A Message from CBBC Chief Executive Matthew Rous
Dear Member,
Many of you will have seen the article published in The Times on 21st August, reporting concerns among certain Members of Parliament at funding provided to CBBC by the Department for International Trade (DIT). This funding – incorrectly described as a “subsidy” – has of course been paid to CBBC under contract for the delivery of support to British exporters.
The Times contacted me for comment before publication of the article. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to set the record straight on the contractual point, and to highlight our achievement in helping to deliver £2.35 billion worth of Export Wins for UK businesses over the course of three years.
Nonetheless The Times’s choice of headline, describing CBBC as “a pro-China group”, is disappointing. So too is the paper’s decision to include in the article an unsubstantiated allegation that CBBC “seems to lobby on behalf of Beijing’s interests”.