ACE announces big changes to National Portfolio investment programme

The next round of National Portfolio Organisation funding will feature “significant changes”, according to information released this week by Arts Council England (ACE).

The changes to NPO funding for the five years from April 2028 follow ACE’s new Strategic Framework, which was published in May in response to the Independent Review of the Arts Council, led by former Labour MP Margaret Hodge.

The review included proposals to scrap the arts council’s 2020-30 strategy, Let’s Create, in favour of a “new, less prescriptive strategy”, and a recommendation for a “completely new model” for NPO funding.

ACE has pledged to create a simpler process, with a shorter and clearer application form.

Hodge’s review said: “In the last NPO round every organisation, whatever its size and whatever the artform, was required to provide the same information. People felt the application processes and the reporting requirements were not sensitive to differences in size and artform of organisations applying for funding. So small museums that applied for funding provided the same information as a large theatre venue in one of our cities and towns.

“The systems were hugely and unnecessarily time consuming for everybody, from the ACE staff to the organisations, projects and individuals that ACE funds. More recently some changes have been introduced, and funding programmes have been designed in a way that is more proportionate for smaller organisations. This is welcome.

“But none of this has been helped by the recent collapse in ACE’s Grantium system.”

ACE introduced Grantium, an online grant application system, in 2016, with the aim of streamlining applications. The system, which became the primary platform for all ACE funding programmes, managing applications, assessments, payments, grant monitoring and reporting, has been heavily criticised by arts organisations for its unreliability.

The Hodge review said: “Grantium has become such a byword for complexity that one group of artists told us that people had been put off from applying for funding simply because they had heard it was so difficult to navigate the process.”

In its response the review, ACE acknowledged the problems with its online systems, and said that it would “move at speed to clarify our strategy, simplify our processes, streamline our requirements, and modernise our platforms, so those who work with us can focus on creation and production rather than administration; on their work, rather than our paperwork.”

The next NPO applications will still be made on the current platform, an ACE spokesperson confirmed, as the organisation is not due to begin a phased roll out of new systems until 2027.

ACE said it is also “committed to bringing a wide range of views and expertise into the process to support our National and Area councils in their decision-making”.

This has led to the creation of a Sector Advisory Panel that has 22 members, which includes representatives from MK Gallery, the Museum of Cornish Life and the Bowes Museum.

ACE has also created various panels to help it “identify and anticipate the current opportunities and challenges across our artforms and disciplines over the next five years.” Their advice will be published in September along with the detailed NPO applicant guidance.

The museum panel has 17 members, including staff from Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust, Thackray Museum of Medicine, Ripon Museums Trust, Barber Institute, Mansfield Museum, South West Heritage Trust, Hampshire Cultural Trust, National Trust, Fitzwilliam Museum, Royal Engineers Museum, Food Museum, Horniman Museum and Gardens, Science and Industry Museum and the Migration Museum.

In September, ACE will also explain how it will take the views of local citizens, community need and regional perspectives into account in its decision-making.

ACE chief executive Darren Henley said: “We're delivering on our commitment to offer a straightforward application process for arts organisations, museums and libraries looking to join our next National Portfolio.

“We will be asking less of applicants than we have done before, so they can tell us about their ambitions in their own words.

“We expect high demand for this vital, multi-year investment, and while we will have to make difficult decisions against a finite budget, we will do this transparently, in order to build a National Portfolio for 2028-33 that will provide excellent creative opportunities for everybody, everywhere.”

For the 2023-26 National Portfolio, the arts council received 1,730 applications asking for a total of just over £2bn in investment over the three-year period. ACE invested in 985 organisations, using the £1.34bn budget that was available.

To access NPO funding, museums must be based in England and be Accredited or formally working towards Accreditation. Organisations that are working towards Accreditation must achieve this status by 1 April 2028.

Arts Council England National Portfolio timeline

• September 2026: Application guidance published
• October – November 2026: Application window open
• December 2026 – June 2027: Assessment and decision-making
• July 2027: Decisions shared
• April 2028: The National Portfolio for 2028-2033 begins