ACE to cut one fifth of staff

Arts Council England is to restructure and cut staff by 21% as it seeks to reduce its administrative costs.

Overall staff numbers will be cut from 559.5 full-time posts to 442. The number of executive directors will be reduced from eight to four. Within literature, the number of relationship managers will be cut from nine to eight.

ACE's current regions and areas are to be replaced with five areas covering London, the South East, the South West, the Midlands and the North. Offices are also being reduced in size to bring property costs down by 50%, with major offices located in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol, plus some smaller local offices.

Chief executive Alan Davey said: "These savings have been challenging to achieve given our already pared down structure . . . We are protecting the relationship management and the artistic and cultural expertise we know our colleagues in the sector value but we must be pragmatic. We'll do less and we'll do it differently—but we'll do it well."

An ACE spokesperson said: "The Arts Council will be smaller. We can be effective and keep sight of our ambitions for the long term, but we will need to be pragmatic about what we can do . . . The new operating model relies on the flexibility and mobility of staff with both local and national responsibilities. . .

"We've protected as many roles, and therefore as much expertise, as possible by keeping other costs low."

Transition to the new structure will begin on 5th November and be completed by July 2013.