What does someone from Skipton or Manningham get out of the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House, or the many other museums, galleries and theatres in London?

Over the last year, Arts Council England distributed £320m of taxpayers’ money to the arts, with £20 per head of population allocated in London against £3.60 per head of population in the rest of England.

That’s the estimate by an independent report addressing the balance of arts funding between London and the rest of the country.

Called Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital, the report also claims that in the same year the Department of Culture Media and Sport distributed £450m of public funds directly to major ‘national’ cultural institutions, with £49 per head of population in London against £1php in the regions.

This pattern of public funding, that would appear to favour London, was the focus of a recent debate held in Bradford, attended by arts representatives from around the region.

The meeting, at the Lister Mills studios of Bradford theatre company Mind The Gap, working in collaboration with the What Next? arts movement, saw David Powell present the findings laid out in his report Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital, co-written with Peter Stark and Christopher Gordon.

It prompted an impassioned debate on why Bradford receives so little funding, why many artists end up leaving the North and go South to earn a living, and how better levels of arts investment can be achieved in our region. The meeting culminated with a challenge issued to arts funders to rebalance the disparity in resources.

The report claims that since 1995, Arts Council England has distributed £3.5 billion of new funds for good causes in the arts from the National Lottery. The report says these funds carry a different ethical mandate for the Arts Council, suggesting a need for geographically proportionate distribution related to population size, but argues that over the 18 years of the Lottery, Arts Council distribution of £3.5 billion of new National Lottery funding has benefited London by £165 php against £47php in the rest of England.

Mr Powell argues that a way of redressing the imbalance would be to allocate London its fair ‘per capita’ share of arts Lottery funding, for an initial five years, benefiting cultural production outside London by £600m over that period.

Tim Wheeler, artistic director and founder of Mind The Gap, which trains actors with disabilities and tours productions nationwide, says a redress would “irrigate” rather than “drain” Bradford’s creative talent.

He says that while the bright cultural lights of London are important to all, they’re kept burning by talent nurtured across the country.

“A hundred years ago Bradford had more millionaires than anywhere else in the country. Then we were proud of the arts and culture in our city. Now Bradford is at the bottom of most league tables, its wealth and creative talent has been systematically drained from the district,” says Mr Wheeler.

“We need the Government, through agencies like Arts Council England, to use its resources to help irrigate rather than further drain talent from the regions. Only then will we be able to become the fine producer city we once were.”

Iain Bloomfield, director of Theatre In The Mill at the University of Bradford, says: “I hope this report acts as a wake-up call to Arts Council England and pushes them towards a robust plan to right the current imbalance in the national funding picture.

“Bradford is a young and increasingly diverse city and district. It has, and I know this from my work at Theatre In The Mill, an increasing taste for culture, for the opportunity to tell its stories. Arts Council England should use this moment as an opportunity to both support excellence and develop capacity in cities such as Bradford.”

Arts Council England says the need to invest strategically in increased access and provision for arts and culture in all regions is part of its “core strategy”.

Chief executive Alan Davey said: “Arts Council England welcomes the debate raised by Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital – the health of arts and culture in the regions is incredibly important.

“Although the report simplifies a complex picture, it rightly highlights we should continue to target lottery funds at places with less investment.

“In the last three years more than 70 per cent of our lottery investment has benefited people beyond London.

“We are about to go into an investment process for the next three years where we will target our money intelligently across England.”

He added: “The per capita figures in the report give a misleading impression that London is just for Londoners. National organisations based in London belong to the nation.

“They have a role in artistic development, pioneering digital platforms and touring across England. They, along with great art from the regions, also give us a leading role on the international stage.”