Planning and economic: every unitary authoritie ranked by spend per resident
61 councils · median £26.53/person · mean £31.66/person. From MHCLG Revenue Outturn 2024-25.
| Rank | Council | Control | Seats | Population | Total spend | Per resident | vs median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cheshire West and Chester | Lab | 371,652 | £72.0m | £193.72 | +630% | |
| 2 | Isles of Scilly | Ind | 2,366 | £0.3m | £142.01 | +435% | |
| 3 | Westmorland and Furness | LD | 230,185 | £15.9m | £69.20 | +161% | |
| 4 | Herefordshire, County of | Con | 191,047 | £11.4m | £59.75 | +125% | |
| 5 | Bath and North East Somerset | LD | 200,028 | £10.9m | £54.48 | +105% | |
| 6 | Dorset | LD | 389,947 | £20.8m | £53.40 | +101% | |
| 7 | Rutland | LD | 41,443 | £1.8m | £44.13 | +66% | |
| 8 | Nottingham | Lab | 331,077 | £14.6m | £43.95 | +66% | |
| 9 | East Riding of Yorkshire | Con | 355,884 | £15.5m | £43.54 | +64% | |
| 10 | Isle of Wight | Ref | 141,660 | £6.1m | £43.24 | +63% | |
| 11 | County Durham | Lab | 538,011 | £23.1m | £42.88 | +62% | |
| 12 | North Yorkshire | Con | 635,270 | £27.2m | £42.84 | +61% | |
| 13 | Portsmouth | LD | 214,321 | £9.0m | £42.11 | +59% | |
| 14 | Somerset | LD | 588,328 | £24.1m | £40.98 | +54% | |
| 15 | Peterborough | Con | 223,655 | £9.0m | £40.09 | +51% | |
| 16 | Southampton | Ref | 259,424 | £10.1m | £38.91 | +47% | |
| 17 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | Ref | 275,401 | £10.3m | £37.44 | +41% | |
| 18 | Derby | Lab | 274,149 | £10.2m | £37.05 | +40% | |
| 19 | Stoke-on-Trent | Lab | 270,425 | £9.8m | £36.34 | +37% | |
| 20 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | LD | 408,967 | £14.8m | £36.09 | +36% | |
| 21 | Buckinghamshire | Con | 578,772 | £20.5m | £35.46 | +34% | |
| 22 | Bristol, City of | Green | 494,399 | £16.4m | £33.23 | +25% | |
| 23 | Brighton and Hove | Lab | 283,870 | £9.4m | £32.95 | +24% | |
| 24 | Cheshire East | Con | 421,298 | £13.6m | £32.18 | +21% | |
| 25 | York | Lab | 209,301 | £6.5m | £30.89 | +16% | |
| 26 | Middlesbrough | Lab | 156,161 | £4.8m | £30.88 | +16% | |
| 27 | Leicester | Lab | 388,348 | £11.9m | £30.64 | +15% | |
| 28 | Blackburn with Darwen | Ref | 162,540 | £4.9m | £29.89 | +13% | |
| 29 | Telford and Wrekin | Lab | 195,952 | £5.8m | £29.52 | +11% | |
| 30 | Bracknell Forest | Lab | 130,806 | £3.5m | £26.96 | +2% | |
| 31 | Shropshire | Con | 332,455 | £8.8m | £26.53 | 0% | |
| 32 | Torbay | Con | 140,126 | £3.7m | £26.50 | -0% | |
| 33 | Halton | Ref | 131,543 | £3.4m | £26.08 | -2% | |
| 34 | North Lincolnshire | Con | 171,336 | £4.4m | £25.77 | -3% | |
| 35 | Luton | Lab | 239,090 | £5.6m | £23.31 | -12% | |
| 36 | Windsor and Maidenhead | LD | 158,943 | £3.6m | £22.81 | -14% | |
| 37 | Wokingham | LD | 187,200 | £4.2m | £22.18 | -16% | |
| 38 | Milton Keynes | LD | — | 305,884 | £6.6m | £21.72 | -18% |
| 39 | Redcar and Cleveland | Lab | 139,228 | £3.0m | £21.20 | -20% | |
| 40 | Wiltshire | LD | 523,700 | £10.7m | £20.50 | -23% | |
| 41 | Hartlepool | Ref | 98,180 | £2.0m | £20.03 | -25% | |
| 42 | South Gloucestershire | Con | 306,332 | £5.7m | £18.51 | -30% | |
| 43 | West Berkshire | LD | 165,112 | £3.0m | £18.15 | -32% | |
| 44 | Blackpool | Lab | 144,191 | £2.5m | £17.41 | -34% | |
| 45 | West Northamptonshire | Ref | — | 439,811 | £7.4m | £16.91 | -36% |
| 46 | Darlington | Lab | 112,489 | £1.9m | £16.72 | -37% | |
| 47 | Southend-on-Sea | Ref | 185,256 | £3.1m | £16.58 | -38% | |
| 48 | Cornwall | Ref | 583,289 | £9.0m | £15.47 | -42% | |
| 49 | Stockton-on-Tees | Con | 206,800 | £3.2m | £15.24 | -43% | |
| 50 | Medway | Lab | 292,655 | £4.4m | £15.10 | -43% | |
| 51 | Bedford | Con | 194,976 | £2.9m | £14.91 | -44% | |
| 52 | Reading | Green | 182,907 | £2.6m | £14.04 | -47% | |
| 53 | North Northamptonshire | Con | 373,871 | £4.5m | £12.07 | -55% | |
| 54 | North Somerset | Con | 224,578 | £2.6m | £11.42 | -57% | |
| 55 | Warrington | Lab | 215,391 | £1.8m | £8.29 | -69% | |
| 56 | Central Bedfordshire | Ind | 315,877 | £2.3m | £7.22 | -73% | |
| 57 | Swindon | Con | — | 243,875 | £1.4m | £5.86 | -78% |
| 58 | North East Lincolnshire | Ref | 159,911 | £0.9m | £5.59 | -79% | |
| 59 | Northumberland | Con | 331,420 | £0.9m | £2.81 | -89% | |
| 60 | Plymouth | Ref | 272,067 | £-0.2m | £-0.83 | -103% | |
| 61 | Thurrock | Ref | — | 180,989 | £-2.1m | £-11.66 | -144% |
What this shows. Net revenue expenditure on the planning and economic 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.