Arts Council England (ACE) has announced that the Strategic Support Fund for museums will no longer exist from 2015-18.
Instead a new open access fund will be launched in October, alongside a new budget for strategic priorities.
John Orna-Ornstein, director of museums at ACE, said that the museum development fund, worth £3m per year and designed to support smaller museums, will be allocated as part of the new strategic budget. However it is understood that the fund will not be ringfenced.
Orna-Ornstein said that the open access grants fund for museums would be at least £10m a year. He added that he hoped the fund would support ACE goals around resilience, leadership innovation and diversity in the museum sector, with grants of between £15,000 and £300,000 over one to three years.
The new budget for strategic priorities of approximately £10.4m a year will cover museum development, delegated grant programmes and ‘strategic interventions’ such as supporting museums' international work. It will also include support for existing programmes such the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Accreditation and Designation.
Meanwhile Major Partner Museums will receive £21.5m in 2015/16, a £1.2m increase, which ACE hopes will allow for a wider geographical spread.
An ACE spokeswoman said: “In order to create a greater geographical spread amongst the Major Partner Museums we have had to find additional budget. This means that the strategic budget for museums will decrease accordingly.”
Orna-Ornstein added that he anticipated that in future Major Partner Museums would have a clearer leadership role and have designated responsibilities.
Alan Davey, ACE’s chief executive, said: “At the heart of this investment strategy is the desire to retain ambition, risk, excellence and reach in the arts and culture sector in the next three years.
“We know that these remain austere times but together with partners we must continue to invest in a way that ensures a healthy cultural ecology all over the country.”
The Major Partner Museum programme will run from 2015-18.
The amounts for 2016/17 and 2017/18 for all three funding strands for museums have yet to be confirmed and will be subject to ACE’s grant-in-aid settlement.
The investment plans come after the announcement of cuts to ACE’s museum funding of 5% following last June’s spending review, and a further 2.3% for two years from 2014/15 following the autumn statement, announced in December.
The Major Partner Museum applications process is now open. Museums have until 17 March to apply and successful bids will be announced on 1 July.
Details of how the strategic budget will be allocated from 2015 have yet to be confirmed, but it is thought that it will cover some of the work of the museum development fund, focusing on museum development, national and international activities, touring and digital projects.
09.01.14
This story was amended following further clarification from ACE
Instead a new open access fund will be launched in October, alongside a new budget for strategic priorities.
John Orna-Ornstein, director of museums at ACE, said that the museum development fund, worth £3m per year and designed to support smaller museums, will be allocated as part of the new strategic budget. However it is understood that the fund will not be ringfenced.
Orna-Ornstein said that the open access grants fund for museums would be at least £10m a year. He added that he hoped the fund would support ACE goals around resilience, leadership innovation and diversity in the museum sector, with grants of between £15,000 and £300,000 over one to three years.
The new budget for strategic priorities of approximately £10.4m a year will cover museum development, delegated grant programmes and ‘strategic interventions’ such as supporting museums' international work. It will also include support for existing programmes such the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Accreditation and Designation.
Meanwhile Major Partner Museums will receive £21.5m in 2015/16, a £1.2m increase, which ACE hopes will allow for a wider geographical spread.
An ACE spokeswoman said: “In order to create a greater geographical spread amongst the Major Partner Museums we have had to find additional budget. This means that the strategic budget for museums will decrease accordingly.”
Orna-Ornstein added that he anticipated that in future Major Partner Museums would have a clearer leadership role and have designated responsibilities.
Alan Davey, ACE’s chief executive, said: “At the heart of this investment strategy is the desire to retain ambition, risk, excellence and reach in the arts and culture sector in the next three years.
“We know that these remain austere times but together with partners we must continue to invest in a way that ensures a healthy cultural ecology all over the country.”
The Major Partner Museum programme will run from 2015-18.
The amounts for 2016/17 and 2017/18 for all three funding strands for museums have yet to be confirmed and will be subject to ACE’s grant-in-aid settlement.
The investment plans come after the announcement of cuts to ACE’s museum funding of 5% following last June’s spending review, and a further 2.3% for two years from 2014/15 following the autumn statement, announced in December.
The Major Partner Museum applications process is now open. Museums have until 17 March to apply and successful bids will be announced on 1 July.
Details of how the strategic budget will be allocated from 2015 have yet to be confirmed, but it is thought that it will cover some of the work of the museum development fund, focusing on museum development, national and international activities, touring and digital projects.
09.01.14
This story was amended following further clarification from ACE
