Capital Investment Programme, Round 2 - FAQs

What is the focus of the programme?

This programme forms part of the ‘Fit for the Future’ theme in the  Let’s Create Delivery Plan 2021-2024. It aims to strengthen the cultural infrastructure by using the four Investment Principles to support organisations to adjust buildings, equipment and other assets so that they can operate safely post-pandemic, improve access, seize on technological opportunities, and reduce environmental impact. Further details about our Investment Principles can be found on our website. 

How is this programme different to previous capital programmes?

Under our previous strategy, Great art and culture for everyone, we ran two capital funds – an annual funding round for capital applications between £100k to £499,999 (small capital grants) and a separate application process for capital grants above £500k (large capital grants) which was run as a two-stage application process during the 2015-2018 period. In 2021, these two funding programmes were replaced with the Capital Investment Programme, now in its second round, with capital grants available from £100,000 to a maximum of £750,000.

The programme supports Let’s Create, funding both digital and physical infrastructure projects to ensure that cultural organisations are agile and flexible enough to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities. Applications to the programme must fully consider how their project addresses all four Investment Principles.

How much money is available?

We have published a budget of £20 million.

Will there be future rounds of the Capital Investment Programme? 

We do not plan to run an application round for this programme in 2024/25.

How much can I apply for?

Grants are available from £100,000 to a maximum of £750,000.

When must the activity take place?

Activities must start between April 2024 and 31 March, 2025. By 31 March 2025, grant holders must have: 

• submitted an initial payment request and any related payment conditions and had them approved on Grantium
• secured 100% of the partnership funding required to complete the project
• obtained all necessary statutory approvals and consents required to start the project, where applicable
• completed all land and lease agreements required for the project, where applicable

Activities must complete by 31 March 2027.

The guidance states that activities must complete by 31 March 2027. If an application is to purchase a building for redevelopment, does this completion date apply to the purchase or the entire capital redevelopment project?

This will depend on the scope of the work included in the application. If the redevelopment is part of the application—and key to delivering the IP impacts and other outcomes outlined in the application—then the redevelopment project must be completed by 31 March 2027. All land and/or lease agreements required for the project (including site purchase) would need to be in place by 31 March 2025. If the redevelopment works are excluded from the application, the applicant must demonstrate that the purchase will meet the programme’s aims.

What conditions of funding may apply to the grant if successful?

To draw down their award, successful applicants must accept a funding agreement which will include conditions specific to their project. In addition, our Standard Terms and Conditions Capital Investment will apply to all successful applicants to this programme. 

Will there be another large capital programme?

Our Delivery Plan 2021-2024 sets out our approach to capital investment. We do not anticipate launching a large capital round during the period of this delivery plan (2021-2024). Other capital funding is available through a range of other Arts Council programmes, including Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants and Cultural Investment Fund (CIF).

Organisations can apply to other Arts Council funding programmes providing they meet the eligibility criteria for those funds, but not for the same project outlined in any other application to us.

Grant funding for capital projects with a heritage focus is also available from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Please check the relevant guidance and criteria for further information.

How is the programme different to Cultural Investment Fund (CIF)?

This programme differs to CIF in the following ways: 

• the focus of the fund
• which organisations can apply
• the amount they can apply for
• the types of activity supported.  

The Capital Investment Programme aims to support cultural organisations to adjust buildings and equipment so that they can operate safely post-pandemic, improve access, seize on technological opportunities, and reduce environmental impact. We will accept applications from £100,000 to £750,000 from not-for-profit cultural organisations based in England who can demonstrate that their primary aims are around culture. Applications must fully consider how their project addresses all four Investment Principles.

CIF is a package of three capital funds - Cultural Development Fund (CDF), Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) and Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF) - delivered on behalf of the Department for Culture Media and Sport. MEND and LIF fund improvements to existing cultural infrastructure. For MEND, applicants must be non-national accredited museums applying for grants between £50,000 to £5 million to undertake vital infrastructure and urgent maintenance backlogs, beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets. LIF invites applications from £50,000 to £499,999 from local authorities on behalf of a library service to invest in a range of projects to upgrade buildings and technology. CDF invests in creative, cultural and heritage initiatives outside of London. Applications must be from local partnerships led by local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnership, or other appropriate bodies to support transformative place-based creative and cultural initiatives. Grants are available from between £2-5 million.

