will close before the end of 2007. Subsequent confirmation of closures is reported here 14.
A further development occurred on 12 December 2007, when it was reported that the British Council had been ordered by the Russian Foreign Ministry to close its two remaining offices outside of Moscow before the beginning of January 2008. The Ministry maintained that the British Council was "operating illegally" within Russia and that "the Council had violated tax regulations, among other laws".15 The Russian position was summarised in an article published on the Moscow News website.16 British officials said that the Russian actions against the Council are connected to the dispute over Alexander Litvinenko poisoning [2]
After the Council's offices in St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg reopened in mid-January after the New Year break, the Russian authorities accused Britain of intentional provocation, because this action was illegal. However, British Ambassador Sir Tony Brenton said he had informed Vladimir Titov, the deputy foreign minister, that the offices would remain open as "the British Council is working entirely legally, that it will continue therefore to work, that any Russian action against it would be a breach of international law".17 On 15 January 2008, the head of the St Petersburg office Stephen Kinnock, son of Neil Kinnock, was detained for alleged traffic offences and drunken driving; but declined to take an alcohol-level breath test, claiming diplomatic status, which was confirmed as valid when the British Consul-General arrived at the scene about one hour later. He was then released. 18 Stephen Kinnock departed Russia the following day and is now working for the British Council in Sierra Leone. 19
Following the reopening, FSB officials interviewed British Council staff at both St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg, apparently informing them that they were working for an illegal organization. This resulted in the closure of both offices, owing to lack of staff, and they remained shut on 17 January 2008.20 While the British saw little possibility of reopening the offices given the problems with their staff, Yury Fedotov, Russia's ambassador to London, told journalists that a solution to the dispute could be reached if Britain showed more respect for Moscow's position: "A resolution is possible, but we need to gain more respect and avoid further public discussions which under the current circumstances are unhelpful," he explained.21
In June 2008 it was announced that the British Council were being further investigated by the Russian tax authorities for non-payment of tax. This hinged on a disputed tax bill with respect to a tax asessment which was issued in May 2008, but which relates to 2007.
In an emailed statement the British Council said, “The British Council is registered with the tax authorities, it regularly pays taxes ... and carries out all the demands of the Russian tax authorities.”
However, it is alleged that the Council has failed to pay all tax due under the tax bill mentioned, describing the amount demanded as “punitive and disproportionately large”. Should the full amount remain unpaid, then possible actions by the Russian tax authorities include the seizure of property, including books, furniture, poetry and computers, from the British Council’s now sole-remaining Russian office in Moscow. Such action has been described by an official as being the "standard procedure in cases where tax authorities believe that there is still an outstanding sum". 22
In March 2007, the British Council announced its 'intention to increase its investment in the Middle East, North Africa and Central and Southern Asia'. This will largely be funded by cuts in other services, libraries and office closures across Europe. In June 2007, MPs were told of further closures in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem (where there had been a British Council Library since 1946). The British Council libraries in Athens23 and in Belgrade24 are also to close. Similarly in India, the British Council Libraries at Bhopal and Trivandrum are facing closure by March, this year.25 as part of the Council's policy to "reduce its physical presence" in the country and to divert funds to mega projects in the fields of culture, education, science and research.
British Council libraries and offices have also been closed in a number of other countries judged by the British Council to be of little strategic or commercial importance as it refocused its activities on China and The Gulf where it can get a 'bigger bang for the buck'. Council offices were closed in Lesotho, Swaziland, Ecuador and provincial Länder in Germany in 2000–2001 — as well as Belarus — prompting Parliamentary criticism. Subsequent promises by British Council Chair Neil Kinnock to a conference in Edinburgh 26 that the Belarus closure would hopefully prove to be just a "temporary" withdrawal proved illusory. The British Council office in Peru also closed in September 2006 as part of a rethink of its strategy in Latin America 27.
Charles Arnold-Baker, author of the Companion to British History said of the British Council's shift in priorities: 'This whole policy is misconstrued from top to bottom. We are going somewhere where we can't succeed and neglecting our friends in Europe who wish us well. The only people who are going to read our books in Beirut or Baghdad are converts already28.
The article also points out that the Institut Français and the Goethe-Institut, unlike the British Council, are both expanding and replenishing libraries Europe-wide. France opened its new library in Tel Aviv in 2007 — just a few months after British Council closed there and shut down the British Council library in West Jerusalem 29. In Gaza, the Institut Francais supports the Gaza municipal library in partnership with the local authority and a municipal twinning link between Gaza City and the French port of Dunkerque 30. See also31 In Edinburgh, the French Institute (Institut Francais de l'Ecosse http://www.ifecosse.org.uk/French-Version/Index.htm ) runs a library that is open to the general public and a large programme of cultural events - in sharp contrast to the British Council office in Scotland's capital city which is located on the top-floor of an office block with access controlled by entry-phone discouraging visits from the general public. In Oslo British Council informs Norwegian callers that 'our office is not open to the public and we do not have an enquiry service' http://www.britishcouncil.org/norway-about-us-contact-us.htm The Norwegians in contrast operate a large network of honorary consuls in Britain to promote cultural and business co-operation and in Edinburgh the new Honorary Norwegian Consul even runs The Edinburgh Zoo in his spare time: http://www.norway.org.uk/visas/edinburgh/edinburgh.htm Goethe Institute also has a more visible presence in Glasgow than The British Council http://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/gla/uun/enindex.htm There is now, in contrast, only one British Council office left in Germany - and that is in East Berlin: http://www.britishcouncil.de/e/about/contact.htm Other Lander offices closed.
