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Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee

Performance framework

We are committed to monitoring and evaluating the delivery of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (NPG) and have worked collaboratively with the College of Policing, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, National Police Chiefs’ Council, and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners to agree a full performance framework for the Guarantee and its five pillars. This will form part of a wider Police Performance Framework, housed within the new Home Office Police Standards and Performance Improvement Directorate. This new Directorate will agree a single performance framework for policing, covering the breadth of policing activity to provide a consistent picture of performance, identify trends and drive-up performance standards, as well as increasing the quality of data across the 43 police force areas. The NPG has five pillars and associated commitments:

1. Police back on the beat: A Neighbourhood Policing Team in every local area, carrying out intelligence-led and visible patrols, including in town centres and on high streets. We will hold forces to account for ensuring neighbourhood policing teams are protected, so they remain focussed on serving communities.
2. Community-led policing: A named, contactable officer for every neighbourhood, responsive to local problems. Residents and local businesses will be able to have a say on the police’s priorities for their area.
3. Clear performance standards and professional excellence: New training for officers and standards for professional excellence will ensure neighbourhood policing is developed as a specialist policing capability.
4. Crackdown on anti-social behaviour: Neighbourhood policing teams will have tougher powers, and be supported by other agencies, to tackle persistent anti-social behaviour. This includes piloting the new Respect Order to enable swift enforcement against prolific offenders, and a dedicated lead officer in every force working with communities to develop a local anti-social behaviour action plan.
5. Safer town centres: Neighbourhood policing teams will crack down on shop theft, street theft and assaults against retail workers, so local people can take back their streets from thugs and thieves.

Theory of change for the NPG

To help clarify how the NPG supports the Safer Streets Mission, and to inform development of the performance framework, a Theory of Change (ToC) for the NPG has been developed. A ToC provides an explanation of how and why a programme will achieve its goals. It shows the steps needed to create change, starting from the activities planned, through to the expected outcomes.

The ToC focuses on explaining the rationale of the NPG, including the connection between its activities and intended outcomes. This is distinct from the performance framework which focusses on measurement.

The ToC draws on available evidence about factors that could influence how the NPG will achieve its goals. These include the College of Policing’s 2018 Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA), used to develop the Neighbourhood Policing Guidelines. There is clear evidence to show that neighbourhood policing is most likely to be effective when its core features – targeted visible presence, community engagement, problem-solving, and procedural justice (fair decision-making and respectful treatment of people by the police) – are delivered in combination, to a high standard, and at a local level.^{[footnote 1]}

This ToC will continue to be consulted on and refined throughout the programme. The evidence assessment is based on the Home Office’s current review of the evidence and will continue to be updated.

Evidence mapping below highlights how each of the pillars is supported by the College of Policing neighbourhood policing guidelines.

Pillars

Pillar 1: Police back on the beat

A Neighbourhood Policing Team in every local area, carrying out intelligence-led and visible patrols, including in town centres and on high street. We will hold forces to account for ensuring neighbourhood policing teams are protected, so they remain on serving communities.

Pillar 2: Community led

A named, contactable officer for every neighbourhood, responsive to local problems. Residents and local businesses will be able to have a say on the police’s priorities for their area.

Pillar 3: New NP career pathway

New training for officers and standards for professional excellence will ensure neighbourhood policing is developed as a specialist policing capability.

Pillar 4: Crackdown on ASB

Neighbourhood policing teams will have tougher powers, and be supported by other agencies, to tackle anti-social behaviour. This includes piloting the new Respect Order to enable swift enforcement against prolific offenders, and a dedicated lead officer in every force working with communities to develop a local anti-social behaviour action plan.

Pillar 5: Safer town centres

Neighbourhood policing teams will crack down on shop theft, street theft and assaults against retail workers, so local people can take back their streets from thugs and thieves.

Recommended CoP neighbourhood policing guidelines

1. Engaging communities, e.g., through targeted foot patrols, communication, and understanding the community, wich can have a positive impact on crime and disorder.

Pillars: 1, 2, 4 and 5.

2. Solving problems, using a structured process, e.g., the SARA model, that involves communities and partners to ensure successful neighbourhood policing.

Pillars: 1, 2, 4 and 5.

3. Targeting activity, e.g., through crime hotspots, where targeted enforcement with high-risk offenders and in high-crime areas can solve problems that matter to the community.

Pillars: 1, 4 and 5.

4. Promoting the right culture, e.g., policing with procedural justice and legitimacy. Being fair and treating people with respect will increase community engagement and willingness to cooperate with the police.

Pillars: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

5. Building analytical capability, e.g., through a commitment to quality problem solving and analytical capacity that identifies patterns and trends to address long-term or repeat problems.

Pillars: 1 and 3.

6. Developing officers, staff and volunteers, e.g., training that has an impact on their knowledge, including knowledge of the local area, attitudes and behaviour.

