My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary is accountable to Parliament for the activities and the performance of the British Council. As such, he approves the British Council's strategic objectives and agrees the amount of grant-in-aid the British Council receives.
The Permanent Under-Secretary (PUS) of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), as the principal accounting officer, is accountable to Parliament for the British Council's grant-in-aid. The PUS designates the chief executive of the British Council as the British Council's accounting officer.
The British Council Board and the FCO determine the British Council's performance framework in the light of the FCO's wider strategic aims. In carrying out its objectives the British Council sets its own professional standards and devises its own programmes.