A new report to Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Panel reveals a mixed picture of police performance across the county up to September 2025, showing clear improvements in crime outcomes, youth justice and road safety, but ongoing challenges around public confidence, visibility, and volunteer capacity.
The Police and Crime Plan Performance Update, produced by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and Nottinghamshire Police, tracks progress against the key performance ambitions set out in the 2025–2029 Police and Crime Plan. It outlines both positive and negative trends across twelve major indicators, providing an overall snapshot of how the Force is performing against its long-term goals.
© westbridgfordwire.com
Two of the twelve indicators are currently exceeding expectations: the number of first-time entrants into the youth justice system has dropped by 25% year-on-year, and positive outcomes for recorded crime have risen to 17.3%, outperforming national and regional averages. However, two other measures — public perception that police are visible in areas of greatest need and tackling issues of local concern — are significantly below target, highlighting a continuing confidence gap between communities and the police.
Overall public confidence in Nottinghamshire Police stands at 50.4%, down 1.1 percentage points on last year and 4.6 points below the target improvement set in the Plan. When excluding those who feel neutral, confidence rises to 73.7%. The report identifies Ashfield and Bassetlaw as areas where improvement is most needed, citing perceptions of visibility, reputation, and response to local priorities as key concerns.
The report highlights several areas of strong performance. Nottinghamshire’s efforts to divert young people away from the criminal justice system have been described as “notably successful,” supported by wide-ranging prevention and intervention work. The Force also continues to achieve above-average results in solving crime, particularly for victim-based offences, with the positive outcome rate standing at 13.4% compared with national, regional, and peer averages of around 12–13%.
Road safety data show that the number of people killed or seriously injured on Nottinghamshire’s roads has fallen to its lowest level in two years — down 3% compared with last year and 7% below the December 2023 baseline. This improvement comes despite public concern over speeding, which has risen to its highest recorded level, with 36.7% of respondents identifying it as a local problem.
The Nottinghamshire Road Safety Partnership met in October to review its ongoing work across education, engineering, and enforcement. The county now has 22 active Community Speed Watch groups, supported by initiatives such as Operation Tramline, which uses unmarked HGVs to monitor dangerous driving, and Operation Lockstream, which targets illegal immigration and vehicle-related offences.
There has also been a sharp increase in recorded modern slavery offences — up 49% over the past year. The rise is attributed to stronger identification, multi-agency work, and new Home Office counting rules introduced in April 2025. Nottinghamshire Police has carried out several joint operations, including Operation Pegasus to disrupt trafficking through airfields and Operation Conclusion to protect victims of “cuckooing” — where criminals take over the homes of vulnerable people.
Meanwhile, the Force’s police cadet programme continues to expand, with numbers up by 35% in the last year and 60% since March 2024. A new cadet base opened in Newark this autumn, and Operation Catalyst — an initiative to improve investigation quality and increase suspect identification — has helped raise the proportion of crimes with identified suspects to 38.4%, a two-point increase on the previous year.
However, the report also highlights areas of concern. Volunteer numbers have declined sharply, with the Special Constabulary down 7.4% and the overall number of police volunteers falling by more than half following a review of the active workforce. Recruitment is now under way to rebuild capacity.
The Force also recorded a small but notable dip in the proportion of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds — falling just below the 90% target for the first time since July 2024. The decline was linked to an unprecedented surge in calls during July 2025, when the highest monthly volume since 2008 was logged. Performance has since recovered.
Hate crime levels rose over the summer, up 3% compared with the average, driven mainly by increases in racial hate crime in Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, and Broxtowe, and gender-related hate crime in Nottingham city. The report links these rises to wider national tensions and legal debates about gender definitions. Community cohesion also declined slightly, with only 57.3% of survey respondents agreeing that people from different backgrounds get on well together — the lowest level since 2020.