Who can apply to the programme?

Not-for-profit cultural organisations based in England. Organisations must be able to clearly demonstrate that their primary aims are around culture and that the activities they are applying for fall within the remit of Arts Council England  Museum applicants must be accredited non-national museums (Full and Provisional) or museums confirmed by the Arts Council as working towards Accreditation (see the list here). Please read the full eligibility criteria in the guidance for applicants and for further examples of the kinds of organisations that are eligible to apply.

What do you mean by our primary aims around culture?

To be eligible for this programme, you must demonstrate that your Governance documents, such as Memorandum and Articles, are primarily cultural.

How do we confirm whether the activities fall within the remit of Arts Council England?

Arts Council England’s remit covers visual arts, music, libraries, literature, theatre, dance, combined arts and museums. We expect that your capital application for either digital or physical infrastructure will support access to a range of high-quality cultural experiences.

Do we accept partnership applications to this programme?

We will consider partnership applications between formally constituted cultural organisations. One organisation must act as the lead organisation and submit the application depending on who is most appropriate to meet the programme aims. All partners to the partnership will need to be not-for-profit organisations and meet the eligibility requirements set out in the guidance for applicants.

Can applicants already in receipt of a capital grant from the Arts Council apply to this fund? 

To manage demand and ensure fair distribution of available funding, organisations in receipt of a grant from the following funding programmes are not eligible to apply to the Capital Investment Programme:

• Capital Investment Programme (Round 1)
• Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) - Rounds 1 and 2
• Cultural Development Fund (CDF) Rounds 1, 2 and 3
• Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF) rounds 1 and 2

We are also unable to consider applications from organisations that have not received a final payment by 3 October 2023 from the following capital programmes:

• Small Capital Grants
• Large Capital Grants

What about local authorities who wish to apply for a different project at another site?

We will consider applications from Local Authorities in receipt of grants from these funding programmes where the application relates to capital expenditure for a different activity/project location.

Can libraries apply to this programme?

We will consider applications from libraries providing they meet the eligibility criteria set out in the guidance for applicants and can demonstrate that the activity applied for will connect the public with other cultural and artistic activities.

Can an applicant submit multiple applications, for instance, different applications for different project sites or activities?

In order that the organisation can demonstrate that they have prioritised their capital needs, we expect only one application to be submitted by a single applicant that has been endorsed by the Board or equivalent.

What about local authorities? Can they submit one application for a Library services project, for instance, and a completely separate application for a museum (both being run by the same local authority)?

As we expect high demand for this programme and two applications would be in competition with each other, we expect a Local Authorities to prioritise the activity they wish to apply for and submit only one application to the programme in this round.

Can an organisation submit an EOI/application of their own as a lead applicant but also as part of a partnership application? Is it allowable to have two EOIs/applications if they participate in a partnership and make their own application?

We expect to receive only one application from the same organisation as a lead organisation. If they are planning to be a partner, not the lead organisation, in another application, this is acceptable, but they should consider the following:

• Do they have the capacity to be involved in two separate capital projects? Capital projects can be costly, time-consuming and impact day to day activities.  If applying for two separate projects, they may need to demonstrate that they have the capacity and that they can continue to deliver planned activity under other funding agreements and that any impact has been appropriately mitigated. 
• Are costs duplicated across the applications? We are unable to fund the same activity twice, so the two applications would need to be for separate projects and expenditure. 
• Is one application reliant on the other being successful? This could be seen as a risk to the project and reduce the likelihood of success of one or both projects. 

An applicant is expecting a decision on a National Lottery Project Grants. Can they still apply for this programme?

The guidance (p11) notes that you may apply to other Arts Council funding programmes providing you meet the eligibility criteria for those funds, but not for the same project outlined in any other application to us. If you are planning to apply for a different activity than that outlined in your National Lottery Project Grants and meet all the eligibility requirements set out in the Guidance for Applicants, you may apply to the Capital Investment Programme.

The minimum grant amount is £100,000. Is it possible to aggregate projects to achieve the minimum figure threshold?

