2015 – 2017
www.britishcouncil.org
1.
CONTEXT AND PRIORITIES
4
2.
WORKING WITH AND FOR THE UK
17
3.
ARTS
27
4.
ENGLISH AND EXAMINATIONS
33
5.
EDUCATION AND SOCIETY
39
6.
GLOBAL NETWORK
48
6.1 AMERICAS
50
6.2 EAST ASIA
51
6.3 EU EUROPE
52
6.4 MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
53
6.5 SOUTH ASIA
54
6.6 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
55
6.7 WIDER EUROPE
56
7.
PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
57
8.
PERFORMANCE TARGETS
61
This Corporate Plan for 2015 – 2017 has been a collective effort.
Along with British Council staff, we have had advice and support
from colleagues at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, many
Heads of Mission, from other government departments, and from
partners in business, education, arts and civil society. My first
message therefore is thank you to all who have helped.
In addition to the normal function of an annual plan, this document is also part of our response to our recent Triennial Review. It is therefore more detailed than many equivalent plans and is so for two reasons. The first is to provide a basis for us to measure our response to the review. The second is to ensure the major themes of the review are clear and understood across the British Council. That clarity needs to exist in our business units, across our global network and throughout our corporate functions.
While there is much detail in the plan, there are also some priorities which will define how we look upon the year.
First amongst these is the implementation of three core processes across the organisation. These are a gated process by which we handle commercial opportunities, an independent complaints process to complement how we ourselves listen to and react to stakeholders, and a clear schedule of what services we provide pro bono and which we can provide at full cost recovery. Second is progress in establishing consistent global management and financial information. While recognising this is a complex and difficult issue which will not be sorted in 12 months, it is an issue which any well-run global organisation must address to ensure internal transparency as well as external, to drive efficiency and productivity, and to make the best decisions about resource allocations. Thirdly, our own leadership, communications and relationship management need to be excellent. This is as true across the network as it is in our head office. We should understand our stakeholders and they should understand us. For our major stakeholders and partners we should have a shared forward view which recognises different priorities but also provides us all with insight as to what we aspire to achieve – jointly and severally.
Finally and most importantly we must be true to our mission. That means we must be able to simply and consistently articulate it. We must act in accordance with it, and seek to have ever more impact. Our founding belief that the world will be a better, safer, more prosperous place if people and peoples have a ‘friendly knowledge and understanding’ of each other and that the United Kingdom’s influence, economic growth and security benefit greatly from that is as true today as it was when first articulated in the 1930s and 1940s.
This is a short-term plan and is therefore a subset of what we need to do. Next year we intend to give you a shorter annual plan but to give it to you as part of a three-year plan with a five-three-year view. In this way we can describe our goals more clearly while being more coherent and more forward thinking internally.
Lastly, I would like to thank the staff of the British Council to whom the task of implementing this plan falls. It is my privilege to have been appointed as Chief Executive of an organisation whose employees do fantastic, expert work, often in very difficult and insecure places. Wherever you are across our network and whether you are in Arts, in Education and Society, in English and Examinations, or in our global processes and functions you have my thanks for all that has been achieved in the past year, but also for all that we will achieve together in the coming one.
Sir Ciarán Devane Chief Executive British Council
Chief Executive Sir Ciarán Devane meeting school principals in Cairo, Egypt.
© H am d y R ed a
StrategiC Context
The UK’s place in the world
No country is more internationally connected than the UK, or has more reasons to stay internationally connected for its future trade, prosperity and security. Global connections are vital for the UK as a ‘top table’ nation in world affairs, playing a leading role in bodies such as the G8, UN Security Council, European Union and the Commonwealth. These connections are essential to the UK’s economic success and security and contribute to the UK’s diplomatic and development goals, supporting global prosperity, international development and stability.
This Corporate Plan outlines the British Council’s corporate priorities and key areas of work over the next two years and sets out our targets for 2015 –16. The plan has been prepared in consultation with the UK government, governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and stakeholders in the education, culture and social sectors, to ensure a strong alignment with the UK’s long-term strategic priorities and reflect the devolved governance of the four countries of the UK. 1
The British Council’s purpose
The British Council creates international opportunities for the people of
the UK and other countries and builds trust between them worldwide.
Working in over 100 countries around the world, we do this by:
• Developing a wider knowledge of the UK and the English language.
• Improving cultural and educational understanding, relationships and co-operation between the UK and countries around the world.
• Changing lives around the world through access to UK education, skills, qualifications, culture and society.
• Attracting people who matter to our future to engage with the UK’s vibrant cultural and arts scene, education opportunities and diverse, modern, open society.
By delivering programmes and services in the English language, arts, education and in society, the British Council makes a long-term impact on lives and opportunities in the UK and overseas. We focus on young people in education and in their early careers, and we work with established leaders to support and shape education, cultural, social and arts policy and practices. We work with policy makers, leaders and people on issues that matter to them and their societies, including quality education, justice and good governance. All this promotes trust and opportunity in the UK and in the countries where we work.
The British Council makes a lasting impact on lives and opportunities in the UK and overseas. This builds long-term understanding, trust and relationships between the UK and the world, between people and institutions. Together this makes an important contribution to the UK’s prosperity, security and international influence.
1 Across Whitehall the British Council has worked with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to consult the Department for
Education (DfE), UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), the Cabinet Office and the Department for International Development (DFID). We have also consulted more broadly across the UK and with the arts, English, education and social sectors through our external advisory groups.
The British Council’s status
The British Council is a charity governed by Royal Charter. It is aligned with the UK’s long-term foreign policy priorities as agreed with the FCO. This Corporate Plan and the appointment of the Chair and Chief Executive are approved by the Foreign Secretary. An FCO board-level representative, appointed by the Foreign Secretary, is a member of the British Council’s Board of Trustees.
The British Council delivers the UK’s national interests, by being aligned with – but operationally independent from – UK government. We work to represent, share and present the UK’s cultural and educational assets, by being entrepreneurial and by being ‘for, from and by’ the people and institutions of all parts of the UK.
In 2014, as part of our work on the Triennial Review (described later),
we defined seven guiding principles for our operation:
1
a public body Recognise in all we do, that we are a UK public body and recognise the responsibilities and expectations which flow from that.2
Charitablepurpose
Ensure everything we do fits directly and clearly with our charitable objectives.
