Investment Review 2023

Arts Council of Wales is the official body for developing, supporting, and connecting the arts. We do this by distributing the public funds that are made available to us by the Welsh Government and the money that we receive for good causes from the National Lottery.

The Investment Review is how the Arts Council of Wales determines which creative organisations receive multi-year funding, through a competitive grant application process. These organisations are vital in the delivery and achievement of our strategic priorities through our 6 core principles: Creativity, Widening Engagement, Welsh language, Climate Justice, Nurturing Talent, and Transformation.

The previous Investment Review took place in 2015. The current review would have taken place earlier but was delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Successful organisations will be funded from the 2024/25 financial year for an initial 3 year term, subject to performance and finalisation of next year’s Welsh Government budget.

The objectives and process are underpinned by our own core 6 principles above. These principles will also form the basis of our new 10 year Strategic Plan  and have been shaped by taking into account a wide range of relevant policies and strategies in Wales, which helped form our published Guidelines for Organisations.

Amongst others, these include the seven goals of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, the Five Ways of Working, the Welsh Government’s Cultural Contract and Programme for Government and the Widening Engagement Action Plan.

In this year’s Investment Review, we received a record number of applications, with 139 organisations eligible for investment, compared to 94 when the Review last took place in 2015.

While this is very pleasing and shows the strength of the arts across Wales, this also means that difficult decisions had to be made because the total ask from organisations was almost £54 million, compared with our current funding of £28.7 million.

Clearly not every organisation could be funded, nor funded to the level they requested.

81 organisations across Wales have received a conditional offer of funding, an increase from 67 who were funded following the previous Investment Review.

They will share £29.6m, a cash-terms increase of £900,000 on the £28.7m that was previously made available.

23 organisations are being funded for the first time. Amongst others these include Citrus Arts (Hopkinstown), Common Wealth (Cardiff), Elysium Gallery (Swansea), FOCUS Wales (Wrexham), People Speak Up (Llanelli), Taking Flight Theatre (Cardiff), Small World Theatre (Aberteifi), Neuadd Ogwen, (Bethesda), and Urban Circle (Newport),

Across the twelve creative sectors which serve the arts in Wales, ten of them are receiving the same or more funding than before.

The Investment Review centres on six principles to which all funding organisations were required to demonstrate their commitment.

• Creativity
• Widening Engagement
• Welsh Language
• Climate Justice
• Nurturing Talent
• Transformation

Each application was considered on its own merits, but the Arts Council of Wales also took a Wales-wide view through a set of balancing factors so that the applications were looked at ‘in the round’.

These balancing factors were:

• Serving communities across Wales
• A wide range of artforms and creative opportunities
• Underfunded and unheard voices
• Public value
• The size and shape of applicant organisations

Our published report – Investment Review 2023 Report and Decisions - explains how applicants responded to our six principles.

The applications from individual organisations were assessed on how they met the six principles and then the balancing factors were considered. Where our assessment showed that further action was needed to achieve a balance across these factors, we have committed to carrying out targeted, strategic interventions to achieve this.

During the Investment Review process, we began to recognise that there were challenges or potential gaps in provision and have allocated £1.4m to undertaking a series of strategic interventions to help us address these issues.

Whilst the format of these strategic interventions is still to be determined, we have made commitments in 14 areas, including disabled representation in theatre through RAMPS Cymru, a review of English language theatre, a review of community dance and a review of traditional music.

Our published report includes a list of our strategic interventions we have identified through the Investment Review process.

• During the summer of 2022, we held extensive consultation with, inviting responses from the public, arts organisations and other key stakeholders across Wales.
• Following feedback through the consultation exercise, we published our Guidance for Organisations in December 2022, explaining the process and setting out the timetable.
• We explained that there was a four-stage process which included an individual assessment of each application against the six principles, then an expert group who considered the applications. At stage three, we then introduced our Wales-wide balancing factors and undertook quality assurance, and, finally, at stage four, Arts Council Members made their decision, based on all the information before them. 
• We have had the process independently audited by our internal audit service provider to make sure we were correctly following our own procedures, for which we received substantial assurance opinions.
• Following our announcement of our Council’s decision, there is an appeals process. Any organisation unsuccessful in securing a multi-year funding agreement may submit an appeal of the decision as per our published Appeals Process guidance. An external reviewer will consider their appeal and whether we have correctly followed the process to which we have committed ourselves.
• If an appeal is upheld our Council will consider the decision and recommendations from the appeals process at its meeting in December.
• Existing Arts Portfolio Wales (APW) Organisations will be eligible for transitional support if they have been unsuccessful in securing multi-year funding agreements in this Investment Review, but also be eligible for other Arts Council of Wales grants such as Creative Steps and Create, amongst others.