We will provide funding for activities outlined in our guidance on p.20 for a project that could significantly contribute to the programme aims and this should be a coherent single development project. National Lottery Project Grants will accept applications for capital activity below £100k and detail of the criteria and how to apply to this fund are on our website: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/projectgrants

The guidance for applicants says that to be eligible to apply; applicants must be a not-for-profit cultural organisation based in England. What about companies that have shareholders (e.g., artists / DJs) but are not distributing profit (although they may do so in years to come)? Would such an organisation meet the criteria of a not-for-profit cultural organisation?

We will consider applications from limited companies registered at Companies House that do not distribute profit to their members or shareholders. If an organisation intends to start distributing profits during the Funding Period Duration, they would not be eligible to apply to this fund. The ‘Funding Agreement Duration’ depends on the size of the award, as set out in our Standard Terms and Conditions Capital Investment

• for grants up to and including £499,999: 10 years from the date of the funding agreement
• for grants from £500,000 and up to and including £750,000: 15 years from the date of the funding agreement

Community Benefit Societies (CBSs) can pay dividends to their community investors – are they eligible to apply?

CBSs may be eligible to apply provided they are a ‘cultural organisation’, and any profits will be reinvested for the benefit of the ‘society’ instead of its members. CBS applicants must provide a governing document as evidence that they are properly constituted, registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and are a charitable CBS with an asset lock.

Do we need to have partnership funding?

Yes, all applicants are required to secure partnership funding. We require at least 5 per cent partnership funding for grants between £100,00 to £249,999; at least 10 per cent for grants from £500,000 to £750,000. Applications that do not meet the minimum partnership funding requirements will be considered ineligible. 

Do applicants need to have all partnership funding confirmed when they submit their application? 

No, but they will need to provide a fundraising plan outlining their strategy for raising the remaining funding. This must demonstrate convincing plans for raining 100% of the partnership funding target within the timeframe required for this programme (i.e., by 31 March 2025). 

Will having more than the minimum partnership funding required make an application more likely to be funded?

We want to make our funding go further, and we expect applicants to make the most of the other sources of income available to them. We will consider the extent to which an organisation can demonstrate financial support from other partners, including the risks attached to this funding.

Will in-kind support be accepted as partnership funding?

We will accept in-kind support, but we would expect at least 50 per cent of partnership funding to be cash.  If an applicant includes in-kind support, they must set out who is providing this support in their application and give an estimated value for each item.

Partnership funding must be in place before starting the project – can you confirm if this means that partnership funds should be secured before application or work begins on the capital project?

If you haven’t secured all their funding when making an application, you will need to attach a fundraising plan to your application to show how you plan to raise the funding. The plan should demonstrate to us that the funding will be in place before you start your capital project. For this round, activities must start no later than 31 March 2025, and so by this date, you must demonstrate that you have all your funding secured to start your project.

Can costs already spent in developing the application be included as partnership funding?

We cannot pay for costs spent before you receive a grant offer from us, so we cannot pay for costs you have spent in making an application. This includes any research or development costs or costs in seeking professional advice, including costs for building project applications such as developing drawings for the relevant design stage.

Can other Arts Council grants be used as partnership funding?

We will not accept other grants awarded by Arts Council England as partnership funding, including National Portfolio funding, Cultural Investment Fund, Cultural Development Fund or Cultural Recovery Fund.

Please also see ‘Can applicants already in receipt of a capital grant from Arts Council apply to this fund?’, above.

What activity can be supported?

This funding programme supports two broad categories of capital expenditure:

• Digital infrastructure to enable the use of technology to produce, distribute and exhibit cultural content, reaching homes, cultural venues, and community spaces.
• Physical infrastructure to address barriers to access and inclusion, reduce environmental impact, support new business models and create an environment to meet the diverse needs of creative practitioners, participants, partners, workforce, volunteers, and audiences.

We define capital expenditure as an amount spent to purchase or improve fixed assets that will be capitalised on the applicant’s balance sheet. Further detail on the types of activity we will support are set out on in the guidance for applicants.

Would building a new website be allowable expenditure under ‘digital infrastructure’?

The new website must be considered capital expenditure to be eligible spend for this programme. The applicant organisation will need to decide – in consultation with relevant advisors - whether they can capitalise this type of expenditure as part of their accounting policy.

