Sir Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, has called on Arts Council England to address a significant imbalance in funding given to South Staffordshire compared with other areas.
Between April 1st 2021 and March 31st 2022, Arts Council England provided investment for South Staffordshire representing only £0.34 funding per capita.
By comparison, Birmingham received over 85 times as much investment from Arts Council England over the same period at £29.09 per capita, while Kensington and Chelsea received almost 120 times the amount at £40.79 per capita.
Sir Gavin said: “These massive differences in funding provided by Arts Council England to South Staffordshire compared with urban areas do a disservice to all those who live in South Staffordshire. As such, I have called on Arts Council England to address this regional imbalance immediately by investing much more in South Staffordshire and other non-metropolitan areas.
“South Staffordshire has some fantastic examples of arts programmes already — like the Codsall Community Arts Festival or the Brewood Music Festival — but with more investment from Arts Council England that matches what metropolitan areas currently receive per capita, we could see even more wonderful cultural opportunities in South Staffordshire.”
