Norfolk Museums Service will begin the process of applying for its next round of Arts Council England funding later this year, with the application covering the five-year period from 2028 to 2033.

Officers told the Norfolk Joint Museums Committee on 24 July that guidance from Arts Council England is expected in September 2026, with applications due in November. The funding is provided through the Arts Council's National Portfolio Organisation programme, which supports major cultural organisations across England.

The current NPO programme runs until March 2028 and includes a place-focused uplift specifically targeting young people in Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and Thetford — three areas designated as Arts Council Priority Places.

The renewal process comes at a particularly sensitive time for the service. Officers noted that Local Government Reorganisation, which would create three new unitary authorities in Norfolk, poses a potential risk to the current countywide museums model. Committee members raised concerns that a fragmented service could be less competitive when bidding for national funding.

Norwich Castle Museum was also recently shortlisted for the Art Fund Museum of the Year award and won the Museums and Heritage Award for Restoration or Conservation Project of the Year — achievements officers said strengthen the service's national profile ahead of the application.

The committee also heard that the service's current Arts Council funding has supported programmes including Kick the Dust, a youth engagement initiative that has worked with more than 6,000 young people across Norfolk since 2018.