Can you apply for a mix of physical and digital infrastructure?

You can apply for a mix of physical and digital infrastructure. Please note that if any part of your project is subject to one or more of these statutory approvals, it will be classified as a building project and must meet the additional requirements on p17-18 related to building projects.

How do we capitalise digital infrastructure? We are used to capitalising physical items, but can’t quite get how the principle applies digitally.

Whether or not you can capitalise digital infrastructure will depend on a number of factors including the specifics of the project activity and your organisation’s accounting policy. For this reason, you should seek independent professional advice, e.g. from your auditors, before applying.

A procurement method statement is a mandatory attachment at the application stage. Can you explain what we expect to see in the procurement method statement?

The Procurement Method Statement should set out the plan for buying the necessary services such as consultants, building work or purchasing furniture or equipment needed to undertake your project. It should tell us how you will encourage open competition and achieve value for money in selecting suppliers and contractors.

It should also include a process, timetable, and set of criteria by which the supplier will be selected, including details of compliance with our requirements set out in the guidance, Public Contract Regulations, if relevant, and Standard Terms and Conditions Capital Investment. 

Can applicants procure goods or services (such as equipment or building work) through a local authority framework agreement?

Ensuring that all procurement follows a fair and transparent process and achieves value for money is an Arts Council requirement. If a framework agreement is in place, then this is acceptable, providing:

• the framework agreement has been competitively tendered; and
• the goods or services are directly relevant to the scope of the framework in question.    

The procurement method statement (mandatory application attachment) should provide details of the framework agreement, its scope (what goods or services the framework covers, who can use the framework and length of the framework), whether it was competitively tendered or not, and the ‘call off’ arrangement from the framework (i.e. was a mini competition undertaken between several suppliers for each contract), and how this achieves value for money. Applicants should consult our T&Cs for full details.

Can organisations apply for maintenance work to their building?

We will not accept applications for routine maintenance and minor repairs that should form part of a maintenance and management plan. We will support activity that supports our four investment principles, such as improving accessibility or increasing the environmental performance of buildings.

Can the grant be used for salary or other revenue costs?

No, only capital costs are eligible. We define capital expenditure as an amount spent to purchase or improve fixed assets that will be capitalised on the applicant’s balance sheet.

The guidance for applicants’ states that general running costs or overheads will not be eligible for funding. Does this extend to staffing costs for managing the project (e.g., the appointment of a Project Manager)?

The exclusion of general running costs or overheads refers to an organisation’s general day-to-day running costs or overheads. If a Project Manager is recruited externally to manage the proposed works, their contribution would be categorised under the time-limited costs set out in the ‘what activity can be supported’ section of the guidance for applicants. However, these costs would still need to be capitalised on the balance sheet if being paid for by this fund.

Should applications relate only to one geographical site, or is it possible to make a single application for activity over several sites?

Applicants can apply for an activity in multiple sites, but they need to demonstrate that it meets the programme’s aims clearly.

Will building projects be prioritised?

No, we expect to invest in both physical and digital infrastructure projects of varying sizes, subject to the quality of the applications we receive. Applications can be made for purchasing digital and physical infrastructure, including buying vehicles, furniture, fixtures, and equipment and improving buildings and the public realm for cultural use.

Previous capital programmes prioritised consolidating and improving the existing arts infrastructure rather than investing in significant expansion or new buildings.  Can organisations apply to purchase a building or move to a new building?

Organisations can apply to purchase a building or consider adaptive reuse of existing buildings for cultural purposes as an alternative to new construction and to support a circular economy. The application must demonstrate that the project’s effect on their long-term operation has been considered and that the organisation has budgeted for on-going revenue costs such as maintenance, insurance and running costs which cannot be funded from this programme.  Applicants applying for a building project will need to provide income and expenditure forecasts with their application for five years following completion (see: Additional requirements for building projects).

Can software be included as part of the project?

Yes, software counts as digital infrastructure, one of the two main types of projects we expect to support through this programme. These costs can only be included for the duration of the project as defined in the application (up to 31 March 2027) and only if the organisation can capitalise the expenditure on their balance sheet. The applicant will need to demonstrate how they plan to cover these costs beyond the end date of the project. 

