Arts funding tracker

How to use the arts funding tracker 

1. Search for your constituency in the search bar at the top.
2. Select the constituency name in the list below the search bar.
3. At the top you will see a figure for the Percentage change (Trend), we recommend you use this figure to talk about changes in your constituency e.g. ‘funding in my constituency has been cut by X’. The Percentage change (Trend) tells you what has happened to the average annual funding in your constituency within the specified time period.
4. The Percentage Change (Absolute) figure in the same bar of information tells you the difference in real terms funding between the first year in the timeline and the last year in the timeline in isolation (the latter does not account for changes in funding in the years between).
5. You can adjust the number of years of the trend by changing the Trendline Span, using the drop-down menu in the bottom right-hand corner.
6. A graph will appear – the blue line is the actual Arts Council grants made in the constituency each year. The yellow line is the running average, which maps the trend over several years.
7. For example, in the constituency of ARUNDEL AND SOUTH DOWNS. The average annual funding has been cut by 42% over 10 years, and the absolute funding was 13% lower in 2022 than in 2014. 

Email your candidates

Use your constituency data to tell candidates standing to be your next MP why it’s essential they fight for arts funding over the next parliament. Use our simple email template to contact all your local candidates now. 

Methodology

This analysis was produced by Autonomy Institute who processed four regional grants datasets, each from a different UK country, featuring diverse time spans and geographical boundaries.

To prepare for integration, Autonomy Institute first harmonised the geographical data. The Scottish dataset was based on postcodes, enabling Autonomy Institute to map geographical coordinates and assign the corresponding 2024 parliamentary constituencies, covering the period from 2011 to 2023. The English dataset, which ranged from 2014/15 (noted as 2014) to 2022/23 (noted as 2022) and included data beyond England, was updated from 2015 constituencies to 2024 boundaries using geographical weighting (proportion of old constituency areas into new 2024 parliamentary boundaries). This method was similarly applied to the Northern Ireland dataset, which spanned from 2010 to 2023 using 2010 boundaries. The dataset for Wales was already aligned with the 2024 parliamentary constituencies and covered 2010 to 2023.

After ensuring compatibility, Autonomy Institute combined the datasets, accounting for cross-country constituency values, and labelled non-specific extra-regional allocations as 'Outside Scotland' and 'Outside Wales'. The comprehensive dataset now spans 2010 to 2023, with varying start and end years for each country. To standardise value comparisons, we adjusted the monetary values to 2023 price levels using the Office for National Statistics Consumer Price Index (ONS CPI).

Autonomy Institute computed two measures for the change in arts council funding, for each constituency. One is an absolute measure, which gives the difference in funding between two given years. For the second measure, Autonomy Institute first computed a trend-line on the data via linear regression. Autonomy Institute then considered the change in funding based on this trend-line. The latter method reduces the impact of multi-year fluctuations in funding.

These figures include National Lottery funding provided through UK arts councils.