ACE’s Grants for the arts scheme is closing to new applicants between January 18 and February 26. Philip Deverell, the scheme’s director, explains why

Since it was set up in 2003, Grants for the arts has been a National Lottery success story providing over 25,000 grants from £1,000 to £200,000 to an astonishing range of artists and arts organisations all over the country.

It replaced a plethora of small funding programmes, and has enabled individual artists and arts organisations to make transformational journeys and create some of the most exceptional work of the last decade.

Recipients have created work of national and international acclaim, ranging from Cornwall based company Wildworks’ unique landscape theatre that ties communities and place together, to Roger Hiorns’ Untitled, which he recreated for this year’s Turner Prize exhibition.

We are constantly looking to improve how the programme works to ensure it offers the simplest and most cost effective way for artists to apply for funding. That’s why Grants for the arts will be undergoing a number of changes over the coming months, both improving how the scheme works for applicants and saving almost £1.5m a year in administrative costs, which will be reinvested directly into the arts. The changes are firmly focused on improving the service for applicants, providing a consistent and transparent service across the country. The eligibility criteria and our assessment criteria will remain the same.

The biggest transformation is that a new national Grants for the arts network, based in our assessment centre in Manchester, will assess and monitor all applications. The new teams will be focused around individual artforms and will maintain close links to each region. Grants for the arts has been very successful in balancing the twin challenges of regional and artform difference. Grouping the teams in this way means applications will always be assessed by an artform specialist and with an overview of arts activity across the whole country. This allows the Arts Council to make funding decisions using a national framework and ensures consistent advice and assessment is given to applicants wherever they are based.

We’re also continuing to make it easier to apply for Grants for the arts. Following the simplification of the application form in May 2008, from the 1 March artists and arts organisations will now be able to submit their applications online. We are also simplifying the information we need for applications of £10,000 or less. This will speed up the assessment process and allow us to make decisions within 6 weeks (previously only applications of up to £5,000 we’re assessed in this timeframe).

These changes will deliver nearly a quarter of the £6.5 million we are saving in administrative costs as part of our organisational review, ensuring the Arts Council runs as efficiently as possible and maximising the amount of funding going directly to the arts.

We want to implement the changeover to the new team and online process as swiftly as possible, and in order to achieve this we will be suspending new applications to the fund for a period of six weeks, between Monday 18 January and Friday 26 February.

This means that applications need to be submitted by 5pm on Friday 15 January to ensure we can make a decision before the end of March. So anyone looking to apply for a grant should plan ahead and think about the best time to submit their application, not forgetting that from 1 March they can apply online and applications up to £10,000 will be assessed within 6 weeks.

Grants for the arts plays a unique role in the country’s arts ecology, providing an important addition to central government funding for one-off projects and ideas. I believe that the changes we are implementing will make Grants for the arts faster and more effective at helping artists take risks and create truly exceptional art.