Nottingham City Council says it has reduced historic borrowing, exceeded its capital receipts target and made progress on housing, neighbourhoods and children’s services, but its latest performance report also identifies continuing pressures in adult social care, community centres, workforce change and some public safety measures.
The council’s Corporate Performance Report for quarter four of 2025-26 tracks delivery against its three core missions: creating “a renewed council”, delivering for local people, and leading Nottingham forward. The report uses a blue, green, amber and red rating system to show the status of individual actions.
Many areas are rated green or blue, but several remain amber, meaning further work is needed before the council expects them to reach the planned level of delivery.
In financial stewardship, the council says it has reduced its debt by £89 million and followed this with a further £198 million reduction. Capital receipts from asset disposals stand at £27.3 million, above the £25 million target, with about £1 million more expected before year-end. The report also says the council achieved 84% of its 2024-25 savings and is on track to achieve 69% of its 2025-26 savings in-year, with 99% expected by the end of 2026-27.
The figures are important for residents because they relate directly to the council’s ability to maintain legally required services while continuing its wider improvement work. The report says finance teams have continued to strengthen budget monitoring, but the Financial Improvement Plan remains rated amber, with further recruitment to vacant posts expected externally from April.
The council also says its Corporate Landlord model, which is intended to improve how council property assets are managed across the authority, is now fully implemented. A Strategic Contract Management Framework is on track, with a new tool being used for contracts above £100,000 and existing contracts to be assessed over the next six months.
In housing, the report says the number of households with children in hotels had been reduced to zero by the end of quarter three and has since remained in single figures, with families staying for days rather than weeks where hotels have still been needed. The council says procurement of family temporary accommodation is continuing, with contracts expected to be confirmed by the end of April 2026 and to start on 1 August 2026. The repurposing of Sketchley Court is also continuing, with the first flats expected to be ready for homeless families to move into in April 2026.
Council housing performance shows signs of improvement following the return of Nottingham City Homes services in-house. Overall tenant satisfaction is reported at 68%, above the 64% target. Satisfaction with repairs is reported at 73%, satisfaction with the time taken to complete repairs at 69%, and satisfaction with the condition of homes at 71%. The report says repair completion times remain within target across priority levels, with improved first-time fix rates and fewer missed appointments.
The council says 84% of its homes have now had a stock condition survey and that only 0.3% of properties surveyed failed the Government’s Decent Homes Standard. Properties that cannot be accessed will be handled by a new Access and Resolution Team, using injunctions where necessary. Survey data is being used to guide capital investment, renewal programmes and maintenance planning.
Private rented housing work is also continuing. The report says 4,648 houses in multiple occupation are in the licensing process. Since April 2025, the council has received 1,374 HMO applications, made 1,196 licence decisions, inspected 370 HMOs, secured 674 property improvements and served 27 enforcement notices.
There are mixed findings on community safety. The report says police-recorded anti-social behaviour was down 21% in February 2026, but victim-based crime was up 7% year-on-year, despite a 1% quarterly reduction. Crime levels are described as stable over six months. Knife crime was up 9% compared with January 2025, but stable compared with January 2024. Safety perceptions at night fell from 55% to 48%, while daytime perceptions remained steady.
The report also says serious violence has increased over the medium and longer term, although Nottingham is described as the eighth lowest in its most similar group, with increases mainly linked to domestic abuse and the night-time economy. Hate crime is reported to have fallen in the short term but increased over the longer term, while repeat victimisation has increased significantly over the last quarter.
Environmental services are among the areas rated green. The council says 89% of non-offensive graffiti is cleared within the required timescale, while 90% of offensive graffiti is removed within 24 hours, above the 85% target. A second operational team has been set up to focus on city centre graffiti removal.
The Clean Champions network has grown to 10,327 registered participants, above the 10,000 target. Since 31 March 2025, a further 1,285 people have been registered as volunteers by 722 individuals. The council says Clean Champions have helped collect more than 1,000 bags of litter.
Fly-tipping and litter enforcement has also increased. Since April 2025, 111 fly-tipping fines and 566 littering fines have been issued. In quarter four, Community Protection Officers dealt with 3,172 issues and issued 176 fixed penalty notices worth £24,000, compared with 148 notices worth £15,210 the previous year. Enhanced CCTV has led to 25 enforcement cases, and seven new cameras are being funded for known fly-tipping problem areas.
