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Increasing our support for individuals

Increasing our support for individuals

About this theme

The cultural sector depends on the talent, creativity, skills and experience of the freelancers that work independently and with organisations across the country.

Although the sector is recovering from the pandemic, it continues to face multiple challenges because of the rising cost of living. Many practitioners are still experiencing ongoing precarity around pay, working conditions and wellbeing. Evidence continues to suggest that freelancers are taking up opportunities in other sectors, resulting in skills gaps and shortages in the cultural sector.

This year, we will launch a major ongoing freelancer survey that will benchmark current conditions and use this to provide evidence to central and local government, and to inform how we collaborate and partner within and beyond the cultural sector to directly support and invest in freelancers. Separately, we will also continue to research and consult on how best to support children and young people to develop their creative potential, leading to a draft progression framework.

In 2022/23 we supported creative and cultural practitioners through National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG) and Developing Your Creative Practice (DYCP). A total of 1,247 practitioners received £28,929,587 through NLPG and 1,543 received £14,529,961 through DYCP. For the first time, we have tracked the number of freelancers who benefit from NLPG investment through being involved in Arts Council funded projects. The 1,247 awards to individuals are expected to offer 19,607 opportunities for freelancers, and we expect there to be a further 59,610 opportunities for freelancers through our awards to organisations. We know there is more work to do on NLPG to ensure it is more straightforward for applicants. We’ll develop and test changes to the programme with freelancers before rolling out a refreshed programme in September.

An evaluation of DYCP showed that the programme is delivering well against its key objectives, clearly supporting practitioners to make a step change in their work. Practitioners reported increased enthusiasm and confidence in their work, which helped to drive their careers forward, and that the quality of their work had improved. They also reported that they felt better able to sustain their careers following investment through DYCP. In response to the findings and suggestions from the evaluation, we have increased the upper grant limit from £10,000 to £12,000 and provide unsuccessful applicants with a decision reason as to why they were unsuccessful.

Cultural organisations play a key role in supporting, developing and working with creative and cultural practitioners. For our 2023-26 investment programme, we encouraged National Portfolio Organisations and Investment Principles Support Organisations applicants to better support individuals, and in particular to attract and retain new and diverse talent and entrants to the sector. At the point of application, over two-thirds of the new National Portfolio planned to deliver activity that will: develop and improve pathways towards careers in the creative industries; give more opportunities to people to start a career in the creative industries; and ensure there are opportunities for people to sustain their careers and fulfil their potential. We will track the impact of our investment in these areas.

We continue to collate and commission resources to support individuals. Freelance: Futures was delivered by freelancers, and brought together organisations, funders and policymakers to focus on equitable working conditions for freelancers. The resources and recorded conversations from Freelance: Futures are still available for the sector and the Arts Council to use to support progress towards more equitable conditions. Through consultation with freelancers, we have identified resources and training on business skills, safeguarding, and networking, and have developed a ‘place’ toolkit, which will support freelancers and local bodies to work together . We will also publish a short information sheet for practitioners to support their interactions with cultural organisations. Over the next year, we will develop more resources based on what freelancers have told us they want. We will also ensure that the Investment Principles Resource Hub is effective in supporting practitioners to develop and sustain their creative careers.

We want to make sure we’re working widely and consistently with freelancers at the Arts Council and, to support our staff in this, we will write and publish a ‘consulting with freelancers’ policy. We will continue to engage with a range of networks supporting creative and cultural practitioners and take the actions listed below hand-in-hand with the individuals they are intended to support. We will listen and learn, work collaboratively, build and share our collective resources and strengthen our understanding of the needs of individuals.

The cultural sector depends on the talent, creativity, skills and experience of the freelancers that work independently and with organisations across the country.

Although the sector is recovering from the pandemic, it continues to face multiple challenges because of the rising cost of living. Many practitioners are still experiencing ongoing precarity around pay, working conditions and wellbeing. Evidence continues to suggest that freelancers are taking up opportunities in other sectors, resulting in skills gaps and shortages in the cultural sector.

Actions for 2023/24

‘Q½/¾’ – This refers to the different quarters of a financial year ‘Date’ – This is the point when more information will become available. At that point we publish a link to that information under the relevant Action. ‘2022/23 Budget’– We only publish budgets in relation to programmes where there is an open application process. The published figure represents the amount of funding Arts Council England has allocated to this Action. This figure may not represent our full investment in an Action. Funding may have been allocated in previous years or may be planned in future years or may come from programmes that are separately budgeted (eg National Lottery Project Grants).

We will take the following Actions to increase our support for individuals.

Actions completed

Find out more about the Actions we completed.

Our themes & actions

Under each of our five themes, we have set out a series of actions we will take over the next three years to work towards achieving Let’s Create.