Arts Council of Wales Investment Review update

What has happened so far?

On 27^th September, the Arts Council of Wales published the outcome of our Investment Review.

81 organisations across Wales received conditional offers of funding for the 2024/25 financial year, a total of £29.6m. This included 23 organisations who will receive multi-year funding for the first time.

These offers are conditional on the completion of our appeals process and confirmation of the grant funding provided by the Welsh Government for the next financial year.

We received 139 eligible applications for the Investment Review and so, inevitably, not every organisation could be funded, or funded to the level that they had requested.

How did you make your funding decisions?

Funding decisions were made based on the six principles that were outlined in our published Guidance – Creativity, Widening Engagement, Welsh Language, Climate Justice, Nurturing Talent, and Transformation.

We then considered five ‘balancing factors’ – serving communities across Wales, a wide range of artforms and creative opportunities, underfunded and unheard voices, public value, and the size and shape of applicant organisations.

What happens next?

We will work with successful organisations to support them in their plans to develop a programme of activity which begins in April 2024.

Organisations who were unsuccessful in their application, as well as those who may have received offers lower than the amount requested, had the right to appeal on the grounds outlined in the published Appeals process within 21 calendar days of the date of notification. This means that the appeal had to be submitted by 4pm on Wednesday, 18^th October.

How many organisations appealed against their decision, and what happens next?

15 organisations appealed against the initial decision by Council. After consideration by the external reviewer who is independent of Arts Council of Wales, one organisation has been granted grounds for an appeal.

An independent Appeals Panel will now meet to consider the appeal. The panel will be provided with all relevant information about the appeal, as well as any response by the Arts Council of Wales.

The appeal hearing will allow all members of the Appeal Panel to gain a full understanding of the reasons for the Arts Council of Wales’s decision, and for the basis of the appeal, in order that a fair determination can be made.

The applicant and Council will be informed of the panel’s recommendation 7 calendar days after the appeal hearing. Council will then consider the recommendations at its next meeting in December.

What will happen to organisations which will not be funded in future?

Unsuccessful organisations which were previously members of the Arts Wales Portfolio are eligible for Transition Support to assist them in their adjustment. More information about the Transition Support process can be found in our published paper here.

We wrote to all the current Arts Portfolio Wales organisations in February 2023 to inform them there was no guarantee of future Arts Council multi-year funding from April 2024 onwards.

All organisations that were unsuccessful in the Investment Review will be able to apply for other Arts Council of Wales grants which are available, and able to apply in future for multi-year funding.

You’ve been talking about ‘Strategic Interventions’. What does that mean?

During the Investment Review process, we began to recognise that there were challenges or potential gaps in provision. We therefore allocated £1.4m to undertake a series of strategic interventions to help us address these issues.

We have identified that some parts of Wales are under-represented because there were low numbers of applications, or applications that qualified for funding. We have written to relevant local authorities in order to discuss how we can work together to improve the situation.

We have made commitments in 14 areas in total, including disabled representation in theatre through RAMPS Cymru, a review of English language theatre, a review of community dance and a review of traditional music. Whilst the format of these strategic interventions is still to be determined, we’re committed to working closely with local authorities and other stakeholders as we develop these interventions.

Our published report includes a list of our strategic interventions we have identified through the Investment Review process. The summary can be found on page 46 of the report.