Users have been reacting to the funding body’s new project grant application platform, with one user finding it ‘quite sluggish’. Arts Council England (ACE) has confirmed to Arts Professional that its new grant application portal was unavailable to users for a short period last week due to “maintenance”. After reports on social media of issues with the new platform, ACE told Arts Professional that it undertook “maintenance” on the system on 26 September, leading to a “30-minute period” in which services were unavailable. On its website, ACE says, “From time to time, the application platform will undergo planned maintenance to improve your experience. “I don’t know what that was related to, but it felt slightly comforting because a random ‘null’ was such a fixture of Grantium.