New NPOs must meet undecided targets for funding

Organisations in the next National Portfolio must meet targets for expanding opportunities for creative engagement and employment to receive funding.

Arts Council England (ACE) will open applications for the 2023/24 portfolio – "our most representative yet in terms of its location and the communities it serves" – on February 14.

It's likely to be a three year portfolio, as ACE awaits the Spending Review tomorrow (October 27) to guide its currently constrained budget for a broader, better funded portfolio.

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Organisations will be given a "planning figure" for how much they might apply for, though ACE hasn't yet decided how these will be calculated. Settlements can be negotiated once a conditional funding offer is made.

Aspiring National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) must meet at least one of three ACE 'outcomes' – creative people, cultural communities, and a creative and cultural country – and the highest funded NPOs will be expected to deliver on multiple outcomes.

Successful organisations will then submit an activity plan each year outlining how they will meet bespoke targets. 

Sector support organisations (SSOs) are on their way out: ACE plans to remove SSOs as a dedicated category and instead incorporate some of them in the National Portfolio.

Whilst eligibility criteria to apply remain the same, the Arts Council's aims and principles for investment have changed to reflect its latest strategy, Let's Create.

"We believe that all current NPOs are capable of developing plans that contribute to our outcomes," a spokesperson said.

"However our budgets are limited and during the assessment process we may decide that the plans put forward by some organisations not currently in the portfolio are, in our view, likely to make a stronger contribution."

The targets

Penalties for failing to meet targets won't be decided until January, ACE says.

Current NPOs will be judged on their performance against the Creative Case for Diversity, despite ACE having backtracked on sanctions for poor performance last year.

In August, ACE said: "If organisations do not provide evidence of satisfactory progress then we will not make an offer of funding for 2022/23."

ACE has retired the Creative Case in favour of assessing diversity through the inclusion and relevance principle of Let's Create.

That measure is meant to go further, with Chair Nicholas Serota having warned organisations to expect financial sanctions if they can't meet targets in 2022/23.

But ACE says organisations interested in the 2023/24 portfolio will be assessed on the application they submit.

"This is an open application process; therefore organisations will not be excluded from applying on the basis of prior performance."

The funder says it will "elevate" its risk monitoring if NPOs aren't meeting the targets in their activity plans. Those rated as lower risk will receive less oversight.

"We will expect boards to take an active role in monitoring progress against these plans and to see evidence of boards doing this."

The timeline

Organisations will have 10 weeks to apply to the portfolio with their activity plan and suggested grant.

By mid-November, ACE aims to have a financial template for applicants and host several online briefing sessions.

Organisations seeking to join the portfolio must have an "introductory conversation" with ACE staff in between January and the beginning of April.

Those already in the portfolio can use this time to talk one-on-one with their relationship managers.

The new portfolio will be announced by October 2022 and take effect April 1, 2023.