Arts Council England announced details of its new structure on 30 October, this will come into operation on 1 July 2013.
The changes come as a result of the Government's requirement - made as part of our settlement for 2011-15 - that we reduce our administrative costs, as applied to our grant in aid for the arts by the end of March 2015.
Proposals for these changes were refined during a period of formal consultation with staff and unions, as well as through engagement with the arts and cultural sector.
Making savings on this scale has required a major restructure and a substantial reduction in staff numbers, and will call for new ways of working. In shaping this new structure we have been guided by the principle of remaining one national organisation with local presence, able to continue to deliver our 10-year strategy Achieving great art for everyone and Culture, knowledge and understanding: great museums and libraries for everyone.
The key changes include:
- an overall reduction in staff numbers across the organisation of 21 per cent from 559.5 full time posts to 442 (117.5 posts)
- four Executive Directors, reducing from eight, accountable for delivering the Arts Council's overall strategy, with the Chief Executive
- leadership of artform and cultural policy expertise distributed geographically across the organisation - everyone will have a local and national focus
- property costs will come down by 50 per cent through reductions in the size of offices
- major offices will be located in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol, plus some smaller local offices to keep the Arts Council close to the arts and cultural sector, and to local government
- five areas covering London, the South East, the South West, the Midlands and the North replace the Arts Council's current regions and areas
The Arts Council's new operating model includes further development of the shared working with the sector that has become evident over the last two years - from collective working towards shared goals, to the awarding of commissioned grants to deliver particular programmes of work.
Transition to the new structure will begin on 5 November. We will complete the new area boundary changes and have the new organisation in place by 1 July 2013, although there may be changes to office arrangements and locations for some months after this date.
Full details of the new structure can be found here.
Executive Board appointments
Appointments to the Executive Board have now been confirmed.
The new Executive Board are:
- Alan Davey, Chief Executive
- Althea Efunshile, Deputy Chief Executive
- Simon Mellor, Executive Director, Arts & Culture
- Laura Dyer, Executive Director with responsibility for national strategy and North, Midlands and the South West
- Moira Sinclair, Executive Director with responsibility for national strategy and London and the South East
And
- Liz Bushell, Director, Finance & Corporate Services
- National Director, Advocacy & Communications
Area Director appointments
The first round of appointments to our new senior leadership team have been made. Our Executive Board believe the successful candidates' individual expertise and experience combine to make the beginnings of a strong team to lead the new organisation.
The newly appointed Area Directors are:
- Sarah Maxfield, Area Director, North
- Peter Knott, Area Director, Midlands
- Phil Gibby, Area Director, South West
- Joyce Wilson, Area Director, London
- Hedley Swain, Area Director, South East
Director appointments
The next round of senior leadership appointments has started to build a strong team of Directors with specialist expertise across the country.
The newly appointed Directors with a national discipline lead are:
- Alison Clark Jenkins, Director Combined Arts based in Manchester
- Cluny Macpherson, Director Touring based in Dewsbury
- Peter Heslip, Director Visual Arts based in London
- Neil Darlison, Director Theatre based in London
- Helen Sprott, Director Music based in London
- Nick McDowell, Director International based in London
- Antonia Byatt, Director Literature based in Cambridge
- Cate Canniffe, Director Dance based in Brighton
The remaining national leads for Museums, Libraries, Diversity, Resilience and Philanthropy based in Newcastle, Nottingham, Birmingham or Bristol will now be open to second stage internal recruitment in the New Year.
The next round of senior leadership appointments that builds our strong team of Directors has been made. The directors based in our national offices are:
- Frances Runacres, Director Investment based in London
- Ruth Alaile, Director Governance and Planning based in London
- Richard Russell, Director Policy and Research based in London
- Laura Gander-Howe, Director Children, Young People and Learning based in London
- Gill Johnson, Director Creative Media based in Manchester
- Phil Cave, Director Engagement and Audiences based in Birmingham
- Scott Furlong, Director Acquisitions, Exports, Loans and Collections home based
We will continue to announce appointments as we make them.
