Devolution in the UK - Scotland

06 September 2012

We have always worked for the benefit of the four nations which make up the UK. We continue to do this at the same time as reducing our call on tax payer funding.

 
 
 
For the whole UK
 
  • Since its foundation in 1934, the British Council has been developing closer cultural relations between all four countries of the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. 
  • We have always had offices and people in Scotland, as well as in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, to ensure Scotland’s distinctive education system, arts and culture are woven into the fabric of all our work around the world.
  • We distribute management and corporate responsibilities among our different offices in the UK to make sure that we truly represent the whole of the UK.
  • Reflection and promotion of the diversity of the UK is a core element of all of our work and guides our planning and delivery.  
 
Benefit to Scotland
  • The British Council was instrumental in the creation of the Edinburgh Festival immediately after the Second World War and has supported and promoted it worldwide ever since. 
  • We have created international educational opportunities for millions of Scotland’s students and young people over the decades and bring thousands of talented young people from around the world to study and invest in Scottish education and culture.
 
Organisationally apolitical
  • The British Council’s charitable purposes require us to be apolitical and to demonstrate operational independence from Westminster and devolved UK governments. 
  • The work we do is for and on behalf of the UK and receives core funding from the UK government. We deliver education and other contracts for the Scottish government as well as the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies. 
  • These activities and the representational element of our work for the UK require us to have working relationships with all four UK governments, parliaments and assemblies. But we are forbidden from taking an organisational stance on the political issues which may divide them.
 
Devolution/Independence
  • This means we do not organisationally favour one particular outcome in the Scottish independence debate. 
  • Should there be a change in the governance of the UK affecting our role and our work, we will always respond to it positively and constructively. 
  • As an organisation, the British Council is required to remain clearly apolitical, including on the issue of Scottish independence. 
 
We believe in open and frank debate between different cultures
  • More than 7,000 people work for the British Council around the world. Many are Scottish by birth or residence. But the majority of our staff worldwide are not British citizens. 
  • All of the people who work with us will have personal views about governance and civil society, informed by their own experience in different environments around the world.
  • All of our work, but particularly our work in the arts, international development and governance, puts our people in situations around the world where they experience at first hand different ways of seeing identity, nationality, democracy and representation. 
  • People around the world are interested in what is happening in the UK and our people’s opinions on these issues.
  • As part of representing the broad spectrum of responsible UK opinion, we encourage our people to share their own view on topics and issues, including their views on the future of the UK. This helps others understand the country we represent and stimulates open and constructive debate.
 
Facts
  • The Foreign Office grant in 2011-12 was £180 million. Of this, operating expenditure in the UK, excluding overhead and support costs, is £26 million. We calculate that between 7% and 8% of this is spent in Scotland. 
  • We are a charity operating globally, with most activity taking place outside the UK and funds spent outside the UK. These activities have many Scottish beneficiaries and there is an overall benefit to Scotland.  
  • Our systems account at the level of the UK and do not apportion overseas spend at the level of the different countries within the UK.
  • In 2010-11, we worked with more than 560 organisations across Scotland. This included 351 schools, 19 higher education institutions (HEIs), 22 further education institutions and 48 artists or arts organisations.  
  • In 2010-11, we involved Scottish organisations in 74 international initiatives and provided links to 119 different countries across the world.
  • In 2011-12, there were 1,000 international school partnership projects in Scotland, reaching 24% of Scotland’s 2,700 schools.
  • The Erasmus programme for Scotland led to 2,129 student and 433 staff visits, 1,650 student study exchanges and 47 student work placements
  • Missions by senior academics from 17 Scottish HEIs to China and 14 HEIs to India generated over £1m of business. Scotland linked with 52 HEIs in China, 47 in India, 26 in the US, 15 in Canada, 14 in Pakistan and 13 in Russia.  
  • More than 37,000 overseas students came to Scotland in 2011, representing 1.2% of the world’s share and 12% of the UK share.
  • On being established, our Scotland office helped create the Edinburgh Festival as a Scottish window on the world. It is now the world’s largest cultural festival and  generates nearly £250m for Scotland annually.