3
Mutual benefit Deliver benefits for both the UK and overseas countries in everything we do.4
Distinctivestrengths Focus our work on activities that build on and strengthen the distinctive assets that the British Council offers to people, institutions, governments, customers, clients, partners and other providers.
5
Creating value Seek to build value and opportunity for our UK sectorsand other UK providers, as well as in areas where we are also a provider.
6
transparentand open Ensure we are open and transparent in our operations, finances and systems.
7
Legal andBenefit for the UK and the countries
in which we work
The original founding articles of the British Council stressed mutual benefit: ‘to make the life and thought of the British people more widely known abroad; and to promote a mutual interchange of “knowledge and ideas” with other peoples’. This continues to be a core principle of the British Council’s work today.
Cultural appreciation, trust and opportunity are best achieved through co-operation and exchange. Our long-term commitment and understanding of overseas countries and networks has been built up over the last 80 years. This gives us a unique position and recognition, connecting decision makers, teachers, students, artists and cultural professionals around the world with the UK for the benefit of all parties.
Our experience tells us that our UK stakeholders and partners,
and our overseas clients, value the distinct strengths that the
British Council brings on behalf of the UK:
• UK stakeholders and partners value us for our brand and reputation, our ability to access high-level stakeholders overseas, our knowledge and insights about overseas markets, our presence in challenging places, our global reach and networks. Many also recognise our ability to deliver effectively and get things done in all the countries where we work – including the most challenging.
• overseas teachers, learners, customers, audiences, donors, clients, partners and governments value us for our status as a world leader in the provision of high quality English language teaching and assessment, our integrity, our commitment to mutual benefit and our ability to represent the UK on an apolitical, person-to-person basis. They appreciate our sector expertise and our ability to bring together cross-sector and cross-cultural partnerships. The diagram shows our purpose and how our work in arts, English and examinations and education and society contributes to this and provides benefits to the UK and overseas. This is developed and explained further in the following sections. We operate as an ‘entrepreneurial public service’ which means that we are funded by grant and earned income and use this mixed funding to maximise impact for the UK. This model in part responds to a declining grant-in-aid and the UK’s commitment to Official Development Assistance (ODA), but it also promotes enterprise, innovation, customer and market responsiveness and partnership working in pursuit of economic, social and cultural value. Through this, we set aside 20 per cent of available earned surpluses to support arts programmes and key UK ‘high impact priority’ cultural relations programmes to respond to government priorities. The remaining 80 per cent is used to fund our investment priorities. All our work, whether funded by grant, delivered by a contract or paid for by customers, supports cultural relations.
VALuE TO ThE uK Aligned to the UK priorities: prosperity, security, GREAT Britain campaign, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Supports UK’s soft power. Shaping attitudes to the UK as a destination for study, partnership, business and tourism. UK policy and standards promoted. Improved learning outcomes, skills and employability for UK citizens. Stronger UK institutions and communities. Sector, innovation and business growth in the UK. Supporting the UK’s commitment to international development. VALuE OVERsEAs Aligned to overseas country priorities. Improved understanding in the UK of overseas countries and their culture. Cultural, educational, social and economic development. Improved learning outcomes, skills and employability. Enhanced policy insights and reform. Sector growth, innovation, partnerships, business and trade with the UK. Stronger overseas institutions and safer communities. Safe spaces for dialogue and sharing new ideas.
WE CREATE INTERNATIONAL OPPORTuNITIEs FOR ThE PEOPLE OF ThE uK AND OThER COuNTRIEs AND buILD TRusT bETWEEN ThEm WORLDWIDE
Developing a wider knowledge of the UK and the English language.
Improving cultural and educational understanding, relationships and co-operation between the UK and countries around the world.
Changing lives around the world through access to UK education, skills, qualifications, culture and society.
Attracting people who matter to our future to engage with the UK’s vibrant cultural and arts scene, education opportunities and diverse modern, open society.
ENGLIsh
More widespread and better quality teaching, learning and assessment of English worldwide. ARTs New ways of connecting with and understanding each other through the arts.
CORPORATE PuRPOsE
sECTOR OuTCOmEs
WhAT WE DO
WhO WE WORK WITh
EDuCATION AND sOCIETY
Enhanced UK leadership of and shared learning from international education.
Societies whose young people, citizens and institutions contribute to a more inclusive, open and prosperous world.
INDIVIDuALs AND PROFEssIONALs
Students in higher and further education, schoolchildren, preschool children; young professionals; academics and young researchers; artists; teachers; senior influencers and leaders in government, business and communities; general public.
INsTITuTIONs, GOVERNmENT AND busINEss
Universities, colleges and schools; arts and cultural organisations; governments and ministries; private sector in English, education, arts and development, third sector, non-governmental organisations and social enterprise; donors and foundations. English language. Examinations. English for education systems. Schools. Higher education. Skills.
Science and research. Civil society. Rule of law. Social enterprise. Women and girls’ empowerment.
Arts showcasing. Support to young artists and professionals. Cultural skills.
Global context: the state of the world
Above all, the British Council is an international organisation, we are
on the ground in over 100 countries worldwide. The geopolitical
context of these countries, combined with the UK’s long-term
interests, frame our work:
• emerging economies: include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and other large rapidly growing countries with increasing geopolitical influence in the world such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, Malaysia, Nigeria, Colombia and Turkey. All are managing considerable demographic or economic transitions, with growing middle classes, the potential for significant economic growth and the challenge to reduce poverty and inequality.
Countries at this stage of development are typically moving towards an increasingly external focus, providing fertile ground for building closer and mutually beneficial engagement with the UK. At a government level there is often a desire to look for international models that can be adopted to help accelerate development. This can lead to long-term institutional relationships and business opportunities. The expanding middle classes in these countries represent a large and growing market for the UK’s educational and arts services and have disposable income to travel and study overseas.
• Developing economies: include countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Wider Europe, South Asia and the Americas. Countries with less advanced economies where large youth populations could yield an enormous demographic dividend and rapid growth but could also fuel rising insecurity and conflict.
