Concerns over Nottinghamshire Police’s performance

There are serious concerns about the performance of Nottinghamshire Police, the police inspectorate has said.

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PEEL 2023–2025: An inspection of Nottinghamshire Police

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) graded Nottinghamshire Police’s performance across eight areas of policing and found the force was adequate in four areas, requires improvement in one area and was inadequate in three areas.

HMICFRS said Nottinghamshire Police is effective at using police powers and legislation to tackle antisocial behaviour and the force uses stop and search powers legitimately.

But the inspectorate said the force needs to improve how it manages, supervises and carries out effective investigations, and make sure that victims get the support they need. Inspectors also raised concerns that the force doesn’t have adequate processes in place to monitor performance or identify areas where improvement is required.

Because of these concerns, in March 2024 the inspectorate moved Nottinghamshire Police into an enhanced level of monitoring. This process will provide additional scrutiny and support from across the policing sector to help Nottinghamshire Police make improvements.

The inspectorate recognised that Nottinghamshire has high levels of deprivation. It also said that gaps in funding for other agencies may have an impact on police demand, and that the force needs to have enough resources to prevent crime and protect the public effectively.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Roy Wilsher said:

“I have concerns about Nottinghamshire Police’s performance in keeping people safe, reducing crime and providing victims with an effective service. I have particularly serious concerns about how well the force manages crime, and how it manages its performance and identifies areas for improvement.

“Nottinghamshire Police needs to allocate its resources more effectively to prevent and detect crime, and to protect its communities. However, its ability to meet demand is affected by acute environmental factors, like high levels of deprivation and funding gaps for local partner agencies.

“Given these findings, I have been in regular contact with the chief constable as the amount of improvement needed shouldn’t be underestimated. I am pleased to see that the force has accepted our findings and is now working on how it will make the changes needed for sustainable improvement.”

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PEEL 2023–2025: An inspection of Nottinghamshire Police

Notes

  1. For further information, please contact the HMICFRS Press Office on 0300 071 6781 or HMICPressOffice@hmicfrs.gov.uk.
  2. In 2014, we introduced our police effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy (PEEL) inspections, which assess the performance of all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Since then, we have been continuously adapting our approach.
  3. We have continued our intelligence-led, continual assessment approach, rather than the annual PEEL inspections we used in previous years.
  4. We have also changed our approach to graded judgments. We now assess forces against the characteristics of good performance, and we more clearly link our judgments to causes of concern and areas for improvement.
  5. It isn’t possible to make direct comparisons between the grades awarded in this PEEL inspection and those from the previous cycle of PEEL inspections. This is because we have increased our focus on making sure forces are achieving appropriate outcomes for the public, and in some cases we have changed the aspects of policing we inspect.
  6. Read more information about the new PEEL assessment framework 2023-2025.