A £450 million “culture chasm” between London and the North of England is adding to a “vicious cycle of regional inequality”, a new report has warned.
Analysis from IPPR North has found that the capital received arts and culture funding of £57 per person between 2023 and 2025, compared to only £28 per person in the North of England.
The think tank claimed that the North would have received an extra £450 million from Arts Council England (ACE) if it was funded at the same rate as London, roughly equivalent to putting on 10 events on the scale of Bradford’s City of Culture programme every three years.
Researchers say that, while the funding gap has actually shrunk from £700 million between 2018 and 2022, there remained a “clear need to redress historic underfunding and cultural exclusion in regions like the North” and called for power over arts and culture funding to be handed to regional mayors instead.
North East mayor Kim McGuinness said that “too much power is held in London, and by unelected quangos, where decision makers hold the future of Northern arts in their hands”.
She added: “It’s little surprise the North has missed out on our fair share of culture investment, which has stifled the potential of our people and place.
“We know culture and creative industries are a catalyst for growth and pride, and as leaders across the Great North, we are determined to end the days where the North loses out.”
The North East Combined Authority is due to sign off a £2 million grant next week to help open a new national centre for writing in Newcastle, which is also being backed with £5 million from the Government.
Image: LDRS
Ms McGuinness said that the New Writing North project “shows that the tide is turning, but we have a long way further to go”.
According to IPPR North’s ‘State of the North’ report, 15% of the North East’s libraries have closed since 2010 – the second worst rate in England.
It also found that 18% of schools in our region do not have a library, compared to only six per cent in the South East, while the North East’s parks are twice as small on average as London’s.
The analysis actually says that the North East received the third highest ACE funding per head of any region, receiving more than areas including the Midlands, North West, and South West.
However, the North East’s £32.58 per capita was still way behind London’s £56.79.
Report author and IPPR North research fellow, Ryan Swift, commented: “Arts and culture shouldn’t be the preserve of people born in the ‘right’ places to the ‘right’ money. Young people across the North want and deserve the access to entertainment, recreation, and opportunity afforded to their peers in other parts of the country.
“There is a clear need now to address the culture and opportunity chasms for the next generation of northerners to break out of the vicious cycle of regional inequality which acts as a barrier to life chances and satisfaction. Leaders should do so by taking steps to provide a better baseline for young people in the North, and by making sure that young peoples’ views and priorities are listened to and acted upon”.
An Arts Council England spokesperson responded: “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 £68 million when comparing 2019/20 and 2023/24. We’re the only public body in England whose job is to champion artists and protect their freedom of expression. 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.”
