National News

On 19^th January Arts Council England (ACE) opened their consultation on future priorities for the arts. ACE has identified areas for development in the arts over the next ten years and is asking for your views to inform its long term strategic framework and next set of investment decisions.

A report entitled After the Downturn, by the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, has announced that in the period 2011-2014 the arts may experience “cuts of 20% or more”.

On 19^th January Arts Council England (ACE) opened their consultation on future priorities for the arts. ACE have identified areas for development in the arts over the next ten years and are asking for your views to inform their long term strategic framework and next set of investment decisions.

Prompted by a paper in the Journal of Applied Arts and Health, on 12^th January The Independent newspaper reported that choral singing immeasurably improves physical health. The article gives numerous examples of patients reaping the benefits of singing programmes, including “Singing for Breathing” at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

In December The Government issued a new policy document entitled New Horizons: A Shared Vision for Mental Health.

This year's awards Building Better Healthcare Awards named winners including the Arts Programme at Bristol Heart Institute, University Hospitals of Bristol NHS Foundation Trust for Best Use of Visual Art in Healthcare and Kentish Town Health Centre (Allford Hall Monaghan Morris) for Best Primary Care Design. To see details of all the winners,

w:www.bbhealthcare.co.uk/show.phppage=mstory&jeton=xN7BIDbWXt4

In the seventh year of the Guardian's Public Services Awards, Arts for Health Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (AHCIS) has been announced winner of the Service Delivery, Care of Older People category. AHCIS was recognised for embedding the arts into nursing and residential homes, day care settings and hospital environments where care of older people took place.

w: www.guardian.co.uk/publicservicesawards/the-art-foundation

On 3^rd November, Arts Council England (ACE) published the criteria it uses to make decisions about which organisations to regularly fund. ACE provides around £350m a year to regularly funded organisations. Director of Programmes, Paul Blaker, said of the document: "publishing these criteria forms part of our commitment to becoming more open and transparent about our decision making process." To read the full criteria,

w: www.artscouncil.org.uk/criteriaforfunding

For further information w: www.architecture.com/Awards/RIBAStirlingPrize/RIBAStirlingPrize.aspx