British Council faces ‘unavoidable’ job losses

The British Council is yet to begin consultation on potential redunancies among its arts team as it pursues up to 2,000 job cuts.

The cultural relations agency says it remains committed to "expanding connections and audiences for UK arts and culture" despite cuts to its grant-in-aid.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has directed the British Council to stop spending in 11 countries – Afghanistan, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Namibia, New Zealand, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, the United States and Uruguay.

It should align its work to the Government's new "geopolitical priorities" and focus on another nine nations: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

A British Council spokesperson said the agency will continue working in more than 100 countries.

"We are still working through what this means for each country, and may mean we will need to look at delivering our work in some countries remotely or digitally.

"Over the coming 12 to 24 months, job losses across the organisation will unfortunately be unavoidable.

"We will consult affected colleagues on proposed changes before we finalise the new operating structures."