WIREDGOV

The BBC World Service is at risk of losing its position as the most-trusted international broadcaster as it is unable to present a strong case for future investment.

• Read the report
• Read the report (pdf)
• Inquiry: BBC World Service 2024-25
• Public Accounts Committee

In an increasingly unstable global political environment, the BBC World Service performs a critical role in providing news and programming around the world, often in areas of declining media freedom. Reaching an average weekly audience of 313 million in 43 languages, the Service is a crucial soft power instrument for the UK Government.

However, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found that the Service is in danger of losing ground to its rivals, driven in part by increased international media spending of state actors such as Russia and China.

These nations invested a combined c.£6bn-£8bn/yr in global media during a period of real-terms spending cuts on the Service. Trust scores have also increased markedly for both countries’ state broadcasters in recent years, as BBC’s own ratings have remained stable.

The World Service is funded by a combination of the BBC licence fee and grant funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). The Service’s total budget has fallen 21% in real terms between ’21-’22 and ’25-’26, mainly due to reductions in contributions from the licence fee.

However, the PAC was deeply troubled to learn that the BBC still does not know how much government would fund the World Service for the coming year. The Committee is recommending that the Treasury give the BBC World Service a separate line in the Spending Review to enable multi-year and timely funding settlements to allow for longer-term planning.

Despite its importance, the BBC was unable to provide the Committee with a single, transparent suite of value‑for‑money measures across the Service's TV, radio and digital offerings. The PAC recommends that it should set out clear measures it can use to quantify the value for money of the World Service to support a clear, evidence-based case for continued government funding.

Weaknesses in BBC governance, which have led to poorly evidenced decisions and unclear lines of responsibility within the organisation. The BBC’s management of the Service's digital transformation had weaknesses which has contributed to a fall in digital audiences of 11% between ’21-’22 and ’24-’25.

The PAC is calling for it to set out what it is doing to address its uneven digital performance to date and accelerate digital transformation of its services to future-proof the service for a digital age.

The PAC was concerned by the BBC’s failure to clearly document its rationale for key decisions made as part of savings programmes, and the lack of non-financial metrics to effectively track performance and understand the impact on its audiences.

In BBC Arabic, concerns prompted the BBC to tighten oversight, including appointing new leadership and strengthening checks on contributors. The BBC had announced plans to move to a new international governance model in February 2025, but as of January 2026, only one of six regional directors was permanently in post.

In its response to this report, the PAC is calling on the BBC to provide an update on its plans for improving its decision-making processes and how it plans to set, monitor and report non-financial metrics.

World Service staff are operating in hostile countries, including those where journalists are not permitted at all, where they and their families may be at risk of imprisonment or worse. The Committee recognises and praises their work and is calling on the UK Government to work with allies and the United Nations to improve conditions for journalists working in these environments.

Chair comment

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said:

“The professionalism of the World Service’s productions and educational content is amazing, and a jewel in the crown of the UK’s soft power effort around the world. But its prominence is being diminished by poor governance and short-sighted funding decisions. My Committee is urging the Government and the BBC to set out a clear direction of travel for the World Service to ensure that its audience is not left behind.

“The Government must be clear-eyed about the realities of a diminishing audience for the BBC World Service. As it cuts back, it risks opening the door to propaganda from hostile states such as Russia filling the void it leaves behind, who are spending billions of pounds in this field. At a time of heightened geopolitical tensions and declining media freedom the UK cannot afford to lose such a crucial soft power instrument.

“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. And importantly, journalists working in increasingly dangerous environments deserve more than just our praise, the UK Government must do all it can to improve the conditions they are working in and to protect and restore media freedoms globally.”