Can you clarify the difference between the programme aims and the investment principles? Does the project need to address all the programme aims and investment principles?

The programme aims are the longer-term impacts we expect to see from our investment in the projects supported through this fund. In terms of individual proposals, applicants must respond, as a minimum, to at least one impact for each of the four Let’s Create Investment Principles listed in the guidance. Each application must address a minimum of four and a maximum of 12 impacts.

Do applicants need to address all four investment principles, or can they focus on one? 

We expect applicants to demonstrate how they will address all four investment Principles as part of their project. Applicants will be asked to select at least one impact for each investment principle (a minimum of four and a maximum of 12 from the list below), and outline indicators and targets against which to evaluate their progress:

Ambition & Quality: Cultural organisations are ambitious and committed to improving the quality of their work

1. improved cultural spaces in places where there is currently limited physical infrastructure
2. improved quality of experience for creative and cultural practitioners, partners, workforce, volunteers, visitors, participants through enhanced physical and digital infrastructure
3. capital assets support organisations in their ambitions for their work

Dynamism: Cultural organisations are dynamic and able to respond to the challenges of the next decade

4. physical infrastructure is appropriate for business needs
5. digital infrastructure is used across organisations to improve performance and data collection and for the production, distribution, and exhibition of content
6. business model innovation is achieved by using physical and digital infrastructure to leverage additional value, maximise efficiency and enable operational improvements

Environmental Responsibility: Cultural organisations lead the way in their approach to environmental responsibility

7. organisations are developing net zero carbon pathways and measure and report on their progress in doing so
8. organisations are leaders within their communities, employing environmentally responsible approaches to delivering their activities and managing their assets
9. investment supports decarbonisation through environmentally responsible buildings and sustainable production and touring

Inclusivity & Relevance: England’s diversity is fully reflected in the organisations and individuals that we support, and in the culture, they produce

10. organisations are relevant, inclusive, and representative of the communities with whom they work and aim to actively form relationships with under-served communities
11. inclusive public spaces are created in which to engage with and enjoy creativity and culture
12. capital assets enable more representative engagement in creativity and culture

The guidance asks applicants to “explain the targets you are working towards for each Investment Principle”. By targets, do we mean numbers and KPIs or can it be a broader understanding of a target, like a goal or objective?

By ‘targets’ we mean measurable KPIs/indicators. Applicants should refer to the Investment Principle impacts above. If invited to apply, applicants must select at least one impact per Investment Principle and set one indicator per impact. At the EOI stage we would not expect applicants to have set detailed indicators, but it would strengthen the EOI if they have at least considered which impacts they will address with their application and potential indicators.

Can applicants apply for a revenue grant to help with additional operating costs arising from the project?

Applicants must demonstrate that the activity is financially viable, including that they have considered the costs of operation, maintenance, upgrade, and eventual disposal of the assets in future, and explain in their application how they have budgeted for such costs. Applications for building projects must include income and expenditure forecasts for the five years following completion. Applicants should not assume that further revenue funding will be forthcoming from us to support any increased running costs arising from the capital project.

The guidance states that ‘Grant funding should not be directed towards activities which directly generate income by offering goods or services on a market for a commercial fee’. Does this apply to artist studios, for example, which will generate income for the applicant, therefore rendering the project ineligible?

This criterion concerns whether the grant, if offered, would be considered a “subsidy” as defined in the Subsidy Control Act 2022). More specifically, it concerns whether (if considered a “subsidy”) it would be deemed compliant or non-compliant with the Subsidy Control Regime. All applicants will be asked to declare whether they regard the award as a ‘subsidy’. In addition, they will be asked to submit additional Subsidy Control information (using a template provided) relating to how the grant satisfies the requirements of exemptions under the Act.

In the example above, if the project will generate activities that could be considered economic in nature, it is possible that the grant would be considered a “subsidy”. The applicant should seek independent legal advice on the proposed activities to complete the Subsidy Control declaration and the additional Subsidy Control attachment in the application. A team at the Arts Council will review this information to determine whether the application needs to be assessed for compliance with the Subsidy Control regime.

If a grant is deemed a “subsidy” under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, would it automatically be rejected?

No, but additional considerations and conditions may apply if a grant is offered. Where applicable, it may be necessary to publish information relating to the grant and to demonstrate compliance with the Subsidy Control Regime.

