Plans for a leaner Arts Council in England are being shared with the organisation’s staff and stakeholders prior to being agreed by its National Council. Under the proposed new structure, which is being drawn up in response to Government demands for Arts Council England (ACE) to cut the administrative costs of its Grant-in-Aid activities by 50% by 2015, the organisation will be led by a five member Executive Board, reduced from the existing nine. Artform and cultural leadership will continue across the country, but five ‘hubs’ with a number of satellite offices will replace existing areas and regions, and a smaller National hub will be “distributed across three locations”. The existing Grants for the Arts assessment centre in Manchester will become ACE’s ‘investment centre’. Although jobs will inevitably be shed, the latest restructuring will see the role of relationship management preserved – something that arts organisations value, according to ACE’s latest stakeholder research (AP252). The final proposed operating model and organisation structure will be presented to the National Council at the end of June, and consultation with unions and staff will begin in July.
