Here is an overview from @UKGovernment national government support for the top 10 cities of the United Kingdom after BBC Reports that cities need rejuvenation
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Assuming England / UK local-government funding, the cleanest 10-year source is the House of Commons Library local authority finance dataset. I’ve used 2016/17 to 2025/26 and ranked city-like local authorities by a national-funding-style measure: Settlement funding + Other grants + Social care grants, excluding council tax. This is not a perfect “city funding” measure because UK funding is officially published by local authority, not always by city boundary. (House of Commons Library1)
### What stands out
Birmingham is number one every year by a huge margin. After that, the same northern/midlands big-city authorities dominate: Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.
The Commons Library notes that its main “core spending power” measure includes council tax, business rates, grants and other elements, while the spending figures can include wider income and ring-fenced grant effects. So for “national funding,” the table above deliberately avoids council tax and uses the grant/settlement-side components instead. (House of Commons Library1)
For a broader “all public grants across government” view, GOV.UK’s Government Grants Register is published annually and is described as the most comprehensive view of grant spending across departments and arm’s-length bodies, but it is not as straightforwardly ranked by city. (gov.uk2)
1: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10523/ "Local authority finances - House of Commons Library"
2: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-data-and-statistics "Government grants data and statistics - GOV.UK"
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Assuming England / UK local-government funding, the cleanest 10-year source is the House of Commons Library local authority finance dataset. I’ve used 2016/17 to 2025/26 and ranked city-like local authorities by a national-funding-style measure: Settlement funding + Other grants + Social care grants, excluding council tax. This is not a perfect “city funding” measure because UK funding is officially published by local authority, not always by city boundary. (House of Commons Library1)
Top 5 city-like authorities by national funding components, £m
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016/17 | Birmingham £587.7m | Manchester £296.6m | Liverpool £289.1m | Leeds £259.6m | Sheffield £238.4m |
| 2017/18 | Birmingham £578.3m | Manchester £291.7m | Liverpool £289.8m | Leeds £251.1m | Sheffield £233.4m |
| 2018/19 | Birmingham £568.1m | Liverpool £287.4m | Manchester £285.9m | Leeds £242.9m | Sheffield £228.9m |
| 2019/20 | Birmingham £563.0m | Liverpool £285.9m | Manchester £285.2m | Leeds £237.7m | Sheffield £226.4m |
| 2020/21 | Birmingham £600.2m | Liverpool £305.7m | Manchester £304.1m | Leeds £254.6m | Sheffield £242.7m |
| 2021/22 | Birmingham £624.4m | Manchester £315.4m | Liverpool £314.7m | Leeds £261.9m | Sheffield £250.8m |
| 2022/23 | Birmingham £689.5m | Manchester £350.9m | Liverpool £347.6m | Leeds £295.9m | Sheffield £278.3m |
| 2023/24 | Birmingham £789.4m | Liverpool £399.3m | Manchester £397.2m | Leeds £340.0m | Sheffield £321.6m |
| 2024/25 | Birmingham £857.1m | Liverpool £431.0m | Manchester £426.4m | Leeds £368.4m | Sheffield £348.0m |
| 2025/26 | Birmingham £957.9m | Liverpool £484.7m | Manchester £475.6m | Leeds £420.5m | Sheffield £389.9m |
Birmingham is number one every year by a huge margin. After that, the same northern/midlands big-city authorities dominate: Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.
The Commons Library notes that its main “core spending power” measure includes council tax, business rates, grants and other elements, while the spending figures can include wider income and ring-fenced grant effects. So for “national funding,” the table above deliberately avoids council tax and uses the grant/settlement-side components instead. (House of Commons Library1)
For a broader “all public grants across government” view, GOV.UK’s Government Grants Register is published annually and is described as the most comprehensive view of grant spending across departments and arm’s-length bodies, but it is not as straightforwardly ranked by city. (gov.uk2)
1: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10523/ "Local authority finances - House of Commons Library"
2: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-data-and-statistics "Government grants data and statistics - GOV.UK"
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