An update from Jane Tarr on Arts Council Engand’s Grantium system
Updated 22 August 2025
Arts Council England’s latest update confirms that it’s on track to bring National Lottery Project Grants back online by mid-September for under £30,000 applications. Its Pre-Application Access Support will be available for this programme from next Wednesday 27 August, in preparation for the fund’s return.
Read the latest updates and an up to date Q&A on the Arts Council England Website.
Friday 8 August 2025
Jane Tarr, Director, Skills & Workforces, & North, Arts Council England:
Hi
You may well have heard about the pause in Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant (NLPG) applications until mid-September, at the latest, which we announced on Tuesday. If you want to check the details, the message is here https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/applying-funding-us/qa-applying-funding-us
As we continue to resolve technical issues with our grant making systems, I’m glad to confirm that we can still make payments to grant recipients for all programmes. However, we have taken the decision to temporarily pause new applications for NLPG. We aim to restore the programme as quickly as possible, and no later than the middle of September.
We know how important it is for you to be able to submit applications for funding, and we are truly sorry for the disruption caused by this pause.
We have extended deadlines on several of our programmes that were immediately affected by these technical issues, and by using alternative software we have launched application forms for those programmes with fewer applicants.
We are building a bespoke solution for National Lottery Project Grants because it’s a rolling programme with a high volume of applications. This is a vital fund, and we recognise how important it is to the sector. We will open a new digital application route for users as quickly as possible and no later than mid-September.
We have heard concerns about the knock-on impact of these technical issues, including on programming and production in a few months’ time.
We expect there may be a higher volume of incoming applications than normal when NLPG is back open, and I want to reassure you that we are developing plans to manage this demand to the best of our ability. We are also looking at the question of time sensitive applications in conjunction with all the other aspects of the programme and will report on progress as soon as we can. I also want to make clear that the budget we had allocated for the programme over this time will be made available when the fund is back open – this pause will not impact our planned budget for this year. I’ll stay in touch with North East Cultural Freelancers - Leila and I spoke earlier this week - and will keep you updated.
I know it’s really concerning for so many people that National Lottery Project Grants is on pause. We are working at speed to resolve it as soon as we can, and I hope the information above is useful.
The Arts Council’s Customer Services are available if you have urgent questions not covered by the information online, but they are dealing with a very high volume of enquiries, as you might imagine, so if you really need to speak to someone please either email me on jane.tarr@artscouncil.org.uk or give me a ring on 07908 670854.
I won’t necessarily be able to answer your questions, or put systems back online any faster, but I can listen to your concerns, share your questions with colleagues here to try and find an answer and take your suggestions back to our wider team. I’m sure there will be things we won’t have thought of and I’d be happy to hear your thoughts and ideas too.
Thanks
Jane Tarr
Director, Skills & Workforces, & North