Arts Council England Announces Phased Reopening of National Lottery Project Grants Following System Outage

Arts Council England has outlined its plans for the gradual reopening of its National Lottery Project Grants (NLPG) programme following a system disruption that caused applications to be temporarily suspended in August.

The organisation's Chief Executive, Darren Henley, announced that the Under £30k strand of National Lottery Project Grants would begin accepting applications from a limited group of early users on Wednesday 10 September, with access expanding progressively over the following days. The programme is slated to open to all applicants on Monday 22 September, with decisions communicated to applicants within ten weeks of submission.

Opening first is the 'Under £30k strand', which accounts for more than 80% of all NLPG applications. The £30,001-100,000 strand is scheduled to reopen by Tuesday 30 September, while the remaining three strands (Touring, Place Partnerships, and Major Projects) are expected to return in mid-October.

Early users, who were recruited through a survey conducted on 29 August, will have initial access to test the new online application system. However, Henley emphasised that while early users can submit applications sooner, all applications will only be assessed once the programme fully reopens to ensure fairness across all applicants.

The organisation has confirmed that applications started before the August outage have been preserved in their systems. From Thursday 11 September, applicants will be able to request their partially completed or finished applications through a form available on the Arts Council's website, following security verification procedures.

Henley stated that the temporary suspension will not affect the total funding available, with the annual budget for the programme remaining unchanged. While application volumes are expected to be higher than the same period last year due to the August pause, this is not anticipated to impact individual funding chances as all previously allocated August funding remains available.

The majority of Arts Council England's operations remained unaffected during the disruption. Regular funding for National Portfolio Organisations, Investment Principle Support Organisations, Music Hubs, and Creative People and Places programmes continued without interruption. The organisation also announced £7.2 million in investment for 589 successful applicants in the latest Developing Your Creative Practice funding round.

Support resources for applicants are scheduled to be released from the week beginning Monday 15 September to assist with application preparation.

Please note - all information and dates were corrrect at time of going to press.