These countries are typically engaged in major institutional reform in areas where the UK has considerable expertise and a track record of openness in sharing lessons learned. This provides considerable scope to build deep and lasting relationships as UK institutions and consultants are well regarded for promoting development in a collaborative and supportive way. Many developing countries also have large and growing young populations with a strong interest in, and openness to, international opportunities for personal development. • Developed economies: include countries in the European Union, Gulf States,
North America and East Asia. There are faltering levels of economic growth, and countries emerging out of global recession. In some cases there are high levels of unemployment (especially among young people) and rapid technological change – these factors have created huge challenges as well as opportunities. Increased competition and growing nationalism fuelled by economic insecurity may pose further challenges.
These countries typically have more mature relationships with the UK and therefore may have lower appetite to learn from international models. They often face the same kind of challenges as the UK and generally have well used networks for engagement. There is scope to engage young people, in particular through the arts and the English language. In addition, with strong digital infrastructure and an outward focus, individuals have the means and interest to engage internationally.
• Conflict and fragile states: across the regions of the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and in Ukraine populations are experiencing unpredictable, volatile and sometimes violent change.
These countries often share characteristics of developing and emerging countries but are experiencing political or economic pressures that place them at greater risk of conflict or violence. These countries are frequently in places of great geopolitical significance and the UK has an interest in their future stability. Successful support for institutional development, governance reform, civil society development, building the skills and opportunities available to young people and building strong relationships with individuals can make important contributions to more stable and secure futures.
Our response to the global context
The British Council’s response takes the best cultural and educational
assets of the UK, and tailors them to these different country contexts
around the world. This includes:
• Sharing english and UK-backed qualifications, skills training, educational links and support to the development of state and public education systems.
• Sharing the UK’s creative and artistic output to support creative economies and promote exchange between cultural institutions and artists and to support cultural policy and infrastructure, skills, education and entrepreneurship.
• Developing artistic capacity in conflict and fragile territories,
supporting cultural recovery and regional stability through our culture and development portfolio.
• Developing higher education, research and school linksand skills for global employability includingsupporting the financial resilience of the UK sectors and enabling more plural, diverse, inclusive and peaceful expressions of cultural identity and developing cultural links.
• Strengthening civil society and good governance, justice and the rule of law, supporting sustainable and inclusive economic development and the empowerment of women and girls.
The British Council works to support pluralism, equality, open societies and the freest possible artistic, creative and academic expression. These are positive influences that are key features of UK society and are supports to stability both in the UK and in rapidly transforming and developing societies worldwide. The British Council is committed to presenting the UK as it is. We promote engagement not isolation and do not support educational or cultural boycotts of other countries; a stance which has served the UK well over many decades.
BritiSh CoUnCiL PrioritieS
for 2015 onwarDS
Our priorities for 2015 and beyond respond to the global context and the impact we want to bring to the countries we work in and to the UK, responding in particular to the recommendations and action plan from the Triennial Review. They have also been developed in consultation with stakeholders across governments of the UK, sector experts and the global network, as outlined earlier.
Triennial Review
The UK government published a Triennial Review of the British Council in July 2014, which confirmed the British Council is a vital institution supporting UK influence globally and a key element of the UK’s approach to international relations. The British Council’s ongoing presence worldwide was judged by the Triennial Review to be an important contributor to the UK’s standing as one of the world’s most attractive countries and a world leader in its soft power capabilities. The review said:
‘In a globalised, competitive world the UK needs a first class
cultural diplomacy capability to further our national interest
worldwide. This Review finds that the British Council has a
strong brand, well established networks and committed staff:
it is a valuable national asset and should be retained as the
main official UK body for cultural diplomacy.’
2The review also challenged the British Council to work
on three important areas:
• Alignment with government priorities and wider UK interests.
• Transparency and accountability.
• Perceptions of fair competition and the handling of inherent conflicts of interest. From July 2014 the organisation has set out to decisively address the review’s 72 detailed recommendations, with new policies in place, key actions now implemented, adopted or in the process of being embedded. During 2015 –17 a number of these changes will become fully embedded, as set out below.
Key initiatives to address the
Triennial Review recommendations:
alignment with government priorities and wider UK interests
Corporate
planning process Greater alignment with the priorities of the FCO, Whitehall departments, devolved governments of the UK and the key sectors, including consultation on the development of our Corporate Plan.
Value to the UK To clearly explain the value to the UK, or relevance to ODA priorities that our work brings, and embedding this value in the design and implementation of our major programmes and our performance measurement.
government engagement model
A senior level lead for each government department and UK devolved
government, to effect strategic alignment and co-operation. Our Chief Executive will meet regularly with ministers of key government departments and devolved UK governments to discuss priorities.
transparency and accountability
advisory
committees We are reviewing the membership, terms of reference and the appointments process of our sector and country advisory committees, and are embedding a new set of standards and constitutional arrangements.
transparency A new transparency section of the British Council website has been developed as a single gateway for information on our governance, finances and operations.
Perceptions of fair competition and handling of inherent conflicts of interest
review and extend our policy on fair trading
A new fair trading policy, together with an associated complaints procedure, has been prepared following stakeholder consultation and will be introduced during 2015. Sharing opportunities with the UK education and english language teaching (eLt) sectors
Including a decision making framework to guide staff in sharing opportunities with organisations in the UK education and ELT sectors in a transparent and proactive manner.
future operating model
The FCO commissioned the management consultancy firm EY to evaluate future options for the governance of British Council ‘paid-for services’ to address these concerns and deliver a stronger British Council for the future. Our Board of Trustees have agreed changes to improve our transparency, economics and governance.
Corporate priorities
By 2017 we will:
1. Have further grown our reach and impact, which:
• Is shared with UK partners for the benefit of the UK and the countries where we work.
• Makes a real and lasting difference to the countries and societies where we work worldwide.
• Provides major and meaningful contribution to the educational, society, artistic and cultural sectors of the UK.
• Brings the power of cultural relations to a digital world: to promote greater connection, engagement, opportunity, understanding and trust with more people than ever before.
• Through creating trust and opportunity, supports UK objectives around security, prosperity and international influence, contributing to the UK’s soft power.
We will forge stronger, lasting institutional relationships in the countries that matter most to the UK, particularly those undergoing significant change. This means being recognised as a partner of choice in the UK and the countries where we work and delivering a consistent quality and level of impact across our network.
