Does it add up ?

There's a slight mismatch between three sources on the BBC funding deal - BBC, DCMS and FCO - most importantly about the World Service.

Last year the BBC received £272m grant in aid from the FCO for World Service output. The FCO departmental release says the BBC will take over responsibility for funding from 2014 - so there is the equivalent of a standard three year settlement still to discover.  Once presumes it's substantially down on the previous deal, because, overall, the headline phrase is that the BBC's covering £340m costs previously paid by the Government.  That includes BBC Monitoring (not BBC Monitor, as mumbled by George Osborne) currently funded at £25m a year, and £100m subvented to S4C.  We know, from the DCMS, that S4C faces a 25% cut, bringing the BBC's obligation down to £75m.   Still it all adds up to more than £340m.

Meanwhile, in the world of spin, talk is about merging finance functions at World Service into the White City mothership.  They previously needed to be separate to keep the handling of the FCO's money unsullied by the domestic licence fee - from 2014 that won't be necessary.

1630 Update: Confirmed that World Service income takes a 16% cut over the next four years (and boss Peter Horrocks say it could be higher, because of the need to cover additional pension costs).   Still, should be a bit better than the 25% everyone was expecting.