The National Portfolio Investment Programme
2018/19 – 2021/22
Guidance for applicants
Contents
Welcome
Timeline
Eligibility
Consortiums
You will not be eligible for National Portfolio investment if:
Is the National Portfolio the best investment programme for us?
Can National Portfolio Organisations apply for other Arts Council funding?
What if we have applied for National Portfolio and for capital investment?
Why will this be a four-year investment period?
What structural changes have you made to the National Portfolio?
One integrated National Portfolio
Investment bands and Sector Support Organisations
Can we ask your advice before we apply?
Do you provide access support?
How do we make an application?
When can we apply?
How much can we apply for?
What happens after we submit our application?
Can you explain how you ‘balance the portfolio’?
Who will make the final decision on our application?
When will we know if we have been successful?
How do we make a complaint?
Freedom of Information Act
What other information do we need to know before applying?
Equality
Fair pay
Useful contacts
Our 10-year strategy
Introduction and essential information for all applicants
Welcome
We (Arts Council England) will invest more than £1.5 billion in our National Portfolio programme from 2018/19– 2021/22. The portfolio will be key tohelping us achieve the goals set out in our 10-year strategy, Great Art and Culture for Everyone, and we expect all organisations within it to support us in delivering these goals.
The following guidance willgive you the information you need to make an application to the National Portfolio investmentprogramme 2018/19 – 2021/22. We strongly recommend all applicants readthis‘Introduction and essential information’. We invest ina great variety of arts and cultural organisations within the National Portfolio and have carefully consideredour guidance and agreements for the benefit of everyone involved. Please take account of the following points:
- we have made some important changes to the National Portfolio programme, and we advise all applicants to consider the implications of these carefully
- not all the information here will be relevant to everyone.You should also read the section relevant to the band or category you are applying to (see below for outline information about bands and Sector Support Organisations)
- you will need to read the Grantium[1] guidance, which describes how to make your online application
- if you are not familiar with our 10-year strategy Great Art and Culture for Everyone, you should prepare by reading it. We will ask you frequently how your work will help our progress withsome or all of the strategy’sfive goals
Timeline
26 October 2016:Online application portal opens
13 January 2017 at 4pm:Deadline for creating an applicant profile and registering for the National Portfolio investment programme on Grantium
13 January 2017 at 4pm:Deadline for mandatory conversations for new applicants and Sector Support Organisations
1 February 2017 at 12 noon:Deadline for submitting applications
By 1 July 2017:We will tell youour decision
July 2017 –
February 2018:Funding agreement negotiation
1 April 2018:Start of 2018/19– 2021/22 investment period
Is my organisation eligible to apply for investment under the National Portfolio programme?
Before beginning your application, check your eligibility. You must meet the following criteria:
- You must engage people in England in arts and museums activity or help artists,practitioners, museums, libraries and arts organisations in England to carry out their work(engaging in activities could include attending an arts event or an exhibition, taking part in a cultural activity, or creating or distributing cultural work)
- The programme of work that our investmentwould support must mainly benefit artists, practitioners, participants or audiences[2] in England, and be relevant to a diverse, 21st century society
- You must have a registered address within the United Kingdom
- The lead organisation (the organisation submitting the application) should be properly constituted as an organisation. The kinds of organisations that are eligible to apply include:
- limited companies registered at Companies House (including individuals trading as a limited company)
- community interest companies (CICs) registered with the CIC regulator
- charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs) registered with the Charity Commission
- charities or trusts registered with the Charity Commission
- limited liability partnerships registered at Companies House
- partnerships established under a deed of partnership
- industrial and provident societies or community benefit societies regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
- Royal Charter companies
- statutory bodies
- You mustapply for a minimum annual award of £40,000 (£160,000 over the four-year investment period)
- Museums applying to the National Portfolio must be Accredited[3] and must be based in England
- Sector Support Organisations (see below for definitions) must have a mandatory conversation with one of our Relationship Managers
- Applicants that have not been National Portfolio Organisations or Major Partner Museumsin the2015-18 periodmust have a mandatory conversation with a Relationship Manager. This includes organisations that have been consortium partners in the 2015-18 investment period (that is, they have not been the lead organisation)
- Current National Portfolio Organisations or Major Partner Museums that receive more than £1,000,000 per year must have received a planning figure from us and discussed their approach to playing a geographic,sector, artform or discipline support role with their Relationship Manager
Consortiums
We encourageapplicationsfrom consortiums. By ‘consortium’ we mean a group of separate organisations joining together in a contractual arrangement and
co-operating to deliver a programme of activity for the whole of the 2018/19 – 2021/22 investmentperiod. We will not invest in consortium applications for specific projects.
