Culture and leisure: every unitary authoritie ranked by spend per resident
61 councils · median £40.33/person · mean £45.05/person. From MHCLG Revenue Outturn 2024-25.
| Rank | Council | Control | Seats | Population | Total spend | Per resident | vs median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isles of Scilly | Ind | 2,366 | £0.5m | £201.61 | +400% | |
| 2 | Halton | Ref | 131,543 | £12.5m | £94.93 | +135% | |
| 3 | Portsmouth | LD | 214,321 | £19.4m | £90.33 | +124% | |
| 4 | North Lincolnshire | Con | 171,336 | £15.1m | £88.18 | +119% | |
| 5 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | Ref | 275,401 | £22.5m | £81.81 | +103% | |
| 6 | Darlington | Lab | 112,489 | £9.0m | £79.87 | +98% | |
| 7 | Hartlepool | Ref | 98,180 | £7.8m | £79.07 | +96% | |
| 8 | County Durham | Lab | 538,011 | £40.3m | £74.99 | +86% | |
| 9 | Brighton and Hove | Lab | 283,870 | £20.1m | £70.63 | +75% | |
| 10 | Blackburn with Darwen | Ref | 162,540 | £10.7m | £65.53 | +62% | |
| 11 | Plymouth | Ref | 272,067 | £17.4m | £63.79 | +58% | |
| 12 | Leicester | Lab | 388,348 | £24.6m | £63.28 | +57% | |
| 13 | East Riding of Yorkshire | Con | 355,884 | £20.9m | £58.75 | +46% | |
| 14 | Medway | Lab | 292,655 | £17.1m | £58.48 | +45% | |
| 15 | Southend-on-Sea | Ref | 185,256 | £10.5m | £56.91 | +41% | |
| 16 | Blackpool | Lab | 144,191 | £8.1m | £56.05 | +39% | |
| 17 | Telford and Wrekin | Lab | 195,952 | £10.5m | £53.62 | +33% | |
| 18 | Southampton | Ref | 259,424 | £13.8m | £53.37 | +32% | |
| 19 | Warrington | Lab | 215,391 | £11.4m | £52.79 | +31% | |
| 20 | Bedford | Con | 194,976 | £10.1m | £51.92 | +29% | |
| 21 | Cheshire East | Con | 421,298 | £21.7m | £51.53 | +28% | |
| 22 | Westmorland and Furness | LD | 230,185 | £11.8m | £51.12 | +27% | |
| 23 | North Yorkshire | Con | 635,270 | £31.0m | £48.72 | +21% | |
| 24 | Stockton-on-Tees | Con | 206,800 | £9.7m | £46.86 | +16% | |
| 25 | Rutland | LD | 41,443 | £1.9m | £46.66 | +16% | |
| 26 | Bristol, City of | Green | 494,399 | £22.7m | £45.88 | +14% | |
| 27 | Wiltshire | LD | 523,700 | £22.4m | £42.82 | +6% | |
| 28 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | LD | 408,967 | £17.3m | £42.36 | +5% | |
| 29 | Northumberland | Con | 331,420 | £13.6m | £41.09 | +2% | |
| 30 | Middlesbrough | Lab | 156,161 | £6.3m | £40.56 | +1% | |
| 31 | North East Lincolnshire | Ref | 159,911 | £6.5m | £40.33 | 0% | |
| 32 | Stoke-on-Trent | Lab | 270,425 | £10.6m | £39.09 | -3% | |
| 33 | Dorset | LD | 389,947 | £15.1m | £38.84 | -4% | |
| 34 | Redcar and Cleveland | Lab | 139,228 | £5.1m | £36.54 | -9% | |
| 35 | Cheshire West and Chester | Lab | 371,652 | £13.3m | £35.68 | -12% | |
| 36 | Bracknell Forest | Lab | 130,806 | £4.5m | £34.71 | -14% | |
| 37 | Somerset | LD | 588,328 | £20.2m | £34.32 | -15% | |
| 38 | West Berkshire | LD | 165,112 | £5.5m | £33.48 | -17% | |
| 39 | North Northamptonshire | Con | 373,871 | £12.4m | £33.14 | -18% | |
| 40 | North Somerset | Con | 224,578 | £7.0m | £31.15 | -23% | |
| 41 | Torbay | Con | 140,126 | £4.4m | £31.08 | -23% | |
| 42 | York | Lab | 209,301 | £6.4m | £30.76 | -24% | |
| 43 | Shropshire | Con | 332,455 | £10.0m | £30.19 | -25% | |
| 44 | Isle of Wight | Ref | 141,660 | £4.2m | £29.77 | -26% | |
| 45 | Milton Keynes | LD | — | 305,884 | £8.9m | £28.96 | -28% |
| 46 | Herefordshire, County of | Con | 191,047 | £5.5m | £28.86 | -28% | |
| 47 | Peterborough | Con | 223,655 | £6.4m | £28.80 | -29% | |
| 48 | Cornwall | Ref | 583,289 | £16.6m | £28.50 | -29% | |
| 49 | Nottingham | Lab | 331,077 | £9.4m | £28.28 | -30% | |
| 50 | Reading | Green | 182,907 | £5.1m | £27.78 | -31% | |
| 51 | West Northamptonshire | Ref | — | 439,811 | £10.5m | £23.89 | -41% |
| 52 | Luton | Lab | 239,090 | £5.7m | £23.73 | -41% | |
| 53 | Derby | Lab | 274,149 | £6.5m | £23.61 | -41% | |
| 54 | Thurrock | Ref | — | 180,989 | £4.2m | £23.13 | -43% |
| 55 | South Gloucestershire | Con | 306,332 | £7.0m | £22.72 | -44% | |
| 56 | Central Bedfordshire | Ind | 315,877 | £5.3m | £16.88 | -58% | |
| 57 | Buckinghamshire | Con | 578,772 | £8.5m | £14.70 | -64% | |
| 58 | Wokingham | LD | 187,200 | £2.7m | £14.34 | -64% | |
| 59 | Windsor and Maidenhead | LD | 158,943 | £2.1m | £13.01 | -68% | |
| 60 | Swindon | Con | — | 243,875 | £0.9m | £3.78 | -91% |
| 61 | Bath and North East Somerset | LD | 200,028 | £-7.1m | £-35.31 | -188% |
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.