Letters: arts funding is in good hands

Culture clash

Sir: Rosie Millard doesn’t like the current Arts Council England (ACE) strategy (Arts, 18 November). She quotes the experience of two organisations, ENO and the Fitzwilliam Museum, ‘who did not get their regular grant’ and who have fallen ‘out of favour’. It is often forgotten that no arts company is guaranteed funding beyond the agreed three-year period. All trustees know this and plan for different outcomes. ACE funds a broad range of organisations across the country. A few facts may help reassure that this strand of arts funding is in good hands. DCMS negotiated an increase in funding for ACE in the last round. ACE received a record number of applications last year and funded an equally record figure, almost a thousand, around the country. Of course, some applicants were unsuccessful, but almost 300 were funded for the first time, like the Foundling Museum and Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery.