Full List of Successful Arts Council England NPOs in The North For 2023-26. But Who Lost Out?
Arts and culture organisations have been anxiously waiting for their fates to be revealed this morning, as Arts Council England finally announce who gets the 2023-26 round of ‘National Portfolio Organisation’ (NPO) funding.
At 11am this morning, many of our best known and cherished galleries, museums, theatres, publishers, commissioners, project spaces and creative venues across England found out who received (and who didn’t) this significant investment from the national funds, which will see them through the next three years.
It is clear that some have lost this funding completely, making their futures unsure, and others are receiving it for the first time.
The announcement is being broadcast live, here, but was delayed for more than a week, due to the chaotic changes in government.
On this morning’s announcement and selection process for 2023-26, Arts Council said: “The decisions made in this round of National Portfolio funding have been driven by the principles of Arts Council England’s 10 year-strategy, Let’s Create, and by a commitment to creating a fairer spread of investment across the country through a focus on those places where historically, public investment in creativity and culture has been low.”
In a complex application process, organisations wishing to become one of the Arts Council England’s limited list of NPOs have to apply with a ‘realistic and achievable’ business plan every three years. As explained on their website, Arts Council England expect budding and existing NPOs ‘to achieve value for money on behalf of the public.’
A key word in Arts Council’s communication has been the term ‘levelling-up’: suggesting that more should be done outside of the London area. London remains, however, their largest investment, and questions are being asked about whether taking from some to fund others is ethical. Criticism is also aimed at the funding body’s aim to ‘transfer’ their arts organisations (including NPOs and Investment Principles Support Organisations, or IPSOs) out of London, if they wish to remain recipients of Arts Council money.
- In a shock move, 24 arts organisations ( of those, 18 are currently NPOs) will relocate outside of London, in negotiations with the Arts Council, to other key areas in the North, Midlands and South, by October 2024, and have been offered ‘Transfer Programme’ funding to assist in these moves
- Northern organisations delivering activity for children and young people has increased by 25%
- Organisations new to the portfolio include Signal Film & Media, Barrow, who provide free training in animation, filmmaking and audio recording, and an increase in funding for Grimm and Co., Rotherham, introducing children and young people to storytelling, literature and books
- Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, to receive the same funding as the 2022-23 period, £246,759, for their work specialising in socially engaged photography
- In comparison, Serpentine Galleries, London, see a drop in funding for their visual arts programme, from £1,215,690, to £708,000
- Funding for English organisations outside of London will increase by nearly £45 million each year
- London will still receive a third of all the funding announced, and 30 of the 33 local authorities in the capital are set to receive cash – more than ever before
- Rural organisations will get a 22% increase (from £36.4 million to £44.6 million per annum); and the number of funded organisations in these areas will increase by 25% (increasing from 88 to 110)
20 Stories High
AA2A Limited
Abandon Normal Devices
Absolutely Cultured Limited
Action Transport Theatre
Africa Oye Limited
a-n The Artists Information Company
And Other Stories Publishing CIC
ARCADE
Art Gene Limited
Arts at the Mill CIC
Arts Catalyst
Arvon Foundation
Association for Cultural Enterprises
Association of Independent Museums
Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians
Back to Ours Arts Limited
Balbir Singh Dance Company
Ballet Lorent Limited
Baltic Flour Mills Visual Arts Trust
Barnsley Civic Enterprise Ltd
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Barnsley Museums
Beamish Museum
Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Blackpool Grand Theatre (Arts & Entertainment) Ltd
Blackpool Illuminations
Bloodaxe Books Ltd
Bloomin’ Buds Theatre Company Limited
BookTrust
Bradford Museums & Galleries
Brass Bands England
Brighter Sound
British Textile Biennial
Burnley Youth Theatre
Carcanet Press Limited
Cartwheel Arts
Cast
Castlefield Gallery
Cause4
Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art
Cheshire Dance
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Chol International Arts
Cinder House Publishing Limited (Dead Ink)
Comma Press
Common Wealth
Commonword Enterprises Limited
Community Arts North West
Company Chameleon
Company of Others
Crescent Arts
Culturapedia
Culture Squared CIC
Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance CIC
Cumbria Theatre Trust
Curious Minds
DaDaFest
Dance City
Dance United Yorkshire
DanceSyndrome
darts (Doncaster Community Arts)
DIY Theatre Community Interest Company
Doncaster Heritage Services
Durham County Council
East Riding Libraries
East Street Arts
Eclipse Theatre Company Ltd
Eden Arts
English Folk Expo
Explore York Libraries and Archives Mutual Limited
FACT
Family Arts Campaign Ltd
Festival of Making CIC
Festival of Thrift
