Complaint made by Interlitq (www.interlitq.org) to Arts Council England (ACE) upheld

The official complaint made by Interlitq (www.interlitq.org) to Arts Council England (ACE) has been upheld (December 6th, 2011) with the application for funding from the government agency having been accepted for reassessment. Interlitq had made the official complaint on the grounds of a "possible conflict of interest". A reappraisal of ACE's original funding decision with regard to Interlitq is expected within twelve working weeks. Peter Robertson states: “I have long viewed Arts Council England as Interlitq’s ideal partner in the quest to break with ethnocentric concepts of literature and, through harnessing technology, and the power of the word, to touch distant and hitherto untouched lives. It is a concern close to my heart that an effective partnership be forged between ACE and Interlitq, and that we work hand-in-hand towards the common, and surely laudable, goal of promoting inclusivity in literature”.

Story by Ana de Biase

Arts Council England (ACE) has written (December 6^th, 2011) to Peter Robertson, the President of Interlitq, to inform him that the official complaint made by the literary review, and relating to the cited “possible conflict of interest”, has been upheld. The government agency will now reassess Interlitq’s application for funding, with a decision expected within twelve working weeks.

Peter Robertson has stated that he is “obviously pleased, but not surprised by the decision taken by ACE in view of the fact that Interlitq is in possession of incontrovertible documentary evidence bearing out the fact that the original decision made by ACE is neither equitable nor transparent”.

Robertson adds, “There is no room for complacency. The fact that Interlitq’s original application is being reassessed does not necessarily mean that ACE will join forces with us in order to develop a viable and sustainable partnership over the next two years. I think that I am correct in stating that of twenty-eight official complaints made until now, only three had until this time been upheld, and, after due consideration, only one of these had finally been granted funding by ACE”.

Robertson winds up by saying, “The last few weeks have been a distraction from what is important to us, the dissemination of high-quality international literature, but it has been a necessary distraction. I hope that we can move on, without recourse to an Independent Complaints Reviewer, or the possibility of legal action. I have always viewed Arts Council England as Interlitq’s ideal partner in the quest to break with ethnocentric concepts of literature and, through harnessing technology, and the power of the word, to touch distant and hitherto untouched lives. It is a concern close to my heart that an effective partnership be forged between ACE and Interlitq, and that we work hand-in-hand towards the common, and surely laudable, goal of promoting inclusivity in literature.”