Public money · peer comparison

Culture and leisure: every shire district ranked by spend per resident

158 councils · median £20.27/person · mean £22.19/person. From MHCLG Revenue Outturn 2024-25.

Rank	Council	Control	Population	Total spend	Per resident	vs median
1	Exeter	Green	138,399	£8.8m	£63.51	+213%
2	Ipswich	Ref	140,274	£8.9m	£63.44	+213%
3	Colchester	Ref	200,222	£11.8m	£59.04	+191%
4	Burnley	Ref	99,233	£5.3m	£53.22	+163%
5	Tamworth	Ref	81,117	£4.2m	£51.25	+153%
6	Crawley	Ref	124,008	£6.1m	£49.21	+143%
7	Basingstoke and Deane	BAS	193,110	£9.4m	£48.50	+139%
8	Epsom and Ewell	RES	83,288	£4.0m	£48.30	+138%
9	East Lindsey	Con	145,183	£6.7m	£46.49	+129%
10	South Derbyshire	Lab	117,493	£5.3m	£45.48	+124%
11	Harlow	Con	98,235	£4.4m	£44.80	+121%
12	Hyndburn	Ref	86,058	£3.8m	£44.40	+119%
13	Oxford	Green	166,034	£7.2m	£43.30	+114%
14	Cannock Chase	Ref	104,088	£4.4m	£42.09	+108%
15	Tunbridge Wells	LD	119,694	£4.9m	£40.79	+101%
16	Worthing	Green	113,866	£4.6m	£40.65	+101%
17	Hastings	Green	91,219	£3.7m	£40.34	+99%
18	Basildon	Ref	193,632	£7.7m	£39.98	+97%
19	Wyre	Con	118,743	£4.7m	£39.56	+95%
20	Chorley	Ref	120,839	£4.8m	£39.47	+95%
21	Watford	LD	107,171	£4.1m	£38.33	+89%
22	Chelmsford	LD	188,803	£7.1m	£37.75	+86%
23	East Devon	Ind	158,239	£6.0m	£37.70	+86%
24	South Ribble	Lab	116,113	£4.4m	£37.58	+85%
25	Fylde	Con	85,447	£3.2m	£36.89	+82%
26	Stevenage	Ref	91,774	£3.4m	£36.60	+81%
27	Thanet	Lab	142,691	£5.2m	£36.11	+78%
28	Babergh	Green	97,033	£3.4m	£35.51	+75%
29	Cheltenham	LD	121,739	£4.3m	£35.12	+73%
30	Cambridge	Green	149,352	£5.1m	£34.47	+70%
31	Lancaster	Lab	145,006	£4.8m	£33.45	+65%
32	Horsham	LD	151,521	£5.0m	£32.73	+61%
33	Gosport	Ref	82,921	£2.7m	£32.48	+60%
34	Lincoln	Ref	105,114	£3.4m	£32.38	+60%
35	Mid Sussex	LD	161,755	£5.1m	£31.31	+54%
36	Huntingdonshire	LD	190,619	£6.0m	£31.24	+54%
37	Mansfield	Lab	113,138	£3.4m	£30.43	+50%
38	Norwich	Green	147,182	£4.5m	£30.36	+50%
39	Folkestone and Hythe	Lab	112,411	£3.4m	£30.20	+49%
40	Swale	Lab	158,379	£4.8m	£29.99	+48%
41	Test Valley	Con	135,201	£4.0m	£29.77	+47%
42	Gedling	Lab	120,179	£3.5m	£29.51	+46%
43	Rugby	LD	122,378	£3.5m	£28.54	+41%
44	Pendle	Ind	99,777	£2.8m	£28.38	+40%
45	East Staffordshire	Lab	129,659	£3.7m	£28.27	+39%
46	Newark and Sherwood	Con	127,886	£3.6m	£28.27	+39%
47	Preston	LD	162,864	£4.5m	£27.80	+37%
48	Breckland	Con	146,620	£4.0m	£27.46	+35%
49	Bassetlaw	Lab	124,937	£3.4m	£27.45	+35%
50	Ribble Valley	Con	65,794	£1.8m	£27.44	+35%
51	Tendring	Con	156,759	£4.3m	£27.14	+34%
