Application process streamlined at Scottish Arts Council
28/01/2003
The Scottish Arts Council has pledged to provide a better service to artists and arts organisations by integrating and streamlining its application processes and reducing the number of Committees. The new structures will be buttressed by advice from independent experts which will inform decision-making.
New consultative Forums to be held annually across the country will give the people of Scotland an opportunity to hear what the Council is doing and to contribute to arts policy.
‘We’ve been consulting for some time on how we could offer a better service to the arts community which often sees us as a bureaucratic organisation’, said Scottish Arts Council Director Graham Berry. ‘Clients seeking funding for a complex project sometimes had to apply to three or four different pots of money, which meant a lot of form-filling for them and a lot of time spent by our staff and Committees. The administrative burden for everyone was becoming unsustainable, so we’ve designed a simpler, integrated system which will be more efficient and more effective. The resources freed up will allow us to spend more time supporting and developing new arts initiatives, rather than simply funding the arts.’
The Scottish Arts Council champions the arts for Scotland, and the new streamlined process will enable it to focus its investment on fostering excellence in all the arts in Scotland, and broadening access and participation. The changes have been approved by Council and Scottish Executive Ministers, and will be phased in from April. The new funding and application handbook will be published in March and potential applicants for funding will be invited to a series of roadshows across Scotland.
Notes to editors
- The Scottish Arts Council champions and sustains the arts for Scotland, investing £56 million from Scottish Executive and National Lottery funding to support and develop artistic excellence and creativity throughout Scotland. Further information is available from our website on www.scottisharts.org.uk.
- Council is appointed by Scottish Executive Ministers. Its role is to determine overall policy, set aims and objectives for the Scottish Arts Council, and align budgets and spending to strategic priorities.
- Committees play a central role in implementing Council’s policies and inform the creation of new ones. They are responsible for monitoring Core Funded Organisations and managing budgets, part of which will be delegated to Heads of Department and other officers. There will be fewer, more broadly-based Committees and, as at present, the Chairs of Committees will be Council members:
- A Creative Arts Committee (including crafts, literature, visual arts)
- A Performing Arts Committee (including dance, drama and music)
- A Strategic Development Committee (for a one-year transitional period)
- A reconfigured Capital Committee.
- Committees and staff will be supported by independent expert advice which will be essential to informed decision-making.
- Consultative Forums will offer a space for dialogue where the Scottish Arts Council can report to the public on its progress and where the public will be invited to contribute views on the work of Council. Forums will feed into the cycle of Council and Committee meetings and there will be two types of annual Forum:
- Council Forums, which will be held in three different parts of Scotland;
- Arts Forums, which will have an artform or policy focus, drawing in a wide range of practitioners, educators, administrators and, potentially, audience representatives.
- Recruitment for the new Committee and advisory structures will take place during February/March. Details of the Forums will be announced in due course.
Contact email(s)
media.office@scottisharts.org.uk
Issued by: Scottish Arts Council
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