The Council has asked the government to relieve the financial pressure of the loan and declining grants, requesting an extra £20 million in annual funding. Its chief executive warned last year that the organization might have to sell assets to survive, and that dozens of country operations were at risk.
A similar process has unfolded at the BBC World Service, often cited as another standard bearer of British soft power. The BBC said in a statement this week that the service is facing hundreds of millions of pounds in cuts in the next three years.
‘Detaching from foreign engagement‘
“The axe has finally fallen,” said one British Council staffer whose role is expected to go. “It’s going to be a bloodbath, and we are not going to go quietly.”
Italy is expected to be especially hard hit. Of 150 roles in the country, 120 are “in scope” — about 80 percent of the workforce. Plans in a European Works Council consultation pack emailed to staff indicate that in Italy the entire teaching division would close and the exams arm would be outsourced.
Elsewhere, middle management and lower level roles, including customer service positions, have been targeted. In the U.K., 147 roles are under review, while in France 52 and Germany 23, according to the document. In Spain, 160 roles are under review with around 60 redundancies expected. In Portugal, 45 roles are in scope with roughly 25 job losses anticipated.
In Italy, employees have met union representatives and FLC CGIL is preparing industrial action. “The British Council’s teaching was renowned,” said Leonardo Croatto of FLC CGIL. “Now the U.K. government is closing the U.K. in on itself and detaching from foreign engagement. We are seeing the death of cultural multilateralism.”