Sadly, there were 58 organisations who were unsuccessful on this occasion.

Nine organisations who were previously in receipt of multi-year funding have not been successful this time around.

These organisations are: Eleni, Hafren, Head4Arts, Impelo, Mid Wales Opera, National Theatre Wales, Rubicon Dance, Taliesin Arts Centre and Trac Cymru.

There is a published appeals process to which unsuccessful organisations may apply, which provides an organisation with an independent, external review of its appeal. Organisations have 21 calendar days within which they can make an appeal. If the external review upholds the appeal, then our Council will consider the decision and recommendations from the appeals process at its meeting in December.

Current APW Organisations who were previously in receipt of multi-year funding will be able to apply for transitional funding to support them through this difficult period.

All the unsuccessful organisations will be able to apply for other Arts Council of Wales grants which are available, and to apply again in future for multi-year funding.

Wales is the only country in which Welsh language arts are created on a professional basis and our support for the language reflects that. The Welsh language was one of our six principles and more Welsh language led organisations will be funded than previously, including Theatr Soar (Merthyr Tudful) and Oriel Plas Glyn Y Weddw (Llanbedrog). There is an increase in Welsh language activity across the board.

There is investment within venues and creative organisations that serve Welsh language communities, meaning that Ceredigion and Gwynedd are amongst the highest recipients of arts spend per person, while Carmarthenshire is home to Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru.

Widening Engagement is one of the 6 principles underpinning this Investment Review.

Through this, the Investment Review will bring a greater range of diversity to the arts in Wales, with funding for more culturally and ethnically diverse led organisations, including Fio and Jukebox (Cardiff), as well as an increased representation on boards of D/deaf and disabled people. Our commitments include supporting RAMPS Cymru to improve the representation of disabled people across the theatre sector in Wales.

Many new organisations have been developed through interventions like Creative Steps over the years with Taking Flight Theatre and Urban Circle are among the past beneficiaries. However, we know that there is still work to do to bring greater diversity and representation to the sector. We will continue to drive this agenda through the work of our Agent for Change and in partnership with others, including setting up regional networks for peer support. 

We have decided to do things differently from now on.

We want this Investment Review to be the last of such big funding ‘events’ and instead we wish to move to a more responsive way of working that allows us to take a longer-term view on our funding.

A new system of multi-year funding agreements will allow greater flexibility. A successful organisation will be given an initial funding term of three years, with a ‘check-in’ in year two and the option to confirm a further term.

This means that there is a potential for a continuous funding relationship, as long as the targets in the annual funding agreement are being met (subject to budget availability) and allows for new creative organisations to enter the scheme in future.

15 organisations have appealed against the initial decision by Council.

As explained in our published appeal process, an initial consideration of any appeal will be undertaken by an external reviewer who is independent of Arts Council of Wales. Both the organisation and the Arts Council will be informed within 16 calendar days after the deadline if the grounds for appeal have been granted.

If granted, a separate independent panel will meet within a further 28 calendar days to consider the appeal, and the applicant and Council will be informed of its recommendation 7 calendar days after that.

Council will consider the panel’s recommendations at its next meeting in December.

All organisations which were unsuccessful in the Investment Review will be able to apply for other Arts Council of Wales grants which are available, and able to apply in future for multi-year funding. Unsuccessful organisations which were previously members of the Arts Wales Portfolio will also be eligible for transition support to assist them in their adjustment.

After consideration by the independent external reviewer, we have been notified that one organisation has been granted grounds for an appeal. 15 had initially appealed against the Investment Review decision by Council.

An independent Appeals Panel will now meet to consider the appeal. The panel will be provided with all relevant information about the appeal, as well as any response by the Arts Council at least 7 calendar days before the date of the hearing. The appeal hearing will allow all members of the Appeal Panel to gain a full understanding of the reasons for the Arts Council’s decision and for the basis of the appeal, in order that a fair determination can be made.

The applicant and Council will be informed of the panel’s recommendation 7 calendar days after the appeal hearing. Council will then consider the recommendations at its next meeting in December.

Information on the appeals process can be found here.

All organisations which were unsuccessful in the Investment Review will be able to apply for other Arts Council of Wales grants which are available, and to apply in future for multi-year funding. Unsuccessful organisations which were previously members of the Arts Wales Portfolio will also be eligible for transition support.