ROLE

  Funding: Arts Council England receives grant-in-aid from the DCMS, and is responsible for distributing it in accordance with the objectives set out in the Royal Charter. The majority of grant-in-aid is awarded to organisations, which receive funding on an ongoing basis. Arts Council England is also a National Lottery distributor.

  Partnerships: A key function of Arts Council England is to forge partnerships that benefit artists and arts organisations. This includes bringing funding from other sources to match the Arts Council support and making wider links between arts organisations and/or funding bodies.

  Other activity: Arts Council England commissions research and provides advice and information to arts organisations on matters such as marketing, business practice, and touring. It provides an overview of arts activity that allows it to address gaps in provision both by area and by art form.

PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION

  The relationship between DCMS and the Arts Council is known as the "arm's length" policy. This means that the Arts Council is given freedom to make individual funding decisions without frequent or overbearing intervention by the Government. The Arts Council must, however, be able to account for their decisions and explain them to Government, Parliament and public. The Government may intervene in matters of significant public interest.

RESTRUCTURING AND RENAMING

  Up until 2002, the Regional Arts Boards were independent companies and grants were awarded to them from The Arts Council of England, subject to conditions set by the Arts Council. On 1 April 2002, The Arts Council of England and the 10 Regional Arts Boards joined together to form a single development organisation for the arts in England. Arts Council England has nine regional offices matching the Government's regional boundaries, and a national office.

GRANTS FOR THE ARTS

  The Arts Council currently runs five funding programmes under Grants for the arts:

  Grants for individuals: An individual can apply for a grant for arts-related activities, which might include:

—  projects and events;

—  commissions and productions;

—  research and development;

—  capital items (such as equipment);

—  professional development and training, including travel awards;

—  bursaries;

—  fellowships

—  residencies; and

—  touring.

  Applications can cover more than one type of activity and awards typically range from £200 up to a total of £30,000. Most grants awarded are under £30,000. Applications for grants can be made to cover activities lasting up to three years.

  Grants for organisations: Arts organisations and other people who use the arts as part of their work can apply for grants for arts-related activities. This might include:

—  projects and events;

—  activities for people to take part in;

—  education activities;

—  research and development;

—  commissions and productions;

—  marketing activities;

—  audience development (activity carried out specifically to meet the needs of audiences and to help arts organisations develop ongoing relationships with audiences);

—  capital items (such as equipment and improvements to facilities and buildings);

—  professional development and training;

—  organisational development to improve the long-term stability of arts organisations; and

—  touring.

  Applications can cover more than one type of activity. Grants to organisations usually range from £200 up to a total of £100,000, but most are under £30,000. Applications for grants can be made to cover activities lasting up to three years.

  Grants for national touring: National touring applies to tours in two or more Arts Council England regions. All kinds and scales of work receive funding to tour in England. Tours are also considered where up to 15% of the planned tour is in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Grants can help cover costs associated with time-limited, not-for-profit tours. Arts Council England encourages artists, producers, venues and promoters to work together so that audiences can enjoy the best possible work.

  Grants for national touring are available for individuals and organisations and normally range from £5,000 up to a total of £200,000, but most are under £100,000. Applications for grants can be made to cover activities lasting up to three years.

  Grants for stabilisation and recovery: Grants for the arts for stabilisation and recovery are aimed at larger-scale organisations, which are central to arts provision in England and have a financial turnover of £250,000 or more with audiences in excess of 25,000 per year.

  Stabilisation helps arts organisations to develop and re-focus their work, giving them an opportunity to put themselves on a more secure footing. These awards are made to help organisations develop their own stabilisation strategies and to provide the funding necessary to enable change.

  Recovery assists key strategic arts organisations to develop financial recovery plans, in conjunction with their key stakeholders, which will enable them to secure their operation's stability in the medium term.

Application Procedures

  Grants for the arts, Individuals; Grants for the arts, Organisations; and Grants for the arts, National Touring.

  Who can apply?

—  Artists, performers, writers, promoters, presenters, curators, producers and other individuals working in the arts;

—  arts organisations;

—  local authorities and other public organisations;

—  partnerships, collectives, and regional and national organisations;

—  organisations whose normal activity is not arts-related, including voluntary and community groups; and

—  groups of organisations or individuals. (One of the organisations or individuals involved will need to take the lead and have the main responsibility for managing the application and any grant.)

  The application has to be arts-related and based mainly in England. There are, however, certain exceptions to this rule, such as when artists based in England undertake professional development activities in other countries. You must be based in the UK if you are applying for a grant for touring.

  Restrictions apply to organisations that receive regular funding from the Arts Council. They will need to check with their lead officer before applying. Individuals working for regularly funded organisations may only apply for training, professional development and travel grants in certain circumstances.

National Lottery

  The National Lottery was launched in November 1994. DCMS is now responsible for overseeing lottery distribution. Each of the lottery distributors makes decisions independently of government within a framework of policy directions that they receive from DCMS. The National Lottery Commission oversees the process of the National Lottery independently. The allocation of Lottery funding is governed by the principle of "additionality". This means that the distributors must not give grants that might subsidise a statutory service or replace statutory funding.

  The distributors who give some, or all, of their funding to the arts are:

—  Arts Council England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Scottish Arts Council and Arts Council of Wales;

—  Big Lottery Fund.

Arts Council England

  The Arts Council has five main funding programmes: Grants for Individuals, Grants for organisations, Grants for Touring, Grants for Stabilisation and Grants for Recovery. The Grants for Individuals Programme is funded by Grant-in-Aid and the remaining programmes are lottery funded.