One organisation must act as the lead organisation and submit the application. Your application must show the benefits of,and reasons for, working as a consortium and all partners must be firmly committed to working together.
The lead organisation will be solely accountable for managing the application and any grant that we award. When making a decision on your application, we will take into account how the lead organisation and partner organisations are governed and managed (includingtheir financial management). If you are successful, we will need to approve your written agreement with your partners before it is signed.
Organisations cannot be part of a consortium application and apply as an organisation in their own right. Organisations cannot be part of more than one consortium application.
You will not be eligible for National Portfolio investmentif:
- You do not have a registered address within the United Kingdom
- You are an individual, unless you apply as a director of your own company. We will not accept applications from people applying in a purely personal capacity
- You are applying for investment for activities that do not mainly benefit artists, practitioners, participants or audiences in England
- You are applying for investment for activities that are not related to arts and culture
- You are applying for investment for activities that are aimed at making a profit to be distributed to members or shareholders
- You are applying on behalf of a National museum[4]
Is the National Portfolio the best investmentprogramme for us?
You may be eligible for the National Portfolio programme, but is it the best investmentprogramme for you?
The National Portfolio of arts and cultural organisations is one of our principal sources of investment and is crucial to delivering our strategy. National Portfolio Organisations will receive investmentfrom 2018/19 – 2021/22.However, this comes with specific expectations and you may be better suited to one of our programmes such as Grants for the Arts or our strategic funds (in 2018, our Grants for the Arts programme will change to include museums and libraries and will be called Grants for Arts and Culture).
If your applicationto the National Portfolio is successful, we will expect youto work within our relationship framework (see below) and meet specific requirements on monitoring and on data reporting so that we can track the progress of our investment programmes and strategies and show stakeholders (such as the Department for Culture Media and Sport) the value of what we do.
We have included more detailed requirements for each of the bands andSector Support Organisations in the specific guidance.
Our relationship framework for 2018/19– 2021/22 is available on our website. We have the right to make changes to this document.
You can find more details on our website about our plans for Grants for Arts and Culture and our strategic funds.
We look forward to welcoming new organisations[5] into the National Portfolio and wewelcome applications from organisations that are not currently within it.Successfulapplicants are expected to have a track record of highquality cultural achievement.
Workshops or briefings are being held in all Arts Council Areas in October 2016 for organisations that are not currently funded as a National Portfolio Organisation or Major Partner Museum. These are to help you find out what it means to be a National Portfolio Organisation. You can find more information here, although we cannot guarantee that places will be available for everyone who would like to attend.
All new applicants and all thoseapplying as Sector Support Organisationsmust have a mandatory conversation with a Relationship Manager in good time before making an application. The latest date for having a mandatory conversation is Friday 13 January 2017(4pm).
To arrange a conversationyou should contact the Customer Services team who will give you the details of an appropriate Relationship Manager.You can contact our Customer Services team by phone on0845 300 6200orby email on .
Can National Portfolio Organisations apply for other Arts Council funding?
Individual organisations that receiveNational Portfolio investment will not be eligible to apply to Grants for Arts and Culture. However, a National Portfolio Organisation can be part of a partnership-led Grants for Arts and Culture application (though not as a lead applicant) if the activity they want funding for is clearly shown as being additional to their National Portfolio funding agreement.
National Portfolio Organisations may also be eligible for the various strategic funds that we may develop over the 2018/19 – 2021/22 period.
Current National Portfolio Organisations and Major Partner Museums that are not successful in applying for future National Portfolio investment(or decide not to apply), may apply for Grants for Arts and Cultureinvestment for activity that will begin no earlier than 1 April 2018.
What if we have applied for National Portfolio and for capital investment?
Some National Portfolio applicants will have submitted applications for large-scale capital investmentbefore knowing the outcome of their National Portfolio application. Some National Portfolio applicants may be in the process of submitting an application for small-scale capital investment.
National Portfolio applications and attached budgets may be based on the assumption that abid for capital investmentwould be successful, but that does not necessarily mean that we willfund any associated capital bid. You must consider the risk that your bid for capital investment might not be successful. In the ‘Financial viability’ section of the online application form, you should provide a very brief outline of how, if you are not successful,youwould adapt yourplans.
We will take into account the outcome of bids for capital investmentwhenfunding agreements are negotiated. This may result in a change in the level of investmentwe offer you.
Why will this be a four-year investment period?
Our settlement from the Government for 2016/17, 2017/18[6], 2018/19 and 2019/20 was announced in November 2015.
