Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the announcement of 1 May 2021, whether any of the additional £8 million being made available by his Department to the BBC World Service will be allocated to the work of the BBC Monitoring Service; and if he will make a statement.  [2166]

[Due for Answer on 20 May.] 

ANSWER

The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Nigel Adams): The FCDO will provide £94.4m to the BBC World Service for 2021-22, including an £8m uplift for 2021-22 to fund disinformation work and digital enhancements. The FCDO has allocated £3m of the £8m uplift to support disinformation work including a boost to investigative journalism and the remaining £5m for digital enhancements to help the BBC develop its digital platforms in order to support audience growth. It is for the BBC to decide how this funding is spent.