How to save £6.5 million a year

MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: Arts Council England

Arts Council England announced final details of an organisation-wide restructure that will transform the way it serves the arts and audiences. The restructure will save £6.5 million a year in administration costs and these savings will be invested in the arts.

Proposals for change were announced in February and have since been refined during a period of formal consultation with staff and unions before being approved by National Council on 8 July.

The Arts Council has already made savings of £9.6 million a year in running costs since 2002, through a programme of reform and improvement. Making further savings required a major restructuring of the whole organisation and the way it operates.

This major review was informed by recommendations of the 2008 McMaster, McIntosh and Hodge reviews and Chief Executive Alan Davey’s vision for the organisation.

The principal changes include:
• an overall reduction in staff numbers across the organisation of 21 per cent
• nine streamlined regional offices grouped in four areas – North; Midlands and South West; East and South East; London
• a smaller head office, which will also co-locate with the London regional office
• a smaller executive board – nine members instead of 14
• a centralised Grants for the arts process based in Manchester
The new structure allows the sharing of resources and knowledge more flexibly across the organisation and simplifies processes – for example, a centralised Grants for the arts process based in the support services centre in Manchester.

Staff in the regions will be focused on customer-facing activities, head office is streamlined and the smaller executive board will be more strategic and able to make faster decisions.

Alan Davey said:
“This is a challenging process but one that I am determined will result in an Arts Council that has an ambitious vision for the arts in this country and the confidence, expertise and relationships to achieve that vision.

“This is no mere tinkering. It is about transforming the way we work and requires a significant change in our culture. I have confidence in our people’s ability to step up to that challenge – to operate as one organisation, with responsibility and openness, to achieve our mission of great art for everyone.”

The changes will meet the government’s requirement that the Arts Council saves 15 per cent on its grant in aid administration costs by 2010. The Arts Council decided that it should also find equivalent savings on its National Lottery administration costs, making a total saving of £6.5 million a year.

Implementation of the changes will begin immediately and the new structure will be in place by April 2010.

Further details of the proposed changes can be found on the Arts Council England website.