Since we are guardians of public money it’s absolutely right that the Arts Council's operations and actions are scrutinised, but frankly your leader column ‘Dirty Windows’ (AP195) was both misleading and inaccurate. The contemporary art consultation is a collaborative piece of work between the Arts Council and a range of organisations including MLA, The Arts Fund, Tate, Heritage Lottery Fund, Engage, the Museums Association, and the museums and galleries of Walsall, Tyne & Wear, Bristol and Manchester. This working group drafted a strategy together and made the draft available to their members and stakeholders. More than 60 other organisations, including the National Campaign for the Arts, VAGA and the Scottish Arts Council were also consulted and have also circulated the draft. Anyone else can request a copy of the document by contacting us at the email address quoted on page 3 of AP195. The online consultation is the last stage of this group's extensive efforts to gather a wide variety of opinion on the draft before the final strategy is published in September 2009. By no stretch of the imagination has this approach been “limited”, “dangerous” or “undemocratic”.
As for Sustain, of course funds are finite and we won’t be able to help everyone – but we have provided an extra £40m to help the arts in England weather this recession and we’re determined to use that money as effectively as we possibly can. Of course, we’re going to have to prioritise applications from organisations that are vital to the arts infrastructure in their region or nationally. That’s what we do. But the criteria we will apply will be about the excellence of an organisation’s work, who and how far they reach, not about their size.