Arts Council England delays investment programme announcement

Arts Council England (ACE) has confirmed that it will not be announcing its 2023-2026 investment programme on 26 October as previously expected.

The funder said it had agreed to delay the announcement but did not give a reason or confirm a new date. Instead, in an official statement, it said it would name the successful applicants “as soon as possible within the coming days”.

ACE’s chief executive, Darren Henley, added: “We feel for everyone awaiting the outcome of their funding application.

"We recognise the importance of giving organisations certainty to enable business planning and we know a delay will cause some disruption.

“We thank everyone for their patience. We are working with the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to reschedule this announcement as soon as possible.”

The funder had organised a physical announcement in Bradford, the City of Culture 2025, but it has said this will be a digital event only now.

Earlier in the summer, the arts council revealed it had received a record-breaking 1,730 applications for its 2023-2026 investment programme - more than double the number of National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) it currently funds.

The investment round, which closed for applications on 18 May, is ACE’s most over-subscribed to date. It received a total of 1,663 applications for NPO funding and a further 67 for Investment Principle Support Organisations (IPSOs).

The annual budget available for NPOs alone is £428m but applications exceeded £655m. For IPSOs, the annual budget available is £8.2m but applications exceeded £17.5m.