Arts Council England review: reforms, endowment funds and tax incentives

""My report provides a clear path, with a range of new initiatives that cover everything from new funding models to fundamental systems reform, that will enable ACE to strengthen its key, positive role in sustaining a world-class creative sector for the future," Hodge says in a statement. In the wake of various culture wars over the past 15 years, Hodge stresses that "the government must maintain and strengthen the arm's length principle at all levels of government to ensure that arts funding is protected from politicisation"."

""Hodge also recommends new \"ways of responding urgently to the underfunding that has undermined the arts over the last decade\", giving new funding proposals based on philanthropic giving and tax incentives. \"The government should consider creating a £250m endowment fund for ACE that is structured in a way that levers philanthropic giving, with ACE raising £1 for every £1 they receive through the endowment,\" the document says. The government should also consider introducing a new tax incentive akin to the French Aillagon Law to encourage corporate giving outside London, Hodge adds.""

Recommendations call for significant reforms to Arts Council England, including new funding models, systemic changes and measures to safeguard independence from political interference. Strengthening the arm's length principle is urged to protect arts funding from politicisation. Proposals include a £250m endowment structured to lever philanthropic giving with a one-to-one match, and a tax incentive modeled on the French Aillagon law to boost corporate giving outside London. A new funding model for National Portfolio Organisations is proposed to address long-term underfunding. The measures aim to tackle a decade of underinvestment and diversify income through philanthropy and tax incentives.

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