What happens if a grant is deemed non-compliant with the Subsidy Control Regime?

If, following the additional Subsidy Control information assessment, a grant is deemed non-compliant with the Subsidy Control Regime, the application would not be funded. In the event that a grant is deemed by a competent court or other regulatory authority to be non-compliant with the Subsidy Control Regime after a grant offer is made, the grant recipient will be required to repay the entire grant (and any other sums due) immediately.

If an EOI was unsuccessful to the Cultural Investment Fund (CIF), can it be submitted to this programme?

CIF includes MEND, LIF and CDF. Applicants can submit a proposal that was unsuccessful to CIF, providing it meets the eligibility criteria for this fund.

There are many requirements that need to be completed before an EOI is submitted, and the timescale is tight. Why are these requirements in place?

Should funding be offered, the project will need to take place within the timescales for this programme (max. 36 months between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2027). Capital projects, particularly those involving building works and construction, often take longer to complete than expected. To meet the timescale requirements for this fund, we expect a significant amount of preparatory work will have already taken place and for the project to be well developed. The level of detail requested in the expression of interest reflects this, whilst also providing us with the information needed to assess risk and the quality of the proposals. Undertaking this work upfront will help organisations decide whether this is the right time to submit an EOI, or whether their planning needs to be developed more for them to apply to this round.

Who makes the decisions on the EOI?

EOIs will be reviewed by a panel in the applicant’s ‘home’ area—linked to their main contact post code. Projects that are considered to have the potential to make a significant contribution to the programme aims will be invited to submit an application. We are unable to give detailed feedback or engage in discussion about why a proposal is not being invited to make an application.

If we are invited to submit a full application, can we apply for a different project or different amount than set out in our EOI?

Applicants can only apply for the activity outlined in their EOI and to the maximum amount requested in the EOI. They cannot apply for more funding or for activities that were not included in their EOI.

Government Indemnity Scheme (GIS) and Capital Investment Programme

If you plan to take loans from National museums and galleries, we suggest you read the Government Indemnity Scheme guidance to ensure the GIS guidelines are met. Please contact the Arts Council Government Indemnity Scheme if your enquiry needs to be dealt with as part of this guidance.

What is a building project?

We define a building project as any type of building or construction work that is required to comply with statutory approvals such as building or planning regulations. The main statutory approvals and consents are:

• building regulations
• outline planning permission
• full planning permission
• listed building consent
• change of use
• conservation area consent
• lawful development certificate

What are the additional requirements for building projects? 

If any part of a project is subject to one or more of the statutory approvals above, it will be classified as a building project and must meet the following requirements:

• applicants must be able to demonstrate that they own the land and/or buildings (either as a freehold or leasehold) on which they will spend the grant, and that the land and buildings can be used for the project purposes

• organisations that hold a leasehold interest to land or buildings must hold the responsibilities for repair and insurance under the terms of their lease (i.e.  a full repairing lease)

• if an applicant is following the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Work Stages, design drawings and specifications for the architectural and engineering elements of their project must be developed to at least RIBA Work Stage 3 (RIBA Plan of Work 2020) by the timea full application is made in October 2023. . If they are not following the RIBA Work Stages, plans for architectural and engineering elements should be developed to the equivalent of RIBA Work Stage 3.

If an organisation is offered a grant, holds a leasehold interest in the land and/or buildings or is purchasing a leasehold interest with their grant, they must be able to demonstrate that the lease meets the following additional requirements (prior to first payment):

• for grants up to and including £499,999: a registered and assignable lease of at least 10 years; or,
• for grants from £500,000 and up to and including £750,000: a registered and assignable lease of at least 15 years; and,
• in both cases noted above, the lease should be without a break clause or a forfeiture on insolvency clause and have a permitted user clause that is compliant with the project and the proposed use.

Can you confirm whether organisations need to provide details at the EOI stage of a break clause in their lease?

Applicants aren’t required confirm the lease length or break clauses at the EOI stage. However, if invited to apply, the application will ask you to confirm the land and property details where the project will take place, the lease length and whether there are any break clauses in the lease. You will also need to send a copy of your lease as an attachment with your application.

