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Selected Cases and Summaries of Completed Investigations - October 2000 to March 2001
Volume 4 - 2nd REPORT - SESSION 2001-2002
Chapter 2
ARTS COUNCIL OF ENGLAND
Case No: C.1545/00
Shortcomings in monitoring a recipient of fixed-term funding
A theatre company complained that a decision by the Arts Council of England to reject their application for renewal of fixed-term funding had been maladministrative because the Council had failed to commission sufficient reviews of company productions or attend board meetings in line with the funding agreements, and had not maintained contact with the company sufficient to enable them properly to appraise the company’s work. The Ombudsman found that, while the funding agreements that the Council had made with the company and other companies had given each of them at least a reasonable expectation that a specified level of monitoring would be carried out, the Council had had neither the system nor the staff resources in place to ensure that that was done in every case. As a result, a systemic bias in the reviewing process had deprived the company of the expected degree either of appreciation or of timely constructive criticism of their work by the Council, and they had suffered that lack more acutely than had their competitors for fixed-term funding. The Council agreed to arrange for an independent review body made up of relevant experts to reconsider the company’s application for fixed-term funding in the light of the Ombudsman’s report and any further evidence, and make a recommendation for consideration by the full Arts Council.
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