Our digital impact will continue to grow as we prioritise and strengthen social media and online learning platforms to share knowledge and ideas with more than 30 million people. The number of people we reach through face-to-face working and exhibitions will remain stable at 24 million.
We will continue to strengthen the quality, relevance and balance of our work in arts, English, examinations, education and society to meet the priorities and needs of the countries where we work overseas whilst successfully meeting UK priorities including soft power, prosperity, security, the GREAT Britain campaign, and the International Education Strategy.
2. Embody, represent and work with the best of the UK globally, by:
• Strengthening our partnerships with the governments, cultural institutions, education providers, social enterprises and social organisations, corporates, trusts and foundations of the UK for a greater impact than we could achieve alone.
• A more joined up approach with UK government departments and key UK stakeholders to ensure we plan and deliver together and understand and share the benefits our work brings.
• Helping the UK rise to the global demand and need for UK-backed English teaching, arts, culture, qualifications, learning opportunities, knowledge and ideas.
This means we will help UK individuals and institutions to contribute to change overseas in the areas of national priority and improve global understanding of and attitudes towards the UK. We will increase our partnerships with UK organisations with more clarity on how our work and how our programmes benefit the UK. This means making sure we have the right offer for UK English, education, social enterprise, governance and arts sectors. We will have an enhanced relationship with UK government (in the UK and overseas) through closer working, joint planning and improved communication.
3. Be efficient, effective and transparent, through:
• Continuing our focus on efficiency and productivity, focusing on our economics and cost base and implementing new models of operating across the British Council’s international network.
• Continuing to invest in technology and our business processes to release the full potential of all our staff and develop our capability for the future.
• Being open and transparent and demonstrating our value to the whole of the UK with clear reporting structures and governance.
This means successfully delivering the recommendations of the 2014 Triennial Review, with a more transparent and open culture, an independent complaints process and a transparent economic model with clarity on how we use earned surpluses. Our staff will be more globally mobile, flexibly deployed to respond to opportunity for the UK and to meet our needs as an entrepreneurial public service. We will be delivering continued financial and operational efficiencies through improved procurement, business systems and closer working with government partners. We will work towards a sustainable global network of offices, while ensuring we can resource major initiatives in the places where we have a limited, or no, physical presence.
These priorities build on our existing strengths and strategy; 2015 marks the final year of our current strategic planning cycle, approved by the Foreign Secretary in 2011. In the last five years, through a combination of investment, transformation of our physical and digital footprint and efficiency savings, the British Council has become a larger but leaner organisation, by focusing on supporting the UK’s core strengths in English, arts, education and society.
We have reduced our cost base, whilst increasing our reach and impact to create more opportunities for the UK and the millions of people we work with each year worldwide. 3 We have attracted new UK partners and paying customers to enable us to maintain a broad cultural offer for the UK but with less call on the UK taxpayer and UK government grant-in-aid.
In 2015–16 nearly 70 per cent of our core-grant funding will be targeted towards emerging, developing and fragile states as we contribute even more to the UK’s international development commitments and deliver more ODA programmes than ever before.
3 At the end of 2010, our platform costs (premises, infrastructure and support staff) were 19 per cent of
Delivering our priorities for 2015 onwards
In order to achieve these priorities, our delivery focus will be on the
following key areas of work and improvement. The first three of these
are of key importance and shape the way we work:
• a balanced British Council portfolio of programmes: continuing to work with partners and investing in the core content of our programmes to ensure a vibrant offer tailored to the needs of the UK and the countries where we work. We will continue to develop our programmes to make the most of the combined strengths of the UK’s expertise across arts, English, education and society. We will also continue to invest in our paid-for services, particularly in English and examinations, and recycle earned surpluses to enable us to deliver a high quality, global arts programme, and support major festivals and seasons for the UK. We will also provide stronger and more visible education engagement with the UK sectors, as well as providing more resources to respond quickly to key UK government and wider UK priorities.
• More efficient operating models: we continue to develop new operating models for countries, business units, regions and back office services to further increase efficiencies and value for money – these include more standardisation, the reduction and further development of transactional activities in our successful ‘shared services’ centre in India, our contribution to the One HMG overseas agenda and further efficiencies through economies of scale. As agreed with the Foreign Secretary we are also moving to a ‘digital first’ offer in some European countries and closing our on-the-ground presence.
• Skills and talent: we will strengthen our professional skills and retain and attract talent to support our drive to be a model of a UK entrepreneurial public service. We will promote greater career and international mobility and talent management, in a highly-connected, interdependent global organisation. We will continue to explore the possibility for new remuneration structures with UK government, including the aim to rebalance pay towards salary and away from pension, to increase the attractiveness of a British Council career to more people in key areas where we are finding it hard to recruit. Further detail is provided in Chapter 7.
• Digital: we will build on a successful British Council global digital transformation, develop more personalised digital services around the world and rise to meet the exponential global demand for English and digital learning. This includes supporting key English learning communities in the Middle East on Facebook, building on the British Council’s very successful first massive open online course (MOOC) Exploring English: Language and Culture on the UK’s groundbreaking FutureLearn platform, and building on the highly successful British Council LearnEnglish suite which serves young learners, teens and adults. We will also support professional learning communities and teachers via British Council TeachingEnglish and SchoolsOnline. In arts, we will expand audience engagement especially on mobile and tablet devices for young audiences, building new platforms with UK cultural partners.
• response to the 2014 triennial review: we will publish our comprehensive response to all 72 recommendations in the 2014 Triennial Review and we will continue to develop, adopt and embed new policies. During 2015 we will implement the following organisational changes and improvements: − a shared narrative with our UK stakeholders: this work includes
extensive consultation on the development of our Corporate Plan and more time spent engaging and aligning with the FCO, Whitehall departments, governments of the UK and UK sectors.
− embedding new policies: including a fair competition and complaints policy, contract and opportunity notification, universal application of the contracts approval/decision making process, (our stage-gate approach to reviewing contract opportunities where we assess these against criteria including strategic fit, benefit to the UK, scope to partner with, or pass the opportunity to other UK providers) and sharing with UK education and English providers.
