As part of its response to the McIntosh Report of 2008, Arts Council England (ACE) is developing new criteria to assess applicants wishing to become Regularly Funded Organisations (RFOs), which will be published to improve the transparency of the funding process. A spokesperson for ACE told AP that, having recently run major public consultations on self-assessment and peer review, it will not be carrying out a full public consultation on the matter. Instead, there is to be “a light-touch consultation with a range of people and organisations, including local government interests, arts organisations and intermediary bodies, and a group of RFOs which received regular funding from the Arts Council for the first time in the last investment strategy”. Interested parties are welcome to make comments through these intermediary bodies. ACE is posing questions concerning the clarity, helpfulness and emphasis of the criteria, as well as any omissions or modifications. A final version of the regular funding criteria is expected to be published in the autumn.
