Hague rejects committee's call to ringfence World Service from cuts

A call by the foreign affairs committee for the reversal of cuts to the BBC World Service has been rejected by the government.

In a response to a report published by the committee last month, foreign secretary William Hague says the government does not agree with claims that cuts were disproportionate.

The original report by the commons select committee, Implications of Cuts to the BBC World Service, assessed the impact of the 16 per cent reductions earmarked for the service across a four year period.

The committee advised that the World Service's income should be ringfenced against spending cuts to secure its "value to the nation".

It also adds that the decision to move funding of the service from the Foreign Office to the BBC was taken "at very short notice" with the approval of the foreign secretary secured only 48 hours before the formal announcement of the change.

In the government response to the committee's report, Hague said the transfer of funding will create "a more sustainable future" for the service.

"Given the scale and pace of the spending review and the licence fee settlement, it was not practical to have in-depth discussions with all interested parties.

"The government's priorities were to secure a contribution to reducing the fiscal deficit and to ensure that the settlement represented excellent value-for-money for licence fee payers. These objectives were met.

"The government believes that the transfer of funding to the licence fee will increase the BBC's ability to increase scope for sensible efficiencies and economies, and avoid duplication across the whole of the BBC family.

'It will also help create a more sustainable future for the World Service. This will also benefit licence fee payers, who will continue to have access to the World Service."

In January, the BBC World Service announced a series of foreign language service closures and up to 650 job cuts as it sought to find savings of around £67 million, as set out in last year's comprehensive spending review.

In the government response to the committee report Hague said it does not consider that the budget of the BBC World Service should be protected from the requirement to make cuts to help reduce the fiscal deficit.

"The government has had to make difficult choices. The police, military and nearly all government departments have had to take their share of painful cuts," he said.

"In spite of the reduction in World Service money, they will retain £253m this financial year, £242m next year and £238m in year three of the settlement period. These significant levels of public funding signal the importance we attach to their work."

He added that despite the cuts and transfer of funding, the government is not closed to working with the World Service in specific areas, such as their response to recent events in the Middle East.

"The committee is right to highlight the significance of recent events in the Middle East and North Africa. FCO officials are discussing with the World Service what further work we can do with them in this area."

The National Union of Journalists, which is campaigning for the reversal of the cuts facing the World Service, called Hague's response "a travesty of reasoned debate and argument" in a report on the union's website.

A debate on the issue is scheduled to take place in the House of Commons tomorrow, focusing on the findings of the committee report and invite the government to review its decision.

Image by Foreign and Commonwealth Office on Flickr. Some rights reserved.

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