Public money · peer comparison

Public health: every unitary authoritie ranked by spend per resident

61 councils · median £63.94/person · mean £71.78/person. From MHCLG Revenue Outturn 2024-25.

RankCouncilControlSeatsPopulationTotal spendPer residentvs median
1BlackpoolLab
144,191£20.4m£141.47+121%
2MiddlesbroughLab
156,161£19.3m£123.42+93%
3Kingston upon Hull, City ofRef
275,401£32.3m£117.25+83%
4NottinghamLab
331,077£38.5m£116.40+82%
5Blackburn with DarwenRef
162,540£18.6m£114.62+79%
6County DurhamLab
538,011£61.6m£114.56+79%
7HartlepoolRef
98,180£11.2m£113.75+78%
8Redcar and ClevelandLab
139,228£15.7m£112.69+76%
9PortsmouthLD
214,321£22.8m£106.33+66%
10Brighton and HoveLab
283,870£29.4m£103.45+62%
11Stockton-on-TeesCon
206,800£21.3m£102.96+61%
12HaltonRef
131,543£13.4m£101.88+59%
13TorbayCon
140,126£14.3m£101.72+59%
14North East LincolnshireRef
159,911£15.8m£98.50+54%
15LeicesterLab
388,348£37.1m£95.61+50%
16DerbyLab
274,149£25.9m£94.31+47%
17Stoke-on-TrentLab
270,425£25.4m£93.77+47%
18DarlingtonLab
112,489£10.5m£93.07+46%
19LutonLab
239,090£21.7m£90.92+42%
20Bristol, City ofGreen
494,399£44.1m£89.25+40%
21Telford and WrekinLab
195,952£15.8m£80.83+26%
22PlymouthRef
272,067£22.0m£80.73+26%
23WarringtonLab
215,391£15.5m£71.90+12%
24SouthamptonRef
259,424£18.2m£70.18+10%
25ReadingGreen
182,907£12.7m£69.41+9%
26North LincolnshireCon
171,336£11.9m£69.26+8%
27MedwayLab
292,655£20.1m£68.84+8%
28PeterboroughCon
223,655£15.3m£68.19+7%
29Isle of WightRef
141,660£9.5m£66.85+5%
30Southend-on-SeaRef
185,256£11.9m£64.13+0%
31CornwallRef
583,289£37.3m£63.940%
32Herefordshire, County ofCon
191,047£12.1m£63.21-1%
33NorthumberlandCon
331,420£20.9m£63.18-1%
34Isles of ScillyInd
2,366£0.1m£61.28-4%
35West NorthamptonshireRef439,811£26.6m£60.59-5%
36BedfordCon
194,976£11.6m£59.35-7%
37ThurrockRef180,989£10.6m£58.31-9%
38Cheshire West and ChesterLab
371,652£21.1m£56.76-11%
39North NorthamptonshireCon
373,871£20.9m£55.96-12%
40SwindonCon243,875£13.6m£55.74-13%
41Bath and North East SomersetLD
200,028£11.1m£55.55-13%
42North SomersetCon
224,578£12.4m£55.44-13%
43Bournemouth, Christchurch and PooleLD
408,967£22.5m£55.03-14%
44East Riding of YorkshireCon
355,884£19.0m£53.35-17%
45Bracknell ForestLab
130,806£6.7m£50.88-20%
46SomersetLD
588,328£27.7m£47.12-26%
47ShropshireCon
332,455£15.6m£47.07-26%
48DorsetLD
389,947£18.1m£46.29-28%
49Milton KeynesLD305,884£14.0m£45.64-29%
50Central BedfordshireInd
315,877£14.4m£45.54-29%
51YorkLab
209,301£9.5m£45.29-29%
52Cheshire EastCon
421,298£19.0m£45.14-29%
53North YorkshireCon
635,270£28.0m£44.09-31%
54BuckinghamshireCon
578,772£25.1m£43.39-32%
55WiltshireLD
523,700£21.9m£41.88-35%
56West BerkshireLD
165,112£6.8m£41.15-36%
57RutlandLD
41,443£1.7m£40.47-37%
58Westmorland and FurnessLD
230,185£8.5m£36.95-42%
59Windsor and MaidenheadLD
158,943£5.8m£36.36-43%
60South GloucestershireCon
306,332£10.7m£35.03-45%
61WokinghamLD
187,200£6.0m£32.16-50%

What this shows. Net revenue expenditure on the public health 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.