Official statement:
Arts Council England recognises and values the important work of Museums Sheffield. That’s why we’re discussing with them how we might support their ambitions for the future with funding from other parts of the Renaissance programme. In the meantime, they will receive transitional funding to help them adjust to these changes, the first payment of which has already been agreed.
We would not normally discuss an unsuccessful applicant, in order to protect their confidentiality but as Museums Sheffield has made its application and our decision public, and given the level of interest, we thought it might be useful to clarify the key facts and the current situation.
We know last week’s decision (24 January 2012), was a big disappointment for Museums Sheffield, as it was for other unsuccessful applicants, and it wasn’t taken lightly. Renaissance funding is designed to be extra development money and was never intended to be core funding towards museums’ running costs – the majority of which comes from local authorities, trusts and foundations. But we recognise that Renaissance is an important source of additional income for many regional museums.
The Arts Council has 15 per cent less money to invest in regional museums between 2012 and 2015, compared to previous years. In addition we need to ensure that each of the four parts of the Renaissance programme has sufficient budget to enable them to work together for the benefit of museums and audiences across the country.
Applications nationwide for Renaissance major grants totalled around £117 million over three years, against a budget of £60 million – almost double the amount available. We wanted to invest that money as evenly as we could across England, so that the whole museums sector, and audiences across the country, would benefit. Where that didn’t prove possible, we will use the Renaissance Strategic support fund to fill geographical gaps, and to fund other important museums work. We’ll also be investing in museums through the Renaissance Museums development fund and national programmes. Read more about Renaissance, our open application process and how we made our Major partner funding decisions.
The museums offer in Yorkshire is particularly strong, so it wasn’t surprising that we received several strong applications from the region to become Major partner museums. Given the available budget and the need to invest across the country, we couldn’t fund them all. We made difficult choices, against the principles and priorities that we had published in advance, and we have given Museums Sheffield a detailed explanation of how we assessed their application and arrived at our decision.
We know that not everyone will agree with all our funding decisions but Arts Council England’s job is to make the choices we believe will best ensure that as many people as possible across the country have access to great art and culture. Historically, investment levels in the arts have varied across England, mainly due to the different priorities of the old regional arts boards, local authorities and other funders. It’s something Arts Council England is working hard with our funding partners to address, in Sheffield and elsewhere – and it’s another reason why it was so important to ensure that Renaissance Major partner funds were distributed across the country.
We’re holding constructive conversations with a number of other unsuccessful applicants, looking at how we might best invest in their future, despite the difficult circumstances. We want to help them continue to do their valuable work because, in tough economic times, we need the inspiration, escape and enjoyment that great art and culture give us more than ever.
