1. Briefing session
10 November 2010
Ros Robins, Regional Director,
Peter Phillips, Regional Council Chair
Arts Council England
Ockham’s Razor performing Memento Mori

2. Agenda
• What we do
• Settlement from government
• Achieving great art for everyone
• The new funding programme and applications
• Questions

3. Settlement from government
•29.6% cut in real terms over four years: from £449m to £350m
•regularly funded organisations cut by 6.9% in 2011/12
•by 2014/15, overall organisations budget cut by 14.9%
•administration costs cut by 50% by end of four years

4. Achieving great art for everyone
Goal 1
Talent and artistic excellence are thriving and celebrated
Goal 2
More people experience and are inspired by the arts
Goal 3
The arts are sustainable, resilient and innovative
Goal 4
The arts leadership and workforce are diverse and highly skilled
Goal 5
Every child and young person has the opportunity to experience
the richness of the arts

5. New funding programme
Four major changes from the regular funding programme
• an open application process
• funds for a fixed term of normally three years, but
flexibility for variable length funding agreements for 2 to 6
years
• a funding agreement with organisations based on clear
criteria and shared goals
• a funding agreements based around ‘strategic’ and
‘programme’ relationships, rather than ‘one-size-fits-all’

6. Eligibility
• based in the United Kingdom
• engage people in arts activities or help artists and arts
organisations to carry out their work
• the work we fund takes place mainly in England
• contribute towards two or more of our five goals
• must not be aimed at making a profit to be distributed to
members or shareholders
Applicants must be incorporated
Minimum grant: £40,000 per year
Successful applicants will not be eligible for Grants for the arts

7. The criteria for decision-making
Stage one – assessment of the application:
• contribution to our goals and priorities
• governance, leadership and management
• financial sustainability of the organisation
Stage two – balancing the portfolio:
• all of our goals and priorities
• diversity
• a range of artforms
• different sizes and types of organisations
• geographical spread

8. Applications
All organisations have to provide their:
• mission
• proposed programme of work and how they would use our funding
• management accounts for 2010/11
• planned budget for 2011/12
• outline budget for 2012/13-2014/15
Those not regularly funded have to provide:
• most recent financial statements
• evidence to demonstrate how they meet our criteria
(eg. governance, quality, engaging audiences, risks)
You decide how much funding to apply for.

9. Timeline
November open for applications
Briefing meetings and ongoing conversations
January Deadline for applications 10am 24 January
Relationship Managers start to assess applications
FebruaryModeration
March Regional Councils take decisions <£800k
National Council takes decisions >£800k
We will write to all applicants and announce
decisions
April Publish Arts Council Plan 2011/12 – 2014/15

10. Thank you