WIREDGOV

We have yesterday published our 2011 Stakeholder research report which can be downloaded here.

Arts Council England introduced the regular Stakeholder focus survey in 2009, as part of our public value work, helping us to strengthen our relationships with the public and other stakeholders and to support our mission to bring great art to everyone. The aim of the research is to ensure we are in touch with the views of our external stakeholders and the public, and to explore levels of trust and confidence in the Arts Council, as well as perceptions of accountability.

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England said in his response to the findings: 

As the Arts Council begins to look for ways we can make big savings in our administrative costs, it’s more important than ever that we understand our relationship with our stakeholders, and take into account what areas of the Arts Council’s work they most value.

'This latest round of our stakeholder focus, undertaken by DHA Research between June and September 2011, gives us a clear picture of where we are doing well and, crucially, areas where we could improve.'

Download Alan Davey's full response.

Key findings

The findings from the 2011 research highlight areas where we are performing well:

Good working relationships - individuals are key

Most of our stakeholders feel that their working relationship with us is good and that the Arts Council is a supportive organisation and a source of expert knowledge. 77 per cent of respondents say they have a good or fairly good working relationship with us, and 71 per cent regard us favourably overall.

Some opinion formers felt that recent changes have improved our effectiveness in achieving our mission: 'They've been through some very tough times and they've made some very sensible decisions and they've worked collaboratively with us.'

Concern about reduced investment and increased responsibilities

The research also suggests areas for us to improve, for example, stakeholders would like us to ensure that there is clearer personal contact, with clearer advice and continued funding. Stakeholders also voiced concerns about our capacity to maintain relationships and build new partnerships with the forthcoming reductions in administration costs: 'My concerns are for the Arts Council, rather than concerns with them'

The Arts Council is bureaucratic... but perhaps that is okay?

This wave of research attempted to drill down into the exact reasons why people felt we were bureaucratic. Stakeholders felt that overall our funding processes were less complex than other funding organisations and that much of the bureaucracy that people encountered was a necessary part of our systems of accountability.

Find out more

Visit the Stakeholder focus page in our Research section to find out more. The official statistics release from the second wave of research conducted in 2011 can also be downloaded there.

Shortly we will begin work on the next phase of research for 2012.