If you are offered a grant and a variation to the lease is required because it doesn’t meet our requirements, we will require the variation to be completed before any grant payments are released. Please think carefully about the time and cost involved in discussing this with your landlord whilst having regard for our deadlines. 

What happens if an applicant’s lease has a break clause. How should they address this in their application?

If a lease does not meet the requirements set out in the guidance for applicants, the applicant organisation will need to arrange for a Deed of Variation to the lease to be completed to remove these provisions and meet our requirements. Applicants should start this conversation with their landlord and / or their legal adviser early, as this will need to be in place before any grant funds are released and by 31 March 2025 at the latest. If invited to submit a full application, we will ask applicants to provide a copy of their lease so we can check that it meets our requirements and provide instructions on any further action required.

If an organisation is applying for £200k and has seven years remaining on a 30-year lease, are they eligible to apply? They are in discussion with their landlord to see if they can get the lease extended, but this is unlikely to be possible before the deadline for applications. What should they do?

The applicant should liaise with their landlord to see if they agree to the lease extension in principle. If their application is successful, all land and lease agreements required for the project must be in place before any grant funds are released and by 31 March 2025 at the latest.

What happens if an applicant is not following the RIBA Work Stages for their project – how should they address this in their application?

RIBA design plans are not required for non-building projects such as purchasing and installing equipment or software. Applicants may need to follow RIBA Work Stages if their project involves architectural changes or larger construction works. Applicants should seek professional advice to establish the most appropriate approach for their project.

When should an access audit be conducted?

Applications for building projects must include an access audit prepared by an independent access consultant, and its findings and recommendations should be reflected in the drawings and specifications for the project. The document should be up-to-date and relevant to the plans submitted with the application. A limited number of access consultants are available who become very busy as the application deadline approaches, so we strongly recommend that applicants instruct a consultant as soon as possible when preparing their application.

Do statutory approvals such as planning permission need to be secured before the application is submitted, or can they be obtained later? 

​Applicants must obtain all approvals, planning consents, building regulation approvals, licences and any other necessary approvals and consents required by law to deliver your project. These do not need to be in place at the point of application, but they must be in place to enable the project to start within the timescale for this programme, i.e. by 31 March 2025. Applicants should take account of the timescales for obtaining these consents when planning their project and setting out the start date in their application.

For the independent valuation to support the purchase of a building – does this need to be a Red Book valuation?

We require an Independent property valuation to be undertaken by a qualified professional as set out in the guidance. We would expect this to be undertaken by a qualified surveyor (e.g RICS qualified), rather than an estate agent or an online estimate. This would mean that the surveyor would need to follow Red Book standards.

What’s the rationale for the Arts Council seeking the removal of the forfeiture on insolvency clause?

The reason the Arts Council seeks removal of the forfeiture on insolvency clause is to ensure that if the grant recipient were to go insolvent, the lease will not automatically come to an end. This is to protect public funding and to ensure that the arts and cultural use will continue for the period set out in the funding agreement. The Arts Council’s view is that were the grant recipient to go insolvent, having an unoccupied building would not be an effective use of the building and investment. Therefore, in such an instance, the Arts Council would look to discuss alternatives, such as the Landlord assigning the lease over to another arts and culture organisation that would continue to use the building for public benefit, rather than ending the lease altogether. This requirement is non-negotiable so applicants must be content that they are able to meet it before applying to this fund.

Who will decide on our application?

The Arts Council will make decisions on this programme.

What is meant by a balanced portfolio of grants?

When the Arts Council makes decisions on applications, we look at a range of factors, alongside the assessment criteria for the programme. These factors are called ‘balancing criteria’ and help us decide what to fund within the available budget for this programme and differentiate between applications that are assessed as strong.

The four factors we will consider are: 

• geographical location - we will look to support activity in a spread of places across England. We will use our priority places for 2021-24 to guide our investment in areas where opportunities for creative and cultural engagement are underdeveloped.
• type of activity – the need to achieve a range of physical, and digital infrastructure projects of varying sizes, subject to the quality of the proposals we receive.  
• diversity – we want to support organisations who are more representative of this country in terms of protected characteristics and socio-economic background. We will use information taken from the applicant organisation’s Grantium applicant profile about the diversity of their organisation’s leadership to help us in this process
• risk – the extent of the risks to the overall final portfolio of projects

The guidance for applicants says the Arts Council expects regular progress reports from grant holders. Will the frequency of these reports be standardised and the same for all projects?

