A new inquiry into future funding of the BBC World Service has been announced by MPs on Parliament’s International Development Committee.
The service, which reaches a global audience of 318 million people and is available in 42 languages, is majority funded by the Licence Fee but also receives an additional grant of £104m from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
However, in a recent speech, BBC Director General Tim Davie suggested it was no longer possible to ask Licence Fee payers to invest in the World Service “when we face cuts to UK services.”
He went on to say: “We will need to discuss a long-term funding solution for the World Service that comes from central government budgets.”
The Committee’s inquiry will “establish the case for increased Government support and make recommendations beyond the current support package finishing in 2025.”