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National Lottery Project Grants: FAQs

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General FAQs

Can I get advice from a Relationship Manager in my area?

Our guidance for applicants should have all the information you need to make a successful application. But if you have questions about the application process or criteria that aren’t covered by the guidance or FAQs, our Customer Services team should be the first port of call. 

The team know all about the process and can help with questions about eligibility, the application form and what happens next if you are offered a grant.                  

The amount of potential applicants greatly outnumber the Relationship Managers we have available. This means they can’t provide advice to everyone in their area hoping to apply for funding. If you do need to speak to a Relationship Manager, our Customer Services team will be able to help you get in contact with one in your area.

Why do you ask for my date of birth in the application form?

We ask all individual applicants to provide their date of birth to help reduce the possibility of fraud and ensure we are only providing funding to genuine creative practitioners in need of our funding. 

Your date of birth will not be used in any decision-making processes or for any other purpose. For further information about how we process your data, please refer to our General privacy notice.

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PEA FAQs

What is PEA?

Post event assurance is an activity undertaken after completion of a funding scheme, or towards the end of it. It consists of a number of checks against a sample of grant recipients to provide assurance that Arts Council funding has been issued correctly, and/ or funding has been spent appropriately in line with grant Ts & Cs and eligibility criteria. It’s an extremely important step in doing our part to protect public funds and detect potentially fraudulent activity.

Which Terms & Conditions does PEA relate to?

Upon accepting Arts Council funding, applicants agree to our grant terms and conditions which allow Arts Council to make requests for information relating to the applicant, and use of the grant. The terms and conditions specific to PEA are: 

  • You must ensure that all records, including financial records, relating to the Project are accurate and up to date. You must keep these records for seven years after the Project has finished.
  • You must give us, or any person nominated by us, access to all records relating to the Project or other projects funded by us upon demand, including (but not limited to) accounts and any other financial records, VAT and any other tax records. We can ask for access to these records for up to seven years after the Project has finished.
  • You must send us any information and records that we reasonably require to monitor your Project and how the grant is being used.

See the full grant terms and conditions.

What does it mean for me?

If you/ your organisation is selected to provide additional information for PEA purposes, you will receive an email detailing exactly what we need from you. This email will always come from pea@artscouncil.org.uk.

What do I have to do if my grant is selected?

As PEA can differ from scheme to scheme, there is no “one size fits all” approach. The email we send to you will detail what you need to do and what (if anything) we need from you. 

How long do I have to provide the information requested?

A timeframe will be detailed in your email. If you don’t think you can meet the deadline, please let us know by responding to the email. 

I’ve been asked for evidence of my grant expenditure, what do you need exactly?

This means we need to see invoices, bank statements and/or agreements/ funding commitments of 100% of your grant expenditure to fulfil this request. Your expenditure should be detailed on an expenditure table which can be found in the email we’ve sent you, and should correspond with what you’ve reported, or plan on reporting in your Final Activity Report. If you are unsure what you need to provide, please contact us.

I’ve been asked for evidence of my grant expenditure, but I don’t have any evidence, what do I do?

As per the Arts Council grant terms and conditions, all successful grant applicants are required to retain all evidence related to their grant for seven years after the grant has been closed. Failure to provide the requested information would be a breach of terms and conditions and we could withdraw your grant if we can not be assured that the funding has been spent appropriately.

What happens if I don’t respond?

If you are struggling to meet your deadline, please contact us. If you fail to respond to a PEA request for information, this would be a breach of Arts Council terms and conditions and we may withhold future payments and/or withdraw your grant and request funds back from you. This isn’t a decision we take lightly - we realise how important Arts Council funding is to individuals and organisations across the industry, so it’s really important that you contact us if you cannot provide the requested information or cannot meet the deadline. 

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