Out-of-Court Resolutions (OOCRs), used as alternatives to prosecution for some offences, have continued to fall to 23.6%, down from 26% the previous year, particularly in youth cases. Future reports will separate adult and youth data to give clearer insight into trends.
Despite these challenges, some broader patterns are encouraging. Recorded anti-social behaviour (ASB) has fallen sharply — down 19% over the last year and 26% since early 2024 — though more residents say they have experienced ASB personally, particularly issues such as fly-tipping, vehicle nuisance, drug use and drunken behaviour. Only 13% of those incidents are reported to the police, compared with 15% in 2022.
The Force is also seeing a shift in how residents interact with police. Online reporting has surged by 22% over the past year, helping to ease pressure on the 101 non-emergency line, which saw a 3.5% drop in call demand. The report suggests that digital accessibility and mobile device use are driving this trend, alongside new recorded messages encouraging the use of online services.
While the Police and Crime Plan runs to 2029, the September update offers a key midpoint measure of Nottinghamshire Police’s performance trajectory. With most indicators either on or near track, the report points to solid operational progress but also a need to rebuild public confidence and visible community policing.
The Police and Crime Panel, which meets on 17 November, will scrutinise the findings, seek assurances, and may make recommendations to strengthen delivery of the Plan’s ambitions across the county.
Strategic Objective 1: Putting Communities and Victims First
Public Confidence & Satisfaction
Overall confidence in police: Declined to 50.4% (down 1.1% pts year-on-year; baseline: 52.0%).
Perceived police visibility: Declined to 31.7% (from 42.6% baseline, a drop of 2.9% pts).
Satisfaction with police service (PCS): Slight increase to 57.2%.
Perception that police “do a good job”: Down to 45.7% (from 47.6%).
Neighbourhood Policing Resources
Neighbourhood Officer Strength: Up 39.5% to 296.9 FTE.
PCSOs: Down 13.9%.
Special Constables: Down 11.8%.
Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)
Recorded ASB incidents: Decreased by 25.6%.
Perception of experiencing ASB: Increased to 66.2% (+6.2% pts).
Drug Offences
Recorded drug offences: Increased by 1.9% year-on-year.
Victim Services
Victim satisfaction (PCS): Up to 52.8% (+3.7% pts).
Victim support interventions: Up 8.9% from the new baseline.
Strategic Objective 2: Working in Partnership for a Safer Nottinghamshire
Crime Trends
All recorded crime: Down 2.1% from baseline.
Victim-based crime: Down 2.2%.
Residential burglary: Down 7.9%.
Violent knife crime: Down 2.1%.
Criminal Justice & Youth Justice
Youth Justice First Time Entrants (County): Down 17.1%.
Juvenile reoffending (City): Stable at around 28.6%-29.3%.
Juvenile reoffending (County): Frequency rate up to 3.0, but binary rate shows volatility.
Domestic Abuse
Domestic abuse crimes: Up 10.6%.
Evidence-led prosecutions: Down 50.3%.
DV Protection Orders: Up 67.4%.
Sexual Violence (RaSSO)
Total RaSSO offences: Up 11.6%.
RaSSO (Adult): Up 24.1%.
RaSSO (Child): Down 2.7%.
Knife Crime & Serious Violence
Possession of weapons offences: Up 8.3%.
Modern slavery offences: Up 44.5%.
Strategic Objective 3: Effective & Resilient Policing
Emergency & Non-Emergency Contact
999 calls answered in target: Holding at 89%.
Abandoned 101 calls: Improved to 1.4%.
Online reporting: Increased by 35.0%.
Workforce & Resources
Officer strength: Slight decline of 1.4%.
Police Cadets: Increased by 59.6%.
Volunteers: Dropped significantly by 67.1%.
Investigations
Positive outcomes (all crime): Improved to 17.3%.
Positive outcomes (victim-based): Up to 14.3%.
Identified suspects: Up to 38.4%.
Investigation quality index: Improved to 8.6 (target >8.5).
