On Wednesday afternoon I went to the Crescent Theatre (not been there in a while) for a briefing from the Arts Council on the new funding arrangements for arts organisations.

Someone from Stan’s Cafe went in the morning and has written up a few thoughts. It’s worth a read as it articulates a few frustrations beautifully. To nick a bit of that write-up:

Now there will no longer be RFOs, every current RFO is being invited to apply for National Portfolio Funding. One advance is that this application process is open to any organisation that qualifies, rather than having to be invited to apply as before. There will certainly be opportunities for some companies to move up from project funding

And that last bit was the reason why a fair few people were in the room.

The session went down reasonably well, given the circumstances. Ros Robins (ACE Regional Director) was sympathetic but direct and didn’t make much attempt to hide the fact that the Arts Council have suffered a blow and are trying to find their feet again.

Here are the slides from her talk:

My notes

I scribbled a few notes and they’re reproduced below, for what they’re worth. Apologies in advance for any omissions or inaccuracies. I’ll try to clarify anything I can.

RFO’s end March 2012
National Portfolio Funding starts April 2012
G4A not changing much now.
Strategic (or managed) funds are changing

Gritted teeth from Ros while outlining the cuts.

Not all bad – some Lottery money coming back in 2013. More info on that nearer the time.

ACE WM reduced their staff from 46 to 27 in the recent restructure. Been asked to halve admin costs again, but will be required to do so in a couple of years time. To achieve this they recognise that they’ll have to wok in collaboration more. There will be a move from doing strategic projects to commissioning others to deliver them.

NPF orgs can’t apply for G4A.

ACE has five 10-year goals:

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

Four major changes to the funding programme:

• open application process (online)
• fixed term of normally 3 years but flexibility for variable length funding agreements for 2-6 years
• funding agreements with orgs based on clear criteria and shared goals
• funding agreements based around ‘strategic’ and ‘programme’ relationships rather than one size fits all

Eligibility

• UK based with activity mainly taking place in England
• Min £40k funding (would be £20k but due to the level of reporting and evaluations that will be required that wouldn’t be enough)
• Engage people in arts activities/help arts orgs to do their work
• Oustanding track record or outstanding potential
• No profit to be distributed to members/shareholders
• Majority will be delivering a programme of artistic work
• Orgs delivering strategic work will have to demonstrate leadership, will have high expectations placed on them and will not necessarily be large flagship organisations
• Applicants must be incorporated
• Must contribute to at least two of ACE’s goals

Criteria for decision making

Stage 1 – assessing the application:

• Contribution to goals and priorities
• Governance, leadership and engagement
• Financial sustainability of the org

Stage 2 – balancing the portfolio:

• All goals priorities
• Diversity
• Range of artforms
• Dfferent sizes/types of orgs
• Geographical spread

Consortium bids are possible. Might be too soon to coordinate them this first time round, but looking over hte 10 years, so there is time to develop a consortium over the next couple of years and put an application in later on.

Applications

All applications must provide:

• Mission
• Proposed programme of work and how funding would be used
• Management accounts 2010/11
• Planned budget 2011/12
• Outline budget for years after
• Non-RFO’s must provide:
• Most recent financial statements
• Evidence for meeting the criteria (governance, quality, engaging audiences, risks)

Orgs decide how much to apply for.

Timeline

• Nov – open for applics
• Nov – briefing meetings and ongoing conversations
• Jan – deadline for applications 10am on 24 January 2011
• Jan – Relationship Managers start to assess applications
• Feb – moderation
• March – decisions
• April – publish Arts Council Plan 2011/12 to 2014/15

It will be a very competitive process. Have a fallback position in case you don’t get funding. G4A applications may be less competitive in 2012. Think about whether you want the extra responsibility and scrutiny.

As well as cast of 100 we will have carol singers to serenade the audience and street urchins giving out programmes, allowing our whole company to join in the fun. It will be fast paced, visually impressive and exceptionally clear (characters, words and plot) and so will be an ideal Christmas night out for the whole family. A perfect first visit to Shakespeare, though anyone familiar with the text will also find some twists to discuss and debate…

It’ll be performed at the Crescent Theatre from 16-19 December. Tickets are £8.50.