This decision relates to Home Office funding for Hotspot Patrols in Cleveland.
Funding continues from April 2024 to March 2025. Funding for this year is expected to continue the work of patrols started last year.
Home Office Funding
The total amount allocated to Cleveland for this financial year is £1,420,423. This was confirmed on 25 February 2025.
Guidance for completing hotspot delivery plans was issued on 4 March 2025. Delivery plans needed to be submitted on 31 March 2025.
The OPCC is still waiting for a forrmal grant agreement from the Home Office at the time of this decision.
As a result, delivery is continuing at risk with no formal agreements in place between the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and the Home Office and the OPCC and delivery partners.
The hotspots for both antisocial behaviour (ASB) and serious violence (SV) will be reviewed in the first quarter (April to June) 2025-2026. This is to ensure that they meet the revised guidance for 2025 – 2026.
New hotspots
A new set of hotspots is expected to be operational from 1 July 2025. Delivery of hotspot patrols will continue, as it is currently, until that date.
In line with guidance, a single set of hotspots will be produced for the period July 2025 to March 2026. However, patrols will be staffed by the most appropriate lead agency for the issues present.
Overall funding remains unchanged from last year. Its distribution is also very similar.
However, there are a few changes. Funding to local authorities will be calculated from the number of patrol hours delivered by the authority each quarter, rather than the number of staff employed.
Funding for Cleveland Police now includes a dedicated sergeant who will be responsible for managing the patrol rota and compliance. This will help us to achieve a key target for the funding, delivering 13,000 patrol hours during the funding period.
This contributes to the following Police and Crime priorities
- Reducing crime, antisocial behaviour and harm;
- Building trust and confidence in policing and the justice system
It helps by reducing the number of crimes and antisocial behaviour incidents in hotspot areas.
It does so by deterring ASB by the presence of uniformed patrols. The visible presence of uniformed patrols also supports increased confidence in communities.
Analysis of the hotspots for September 2023 to August 2024 showed a reduction of 21% in ASB reported incidents to Cleveland Police. That compared to the same period in the previous year.
Decision 2025-26 – 001: Hotspot Action Patrols (application, 167kB)