The Arts Council of England

The Arts Council's work in making a case for increased support for the arts was rewarded in July 2000 with the announcement that the arts were set to receive an additional £100 million a year by 2003/04. The extra money will enable more people to enjoy arts of the highest quality.

During the past year, the Arts Council has announced plans for how the additional funds will be used. Three areas will benefit:

• Education – through a new Creative Partnerships programme
• Theatre – to help reinvigorate theatres and theatre companies across the country
• Core funding – a significant increase for many arts organisations

Creative Partnerships

Creative Partnerships is a £40 million investment in the creative and artistic development of young people. There will be Creative Partnerships in 16 areas across England, set up between 2002 and 2004. This national pilot programme will provide artists and arts organisations with an unprecedented opportunity to establish creative links with young people, especially in schools. The areas where partnerships will be established range from the Tees Valley and South Yorkshire to Norfolk and Cornwall. Once the pilot has demonstrated the value of this approach to working with young people, the Arts Council hopes it will be possible for Creative Partnerships to be set up across the country.

Theatre

Last year the Arts Council warned that theatre needed an additional £25 million a year to pull it back from the brink of crisis. In March 2001, 194 theatres around the country were allocated extra funding, increasing the theatre budget from £40 million in 2000/01 to £70 million by 2003/04. Most of the money will go into the core work of theatre organisations.

Producing theatres and touring companies are the major beneficiaries, with many organisations receiving increases above 30 per cent. The main outcomes of the new funding package include:

• More theatre and better theatre for audiences across the country
• More actors, directors and writers able to develop their careers in theatre
• More theatre produced by Black and Asian practitioners.

Core funding

Thanks to the additional money from Government, the Arts Council is giving over 200 arts organisations the largest grant increases for many decades, as well as giving them firm funding figures for three years – helping them to plan their work more effectively.

Most of the additional funding will be available in 2002/03, with further increases in 2003/04. Overall, the money given to organisations as core funding rises from £252 million in 2000/01 to £337 million in 2003/04. The funding increase averages 17 per cent by 2003/04, with some organisations receiving two or three times their present grant. Examples include Ricochet and Random dance companies and the visual arts organisation New Contemporaries, whose grants will more than double.

The budget included significant increases for literature, visual arts and dance. Fifty organisations will receive revenue funding for the first time.