Department for Culture Media and Sport
Arts Council England is the national body for the arts in England, and is responsible for distributing public money from Government and the National Lottery.
Decisions on the allocation of grant funds to any particular body are for the Arts Council to make, in accordance with the arm’s length principle. These are not decisions for the Government.DCMS does not fund the arts directly, but through Arts Council England. The Arts Council is the national body for the arts in England, and is responsible for distributing public money from Government and the National Lottery.
Individual funding decisions are taken at ‘arms length’ (independently of, following guidance) from the Government, although the Arts Council is expected to account for those decisions and explain them to Government, Parliament and the general public.
Arts Council England provides around a number of organisations with annual grants to cover core costs. These are known as National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs). They include:
Grants for the Arts (GFTA), funded by the National Lottery, are available for activities which:
Total funding going to Arts Council England over the next four years is laid out below.
| 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | Real change | |
| Grant-in-aid | 448,751,000 | 387,729,000 | 359,179,000 | 351,620,000 | 349,393,000 | -29.1% |
| Lottery (est.) | 141,400,000 | 154,700,000 | 199,700,000 | 221,000,000 | 222,000,000 | +43% |
| Total | 590,151,000 | 542,429,000 | 558,879,000 | 572,620,000 | 571,393,000 | -11.8% |
The overall budget for the Arts Council is therefore reducing by 11.8 per cent in real terms
The Government is investing more than £2.2 billion in the arts over the next four years.
Decisions on the allocation of grant funds to any particular body are for the Arts Council to make, in accordance with the arm’s length principle. These are not decisions for the Government.