Pillars: 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Theory of Change diagram

Problem statement

Neighbourhood policing has been deprioritised in communities across the country. The number of PCSOs has halved since 2010 and visibility of police officers on foot patrol is down. There has also been a noticeable decline in public feelings of safety and confidence in the police. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee (NPG) aims to rebuild the link between police forces and the communities they serve through delivering 13k additional neighbourhood officers and PCSOs. This will be set out through activities that will be delivered through 5 pillars of the NPG.

Input

£200 million commitment for Year 1 (2025/2026).

Delivery of 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles.

Activities

Plans for the delivery of each pillar are currently being developed.

Pillar 1: Police back on the beat

• NP team intelligence-led and visible patrols
• Forces held to account to protecting NP teams

Pillar 2: Community led

• Named, contactable officer for every neighbourhood focus on local priorities

Pillar 3: New NP career pathway

• Training for officers and standards for professional excellence

Pillar 4: Crackdown on ASB

• NP team new powers to tackle persistent ASB
• Development of local ASB action plans
• A dedicated lead officers for ASB in every force

Pillar 5: Safer town centres

• Targeted activity on shop theft, street theft and assaults against retail workers

Outputs

• Trained NP workforce

Visability

• More police in local neighbourhoods
• Named, contactable officer for every neighbourhood
• NP officers working in town centres

Community engagement and problem solving

• Intelligence gathering
• Public collaboration, e.g. planning events, open forums
• NP newsletters and online information about crime and policing
• Joint working agreements with agencies working in town centres
• Respect Orders, use of ASB powers, and Local ASB action planning
• Targeted community activities

Outcomes

• Improved skills and knowledge for NP officers
• Improved collective efficacy (e.g. common goals and unity among neighbours) in communities

Improved public perceptions of:

• Confidence in the police - Safer Streets mission outcome
• Trust in the police
• Police fairness and respect (legitimacy)
• Community engagement and problem-solving activity in local area
• Police and agencies deal with local concerns
• Crime and disorder in local area (e.g. ASB)
• Police visability
• Police response to reported ASB

Crime and disorder

• Reduction in experiences of ASB incidents
• Increase in volume of positive crime outcomes for incidents of retail and street crime
• Reduction of repeat victimisation

Impact

Safer neighbourhoods and town centres across the country for all.

Assumptions

• Legislation for respect orders will be passed and be in place.
• Abstractions, recruitment, training, deployment and attrition managed in line with NPG expectations.
• Increased police visibility increases feelings of safety in areas with less crime and disorder.
• The wider CJS will have the capacity to deal with an increased number of cases.
• Partner agencies have resources and capacity to provide support.

Risk

• Positive engagement and increased confidence in the police could lead to increased reporting of crime and disorder.
• Outcomes measures are influenced by a multitude of other factors external to the NPG, which will complicate measurement.

Monitoring performance for the NPG

This document presents the measures the Home Office will monitor to drive performance improvement in individual police forces and demonstrate progress on the NPG to the public. The key headline measure for the NPG is the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles. The Home Office will work with policing to monitor this and will publish numbers at force level every 6 months. In addition, we will track performance against measures and data sources which capture the NPG’s inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes – as defined below and presented in the tables.

Inputs: resources that ensure it is possible to deliver the desired results of the NPG

Activities/Outputs: the things that are done or produced to bring about change

Outcomes: the effect of the activities and outputs on the desired results

We are applying a tiered approach to tracking performance:

1. Headline measures which we will track publicly. These are the key measures that tell us if the commitments and desired outcomes of the NPG are being achieved, and where the public will be able to see progress.
2. Contextual measures which we will monitor internally. These measures give the Home Office confidence that police forces are engaging in activities and working towards outcomes that we believe will help to achieve the NPG.

Publication

The NPG performance framework measures will exist within the wider Police Performance Framework, housed within the new Police Standards and Performance Improvement Directorate. Current plans are to develop a dashboard which will be available later in 2025. The dashboard will include functionality to focus in on the NPG measures. In the longer-term, this product will continue to be developed as we improve the functionality and streamline the data collection process.

Cross-pillar measures

Pillar	Measure	Data source	Detail level	Measure type	Ambition	Data availability	Tier
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5	Monitoring the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood police officers, PCSOs and special constables	Home Office statistics	Police force area	Input	Delivered by the end of parliament in 2029	Biannual	Headline
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5	Public trust and confidence in the police - Overall confidence in local police - Perceive the police in the local area to do a good or excellent job - Perceive that the police in local area can be trusted	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Increase	Annually	Headline
1, 2, 3, 4 and 5	Public perceptions of police legitimacy and procedural justice in local area: - Perceive that the police would treat you fairly - Perceive that the police would treat you with respect	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Increase	Annually	Headline
1, 2, 4 and 5	Public perceptions of whether police understand and deal with their local concerns - Perceive the police to understand local concerns - Perceive the police to deal with local concerns	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Increase	Annually	Headline

