ACE sets new NPO announcement date

Arts Council England (ACE) has rescheduled the announcement of its next National Portfolio for Friday 4 November, although the reason for the delay remains unclear, prompting concern within the sector.

The funder says the new date has been arranged in agreement with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Applicants to the 2023-2026 Investment Programme had expected to receive decisions on Wednesday this week (26 October), but the announcement was dramatically delayed at the last minute.

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News of the rescheduled date came after two days of silence from ACE. Prior to details of the new date being released Labour MP for Bradford West Naz Shah called for clarity on what was happening, pointing out that "jobs and livelihoods depend on these decisions".

An ACE spokesperson said: "We apologise for the uncertainty this delay has caused and thank applicants for their patience."

Funding cuts speculation

The delay to the NPO decision has prompted speculation that the current economic situation could result in potential cuts to funding.

A fiscal statement due to be made by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Monday (31 October) has been delayed until 17 November, and is expected to detail plans on reducing debt and mid-term economic growth.

“Hunt has already 'rolled the grass' by saying 'eye-wateringly difficult decisions' will have to be made on spending. That, in my opinion, means a lot of critical cultural funding could be withdrawn, removed or denied,” The Art Newspaper’s Tom Seymour said on Twitter.

Independent Producer and Dance Artist Clare Parker agreed, saying the situation “has all the hallmarks of a rollback on arts spending”.

ACE has not given any reasons for the delay, but former Arts Minister Lord Parkinson said on Wednesday it was due to this week's government reshuffle after Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister.

Arts commentator and researcher Dr Susan Jones said she believes there has been a "cut to the arm’s length [principle] which this agency is supposed to have from the government of the day". 

"No more than a fingernail gap betwixt over recent years," she added.

ArtsProfessional has asked ACE to confirm whether or not funding levels for the National Portfolio will remain the same as planned. In response, a spokesperson for ACE described the situation as "an administrative delay" and pointed to details of the budget being available on the ACE website.

As a result of the delay changes have been made to the way the decisions will be announced. It had been intended that the decisions would be announced in Bradford, the host of UK City of Culture 2025 at an in-person event.

Instead there will only be a digital event, consisting of a press conference and question and answer session with ACE Chair Sir Nicholas Serota and Chief Executive Darren Henley which will take place at 11am on the day.

'Chaotic from start to finish'

The delay has been met with widespread dismay across the sector.

Ahead of the new date being released UK Theatre tweeted that it was "deeply disappointed & frustrated" by the situation, adding that that the delay "significantly adds to business uncertainty & anxiety felt by our members & organisations".

Arts consultant David Burgess said he would like to see sector membership bodies call on ACE to commission an independent review of the whole NPO process.

"It's been chaotic from start to finish and lessons need to be learnt for next time," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, arts professionals waiting for decisions have said on Twitter that the delay is impacting their organisation’s ability to plan, with future business decisions reliant on knowing whether or not they will have NPO status.

Wigan STEAM Creative Director Louise Robson said the delay has left the future of the organisation “in limbo” and that not knowing the outcome is affecting the wellbeing of her team.

“It's not that we expect to get it, it's that we don't know so can't make decisions regarding our future," she said.

"We need to bring in some funding, but how much do we apply for when we don't know how much we need?”

Other prospective NPOs are waiting on the decision before recruiting more staff. Executive Director of Diverse City Becky Chapman said the delay is impacting the pre-Christmas recruitment window: “Recruit now and you can appoint by April. Recruit later and you lose one to two months”.

The situation has also raised concerns for organisations that join the portfolio for the first time that may be required to make adjustments to fit the terms of their funding offer.

“For companies coming into the portfolio who may need to make significant shifts to governance, contracts etc on basis of regular funding this is getting very tight,” Dr Vaguechera said on Twitter.

In this latest funding round, ACE has received a record-breaking 1,730 applications, requesting £655m from the available annual pot of £428m for National Portfolio Organisations (NPO).

ACE has previously made clear that, due to levels of demand, many worthy applications will miss out on funding.

A Transition Programme has been set up to allow unsuccessful NPOs, or organisations funded outside the National Portfolio through Business Plan funding, additional time to make a decision on their future - whether that be finding new forms of funding, scaling back their work, or winding down.

ACE has said that, in light of the delay, it will be revising the details of the transition programme to make sure organisations that do not secure funding are not adversely impacted.