While Members of Parliament and others have criticised the lack of strong parliamentary accountability for the British Council, the organisation does have close lobbying links to individual parliamentarians. These included the Conservative Party Shadow Culture spokesman Jeremy Hunt MP whose Hotcourses company has close links to The British Council through Sheffield Data Services 32.
Formally it is to its sponsoring department, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, that the UK Parliamentary Table Office refers any parliamentary questions about British Council 33.
The effectiveness of British Council efforts to promote higher education in China have also recently been examined in England by The House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills in a report issued on 5 August 2007 34. It expressed concern that in terms of joint educational programmes involving Chinese universities, UK lagged behind Australia, USA, Hong Kong China, Canada and France. In its evidence to this committee, The British Council had argued that "UK degrees are highly valued by international students for their global recognition. International students adopt an essentially utilitarian view of higher education which is likely to increasingly involve consideration of value for money, including opting for programmes at least partly delivered offshore". As their preferred marketing 'model', The British Council gave the example of India where their UK India Education and Research Initiative35 is being 'championed' by British multinational oil companies such as BP and Shell, the pharmaceutical giant GSK and arms company BAE Systems 36.
Criticism of British Council marketing efforts in this area have also come from Scotland where The Sunday Herald obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act showing that British Council's Marketing Co-ordinator in the USA had been referring to The University of Stirling as 'The University of Sterling' (sic) and also documenting 'tensions' between Scottish Executive civil servants and British Council in India and China over overseas promotion of universities in Scotland where education is a devolved responsibility. The Sunday Herald reported that these turf wars were undermining the Scottish Executive's key Fresh Talent policy 37.
After 1998 education and culture in Scotland were devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Charities registered in England (like British Council) which now wish to operate in Scotland are required to register as cross-border charities in Scotland from February 2007.
Some of the activities of British Council were recently (2007/08) examined by the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO's report, The British Council: Achieving Impact, concluded ‘that the British Council’s performance is strong and valued by its customers and stakeholders’ 38. It also concluded, however, that its English classes are elitist and have unfair advantages over commercial providers, as well as questioning thousands of unanswered phone-calls and e-mails to British Council offices : http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/jul/18/tefl.furthereducation
The NAO report had a footnote on page 5 which excluded The British Council contract work from scrutiny and evaluation: 'The main exclusion from the scope of the study was the Council's work under contract for a range of UK and International agencies, mainly in support of International Development Programmes." It went on to suggest that examination of this is unnecessary because: "Such work is won under competition and at least covers its costs overall. Primary responsibility for the value for money of the work lies with the agencies procuring it".
As part of its examination of The Foreign Office Annual Report, the Foreign Affairs Committee spends an hour each year examining witnesses from British Council http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/VideoPlayer.aspx?meetingId=2498&rel=ok In 2008 British Council was also called before the Public Accounts Committee following earlier publication of the NAO report http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/jun/11/tefl.internationaleducationnews http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/jul/18/tefl.furthereducation http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmpubacc/uc814-i/uc81402.htm
Founded in 1934 as the British Committee for Relations with Other Countries, the British Council was inspired by Sir Reginald (Rex) Leeper's recognition of the importance of "cultural propaganda" in promoting British interests.
It is also featured in one of the scenes in Graham Greene's The Third Man — the Wildfred Hyde-White character (Crabbin) in the film of that novel, worked for The British Council. In 1946, the writer George Orwell advised serious authors not to work for it as a day-job arguing that "the effort [of writing] is too much to make if one has already squandered one's energies on semi-creative work such as teaching, broadcasting or composing propaganda for bodies such as the British Council" (from 'Horizon Questionnaire: The Cost of Letters', in Horizon, 1946). In her autobiography, Dame Stella Rimington, the first woman head of MI5, mentions working for British Council in India prior to joining the British Intelligence Services. British Council employees also seem to feature regularly in the special section of the UK Honours List reserved for those attached to overseas diplomatic postings despite the ambiguous status of the organisation and confusion over whether they are entitled to normal diplomatic immunities in countries such as Russia. The British Council has been referred to (and its man on-station, Goole) - frequently in a humorous way by Lawrence Durrell in his collection of anecdotes about a diplomat's life on foreign postings for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office - Antrobus Complete39.
Chairs of the British Council have been:
In 2005, along with the Alliance française, the Società Dante Alighieri, the Goethe-Institut, the Instituto Cervantes and the Instituto Camões, the British Council shared in the Prince of Asturias Award for the outstanding achievements of Western Europe's national cultural agencies in communications and the humanities. At the time of this joint award the full extent of The British Council's closure policies in Europe was not yet public knowledge.
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