BBC World Service funding freeze risks ‘opening door to hostile states’, MPs say

Ministers risk “opening the door to propaganda from hostile states” and diminishing international trust in the BBC World Service by allowing its funding to be frozen at a crucial time, parliament’s spending watchdog has said.The cross-party public accounts committee (PAC) said it was deeply troubled by the fact the service was still unclear about its funding just weeks before its current deal runs out.It also reiterated the BBC’s warnings about the rising influence of Russian and Chinese state-backed media.It is understood the World Service is to receive a real-terms freeze in funding from the government, with an agreement expected next week.The settlement is likely to disappoint BBC insiders, who had been pushing to expand the service at a time of international instability.MPs said its budget has fallen 21% in real terms over the last four years, largely as a result of reduced contributions from the shrinking licence fee. This comes as China and Russia are investing between £6bn and £8bn a year in global media, and Donald Trump remains determined to slash public funding for US-backed international media.Trust scores for the Chinese state broadcaster rose from 62% to 70% from 2021 to 2025, with a similar increase for the Russian state broadcaster from 59% to 71%. The BBC’s trust levels have remained stable at 78%.The corporation said the World Service currently reached 313 million people across 43 languages, and the MPs concluded it was a “crucial soft power instrument for the UK government”.The committee said, however, that trust was being put at risk by “poorly evidenced decisions and unclear lines of responsibility”. It said these weaknesses could “increase the risk of losing further ground to these competitors”.MPs pointed to a fall in digital audiences of 11% between 2022 and last year. They also raised concerns that the BBC had failed to clearly explain its reasoning for decisions made as part of savings programmes, and could not easily prove its value for money.Most of the World Service’s £400m budget comes from the licence fee, though the Foreign Office contributed £137m in the last year.“The BBC is at risk of losing the trust of its World Service audiences, undermining its crucial role in countering misinformation globally,” the MPs said. “As the World Service is paid for by UK taxpayers, through the licence fee and [Foreign Office] grant‑in‑aid, it must show more clearly the value this investment buys.”Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Conservative chair of the committee, said the World Service was “a jewel in the crown of the UK’s soft power effort around the world”, but that its prominence “is being diminished by poor governance and shortsighted funding decisions”.“The government must be clear-eyed about the realities of a diminishing audience for the BBC World Service,” he said. “As it cuts back, it risks opening the door to propaganda from hostile states such as Russia filling the void it leaves behind.“Both government and the BBC should seriously think about how the World Service’s influence can be bolstered around the world, rather than risk its reach withering by degrees year on year.”A BBC spokesperson said: “We welcome the PAC’s report, which recognises the importance of the BBC World Service as the most trusted international news provider globally, and the need for secure, long-term funding.“This is why we are calling for the government to take back full funding of the World Service as part of the BBC charter review.“We are making changes to strengthen how we demonstrate value for money and to improve governance and documentation.”