A new fund of £40m, support for the Town Centres Initiative, and a £4m increase in the Grants for the Arts (GfA) budget have been announced by Dame Liz Forgan, the new Chair of Arts Council England (ACE). The ‘Sustain’ fund is drawn from ACE’s Lottery income, and made possible by a radical reduction over the next two years in the Lottery cash balances held by ACE, from £50m to £30m a year. It will offer “extra financial support and expert help and advice for organisations under pressure specifically as a result of recession” in the financial years 2009/10 and 2010/11. Grants of £75,000–£3m and expert help are available to arts organisations primarily working in England that have existed for more than three years, but ACE will prioritise “those who are seen as vital to the Arts Council achieving its mission of ‘Great art for everyone’”. Dame Liz has already announced that ACE will do all it can to protect its Regularly Funded Organisations (AP192). ACE identifies potential uses for the fund as “resolving immediate cash flow problems; maintaining the quality of artistic output; purchasing essential capital assets; continuing education, community and audience development work; completing building repairs and renewals [and] developing necessary organisational capability”. Regional offices will make the initial assessment of applications, which will then be approved by a team including Chief Executive, Executive Director – Arts Planning and Investment, and Executive Director – Arts Strategy. Assessment will be based on information including contribution to artistic excellence, audience engagement, business and financial management, organisational capacity and governance. The uplift in the GfA budget, from £52m to £54m in 2009/10 and to £56m in 2010/11, has also been funded through the reduction in ACE’s Lottery cash balance. It will be available to individual artists and smaller arts organisations.
The Town Centres Initiative, which was announced by Communities Secretary, Hazel Blears, and Culture Secretary, Andy Burnham, on 14 April, aims to make empty retail space available for creative activities to reinvigorate town centres. Grants between £1,000 and £10,000 are part of an overall fund of £3m, of which £500,000 comes from ACE. This will also be supported by new provisions including special planning application waivers, standard interim-use leases, and temporarily leasing shops to councils. This will allow empty shops to get makeovers for use as cultural, community or learning services: examples given include art and craft exhibitions, music workshops and community police centres.