Up to 100 Community Protection Officers (CPOs) could soon be patrolling Nottingham in a bid to boost people’s safety as the council’s finances continue to improve.
Nottingham City Council’s deputy leader, Councillor Ethan Radford, says the authority is spending millions of pounds less than had been expected.
Last year, the Labour-led authority underspent by £20.4 million, and this money will now be used to “lift as many people out of poverty” as possible, on top of making the city cleaner and safer.
The council has been on a significant improvement journey since 2023, when it declared itself effectively bankrupt.
Following an improved settlement from the Labour government, new leadership, and a new finance head, the authority now says it is on a stable footing.
The £20.4m investment comes in addition to the £25m that has already been invested to bring back cut services and improve the lives of people in the city, Cllr Radford said.
CPO numbers have already been bolstered to a total of 45, and there are hopes the number will rise further.
“We’ve already recruited a large number of CPOs and our intention is to continue with the recruitment until such time that we get to 100,” Cllr Radford told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
“People want to feel safe, people want to feel secure where they live, and the presence of an enforcement officer in high-vis walking round the neighbourhoods was welcomed by people at the time, and from the feedback we’ve had from residents, they want to see that again.”
Cllr Radford said the total investment of £45.4 million “feels surreal” to have announced.
The finer details of the investment proposals are currently being drawn up for the latest tranche of funding, but he said the measures will seek to address deprivation in the city.
“If you had asked three years ago, when me and Neghat (Khan) became the leadership, ‘Do you think you’ll be here this time in three years?’ – we would have said ‘no’,” Cllr Radford said.
“I think what it does show is the difference you get with a Labour Government, to be perfectly frank.
“In Nottingham we see high levels of deprivation compared to other areas, partly due to our tightly-drawn boundaries.’
“But we have some people in our city who are experiencing some incredible desperation, the cost of living is crippling them, and the cost of mere existence is, for many people, unaffordable. As a Labour council, we feel we have a moral and ethical obligation to make sure the citizens in our city are not experiencing this.”
“A lot of the feedback we’ve had in consultations and conversations with members of the public has been around support for pensioners. We are looking at putting policies in place that specifically support them and alleviate the financial burden they face.
“We’ve also got further support for families, parents and households as well, lifting costs away for them and providing better value for services.”
By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
