Nottinghamshire County Council local authority assessment (March 2026)

How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 19 March 2026

About Nottinghamshire County Council

Demographics

Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England. It is made up of the seven non-metropolitan districts of Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Broxtowe, Gedling, Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, and Rushcliffe. The borough is home to 844,494 people with areas of both high and low deprivation presenting significant challenges and opportunities for adult social care and other functions of the local authority. It has an Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) decile of 4, meaning it is in the bottom 40% of deprived Upper Tier local authorities (UTLAs) in England (60% of UTLAs are more deprived). It is ranked 103rd out of 153 local authorities for deprivation in England.    

The population grew by 4.8% between 2011 and 2021 (Office for National Statistics, June 2022), with 20.00% aged 0 to 17 years, 58.52% aged 18 to 64 years, and 21.48% aged 65 years or more. There is a larger proportion of older people in Nottinghamshire compared to England overall, and by 2031 this number is expected to increase by 14%. The majority of people in Nottinghamshire identified as White, making up 93.02% of the population which was higher than the England average. 3.00% of the population identified themselves as Asian or Asian British, 1.20% of the population were Black, Black British, Caribbean or African, 2.10% identified themselves as of ‘mixed or multiple’ heritage, and 0.70% identified themselves as Other. This showed non-White communities were smaller in Nottinghamshire compared to England.

Nottinghamshire County Council is part of the Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS), alongside Nottingham City Council, health partners and the Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).    

Since 2025, the local authority has been under Reform UK majority control. The local authority comprises 66 councillors, of which 41 are Reform UK, 18 are Conservative, 4 are Labour, 1 is Ashfield Independents, 1 is Broxtowe Alliance and 1 is Broxtowe Independent Group.

Financial facts  

• The local authority’s total spend was £1,324,943,820 in 2024/25, in comparison to a total spend of £1,177,933,000 in 2023/24. In 2024/25, 29.23% of the spend was spent on adult social care. Spend figures are net current expenditure (total service expenditure) sourced from Outturn Data and are not adjusted for inflation.
• The local authority’s total spend on adult social care was £387,290,252 in 2024/25, compared to a total spend on adult social care of £331,930,085 in 2023/24. The local authority spent £56,502,347 (adult social care spend) per 100,000 adults in 2024/25. Spend figures are net current expenditure sourced from ASC Finance Returns and are not adjusted for inflation.
• The local authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2024/25, with a value of 2.0%. Please note that the amount raised through the adult social care precept varies from local authority to local authority.  
• Approximately 12,730 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 4,580 people were accessing short-term adult social care support in 2024/25. ​Local authorities spend money on a range of adult social care services, including supporting individuals. No two care packages are the same and vary significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.  

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.