Pillar 1 - Police back on the beat

Measure	Data source	Detail level	Measure type	Ambition	Data availability	Tier
Public perceptions of police visibility in local area: Perceived frequency of visible police foot patrols in local area	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Increase	Annually	Headline
Level of abstraction of police personnel away from neighbourhood policing roles	to be confirmed	Police force area	Activity / Output	This measure is currently under development and expected to be available later this year. A national definition of abstraction will be agreed and is anticipated to set out two types of abstraction, ‘planned’ and ‘spontaneous’.	To be confirmed	Headline
Total hours of visible, proactive patrolling in priority hotspot areas (priority areas are chosen by forces)	Hotspot Action Fund	Police force area	Activity / Output	Monitor only	Quarterly	Contextual

Pillar 2 - Community-led policing

Measure	Data source	Detail level	Measure type	Ambition	Data availability	Tier
Proportion of neighbourhoods with a named police officer, contactable online by the public	Monitoring with policing	Neighbourhood area	Activity / Output	Achieved by July 2025	Monthly	Headline
Up-to-date (in last 3 months) neighbourhood policing priorities	Monitoring with policing	Neighbourhood area	Activity / Output	Available from July 2025	Monthly	Headline
Public awareness of community engagement activity Seen or heard about what the police are doing to tackle crime and ASB in local area	CSEW	National	Outcome	Increase	Annually	Headline

Pillar 3 - Clear performance standards and professional excellence

Measure	Data source	Detail level	Measure type	Ambition	Data availability	Tier
The total number of the workforce completing NPP2/3/4 portfolios in their communities: (1) Number of eligible posts for NPP2/3/4 per force (2) Number of officers and staff that have successfully completed NPP2 portfolio[footnote 2] (3) Number of supervisors that have successfully completed NPP3 portfolio (4) Number of senior officers that have successfully completed NPP4 portfolio	College of Policing	Police force area	Activity / Output	Delivered by end of Parliament 2029	Monthly	Headline
The total number of the workforce who have attended various modules of the Neighbourhood Policing Programme Career Pathway to track progress through the pathway.[footnote 3]	College of Policing	Police force area	Activity / Output	National rollout achieved by Summer 2027	Monthly	Contextual

Pillar 4 - Crackdown on anti-social behaviour

Measure	Data source	Detail level	Measure type	Ambition	Data availability	Tier
Public experience of ASB in their local area Proportion that have experienced or witnessed ASB in local area in the last 12 months	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Decrease	Rolling quarterly basis	Headline
A dedicated lead officer for ASB in every force (working with communities to develop a local ASB action plan)	Monitoring with policing	Police force area	Activity / Output	ASB lead confirmed by July 2025	Quarterly	Headline
Presence of ASB action plans in every police force	Monitoring through police force websites	Police force area	Activity / Output	ASB action plan published by April 2026	Monthly	Headline
Perceptions of ASB in local area Perceive ASB to be a problem in local area	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Decrease	Rolling quarterly basis	Contextual
Satisfaction with police response to reported ASB Overall satisfaction with the way the police handled the matter	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Increase	Annually	Contextual
Police recorded incidents of ASB	Police recorded crime	Police force area	Outcome	Decrease	Quarterly	Contextual
Police use of ASB powers: - Criminal behaviour orders - Community protection notices - Civil injunctions - Dispersal powers - Closure powers - ASB case reviews - Respect orders (not yet available)	Home Office voluntary data return (ADR)	Police force area	Activity / Output	Monitor only	Quarterly	Contextual

Pillar 5 - Safer town centres

Measure	Data source	Detail level	Measure type	Ambition	Data availability	Tier
Volume of successful/positive crime outcomes data for incidents relevant to town centres (retail and street crime) Retail crime: - Shop theft - Robbery of business property - Assaults on retail workers (not yet available) Street crime: - Theft from the person - Robbery of personal property	Police recorded crime outcomes data	Police force area	Outcome	Increase	Quarterly	Headline
Police recorded incidents of crime relevant to town centres (retail and street crime) Retail crime: - Shop theft - Robbery of business property - Assaults on retail workers (not yet available) Street crime: - Theft from the person (snatch theft, stealth theft, attempted snatch or stealth theft)[footnote 4] - Robbery of personal property	Police recorded crime and CSEW[footnote 5]	Police force area	Outcome	Decrease	Quarterly	Headline
Public perceptions of crime in local area Perceive the level of crime in local area to have reduced in recent years	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Increase	Annually	Contextual
Perceptions of crime and ASB in town centres Perceive ASB and crime to be a big or fairly big problem in local high street or town centre[footnote 6]	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Decrease	Annually, starting from Summer 2026	Contextual
Repeat victimisation of street crime[footnote 7]: - Theft from person - Robbery of personal property	Crime Survey for England and Wales	National	Outcome	Decrease	Annually	Contextual