Figures published in arts management magazine Arts Professional reveal what each local authority in the country spent per person on culture and heritage last year.
The City of London Corporation is at the top of the list but Middlesbrough comes second with a per capita spend of £28.28. There are 15 authorities—none in the north east—which spend nothing in this area. One of these, surprisingly, is Westminster. Apart from Wigan, the rest of the non-spenders are rural areas, mainly in the south.
North east councils' spend, together with their position in the national league table, are:
- Middlesbrough £28.28 (2)
- Newcastle £12.60 (32)
- Gateshead £11.90 (38)
- Sunderland £11.80 (39)
- Stockton £9.26 (63)
- Hartlepool £8.31 (78)
- Darlington £8.13 (83)
- South Tyneside £7.81 (95)
- North Tyneside £6.16 (133)
- Redcar and Cleveland £6.11 (136)
- Northumberland £5.80 (148)
- Co. Durham £5.59 (154)
- Harrogate £4.64 (169)
- Hambleton £0.48 (309)
- North Yorkshire £0.05 (334)
The amounts spent by the region's near neighbours include Scarborough (£18.71 - 10), Leeds (£16.37 - 17), Carlisle (£13.95 - 26), York (£9.61 - 60) and Cumbria (£0.24 - 285).
Both nationally and in the north east most—but not all—of the lowest spenders are comparative sparsely populated rural areas, such as Hambleton and North Yorkshire.
The figures for London run from the City of London's £3,554.79 to Wandsworth's 1p. Generally speaking, however, outside the capital councils contribute 8.6% of the revenues to NPOs, whilst London’s NPOs receive an average of just 3.7% of their total income from their local authority. If, says the magazine, London councils were to spend the same percentage as the average throughout the rest of the country, this would free up £37m of Arts Council money for use elsewhere.
"Among England’s 20 councils with the highest numbers of NPOs in 2013/14," says the magazine, "those outside London spent an average of £13.91 on culture per capita, while those within the capital spent just £2.94."
There are 354 councils listed.