52	Welwyn Hatfield	LD	122,819	£3.3m	£26.93	+33%
53	Worcester	Lab	106,671	£2.9m	£26.74	+32%
54	North Hertfordshire	Con	137,201	£3.6m	£26.34	+30%
55	West Suffolk	Con	188,485	£4.8m	£25.69	+27%
56	Mid Suffolk	Green	110,775	£2.8m	£25.64	+26%
57	Gloucester	LD	138,598	£3.5m	£25.55	+26%
58	Melton	Con	54,052	£1.4m	£25.27	+25%
59	Broxbourne	Con	101,900	£2.6m	£25.18	+24%
60	Runnymede	Lab	92,118	£2.3m	£25.15	+24%
61	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	Con	156,206	£3.9m	£25.14	+24%
62	Derbyshire Dales	LD	71,757	£1.8m	£24.84	+23%
63	Ashford	Con	140,936	£3.5m	£24.60	+21%
64	Surrey Heath	LD	94,492	£2.3m	£24.32	+20%
65	Rother	Con	96,133	£2.3m	£23.96	+18%
66	Maldon	Con	69,131	£1.7m	£23.95	+18%
67	Torridge	Ind	69,841	£1.7m	£23.67	+17%
68	Staffordshire Moorlands	Lab	96,651	£2.3m	£23.28	+15%
69	Elmbridge	LD	141,926	£3.3m	£23.23	+15%
70	Boston	BOS	71,080	£1.6m	£22.78	+12%
71	Eastbourne	LD	104,259	£2.4m	£22.73	+12%
72	Dacorum	LD	161,420	£3.6m	£22.47	+11%
73	Tonbridge and Malling	Con	136,853	£3.0m	£21.90	+8%
74	North Norfolk	LD	103,217	£2.2m	£21.65	+7%
75	Stroud	Green	125,680	£2.7m	£21.32	+5%
76	Bolsover	Lab	83,773	£1.7m	£20.77	+2%
77	Mid Devon	LD	84,993	£1.8m	£20.66	+2%
78	Rochford	Ref	89,815	£1.8m	£20.53	+1%
79	Woking	LD	105,679	£2.1m	£20.29	+0%
80	Cherwell	LD	170,426	£3.5m	£20.25	-0%
81	Rossendale	Lab	73,045	£1.5m	£20.03	-1%
82	South Kesteven	Con	147,151	£2.9m	£19.95	-2%
83	Dartford	Con	125,011	£2.5m	£19.93	-2%
84	South Holland	Con	99,298	£2.0m	£19.78	-2%
85	East Hertfordshire	Green	156,875	£3.1m	£19.64	-3%
86	Chesterfield	Lab	106,045	£2.1m	£19.62	-3%
87	Lewes	Green	102,363	£2.0m	£19.35	-5%
88	Wychavon	Con	138,017	£2.7m	£19.22	-5%
89	Canterbury	Lab	162,100	£3.1m	£19.14	-6%
90	Teignbridge	LD	138,548	£2.6m	£19.09	-6%
91	South Staffordshire	Con	114,423	£2.2m	£18.85	-7%
92	Castle Point	THE	90,581	£1.7m	£18.76	-7%
93	Newcastle-under-Lyme	Ref	127,727	£2.4m	£18.63	-8%
94	High Peak	Lab	91,959	£1.7m	£18.61	-8%
95	Maidstone	Con	187,767	£3.5m	£18.39	-9%
96	Broxtowe	Lab	114,565	£2.1m	£18.37	-9%
97	Mole Valley	LD	88,709	£1.6m	£18.24	-10%
98	Charnwood	Con	188,385	£3.4m	£17.97	-11%
99	Reigate and Banstead	Green	159,134	£2.9m	£17.95	-11%
100	Spelthorne	LD	107,074	£1.9m	£17.77	-12%
101	Chichester	LD	128,934	£2.3m	£17.77	-12%
102	Waverley	LD	134,284	£2.4m	£17.71	-13%
103	Nuneaton and Bedworth	Ref	141,565	£2.5m	£17.54	-13%
104	Three Rivers	Con	95,807	£1.7m	£17.33	-15%
105	Stafford	Con	141,556	£2.4m	£17.24	-15%
106	West Lancashire	Ref	121,995	£2.1m	£16.98	-16%
