Children’s services: every unitary authoritie ranked by spend per resident
61 councils · median £272.28/person · mean £296.86/person. From MHCLG Revenue Outturn 2024-25.
| Rank | Council | Control | Seats | Population | Total spend | Per resident | vs median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackpool | Lab | 144,191 | £85.8m | £595.27 | +119% | |
| 2 | Hartlepool | Ref | 98,180 | £49.2m | £501.10 | +84% | |
| 3 | Middlesbrough | Lab | 156,161 | £76.8m | £491.52 | +81% | |
| 4 | Halton | Ref | 131,543 | £63.3m | £480.85 | +77% | |
| 5 | Stoke-on-Trent | Lab | 270,425 | £126.0m | £465.96 | +71% | |
| 6 | Isles of Scilly | Ind | 2,366 | £1.1m | £451.39 | +66% | |
| 7 | Redcar and Cleveland | Lab | 139,228 | £62.0m | £445.03 | +63% | |
| 8 | Torbay | Con | 140,126 | £55.5m | £395.97 | +45% | |
| 9 | Nottingham | Lab | 331,077 | £130.9m | £395.47 | +45% | |
| 10 | North East Lincolnshire | Ref | 159,911 | £62.6m | £391.34 | +44% | |
| 11 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | Ref | 275,401 | £101.6m | £368.92 | +35% | |
| 12 | Herefordshire, County of | Con | 191,047 | £68.3m | £357.69 | +31% | |
| 13 | Stockton-on-Tees | Con | 206,800 | £72.4m | £349.96 | +29% | |
| 14 | Darlington | Lab | 112,489 | £39.4m | £349.86 | +28% | |
| 15 | Reading | Green | 182,907 | £63.1m | £344.93 | +27% | |
| 16 | Plymouth | Ref | 272,067 | £92.7m | £340.74 | +25% | |
| 17 | Derby | Lab | 274,149 | £92.0m | £335.70 | +23% | |
| 18 | Blackburn with Darwen | Ref | 162,540 | £54.3m | £334.37 | +23% | |
| 19 | Medway | Lab | 292,655 | £93.6m | £319.99 | +18% | |
| 20 | Portsmouth | LD | 214,321 | £66.5m | £310.51 | +14% | |
| 21 | Bristol, City of | Green | 494,399 | £153.4m | £310.23 | +14% | |
| 22 | Peterborough | Con | 223,655 | £67.0m | £299.73 | +10% | |
| 23 | Isle of Wight | Ref | 141,660 | £42.2m | £297.72 | +9% | |
| 24 | Luton | Lab | 239,090 | £70.3m | £293.93 | +8% | |
| 25 | Telford and Wrekin | Lab | 195,952 | £57.5m | £293.25 | +8% | |
| 26 | Southend-on-Sea | Ref | 185,256 | £54.2m | £292.50 | +7% | |
| 27 | County Durham | Lab | 538,011 | £156.5m | £290.90 | +7% | |
| 28 | Swindon | Con | — | 243,875 | £69.3m | £284.09 | +4% |
| 29 | Thurrock | Ref | — | 180,989 | £51.3m | £283.29 | +4% |
| 30 | Southampton | Ref | 259,424 | £72.6m | £280.02 | +3% | |
| 31 | Bedford | Con | 194,976 | £53.1m | £272.28 | 0% | |
| 32 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | LD | 408,967 | £109.2m | £266.99 | -2% | |
| 33 | Leicester | Lab | 388,348 | £103.7m | £266.97 | -2% | |
| 34 | West Northamptonshire | Ref | — | 439,811 | £116.8m | £265.49 | -2% |
| 35 | Bracknell Forest | Lab | 130,806 | £34.7m | £265.11 | -3% | |
| 36 | Milton Keynes | LD | — | 305,884 | £80.8m | £264.23 | -3% |
| 37 | North Somerset | Con | 224,578 | £59.2m | £263.64 | -3% | |
| 38 | Warrington | Lab | 215,391 | £56.3m | £261.43 | -4% | |
| 39 | Cheshire West and Chester | Lab | 371,652 | £94.9m | £255.46 | -6% | |
| 40 | Brighton and Hove | Lab | 283,870 | £72.3m | £254.87 | -6% | |
| 41 | Somerset | LD | 588,328 | £147.7m | £251.10 | -8% | |
| 42 | Dorset | LD | 389,947 | £97.8m | £250.89 | -8% | |
| 43 | Shropshire | Con | 332,455 | £80.9m | £243.45 | -11% | |
| 44 | North Northamptonshire | Con | 373,871 | £90.4m | £241.86 | -11% | |
| 45 | Buckinghamshire | Con | 578,772 | £138.5m | £239.35 | -12% | |
| 46 | Northumberland | Con | 331,420 | £78.7m | £237.60 | -13% | |
| 47 | Bath and North East Somerset | LD | 200,028 | £47.4m | £237.11 | -13% | |
| 48 | Westmorland and Furness | LD | 230,185 | £52.6m | £228.47 | -16% | |
| 49 | West Berkshire | LD | 165,112 | £37.1m | £224.74 | -17% | |
| 50 | East Riding of Yorkshire | Con | 355,884 | £77.0m | £216.36 | -21% | |
| 51 | Rutland | LD | 41,443 | £8.9m | £215.19 | -21% | |
| 52 | Central Bedfordshire | Ind | 315,877 | £67.9m | £214.99 | -21% | |
| 53 | Cheshire East | Con | 421,298 | £90.1m | £213.92 | -21% | |
| 54 | Cornwall | Ref | 583,289 | £123.3m | £211.32 | -22% | |
| 55 | North Lincolnshire | Con | 171,336 | £35.3m | £205.78 | -24% | |
| 56 | Windsor and Maidenhead | LD | 158,943 | £32.6m | £205.25 | -25% | |
| 57 | South Gloucestershire | Con | 306,332 | £62.8m | £205.04 | -25% | |
| 58 | Wokingham | LD | 187,200 | £37.5m | £200.42 | -26% | |
| 59 | Wiltshire | LD | 523,700 | £93.4m | £178.41 | -34% | |
| 60 | York | Lab | 209,301 | £34.1m | £162.77 | -40% | |
| 61 | North Yorkshire | Con | 635,270 | £86.3m | £135.80 | -50% |
What this shows. Net revenue expenditure on the children’s services bucket from each council’s 2024-25 Revenue Outturn (RO) submission to MHCLG, divided by ONS mid-year population. Higher per-head doesn’t imply waste — it can reflect demographic need (e.g. more older residents), rurality, or policy choice (e.g. retaining in-house services rather than contracting out). Lower per-head doesn’t imply efficiency — some councils have moved costs to fees, grants, or a ringfenced account.
Caveats. Councils under MHCLG suppression for 2024-25 don’t appear here (Birmingham, Slough, Cumberland and others — see their council card for the reason). Comparisons across the tier line don’t make sense, which is why this table is filtered to one council type at a time. Source: MHCLG Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing.