Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has confirmed that no additional government funding will be provided to resolve the ongoing technical issues plaguing Arts Council England's grant application system, Grantium. The system failure has created significant uncertainty for arts organizations and individual artists across England who rely on the funding portal to access various grant programs.
The Grantium system completely stopped functioning on July 23, effectively shutting down applications to many of the Arts Council England's funding streams. According to Arts Council England, the outage was caused by the system's inability to handle high traffic volumes during a scheduled update. The technical failure has forced some funding programs to find alternative application routes, though many remain disrupted.
During a hearing before the culture select committee last week, Nandy was directly asked whether the government would provide extra financial support to overhaul the troubled grant application system. She explained that while the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) team was working to assist Arts Council England in resolving the issues as quickly as possible and providing technical support, the matter ultimately falls under the council's responsibility. "We didn't get additional money in the spending review to give them a new system," Nandy stated clearly.
Nandy acknowledged that the government is examining broader questions about Arts Council England through an ongoing review of the organization. However, she emphasized that the immediate priority is helping the council resolve the technical problems so that applicants can submit grant applications and receive funding when successful. She also promised to follow up with Arts Council England Chief Executive Darren Henley regarding concerns that the application system was experiencing problems even before the current major outage occurred.
In addition to addressing the Arts Council England issues, Nandy confirmed that DCMS will be reducing its workforce of approximately 1,000 employees as part of government-wide efforts to achieve 5% efficiency savings by the end of the current spending review period. "We've committed to about 5% efficiencies," she explained, noting that all government departments will end up smaller by the end of the spending review period. The challenge, she said, is to implement these reductions effectively without negatively impacting the department's programs and work.
The hearing also coincided with recent government personnel changes in the cultural sector. This week, it was confirmed that Labour peer Baroness Twycross will take on the ministerial portfolio for museums and heritage at DCMS following last week's government reshuffle. Meanwhile, Ian Murray, who succeeded former culture minister Chris Bryant, will serve as minister for creative industries, media and arts. Baroness Twycross will specifically lead on cultural property issues, the museum sector, and art market matters.
Regarding the Grantium system recovery, Arts Council England has provided updates on the phased reopening of grant applications. The National Lottery Project Grants are being restored in stages throughout this month, with the Under £30,000 funding strand becoming available to early users on September 10 as part of a careful testing process. This strand will fully reopen to all applicants on September 22, with funding decisions communicated to applicants ten weeks after submission.
The next phase of the recovery will see the £30,001-£100,000 funding strand returning online by Tuesday, September 30. This gradual approach reflects Arts Council England's commitment to ensuring the system works reliably before fully resuming normal operations and preventing future disruptions to the critical funding process that supports England's arts and cultural sector.
