The Arts Council of Wales reviewed its delivery of its grant programmes. The aim was to make them simpler for the applicant and more efficient for the Arts Council of Wales. As an organisation we wanted to shift resources away from grant processing to arts development.

Benefits obtained and resulting and success factors

With the launch of the simplified revenue project grants, clients have found the grant programmes simple to understand and the applications relatively straight forward. The shift towards development work on applications has resulted in applications that are more focused on our priorities and that are of better quality. We have seen that a higher percentage of enquiries resulted in applications as officers are able to spend more time developing applications with clients. In 2004/2005 of the 1,460 enquiries 48.6 per cent resulted in final applications, while in 2005/2006 these figures were 1,249 and 65.2 per cent respectively. This also means that applicants are not wasting so much time on applications, which are unlikely to be funded. Officers of the Arts Council of Wales find the assessments more straightforward and are spending less time on assessment and more time on development.

The outcome achieved

The time released by simplifying the assessment process has meant that the 12 officers have been able to spend more time on applications from individuals whose development is fundamental to the quality and success of the arts in Wales. In addition officers are now spending more time dealing with their revenue-funded organisations, which is where the Arts Council of Wales spends the bulk of its grant-in-aid. The average amount of time spent by the 12 officers on project grants has fallen giving a saving of £16,800 in 2006/2007 to be redirected to work with revenue clients and other arts development work.

In addition, other grant giving bodies may be able to benefit from this initiative.

Name: Jane Clarke
Email: jane.clarke@artswales.org.uk
Tel: 029 20 376500