ACE relaunches

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The Arts Council of England formally relaunched on 17 February, in the wake of its 18-month merger with 10 former regional arts boards. There is a subtle change of name to Arts Council England, and a new tag line ‘the national development agency for the arts’. A new manifesto prioritises support for young people, individual artists and work on cultural diversity as strategic priorities for 2003 to 2006. The document also, however, stresses the importance of bringing ‘the transforming power of the arts to bear on issues of health, crime, education and social inclusion’, a signature phrase that flags up the need for ACE to align its funding objectives with the mainstream government agenda. It is on the strength of this commitment that the ACE will hope to build on its generous increase in exchequer funding in recent years.
ACE has reduced more than 100 programmes down to five: grants for individuals, organisations, national touring, capital and stabilisation. Although there are no longer to be separate lottery programmes, lottery funding is involved in all programmes except for grants to individuals. Details of programme budgets, including the formal launch of the delayed Capital Programme 2, are expected on 25 March.