Progress reports will be required at 6-month intervals for grants up to £500k and quarterly for grants over £500k.

We are aiming to make our building more accessible, however, the works will not be finished until the project is completed. How do we complete ‘timescale’ and ‘frequency’ in the application form’s Evaluation section?

The ‘Evaluation’ section of the application form should set out your plans for evaluating whether the project is or has met its objectives (it isn’t about the funded activity start and end dates, which need to be entered into the Activity Plan section). The ‘timescale’ and ‘frequency’ fields therefore, are where you set out your plans for evaluating your progress against the IP impacts your project will address, both during and/or following the project. Having selected the Investment Principle and IP Impact you want to address with your activity, list out the measures of success or indicators against which you will evaluate your activity (e.g. carbon emissions reduced by 10% one year after building opens). In the next field outline what evidence you will collect to demonstrate progress against these indicators and your approach for collecting it (e.g. Display Energy Certificate (DEC) or Annual Energy Statement). ‘Timescale’ should be the date by which you will collect/set any baseline data and ‘Frequency’ is how often you will collect any follow up data.

Applicants will be asked to complete an Evaluation report 12 months after completing their activity, so their plans for evaluation will need to inform this. On accessibility, for example, we might expect applicants to have baseline data by project completion, with data collected annually, possibly monthly, thereafter.

I am preparing a cash flow for the Capital Investment Programme (Round 2). Do I need to have funds available to meet up-front costs? If yes, when will I receive payments and what steps do I need to take to access the funds?

We do not use payment schedules for this funding programme, so there will not be an automatic initial payment upon entering into the funding agreement. As set out in the guidance, we instead pay out funds upon receipt of a list of invoices - we will then then pay the amount equal to the invoices. This gives grantees the flexibility to submit payment claims at frequencies that suit them, but you are correct that it also means you will need to have some cash in hand to meet costs up front. You should also note that our capital funding offers often come with conditions. These conditions must be met before a first payment can be released.

Where can applicants find guidance on how to use Grantium?

Our Grantium guidance page gives applicants all the information they need to get started using Grantium, including How to create and manage your account and applicant profile.

What access support and advice is available for applicants?

Arts Council England is committed to being an open and accessible and wants to make the application process accessible to everyone. If an applicant experiences any barriers within the application process, they should get in touch with our Customer Services team. 

Is the guidance for applicants available in accessible formats?

Yes, the guidance for applicants is available on our website in large print and Easy Read formats. 

If you require a copy of the guidance in Braille, please contact our Customer Services team.

How can applicants access more support or advice? 

Our Customer Services team can be contacted at Enquiries@artscouncil.org.uk or by calling 0161 934 4317 (10am - 4pm).

Can I apply to the Capital Investment Programme and the Music Hub Investment Programme? 

The Capital Investment Programme supports organisations to adjust buildings and equipment so that they can operate safely post-pandemic and improve access, seize on technological opportunities, and reduce environmental impact.  

Learn more in the Capital Investment Programme Guidance for Applicants > 

Organisations applying to the Music Hub Investment Programme are applying for a core Music Hub revenue grant and a capital grant for musical instruments. 

Learn more in the Music Hub Investment Programme Guidance for Applicants > 

Organisations are welcome to apply to both the Capital Investment Programme and the Music Hub Investment Programme, but not for the same activity. For example, an organisation can apply to the Music Hub Investment Programme for core revenue and musical instruments, and submit an application to the Capital Investment Programme for works to improve their building (where this aligns with the aims of that programme). However, if an organisation intends to apply to the Music Hub Investment Programme for musical instruments, they should not submit an application to the Capital Investment Programme for the same musical instruments.  

If an organisation applies to both the Capital Investment Programme and the Music Hub Investment Programme, we will check both applications to ensure the grants will not be used for the same purpose. If there is duplication between the applications, the Capital Investment Programme application will not be considered. 

If you are intending to apply to the Capital Investment Programme and the Music Hub Investment Programme and have any questions, please get in touch with our team.  

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