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<P align=left><SPAN></SPAN></P><SPAN>Note:</SPAN><SPAN> On </SPAN><st1:date Month="4" Day="1" Year="2002"><SPAN>1 April 2002</SPAN></st1:date><SPAN>, </SPAN><st1:country-region><st1:place><SPAN>England</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region><SPAN>'s arts council announced one of the most significant developments in its 56-year history.&nbsp; On that date, the Arts Council of England and the</SPAN><SPAN> ten Regional Arts Boards joined together to&nbsp;form a single&nbsp;development organisation for the arts. &nbsp;The new body&nbsp;has nine regional offices and a national office. &nbsp;Each region&nbsp;has a Council, and the 15-strong National Council&nbsp;includes the Chair of each of the new Regional Councils.&nbsp; More information about Arts Council England can be found on the <A href="http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/" target=_blank><SPAN>web site</SPAN></A>.</SPAN>
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<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>The Mandate</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>The Arts Council England (then the Arts Council of Great Britain) was established by legislation and Royal Charter in 1946. It is the national body for the arts in </SPAN><st1:country-region><st1:place><SPAN>England</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region><SPAN>. It distributes public money from government and the lottery to artists and arts organisations, both directly and through the&nbsp;nine regional arts councils.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>The Council serves professional arts, community arts, music, theatre, dance, visual arts, crafts, folk or traditional culture, galleries, cultural industries, writing, support for book publishing, magazine publishing, and translation, media arts, and arts education.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>The Council</U></STRONG></SPAN></P>
<UL type=disc>
<LI><SPAN>provides financial support to arts/cultural organisations </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>provides financial support to individuals in the arts/culture </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>advises the national government on matters related to the arts/culture </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>develops national arts/cultural policies </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>implements national arts/cultural policies </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>evaluates national arts/cultural policies </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>conducts research in the arts/culture </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>compiles and maintains national cultural statistics and databases </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>promotes public understanding and appreciation of the arts/culture </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>awards prizes/honours in the arts/culture </SPAN></LI></UL>
<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>The Governing Body</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>The 15 person Council is the governing body of the Arts Council of England; members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Nine of the Council members represent the regions; they are Chairs of the nine regional councils.&nbsp; The length of a members term is determined by the Secretary of State and is usually between 2-3 years, though some members are reinstated. Appointments are governed by the Code of Practice for Public Appointments of the Office of the Commission for Public Appointments.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN></SPAN><SPAN><STRONG><U>The Staff</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>Council employees are not members of the public service. There are currently 612 staff in total, this covers both the former Arts Council of England and the former Regional Arts Boards. The chief executive officer is appointed by the Council. The staff who have direct program responsibilities (those who manage programs of support to organisations and/or individuals) come from the field. The organisation has nine regional&nbsp;offices whose role is to contribute a regional perspective to national policy making, to monitor and liaise with funded organisations and to make awards from Arts Council England's Grants for the Arts Programme.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>Relationship with Government</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>ACE is a non-departmental Public Body. It is a national body operating independently of Ministers (at arms length) but for which Ministers are ultimately accountable. Its independence from government is ensured by the existence of an independent Council body. Its accountability to government is ensured through a formal funding agreement with and regular reporting to government. The Council is required to file an annual report with the legislature and its financial accounts are audited by an auditor appointed by the government.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>The government</SPAN></P>
<UL type=disc>
<LI><SPAN>appoints the members of the governing board </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>establishes the overall policies within which the organisation works </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>determines the amount of funding the organisation receives. </SPAN></LI></UL>
<P align=left><SPAN>The Council</SPAN></P>
<UL type=disc>
<LI><SPAN>determines its own policies </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>determines its own current priorities </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>establishes its own strategic plan </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>appoints its chief executive officer </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>selects its other staff members </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>determines the allocation of the budget to various programs and activities </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>establishes its various funding programs </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>determines who will receive its financial support. </SPAN></LI></UL>
<P align=left><SPAN>The Council co-operates with other independent funding bodies, which receive some of their revenues from the Council.&nbsp; Arts Council England and the Local Government Association have a joint Framework Agreement: 'Local government and the arts; a vision for partnership'.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>Budget and Revenue Sources:</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>ACE's&nbsp;total budget&nbsp;for 2003-2004 is approx&nbsp;£530 million (approx US$882 million). 62% of this budget is contributed by the national government, while 38% is generated by the lottery.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>ACE receives annual funding from the governments general revenues or culture budget and government revenues derived from the lottery. Over the last five years, funding from government has increased.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>While the Council does not receive donations from non-government sources, it has relationships with sponsors and other bodies who contribute to artistic activities.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>Programs of Financial Support for the Arts/Cultural Community</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>The Council provides financial support to organisations and individuals, and it provides financial support to lower levels of government. Most of its programs are organised by discipline or sector. </SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>The funds can be used for</SPAN></P>
<UL type=disc>
<LI><SPAN>creation </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>research and development </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>production, presentation and exhibition </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>publication </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>the operations of an organisation </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>capital expenses (new buildings, renovations, etc.) </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>deficit reduction. </SPAN></LI></UL>
<P align=left><SPAN>Program funds cannot be used for</SPAN></P>
<UL type=disc>
<LI><SPAN>wholly commercial activity </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>funding commercial organisations/companies </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>conservation and preservation activities (heritage) </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>individual educational grants </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>projects which are not accessible to the public </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>projects which do not provide demonstrable public benefit </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>touring which is entirely out of the country. </SPAN></LI></UL>
<P><SPAN>In April 2003, Arts Council England launched Grants for the Arts, for individuals, organisations and national touring.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>Assessment of Applications for Financial Support</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>Applications for financial support are assessed by officers within the Arts Council.&nbsp; Council formally approves funding arrangements. Peer assessors are selected on the basis of recommendations. They make recommendations to the officers, who formally process the applications. A peer assessor may serve in that capacity between one and six years.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>Assessors are required to record any potential conflicts of interest, and a declaration of interest form is filed with the relevant Council department or secretariat.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>Unique or Special Features of the Organisation</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>In April 2002, the Arts Council of England and the ten Regional Arts Boards joined together to form a single development organisation for the arts.&nbsp; Arts Council England has a national office and nine regional offices.&nbsp; All offices are grouped under four headings - Arts, Development, External Relations and Finance and Operations.&nbsp; In some of the offices, two of these functions are combined in one department.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>Greatest Current Challenge</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>The greatest challenges are increasing the resources available to the arts in England,&nbsp;and making the case for the arts in other (non-arts) sectors and achieving ACE ambitions for the arts.</SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN><STRONG><U>Greatest Current Strength</U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P align=left><SPAN>Three strengths are particularly important:</SPAN></P>
<UL type=disc>
<LI><SPAN>A new Council and new structure equipped for the new national strategic function </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>Increased ability to use grant in aid and lottery funding in tandem (following the 1997 lottery legislation) </SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>Extra funding for 2000-2003 of £100 million</SPAN>
<LI><SPAN>Extra funding for 2003-2006 of £75 million.</SPAN></LI></UL>
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