Ministers risk “opening the door to propaganda from hostile states” and diminishing international confidence 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 concerned that the service was still unclear about its funding just weeks before its current deal expires. He also reiterated the BBC’s warnings about the growing influence of Russian and Chinese state-backed media.
It is understood that the World Service will receive a real-terms funding freeze from the government, with a deal expected next week.
The deal is likely to disappoint BBC insiders, who had been pushing to expand the service at a time of international instability.
MPs said their budget has fallen 21% in real terms over the past four years, largely as a result of reduced contributions from the license fee reduction. This comes as China and Russia are investing between £6bn and £8bn a year in global media, and Donald Trump remains determined to cut public funding for US-backed international media.
The Chinese state broadcaster’s trust scores increased from 62% to 70% between 2021 and 2025, with a similar increase for the Russian state broadcaster from 59% to 71%. Trust levels in the BBC have remained stable at 78%.
The corporation said the World Service currently reaches 313 million people in 43 languages, and MPs concluded it was a “crucial instrument of soft power for the UK government”.
The committee said, however, that trust was being put at risk by “uninformed decisions and unclear lines of responsibility.” He said these weaknesses could “increase the risk of losing further ground to these competitors.”
Parliamentarians pointed to a drop in digital audiences of 11% between 2022 and last year. They also raised concerns that the BBC had not clearly explained the reasoning for decisions made as part of the savings programs and could not easily demonstrate their value for money.
The majority of the World Service’s £400m budget comes from licensing fees, although the Foreign Office contributed £137m last year.
“The BBC risks losing the trust of its World Service audiences, undermining its crucial role in tackling disinformation globally,” the MPs said. “Given that the World Service is paid for by UK taxpayers, through the license fee and the (Foreign Office) grant, it should 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 short-sighted funding decisions”.
“The government must be clear-eyed about the reality of a shrinking audience for the BBC World Service,” he said. “By cutting, you risk opening the door for propaganda from hostile states like Russia to fill the vacuum you leave.
“Both the government and the BBC should think seriously about how the World Service’s influence around the world can be strengthened, rather than risk its reach gradually weakening year on year.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We welcome the PAC report, which recognizes the importance of the BBC World Service as the world’s most trusted international news provider, and the need for secure long-term funding.
“That is why we are calling on the government to restore full funding to the World Service as part of the BBC charter review.
“We are making changes to strengthen how we demonstrate cost-effectiveness and improve governance and documentation.”
