Inner North London boroughs receive a disproportionate amount of arts funding compared with their outer London neighbours, data from Arts Council England shows.
The Arts Council funds 31 arts organisations in Camden, as opposed to just one in Barnet.
Meanwhile, Islington received over £12 million in Arts Council funding, compared with £1 million for bordering Haringey.
Analysis is based on Extension programme funding for 2026/27, released by Arts Council England at the end of May.
Arts Council England is a government-funded charity which supports and funds culture and creativity across the country.
Anne Clarke, Barnet Council Cabinet Member for Arts and Culture, said: “I firmly believe that culture and arts are for everybody, and when you concentrate that funding into areas that are perhaps already well served for culture and arts, it doesn’t widen the net.
“Arts have a benefit in terms of economy. It’s a career that appeals to more people.
“But also in terms of quality of life, having arts and culture and the ability to participate in it is really important.
“Arts are one of the things that when we were in times of austerity and when governments are generally making cuts it’s seen as a really soft target, because if you’re trying to cut millions from your budget it’s very easy to look at the arts and culture as something that’s less important than housing, for example.
“We need a concerted effort from government to invest in the arts because council funding has been cut so much, and it hasn’t really been backfilled.”
Barnet received separate funding for arts for 2026 as part of the Mayor of London’s Cultural Impact Award, partially funded by the Arts Council, though this is a one-off rather than regular sum.
Some of the geographical discrepancy can be attributed to iconic cultural programmes being based more centrally, like the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Islington which receives over £1 million from Arts Council.
Of North London boroughs analysed, programmes in Enfield and Barnet, the most outer boroughs, receive the least amount of funding, with just £270,000 and £330,000 respectively.
In Camden, the Roundhouse, which receives over £1 million in Arts Council funding, runs a Young Creates programme, which has supported over 100,000 11-30 year-olds since its inception 20 years ago.
The programme offers training in theatre, media, and music, and prices per sessions sit at as low as £1.
Michaela Greene, partnerships director at the Roundhouse, says: “We know the challenges young people are facing today.
“We heard from the Milburn review which found that over a million young people are now not in education, employment or training.
“And young people aren’t lacking ambition or talent, they’re lacking access.
“The Roundhouse is about giving young people opportunity and access to engage in the arts in a non-formal setting.
“The value of having a space for young people to come together and having dedicated youth spaces on our site in Camden, is it provides a type of space which has been diminishing for young people over the last 10-20 years.
“Some of the resounding feedback we get from young people is that the Roundhouse creates a sense of belonging.
“So it’s not just about the creative engagement, it’s about finding a community and it’s so much needed now for young people.”
Although Arts Council funding makes up just 6% of the Roundhouse’s income, Greene says they would not be able to deliver their programme without public investment.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport released an independent review of Arts Council England in March 2026, which concluded that funding was unevenly distributed geographically, creating ‘a stark divide between the cultural ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots”.
In response to the Hodge Review, Arts Council England acknowledged that change was necessary to deliver its vision.
It says: “We share the ambition that everyone, wherever they live, should have access to high-quality arts, museums and libraries.”
Featured Photo: Participants of the Roundhouse youth programme perform on stage as part of Donna Summer Reimagined in Roundhouse Three Sixty Festival, 2025, by Corinne Cumming
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