To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current British Council activity in each country of central Asia, including levels of funding; and what plans will be implemented with regard to British Council activity. [HL528]

In Central Asia, the British Council has offices in Kazakhstan (Almaty and Astana) and in Uzbekistan (Tashkent), and also delivers small programmes from these centres to Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The British Council also has offices in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which it funds and operates on a regional basis. Grant funding for 2009-10 is approximately £2 million.