Arts Council England Introduces New Investment Principles

Arts Council England (ACE) introduced three new principles that will apply to their investment, especially in relation to the National Portfolio – the group of organisations ACE provides with core funding over each investment period. The principles will also shape the way that ACE itself evolves over the next ten years. Below are the three principles that ACE expect the organizations that ACE supports in the National Portfolio to demonstrate:

1. Ambition and quality

The pursuit of excellence is of paramount importance. Organisations need to be ambitious and committed to developing their creative potential so they can deliver work of the highest quality and match themselves confidently against local, national and international peers.

2. Inclusivity and relevance

ACE wants England’s diversity to be fully reflected across the organisations and individuals that it supports and in the culture they produce. It aims to continue to address the persistent and widespread lack of diversity and inclusivity within the cultural sector – in its workforce, leadership, governance, visitors, participants and audiences. 

3. Dynamism and environmental sustainability

As it moves through the next decade, ACE expects the challenges facing cultural organisations – pressures on funding, changes in tastes and habits, technological advances and the accelerating impacts of climate change and resource distress – to remain acute. To navigate this territory successfully, ACE expects cultural organizations to become more dynamic and more environmentally sustainable.

ACE is currently collecting feedback on the above introduced investment principles and related priorities, as well as ideas for how ACE should deliver the plan. To learn more about these three principles and submit feedback, check out the article written by Simon Mellor, Deputy Chief Executive, Arts and Culture at Arts Council England.