− engaging British Council people worldwide: by sharing and
communicating the Corporate Plan 2015 – 2017, plus engagement on new policies and key reforms, focusing on what they mean for our people. − Developing the transparency of our financial reporting, systems
and processes: this includes cost allocations and a revised economic model, intelligent controls within a global assurance framework, a review of planning, reporting and group legal entity changes. All this will be enabled by systems enhancements.
LooKing oUt to 2020
This Corporate Plan provides the foundations for the British Council’s
longer-term ambition to 2020 in the context of an upcoming UK
general election and Comprehensive Spending Review. Our aims
for 2020 are:
• To continue to make a major contribution to the standing, soft power, and strength of the educational and cultural sectors and trust in the people of the UK, supporting UK priorities relating to security and prosperity and the UK’s influence in the world.
• To make a real and lasting difference to the countries and societies where we work worldwide with partners and above all through connecting people.
• To deliver even more for the UK, strongly aligned to UK government and stakeholder priorities, supporting UK sectors to grow their impact and markets worldwide and sharing the opportunities for the benefit of the UK as well as the countries where we work.
• To be a more flexible organisation, anticipating geopolitical shocks, changing market conditions and UK government and stakeholder priorities, to share our on the ground intelligence for our major UK sectors and UK government partners, and moving staff and resources to meet the UK’s ever-changing global needs.
• To remain a trusted, transparent and accountable delivery partner for government, funders, partners and the sectors in which we work.
• To have a well-understood and sustainable ‘mixed-economy’ model which combines earning with UK government grant-in-aid: including education and society contracts work which covers their full costs, English and examinations work which meets the demands of paying customers and generates self-sustaining funding as well as modest surpluses for reinvestment in the arts.
aLigning with UK PrioritieS
Globalisation affects every part of the UK, touching the lives of citizens, changing communities and shaping our economic futures. At the same time, there is an increased focus on the diversity of the UK, a drive to embrace the cultural strengths across the UK and to involve people from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, their regions and major cities. In order to make the greatest impact, we will tailor our programmes to contribute to the policy objectives of the UK as a whole and to meet the priorities of the four nations of the UK.
Some of the key priorities of our UK government stakeholders that
help frame our programmes are summarised in the table below:
uK GOVERNmENT PRIORITIEs
The use of soft power and of culture and education to shape long-term attitudes towards the UK globally. GREAT Britain campaign, economic benefit, 2020 export drive (£1 trillion exports) and direct return to the UK. Cabinet Office objective to make the UK the social enterprise capital of the world.
Rule of law, good governance, stability and security especially Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Ukraine. Official Development Assistance (ODA) is 0.7 per cent of gross national income.
UK government’s International Education Strategy, Newton Fund and UK Science and Innovation Strategy.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s objective to make the UK the creative and cultural capital of the world. Austerity, efficiencies and value for money.
One HMG: joined-up Whitehall approaches to save costs and maximise impact.
ENGLAND
Invest in skills and higher education to promote trade, innovation and productivity, and broaden economic growth across England’s city regions.
Learn from good practice around the world to help create a self-improving school-led system for England with a strong workforce and leadership. Introduce language learning to the curriculum in all primary schools. Make the most of England’s cultural, artistic and heritage assets. Promote social action and social investment.
NORThERN IRELAND
International relations strategy focused on investment, trade, tourism, students and knowledge exchange. 4
Strengthen university, education, research and technological development.
Promote sport and cultural opportunity.
Share experience of peace building and conflict resolution.
International outlook as a core competence for Northern Ireland’s citizens and organisations.
sCOTLAND
Focus on Scottish government’s 2015 programme on economic prosperity, social inequality, and community empowerment. 5
International framework and country plans to be refreshed in line with economic prosperity agenda. Stronger alignment between agencies in support of national purpose and to maximise the impact and effectiveness of international engagements. International promotion of Scotland’s distinctive assets. WALEs
Higher education strategy for Wales aims to create a higher education community which transforms lives and livelihoods. 6
Recognise and support the importance of the bilingual context. Use distinctive Welsh cultural identity and assets to support economic and social outcomes. Raise the profile of Wales within the UK and globally.
International promotion of Welsh assets that can embody the best of the UK.
4 www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/international-relations-strategy-2014.pdf
5 Programme for Scotland 2014–16 www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0046/00464455.pdf 6 http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dcells/publications/091214hestrategyen.pdf
Education and culture are devolved matters, so references to UK education and cultural priorities relate to the priorities of the governments of the UK.
BenefitS to the UK
Who benefits in the UK?
All of the British Council’s work seeks to build trust between people
in the UK and around the world. Our work helps the UK:
• By giving UK individuals the chance to connect, visit and engage with people overseas to broaden their opportunities, engage with art, culture and learn.
• Through the programmes we deliver in the UK, for example giving people in the UK learning, skills and the chance to enjoy art, festivals and culture.
• When we make introductions, connections and business opportunities for
UK organisations, social enterprises and businesses, helping them to learn from overseas engagement.
• For wider UK society through the cultural, social and economic benefits from people visiting the UK for study, business or culture.
All of the above leads to an improved international outlook and greater trust – both from the UK to the rest of the world and from overseas countries to the UK, as people from the UK connect with, and inspire trust in, the people they engage with overseas. Research has demonstrated the connection between high levels of trust and a greater willingness of people to want to visit, study in, and do business with, people from the UK. 7
Key benefits that our work brings to the UK
1. Soft power: cultural relations build trust between people in the UK and overseas countries in ways which help both achieve prosperity and security.
2. Showcasing the UK’s creativity: we show the world the UK’s best arts, education and English teaching in ways which shape attitudes to all parts of the UK as a destination for business, tourism and study. For example, our portfolio of festivals, international seasons and touring exhibitions profile and promote the UK’s artistic talent to a global audience. In this way we help to deliver the objectives of the UK and devolved governments, including the UK government’s GREAT Britain campaign, raising the profile of and promoting Britain’s cultural and educational strengths in key markets such as China, India and the USA.
3. anniversary celebrations: we celebrate UK achievement and culture through global commemorations and anniversaries. For example 2015: The Year of Mexico in the UK and the UK in Mexico and Shakespeare Lives, a major global celebration of how William Shakespeare’s life and work lives on after 400 years.
