Global Policy Statements | British Council

These global policy statements apply to all British Council employees. They also govern any other person working on British Council premises, including partners of and suppliers to the British Council.

Our Code of Conduct sets the standards for the way we work in all our activities and locations.

Our Welsh language scheme sets out how we provide our services in Welsh.

We have also published a statement on slavery and human trafficking and our tax strategy (PDF 77KB).

Anti-fraud and corruption global policy statement

We have a zero-tolerance policy towards fraud, bribery and corruption.

Complaints global policy statement

We are committed to taking all complaints seriously, and investigating them proportionately and appropriately.

Sanctions, countering terrorist financing and anti-money laundering

Our resources must not be used to support criminal or terrorist purposes or in any way that breaches applicable sanctions.

Environment global policy statement

We are committed to managing and minimising the impact that our activities have on the environment.

Equality global policy statement

We are committed to ensuring that there is no unjustified discrimination in the recruitment, retention, treatment, training and development of our staff.

Fair competition global policy statement

We are committed to conducting our activities in a fair and reasonable manner that is in line with our charitable objectives and which avoids negative impact upon competition.

Financial management and reporting global policy statement

All our expenditure must be open to public scrutiny, and our resources must not be abused, misspent, misappropriated or defrauded.

Freedom of information global policy statement

We always aim to achieve openness and transparency and we recognise our statutory obligations.

Health and safety global policy statement

We have a duty of care to provide a safe environment for our staff, customers and visitors.

Information security and privacy global policy statement

We collect and use personal data to offer individuals information, products and services.

Media and social media global policy statement

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

Records management global policy statement

We keep records of our activities to support governance and help us to comply with legal requirements.

Risk management global policy statement

We are committed to managing risk and embedding risk management into our work.

Safeguarding global policy statement

We have a duty of care to safeguard the children and vulnerable adults we work with.

Security global policy statement

We acknowledge our duty of care to staff, customers, visitors and others, in physical and digital environments.