A reminder from ACE about the six week suspension of GfA applications that begins this Friday.

As previously announced, Arts Council England will suspend applications to its Grants for the arts programme for a period of six weeks between Monday 18 January and Friday 26 February.

This means that applications need to be submitted by 5pm on Friday 15 January to ensure decisions are made before the end of March.

The temporary suspension will allow the effective introduction of the new, improved application process from 1 March 2010. For the first time artists and arts organisations will be able to apply to Grants for the arts online making the programme more widely accessible and the application process as easy as possible.

A new national Grants for the arts team, based in the Arts Council’s assessment centre in Manchester, will assess and monitor all applications. The new teams will be focused around individual artforms and will maintain close links to each region, with decisions continuing to be made within the region. This will allow the Arts Council to make funding decisions using a national framework and ensures consistent advice and assessment is given to applicants wherever they are based.

The changes will improve how the scheme works for applicants, and save almost £1.5m a year in administrative costs, which will be reinvested directly into the arts.