8 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgsproposal
9 Eligibility for ODA is dependent on gross national income per capita. Chile and Uruguay exceeded the
high income country threshold in 2012 and 2013 and will graduate from the list in 2017 if they remain high income countries until 2016.
4. new business: we help to grow cultural and education exports through market intelligence and the new business opportunities we share with our UK partners for the English, education and social enterprise sectors. We support the UK government’s International Education Strategy to promote the whole education sector, as well as the accreditation of UK English language schools.
5. innovation: we support international opportunities for the UK to innovate. This includes supporting the UK’s Science and Innovation Network and Plan for Growth by building international links for young researchers, and the Newton Fund which draws on the UK’s excellence to build strong research and innovation projects with partner countries.
6. Policy dialogue and alignment: we promote UK policy and professional standards as international benchmarks, and help UK policy makers learn from international best practice.
7. education, skills and employability: we support the improvement of learning outcomes in UK schools and help many thousands of young UK citizens develop their ideas, languages and skills. We promote foreign languages and provide international study opportunities for UK young people.
8. Stronger institutions: we help UK institutions benefit from international links, bringing to the UK people from all over the world whose ideas enrich the social and cultural fabric of our nations.
9. Stronger communities: we help to build stronger communities in the UK through supporting language teaching including English as an additional language, support for social enterprise and cultural development.
10. Support to stability and good governance in strategically important countries and helping the UK to meet its oDa priorities: we contribute to the UK government’s commitment to international development support for stability, economic development, reduced inequalities and good governance in developing, fragile and conflict-affected countries around the world, including those vital to the UK’s strategic interests. Our work will continue to align with the emerging Sustainable Development Goals, in particular around quality education, gender equality, rule of law and good governance, strengthening civil society and sustainable development, including through social enterprise. 8 Going forward, we will need to manage the challenge of changing ODA eligibility, with less ‘untied’ grant to spend in non-ODA places, for example Chile and Uruguay may lose ODA status during this plan period. 9
oUr worK in anD for the UK
We outline below key areas of work which are of particular importance in the UK, because the work is delivered in the UK as well as overseas (e.g. Study Work Create), because UK partners play a key role in the delivery overseas (e.g. arts showcasing), and because the work overseas is designed to bring benefits to the UK (e.g. GREAT Britain campaign).
GREAT Britain campaign
The British Council’s programmes enhance the UK’s overall reputation and therefore contribute to GREAT Britain campaign objectives for tourism, business and study with the UK. The British Council also supports these objectives more directly through its active engagement with the GREAT Britain campaign. The campaign focuses on specific UK strengths such as entrepreneurship, knowledge, education and skills, creativity, culture, innovation, sport, countryside and heritage.
The British Council leads on international student recruitment. Our campaign supports the UK government’s International Education Strategy and promotes the UK as a destination for study in a number of key target markets. We work closely with the FCO in each country and also with the UK sector. We reach out to prospective international students through a range of face-to-face and digital channels, such as Education UK and through engagement with international media.
We are growing our focus on cultural engagement as a way of changing perceptions of, and promoting, the UK. In 2015 we will work with a Thomas Heatherwick
exhibition touring East Asia and India, a Year of Cultural Exchange between the UK and Chinese governments and the UK–Mexico Year of Culture to help promote the wider objectives of the GREAT Britain Campaign. The British Council is leading across all the GREAT partners and the UK culture sector on Shakespeare Lives, the strongest cultural soft power opportunity for the UK since London 2012.
We will continue to play an important role in the development of the Culture Diary, which gives information on a range of cultural events involving British cultural organisations, both in the UK and around the world. The Diary will be used by UK cultural institutions to identify opportunities for integrated activity with the GREAT Britain campaign around specific high profile cultural events for the benefit of UK. More broadly we will continue to work in partnership and promote British brands overseas – from our work in sports with the English Premier League and Premiership Rugby to our partners across the UK in the arts such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Edinburgh and Hay Festivals.
Stability and international development overseas
We support UK policies and commitments to international development and building stability overseas, helping to change lives in line with the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals and contributing to broader regional and international security which benefits the UK. We focus on education systems, the rule of law, cultural skills, access to justice, improving governance, promoting active citizenship and advancing the empowerment of girls and women. Through arts culture and development work we give a voice to marginalised and displaced communities strengthening civil society and supporting the growth of creative economies.
Seventy per cent of our core grant is targeted to ODA. We also work as partners and contractors with DFID, the European Union and a number of trusts and foundations to achieve these goals.
Education, research and schools
in higher education and english language we will work with UKTI, BIS, DfE, devolved governments and other UK sector stakeholders to ensure our products and services which promote UK education are provided on a fair and competitive basis, are clearly aligned with government support and priorities and are delivered with consistency across our global network. This is in direct response to the 2014 Triennial Review.
Through this work, we will continue to strengthen our services to the
UK sector with a focus on building partnerships and supporting the UK
government’s £1 trillion export target:
• Our support to English language training providers in the UK will include market intelligence, sharing innovation, learning and research, and providing access to new contracts. Working with English UK, we will continue to manage Accreditation UK, quality assuring over 550 English language teaching institutions in the UK to enhance the reputation of the UK as the most popular global destination for quality English learning.
• We will develop and relaunch Education UK in a new model with a key stakeholder advisory group, supporting the GREAT Britain campaign to attract more students to the UK.
• We will connect UK and international partners through policy forums such as the Going Global conference and Education World Forum.
• We will work with over 70 UK examinations providers, from universities to professional bodies, helping them to secure fees of £80 million as well as creating life-changing opportunities and enhancing trust in the UK worldwide.
Science and research will continue to be a priority. Our management of the
newton fund will build research and innovation relationships between the UK and emerging powers. This will include delivering programmes to support PhD mobility, research and innovation collaboration, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education projects, skills and professional development. Our support to schools across the UK, delivered through Erasmus+, Connecting Classrooms and the International Schools Award, enriches educational quality, standards and outcomes. This includes contributing to skills development, core knowledge and cultural capital, language learning, social and cultural development and to career-long professional learning. We will continue to help our schools sectors learn from the best in the world, sharing policy insights and increasing international professional development opportunities for school leaders and teachers.
We will champion the importance of learning foreign languages as a means to further the opportunities of individuals and the UK’s prosperity and global standing.