Forced Entertainment Ltd
Freedom Festival Arts Trust
Future Arts Centres
Future Yard CIC
Gary Clarke Company Ltd
Gem Arts
Generator North East
Global Grooves
Goole Town Council
Great Georges Community Cultural Project Ltd
Greater Manchester Arts Centre Ltd
Grimm & Co
Grizedale Arts
Grundy Art Gallery
hÅb
Halle Concerts Society
Heads Together Productions Limited
Headway Arts
Heart of Glass
Helix Arts Ltd
Highlights Productions
Homotopia Limited
Hoot Creative Arts
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
Hull City Council
Hull Culture and Leisure Library Services
Hull Truck Theatre
idle women
Ilkley Literature Festival Ltd
imitating the dog
Impressions Gallery of Photography Limited
Inner City Music Ltd (Band on the wall)
Inpress Ltd
In-Situ
Interplay Theatre Trust
Invisible Flock Co
IOU Ltd
Jarrow Hall
Jazz North
Kala Sangam
Kendal Brewery Arts Centre
Kirklees Museums and Galleries
Kirklees Theatre Trust
Lakes Arts Festivals Ltd
Lancaster Arts at Lancaster University
Leeds Museums and Galleries
Leeds Theatre Trust Limited (Leeds Playhouse)
Littleworld Ltd t/a Horse and Bamboo Theatre
Liverpool & Merseyside Theatres Trust Ltd
Liverpool Arab Arts Festival
Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art Ltd
Liverpool Lighthouse
Loud In Libraries CIC
LUNG Productions CIO
M6 THEATRE COMPANY LIMITED
Manchester Camerata Limited
Manchester City Galleries
Manchester Collective
Manchester Craft And Design
Manchester Jazz Festival
Manchester Jewish Museum
Manchester Literature Festival
Manchester Young People’s Theatre trading as Contact
Mediale
Middle Child
Middlesbrough Town Hall
MIF
Mikron Theatre Company
Milap Festival Trust
Mind the Gap
More Music
Mortal Fools
Music Action International
Music in the Round
National Football Museum
National Youth Choirs of Great Britain
New Writing North
Next Door But One
North East Theatre Trust Ltd
North Lincolnshire Council 20-21 Visual Arts Centre
North Music Trust
North Yorkshire Moors Railway Trust
Northern Ballet Limited
Northern Broadsides Theatre Company
Northern Heartlands
Northern Lines
Northern Print
Northern School of Contemporary Dance
Northern Stage (Theatrical Productions) Ltd
November Club
Octopus Collective Ltd.
One Latin Culture Ltd
Open Clasp Theatre Company
Open Eye gallery
Opera North Limited
Orchestras Live
Pagoda Arts
Peepal Tree Press
People’s History Museum
Peshkar
Phoenix Dance Theatre
Pilot Theatre Ltd
PIPA
Portraits of Recovery
Preston City Council
Prism Arts
Project Space Leeds
Proud and Loud Arts
Quarantine
Queen’s Hall Arts
Red Ladder Theatre Company
Redhills CIO
Reform Radio
Ripon Museum Trust
RJC Dance
Rosehill Arts Trust
Rotherham Museums, Arts & Heritage
Rotherham Open Arts Renaissance (ROAR)
Royal Court Liverpool Trust
Royal Exchange Theatre Company Ltd
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Rural Arts North Yorkshire
Scarborough Theatre Trust Ltd
Sefton Libraries
Settle Stories
Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books
Shabang! Inclusive Learning
sheba arts
Sheffield Museums Trust
Sheffield Theatres Trust Ltd
SICK! Productions
Signal Film and Media
Site Gallery
Slung Low Limited
SoundCity
South Asian Arts-uk
South Tyneside Council
Southpaw Dance Productions
Square Chapel CIC
St Helens Council Library Service
Stockton Arts Centre Ltd
Stockton Borough Council Tees Valley Museum Group
Stockton International Riverside Festival
Sunderland Culture
Surface Area Dance Theatre CIC
Tech Styles Dance LTD
Tees Valley Arts
Teesside University
Thackray Medical Museum
The Ashton Group Theatre
The Auxiliary Project Space
The Bluecoat
The Bowes Museum
The Bronte Society
The Creative Art House
The Culture House Ltd
The Customs House
The Dukes Playhouse Ltd
The Forge
The Hepworth Wakefield Trust
The Lawnmowers Independent Theatre Company
The Lowry Centre Trust
The Maltings Berwick Trust Limited
The Met
The NewBridge Project
The Norton Priory Museum Trust
The Octagon Theatre Trust
The Performance Ensemble
The Reader
The Ropewalk (Barton) Ltd
The Shakespeare North Trust
The Warren Youth Project
The Writing Squad
The York Early Music Foundation
Theatre Hullabaloo
Theatre in the Mill
ThickSkin Theatre
TIN Arts
Transform Theatre Projects
Triple C
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
tutti frutti productions
Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums
UK Storyhouse Ltd
Unfolding Theatre
Unity Theatre
Utopia Theatre Limited
Vane Contemporary Art Limited
Venture Arts
Wakefield Council – Museums
Walk The Plank
We Are Unlimited Arts
West Yorkshire Print Workshop
Whitaker Museum & Art Gallery
Wild Rumpus
Without Walls
Woodhorn Charitable Trust
Wordsmith MCR
Writing on the Wall
York Citizens’ Theatre Trust
York Museums Trust
Yorkshire Artspace Society Ltd
Yorkshire Dance Centre Trust
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Your Trust
Z-arts.
Arts Council England’s full NPO investment plan data for 2023-26, including funding amounts and how that’s changed, can be downloaded here.
In our view, these Arts Council changes mark a remarkable switch in focus from London to the rest of the country. It is dependent on funding itself on government decisions, and has been affected by a multitude of arts cuts stretching back to Austerity measures, first implemented in 2010. Many organisations will be asking this morning; what next? It is still unclear who applied and has lost out in this high-stakes competition for essential investment.
Laura Robertson