The length of our next settlement and when it will be announced is not yet known and may be affected by the next General Election, which will take place no later than May 2020.Nevertheless, we have decided to invite applications for four years of National Portfolio investmentfrom 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2022. This will provide an increased level of stability and allow organisations to plan further ahead.
To help fund ourNational Portfolio programme we will also use money from our share of the National Lottery, so our investment in some organisations will be all from Grant-in-Aid (our direct grant from the Government) and in others from Lottery revenue. We will decide how to use these different sources of revenue, but we will treat all organisationsexactly the same, wherever their investment comes from.
We have made prudent assumptions about future levels ofGrant-in-Aid and Lottery revenue, but you should be aware that if we offer youinvestment, we may have to alter the amounts for 2018/19 and 2019/20if cuts are applied[7]. Similarly, we may have to vary the amounts for 2020/21 and 2021/22 when our funding from the Government is confirmed for these years. Lottery resources depend on the level of ticket sales and Government decisions on how the money is distributed, and our share may increase or decrease in the future.
Any cuts that have to be passed on will be applied to allNational Portfolio Organisations, however they are funded.
What structural changes have you made to the National Portfolio?
From 2018/19 we will be arranging the National Portfolio differently.
One integrated National Portfolio
There will be one integrated National Portfolio programme of organisations delivering activity to support the goals set out in Great Art and Culture for Everyone. We expect the programme to include:
- arts organisations (including those currently designated as National Portfolio Organisations)
- museums (including those currently designated as Major Partner Museums)
- other organisations delivering arts ormuseums activity, for example library services where the application does not include statutory library provision
- Sector Support Organisations (including Bridge Organisations, Museum Development Providers, umbrella and networking organisations, strategic library and museum partnership bodies and other organisations that support the arts, museums and libraries sectors)
Investment bands and Sector Support Organisations
The National Portfolio will be organised into three bands and a separate category for Sector Support Organisations. We have introduced bands toreduce the administrative burden on organisations receiving lower levels of public investment, and tomake clearer what we expect from those receiving the highest levels of public investment. The introduction of bands does not mean there is a hierarchy or route of progression.
The bands are as follows:
- band 1 organisations will receive a minimum (average) of £40,000 per year and a maximum (average) of £249,999 per year. These organisations will be required to contribute to our goals 1, 2 and, where appropriate, 5, and to submit plans for the first investment year only
- band 2 organisations will receive a minimum (average) of £250,000 per year and a maximum (average) of £999,999 per year. These organisations will be required to contribute to our goals 1, 2 and, where appropriate 5, and to submit plans for three years
- band 3 organisations will receive a minimum (average) of £1,000,000 per year. These organisations will need to contribute to all five of our goals, play a key role in supporting the wider sector and submit plans that cover the four-year investment period[8]
- Sector Support Organisations[9]. Requirements for Sector Support Organisations’ contribution to our goals will depend on the type of organisation and the nature of its activity, although all organisations will be required to contribute to at least one of the goals. Sector Support Organisations will need to submit plans for three years
Please note:althoughyou determine your band depending on the amount youapply for, it is possible in some instances that the band may change once we have confirmed an award. For example, an organisation applying for £287,500 per year (band 2) but offered £249,875 per year would fall into band 1.
Can we ask your advice before we apply?
We strongly recommend that you ask us for advice before you make an application and contact us in good time beforehand. We can help explain criteria and give you information on our whole range of published investment programmes.
However, we cannot comment on draft applications, plans or proposals.
If you currently receive National Portfolio Organisation or Major Partner Museuminvestment from us, or already have a working relationship with a member of staff atone of our local offices, you can speak to your main contact.
If you don’t know who to speak to, please contact our Customer Services team on 0845 300 .
Do you provide access support?
We are committed to being open and accessible to everyone. We realise some applicants may find there are barriers to making a grant application or accessing our services.
If you experience or expect any barrier with making your application or require more information on how to apply or access our services, please contact our Customer Services team on 0845 300 . We will try to be flexible and aim to consider and respond on an individual basis.
Please also contact the Customer Services team if you need the application pack in another format.
How do we make an application?
There are five steps to applying for National Portfolio investment:
- Make sure you have created a user account and applicant profile and registered for the National Portfolio investment programme onGrantium, our online grant management system
To apply online, you must have a validated applicant profile. Validating your applicant profile may take five working days from the date you submit it, so it is worth doing this as soon as possible.
You must have registered for the National Portfolio investment programme and have submitted your applicant profile for validation by 4pm on Friday 13 January.
If you already have an applicant profile on Grantium, you must have registered for the National Portfolio investment programme by 4pm on Friday 13 January.
It will not be possible to register for the National Portfolio investment programme after 4pm on 13 January.