British Council Language assistants placed in schools across the UK will enable an estimated 400,000 pupils each year to gain confidence and fluency in a second language and develop their intercultural skills. During 2015 we will review how we can provide research focus and facilitate debate in light of increasing demand for foreign languages at primary school level and promote the benefits of multilingualism. We will continue to work with partners in the UK to support children and adult learners for whom English is not the first language.
Study Work Create
Our Study Work Create programme provides access to international opportunities for UK students and young professionals. The cultural value of broadening horizons and opening international opportunities is acclaimed by the wider cultural and education sectors. Businesses value our programmes to strengthen future employees’ ability to work with individuals and organisations from different cultural backgrounds.
Over the next two years we will increase the number of international
opportunities for young people in the UK for international education,
skills and professional development. Opportunities we will provide
include:
• erasmus+: the EU programme to promote and support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. 10 It provides higher education opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to study in Europe. Through the youth chapter of Erasmus+, we will focus on young people and those active in youth work and youth organisations, developing their skills and knowledge and strengthening European opportunities in non-formal learning.
• generation UK: our campaign to boost the number of UK students participating in study and internship programmes beyond Europe. We will offer study placements in China and India, countries where stronger ties are particularly important for our mutual understanding and prosperity.
• Language assistants: providing opportunities for UK graduates to be English Language Assistants in schools and universities around the world. The scheme gives practical help to the host schools and, for the Language Assistants, strengthens language attainment and boosts personal resilience – good for the UK and for the individuals.
• artists’ international Development fund: Support for emerging UK artists and arts professionals to develop work and collaborate internationally through the funds we manage with the Arts Councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• research: We will enable more than 2,000 UK early career researchers each year to establish links and build their capacity and careers in international science and research collaboration, through various programmes developed with partners (such as research councils and national academies) and funders including BIS and the European Commission. These include initiatives such as Researcher Links, the Newton Fund, the Euraxess UK information portal, and the bilateral Britain–Israel Research Exchange Initiative in Regenerative Medicine. In 2015–16 we will agree an overarching strategy for our work in internationalising UK young people. This will build on the Study Work Create campaign showcasing the full global range of opportunities we offer, and our collaboration with the International Unit at Universities UK to support the UK Strategy for Outward Mobility and related strategies in the devolved administrations.
Arts and culture
We will create a wide range of platforms to support access to global
markets for the best of the arts from across the UK to maintain and
further enhance the UK’s reputation as an open, creative society with
a world leading cultural and creative sector. This will include:
• A focused range of showcases and cultural exchanges across the UK in partnership with the UK Arts Councils, Creative Scotland and others, including at the Edinburgh Festivals, London Book Fair, Hay Festival and British Dance Edition 2015 in Cardiff.
• Bilateral cultural seasons between the UK and other countries, providing opportunities for UK artists and the creative industries in emerging economies, with a new focus in particular on Mexico, Nigeria, Indonesia and South Korea, complementing our ongoing work with China, India and Brazil.
• Cross-cutting cultural relations programmes around UK anniversaries and events: marking 150 years of Wales–Patagonia links and the Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary in 2015; First World War and centenary commemorations including the Somme and the Easter Rising in 2016; also in 2016, Shakespeare Lives, and working on international links with Hull UK City of Culture 2017.
• The rollout of a global cultural skills offer to share world class UK expertise in delivering professional training across areas such as festivals, audience development, heritage management and live and digital production.
• Providing information and advice on EU opportunities by developing our Creative Europe Desk UK partnership with the British Film Institute and all four UK countries to enable more UK arts organisations to benefit from Creative Europe funding awards.
• Planning with Scottish and UK-wide partners towards the next biennial Edinburgh International Culture Summit for Ministers of Culture in 2016.
Social enterprise
In the social enterprise and civil society sectors, we will help more UK organisations to work internationally. Hosting international visits, sharing market research and intelligence, engaging in dialogue overseas and bringing back new business links and learning increases UK organisations’ capacity to build stronger communities across the UK by creating new content and good practice. With our global network focused on creating market opportunities in emerging countries, we will reach UK audiences through key partners including Social Enterprise UK and UK universities with strong civic missions, and look for opportunities to grow this work in partnership with the Cabinet Office and the wider sector.
Working with cities
Our recent partnerships around Derry-Londonderry City of Culture 2013 and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games demonstrate the unique value we can add by bringing our global network and expertise to city-scale initiatives. In the next two years we will create new relationships with major city authorities in England and Wales to run cross-cutting internationalisation campaigns. We will also jointly invest with the UK core cities group, which represents ten of the largest UK cities, in research on areas of common interest around how internationalisation can support economic and social development. We will develop a partnership with Hull UK City of Culture 2017, working together to develop innovative international exchanges and programmes designed to have lasting cultural, social and economic impact.
new PartnerShiPS
We will strengthen our value to the UK through
new partnerships
By building strong relationships and trust with existing partners, we will increase the number of meaningful strategic partnerships that bring innovation, influence, impact and income benefits to our delivery and to the UK.
We are extending our business development approach to global partners, including trusts, foundations and corporates. We will use research to identify and understand prospective sectors and partners (for example, telecoms, online learning sectors) and develop a tight strategic range of collaborations. We will continue to grow capability in our global network to ensure we have the skills we need for managing and stewarding relationships.
We recognise how important it is for the British Council to work with trusts and foundations that have strong reputations in the areas in which we work. With a growing understanding of trusts and foundations we will develop our profile and establish ourselves as a partner of choice.
Having developed our technical understanding of how sponsorship works and an associated strategy for arts sponsorship, we will build on and develop new relationships with major corporates interested in becoming partners in high profile seasons, festivals and bilateral programmes that feature UK assets in priority overseas markets.
There is a growing recognition across the organisation of the non-financial benefits of working with partners. We will extend our corporate scorecard system to capture the full value of our partnership activity and further embed this understanding in the organisation. By 2016, partnering will be one of our principal business models. This will enable us to grow impact fast without growing ourselves at the same pace, and most importantly will demonstrate effective collaborative working, particularly with UK organisations.
Staying connected to UK governments and
our stakeholders
To make sure we stay relevant and connected, we will develop and maintain more systematic engagement with the UK sectors and government stakeholders.
