ACE confirms changes to National Portfolio

A charity that aims to improve access to complementary therapies and healing arts services has been added to the National Portfolio after successfully appealing Arts Council England's initial decision not to fund it.

Meanwhile, six organisations that were offered funding in November have been unable to reach an agreement on conditions with ACE, meaning the overall size of the portfolio is now 985 organisations, five fewer than the 990 originally announced.

Arts Council England has said that the new organisation – Robin Hood Health Foundation based in Brighton – had its application reassessed after it was initially rejected.

READ MORE:

A spokesperson for ACE said: "Where an applicant believes that we have not followed our processes correctly, they may lodge a complaint and have their application reassessed if the complaint is upheld.

"Following reassessment of Robin Hood Health Foundation’s application, we were pleased to be able to offer funding to Robin Hood Health Foundation through our 2023-26 National Portfolio.

"We look forward to working with them as they deliver participatory arts-for-health activity across places like Brighton, Crawley, Slough, and Newham."

However, six organisations originally lined up for the portfolio are no longer to be a part of it after failing to agree terms with ACE – Cornwall Museums Partnership, Cresswell Heritage Trust, Live Art Development Agency, Redbridge Drama Centre, Scottee and Friends, and The Creative Art House.

In the case of Scottee and Friends, the news comes just weeks after Scottee announced he was leaving the theatre collective he co-founded five years ago.

In a statement on the company's website Scottee said he was stepping back for health reasons.

Investing responsibly

The spokesperson for ACE said there are two reasons why conditional offers don't turn into funding agreements: either the organisation declines the offer, or during the negotiation period it is identified that the proposed activity submitted at the point of application might not be deliverable as intended.

They added that if ACE believes the risk of funding is too great, it may decide to fund an organisation outside of the portfolio.

"Our funding agreements are necessary to ensure that our funding is invested responsibly and in a way that delivers value for the public, and in a way that will continue to deliver on our strategy in Let’s Create."

The failure to reach agreement in six cases comes despite ACE pledging to relax funding terms for organisations in light of ongoing financial pressures.

ACE has not released specific details about why agreements were not reached with individual organisations.