107	Fareham	Con	115,428	£1.9m	£16.65	-18%
108	North East Derbyshire	Lab	106,646	£1.7m	£16.35	-19%
109	Lichfield	Con	111,932	£1.8m	£16.35	-19%
110	Redditch	Ref	87,847	£1.4m	£16.18	-20%
111	East Suffolk	Green	249,664	£4.0m	£15.86	-22%
112	Erewash	Lab	114,253	£1.8m	£15.59	-23%
113	Uttlesford	RES	95,106	£1.5m	£15.39	-24%
114	Rushcliffe	Con	126,736	£1.9m	£14.77	-27%
115	Winchester	LD	135,632	£2.0m	£14.77	-27%
116	Hertsmere	Con	110,212	£1.6m	£14.75	-27%
117	Gravesham	Lab	110,671	£1.6m	£14.70	-27%
118	Tewkesbury	LD	101,949	£1.5m	£14.44	-29%
119	Epping Forest	Ref	137,451	£2.0m	£14.21	-30%
120	Fenland	Con	104,896	£1.5m	£14.00	-31%
121	Arun	Con	170,064	£2.4m	£13.92	-31%
122	Adur	Ref	64,889	£0.9m	£13.89	-31%
123	South Oxfordshire	LD	156,470	£2.2m	£13.84	-32%
124	Braintree	Con	164,304	£2.2m	£13.67	-33%
125	Malvern Hills	Ind	83,227	£1.0m	£11.75	-42%
126	North Kesteven	Con	122,468	£1.4m	£11.08	-45%
127	Wyre Forest	Con	103,913	£1.1m	£10.61	-48%
128	South Hams	LD	92,148	£0.9m	£9.95	-51%
129	Tandridge	LD	90,586	£0.9m	£9.78	-52%
130	Cotswold	LD	91,661	£0.9m	£9.58	-53%
131	St Albans	LD	151,012	£1.4m	£9.56	-53%
132	Harborough	Con	104,713	£1.0m	£9.25	-54%
133	West Lindsey	LD	99,208	£0.9m	£9.24	-54%
134	North Devon	LD	101,222	£0.9m	£8.58	-58%
135	Sevenoaks	Con	122,748	£1.0m	£8.12	-60%
136	Great Yarmouth	Con	100,529	£0.7m	£6.90	-66%
137	South Norfolk	Con	148,448	£1.0m	£6.46	-68%
138	Brentwood	Ref	79,326	£0.5m	£6.08	-70%
139	Vale of White Horse	LD	149,347	£0.9m	£5.94	-71%
140	East Hampshire	Con	129,975	£0.7m	£5.51	-73%
141	Stratford-on-Avon	LD	146,258	£0.8m	£5.33	-74%
142	West Devon	Con	58,923	£0.3m	£5.31	-74%
143	Forest of Dean	Green	89,753	£0.5m	£5.28	-74%
144	Hinckley and Bosworth	LD	116,682	£0.6m	£4.89	-76%
145	New Forest	Con	176,116	£0.8m	£4.66	-77%
146	Bromsgrove	Con	101,685	£0.4m	£3.56	-82%
147	Blaby	Con	108,165	£0.3m	£2.95	-85%
148	Broadland	Con	138,157	£0.3m	£2.45	-88%
149	Wealden	LD	166,908	£0.3m	£1.98	-90%
150	South Cambridgeshire	LD	172,544	£0.2m	£1.40	-93%
151	East Cambridgeshire	Con	92,906	£-0.1m	£-0.97	-105%
152	Eastleigh	LD	142,933	£-0.2m	£-1.37	-107%
153	Havant	Ref	126,985	£-0.5m	£-4.04	-120%
154	Rushmoor	Ref	105,751	£-0.6m	£-5.97	-129%
155	Oadby and Wigston	LD	61,695	£-0.4m	£-6.79	-133%
156	Hart	LD	103,162	£-0.7m	£-7.15	-135%
157	West Oxfordshire	LD	120,941	£-0.9m	£-7.18	-135%
158	Dover	Lab	119,768	£-1.1m	£-8.84	-144%

What this shows. Net revenue expenditure on the culture and leisure 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.