• We will embed an updated UK government relations framework, investing in a closer relationship with our sponsor department the FCO and other relevant departments in Whitehall, and the devolved UK governments.
• Reflecting the changing governance of the UK, guidance and briefing will be rolled out to our global network on the diversity of the UK: its varied demographics, priorities, policies and our approaches to working with governments in the four UK countries.
• We will work with key stakeholders in all parts of the UK to improve our global understanding of the distinctive strengths and assets the UK has to offer in education and culture, to help us make the most of the diversity of the UK as an asset in itself.
• We will develop our long-term UK partnerships including with the UK Arts Councils and Creative Scotland; with Universities UK, Scotland and Wales; and with OFSTED and Education Scotland.
• As noted earlier, our advisory groups and UK country committee structures will be developed to ensure more transparency and balanced representation, and we will engage closely with national governments, authorities and sector bodies through our UK-wide Cultural Diplomacy Group, UK Education Departments meetings, and the Erasmus+ Sector Consultative Groups and devolved country Advisory Groups.
Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Mumbai.
The UK–Russia Year of Culture in 2014 attracted nearly
a million people to over 340 exhibitions and events in
13 cities across Russia – over 12 million were involved
through other media and digital channels.
new wayS of ConneCting with
anD UnDerStanDing eaCh other
throUgh the artS
Through our work in the arts we aim to:
• Increase the prosperity of participating arts professionals and institutions through enhanced artistic quality, financial sustainability and global reputation.
• Develop skills among arts professionals and institutions.
• Attract arts lovers worldwide and increase audiences for UK work globally and for international work in the UK.
• Enhance the UK’s international reputation as a creative, diverse and relevant destination for students, business leaders and tourists.
What we do
We work primarily with arts professionals in the UK and across the world (both arts practitioners and enablers), as well as policy makers, to develop mutually beneficial connections and projects. This allows us to extend UK influence worldwide through exhibitions, performances, screenings, social media, digital platforms and publications.
We are trusted for our focus on artistic quality, innovation and partnership. We have invested in new talent, building a global management team of arts professionals based in our core regions. We have introduced a new funding model to ensure financial sustainability and a balanced arts offer over the next five years.
All this has led to a renewed confidence in our work in the arts. An example of this is our ambitious plans in Mexico in 2015, planned to be the biggest celebration of British creativity in arts, culture, innovation, education, science and business ever to take place in the country. Other examples include new developments for the creative economy, cultural skills and visual arts programmes and a sustained and enhanced culture and development portfolio.
We have established a strong basis to deliver our priorities, through:
• Digital innovation: piloting platforms to showcase and promote portfolios of artistic work sourced through a series of partnerships with UK cultural institutions including the Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Film Institute. This provides a way to develop new audiences and enrich existing audience engagement in our arts programming and a way to provide a strong cultural legacy in our priority markets.
• Major partnerships with both cultural and economic agencies including Arts Council England (ACE), the BBC, British Film Institute, UKTI and the Southbank Centre. Our partnership with ACE has enabled us to work collaboratively with them to develop their £18 million Cultural Export Fund to link with our resources and networks globally for the benefit of the English arts sector. Our Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UKTI identifies major areas of collaboration including a high-value creative opportunities programme; festivals and creative weeks; and showcases and seasons, and sets out a framework for achieving this. Our Creative Europe Desk UK is jointly led by the British Council and the British Film Institute, in partnership with ACE, Creative Scotland, Welsh Government and Arts Council of Northern Ireland, with support from the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the European Commission.
• Development of our cultural skills portfolio building on the UK’s existing expertise as providers of continuing professional development and providing a service to artistic practitioners and cultural institutions internationally, in areas such as arts management, cultural heritage and creative economy.
• The establishment of the artists international Development fund, jointly with ACE, enabling UK artists to access artistic partnerships and networks in their chosen global location and explore new markets abroad to extend and enrich their artistic practice. We have also collaborated with ACE on our support for No Boundaries, a State of the Arts event on the role of culture in 21st century society.
• Implementation of our arts funding model which now includes funding from core grant and funding from British Council earned surpluses, facilitating a more balanced portfolio of cultural activity across countries and regions internationally. This is complemented by a deeper understanding of the impact our work brings, making our achievements both qualitatively and quantitatively more visible.
PrioritieS for the next two yearS:
Up to 2017 we will focus on the following challenges and opportunities:
• Planning and delivering Shakespeare Lives to commemorate Shakespeare 400 years after his death, with an ambitious international programme of artistic and educational events representing a global celebration of his life and work.
• Consolidating our culture and development portfolio focusing on cultural work in fragile and conflict territories including Ukraine, Syria, Liberia and Burma, for example our Artists in Recovery programme supporting and enabling the work of displaced Syrian artists and the Libyan street theatre performances.
• Continuing to support and develop the representation of UK artists at the Venice Biennale, an unparalleled showcase for international contemporary arts, through curating exhibitions and commissioning artists for the British Pavilion, including the representation of the internationally renowned artist Sarah Lucas in 2015.
• Rolling out an innovative digital platform, showcasing and promoting a portfolio of artistic UK work, piloted in China as a digital complement to the UK Now festival and the 2015 Year of Cultural Exchange.
• Empowering a network of business development managers to attract cultural contracts and partnership funding to continue to deliver current levels of arts work, with lower reliance on grant funding.
• Clarifying our offer to the sector and our presence across the UK
including a partnership presence in the north of England in addition to existing Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland offices – diversifying culture across English regions and the UK.
• Delivering major collaborations with agencies designed to deliver economic benefit to the UK in education, business and tourism, including UKTI, GREAT and Visit Britain, for example in the Heatherwick Touring Exhibition and in the UK–Mexico Year 2015.
• Developing our track record in promoting equity and supporting and showcasing performance by disabled artists through the Unlimited brand and building an international audience for such performances recognising the unique talent disability brings to the arts.
• Supporting strategic alignment across the British Council through major events and programmes.
In 2015–16 we will work with:
• Over 730,000 artists, art lovers and, cultural leaders face-to-face.
• More than ten MiLLion exhibition, festival, event and performance attendees.
• over 700,000 artists, art lovers and participants in online communities.
• oVer 12 MiLLion digital online audiences.