Neighbourhood investment is continuing through the Decent Neighbourhoods Programme. The council says £3.9 million was invested in 2025-26, with a further £25.7 million planned over the next four years. Schemes in delivery or development include works at Beckhampton Road in Bestwood, garage site improvements in Bestwood, Bilborough, Middlefell Way and Clifton East, and community-led pop-up gardens in Bestwood and Hyson Green.
The report also confirms that £12 million has been secured from the East Midlands Combined County Authority for the next phase of the Streets for People programme over the next three years. Funding was approved by the EMCCA Board in March 2026, with council acceptance subject to Executive Board approval in April. The existing formula based on population and deprivation will be used to allocate money to ward level, with local ward councillors determining scheme priorities.
Adult social care remains one of the more pressured areas. The council says it continues to meet its Care Act duties by carrying out assessments, producing personalised care and support plans, and promoting wellbeing and independence. However, the number of people waiting for an assessment has increased and the percentage of people in services for more than 12 months who have had a review has deteriorated. This area remains amber.
Adult Social Care is also involved in work with health partners on a new Target Operating Model and Integrated Neighbourhood Teams, through the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme pilot. This is intended to reshape the customer journey and support people closer to home, but the transformation work remains rated amber, with an expected future rating of green.
Children’s services show progress in some high-cost areas. The report says the number of children in care living in high-cost residential homes has fallen from 135 in April 2025 to 114 in March 2026, exceeding the annual target by two. At the start of the year, four children were in unregulated residential homes; this has reduced to zero. The permanence workstream had a savings target of £4.788 million for 2025-26, which has been exceeded, with savings reported at £6.213 million.
However, educational support for children in care remains amber. Personal Education Plan compliance for statutory school-aged children in care improved during 2024-25 and reached the target of at least 90% this academic year, but post-16 compliance fell from 68% in the summer term to 55% in autumn 2025-26. Compliance for three and four-year-olds also remains below target, rising from 50% in summer 2025 to 53.8% in spring.
The report says the number of permanent school exclusions is currently 33% below last academic year’s rate overall, but the reduction is only evident among secondary pupils. Primary exclusions remain a concern, with 17 primary-aged pupils excluded so far this academic year compared with 21 across the whole of the previous academic year. The council says most primary-aged children excluded have complex special educational needs and disabilities, and additional resource is being added to the INclude Service.
The future of community centres remains unresolved. Final draft leases have been issued to all associations, building surveys are under way for the first two tranches, and a previous hard March deadline has been removed to reflect the current position. Next steps include completing building surveys, submitting a Capital Board bid to unlock repairs funding, agreeing repair schedules and bespoke Heads of Terms with associations. The rating remains amber, including for the expected future position.
The report also refers to the council’s work with community associations, faith groups and voluntary organisations. It says support for community associations is now in place, with organisations onboarded to the project, but ongoing support will need to align with lease agreements and include guidance on governance, management compliance, health and safety and funding applications.
On libraries, the report says mobile provision has been introduced for Sherwood while the fit-out of Sherwood Library continues. The library is on track to open in April 2026. Shared access agreements for the redevelopment of Radford-Lenton Library are now at solicitor level.
The council says it has successfully retained Purple Flag accreditation for Nottingham’s night-time economy following an external assessment in December 2025. Planning is now starting for the next internal assessment in October 2026.
Several items remain subject to future decisions or confirmation. Acceptance of the £12 million Streets for People funding is subject to Executive Board approval. The proposed e-sourcing software contract is still going through a formal decision process, with contract award anticipated in April 2026. Family temporary accommodation contracts are expected to be confirmed by the end of April 2026 and start in August. Community centre repairs depend on the completion of surveys, lease negotiations and a Capital Board bid.
Overall, the report presents a council making measurable progress in areas such as debt reduction, asset receipts, housing inspections, children’s placement costs, neighbourhood works and environmental enforcement. It also shows that some of the most significant pressures remain in services affecting vulnerable residents, including adult social care assessments, longer-term care reviews, community centre sustainability, workforce transformation and aspects of public safety.
