Report highlights ‘stark’ English regional funding inequalities

A new report has found a “chasm in cultural funding” between London and the north of England and calls for a devolution of Arts Council England (ACE) funding responsibilities.

The 2025 State of the North report, published by the independent charity IPPR, aims to highlight how regional inequality exacerbates the growing challenges facing many young people – such as intergenerational social mobility, belief in democracy and long-term opportunities.

When examining access to culture, the report found a decline in cultural provision and a “chasm in cultural funding” between English regions.

It notes that the gap in arts council funding between London and the north has narrowed – from a gap of £691m in National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) funding in 2017 to a £411m gap in its latest analysis – but warns that “stark” funding equalities remain.

According to its analysis, the north of England received £383.5m through core ACE funding streams (including NPO funding) between 2022 and 2026, compared to London’s £458.6m.

In the first quarter of 2025, projects in the north of England were allocated £66m in ACE’s lottery project grants (£4.17 per capita) compared to London’s £60.6m (£6.63 per capita).

The report claims that had the north of England received the same core funding per capita as London, core funding would have increased from £383.5m to £794.6m. By the same standard, lottery project grants in the north would have risen from £66m to £105.1m.

Region	Total	Per capita
London	£519.2m	£56.79
Yorkshire and the Humber	£184.1m	£32.84
North East	£88.1m	£32.58
West Midlands	£192.5m	£31.42
North	£449.5m	£28.38
England	£1,568.8m	£27.11
Midlands	£276.5m	£24.8
North West	£177.3m	£23.55
South West	£109.5m	£18.72
East Midlands	£83.9m	£16.72
South East	£132.9m	£14.07
East	£80.9m	£12.57

Responding to the report, a spokesperson for ACE said: “The public, and crucially children and young people, deserve brilliant art and culture in their neighbourhoods and communities.

"Over the past decade we’ve shifted our investment to help make that happen – closing the funding gap between London and the North by over £68m when comparing 2019/20 and 2023/24.

"We believe that one of the strengths of the arts system in this country is that key funding decisions are taken by an arm’s length body able to take politically independent decisions and protect artistic freedom.

"Through our teams, spread all across England, we work in partnership with communities, local authorities and mayors to make sure there are excellent cultural experiences and opportunities to pursue creative careers for everyone, everywhere.” 

ACE’s own annual report for 2024/25, published last week, highlights how funding is spread across the England regions and the different cultural sectors.

During this period, the museum sector received £54.9m from the funder up from £46.89 the previous financial year. Music received the highest amount of ACE grant-in-aid (£139.9m in 2024/25), followed by theatre (£99.4m) and combined arts (£84.6m).

ACE’s figures show grant-in-aid funding in London was £143.5m in 2024/25 up from £138.2m in 2023/24. Funding in the South West of England was £29m in 2024.25, up from £25.6m the previous year.

South East England, meanwhile, saw a slight rise in funding from £25.6m in 2023/24 to £29.2m in 2024/25.

In comparison, funding decreased in the north of England from £110m in 2023/24 to £101m in 2024/25. In the Midlands, funding reduced from £66m in 2023/24 to £62.6m in 2024/25.

ACE’s report shows that a quarter of the 100 organisations that received the most funding in 2024/25 were in London. The leading three – Royal Ballet and Opera, the National Theatre and the Southbank Centre – are all London-based and collectively received more than £67.83m.

The arts council says that its annual funding figures do fluctuate from year-to-year, partly due to the responsive nature of its funding.

Devolution of culture

The State of the North writers call for cultural investment to be spread “more fairly across the country to redress historic underfunding and the challenges of cultural exclusion in regions like the north and devolve responsibilities and funding for culture to combined authorities where the appetite and capacity for this exists”.

They say this should be reflected in ACE’s next investment programme post-2026.  

“Additionally, to improve access to culture in the north, the government should commit to devolving ACE funding and responsibilities for culture to what will become Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities [Emsa] where there is the appetite and capacity to facilitate this, so that they can begin to invest in their local cultural priorities and areas of growth,” the authors add.

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“In areas without an Emsa, local leaders and ACE should work together closely on co-creating plans for investment and spreading access to culture.”

The English Devolution White Paper, published last December, commits to increasing the number of strategic authorities as new regional tiers of government across England. However, ACE says it is unclear how devolution will affect its work or the sectors it supports.

“Our five area teams are working in collaboration with local government and mayoral combined authorities in their areas, and we are working closely with the Department for Culture, Media & Sport on approaches to devolution,” it states in its annual report.