Public performance reports

Roads and lighting

The Council Plan Connect outlines the council’s priorities and outcomes for 2022-27. Connect Outcomes should not be seen in isolation, they interact with each other and as we achieve success in one, we move closer to success in others. In delivering our vision to ‘improve the lives and prospects of everyone in South Lanarkshire’ our priorities show how our work links with our partners including our Community Planning Partners.

For daily updates, stories and what’s going on in your area, visit our information and news website South Lanarkshire View.

Each year we produce Annual Performance Spotlights which summarise how we have performed in achieving our Connect Outcomes. To complement these we have created a suite of individual Public Performance Reports which focus on key areas of council business. This report outlines the performance of our roads and lighting services and how this links to our communities and environment outcome.

A high quality and well maintained road network matters to everyone in South Lanarkshire. Businesses use it to deliver goods and services; workers use it to get to and from their place of work; families use it during their everyday lives; and some use it to access leisure opportunities. The road network is therefore critical to our economic success and to the wellbeing of our communities. Good public transport helps reduce the number of cars on the roads and allows everyone, whether they own a car or not, to access the services and opportunities they need. In response to the feedback received from residents through numerous surveys, and in recognition of the condition of the road network, the council has placed a high priority on improving roads and footways. You can access the council’s Local Transport Strategy which sets out the council’s policies and actions in relation to roads and transportation in South Lanarkshire over the period, 2013–2023. The next strategy is scheduled for publication in summer 2024.

For further information on the services available relating to the road network, follow the link to our webpage Transport and streets.

How much of our road network is in need of repair? – Target <29.7%
What this means	This indicator shows the percentage of the road network that should be considered for maintenance treatment, based on information from the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS) Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey. Roads within South Lanarkshire Council are surveyed by a machine, which collects various characteristics of the road condition. ‘Considered for maintenance treatment’ means that there is likely to be some defect in the condition of the road.
Why this matters	Councils spend a significant amount of money on road maintenance. This is an indicator that looks at the quality of South Lanarkshire Council’s roads and supplements the data in this report on cost of road maintenance.
Our performance and how we compare	Comparator	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	Are we improving?
	SLC	30.6%	29.7%	30.8%	No
	Scotland	35.5%	34.2%	33.6%	No
How we have performed in improving this public service	It should be noted that the latest Road Condition Index (RCI) figures for South Lanarkshire, which were published in January 2024, have noted a significant increase in RCI across all road classifications. This represents a decline in the condition of our road asset.

Percentage of road network resurfaced - Target 2.4%
What this means	Works are regularly undertaken to resurface certain roads, improve the condition of the road network and extend the working life of the carriageway. This indicator details the proportion of the council's roads network that has been improved in this way.
Why this matters	The council has a statutory duty to manage and maintain the road network so as to allow the safe and prompt movement of traffic. This indicator shows the extent of the council’s maintenance activities in any one year.
Our performance and how we compare	Comparator	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	Are we improving?
	SLC	3.1%	2.9%	2.0%	No
	Scotland	N/A	N/A	N/A	No
How we have performed in improving this public service	Static maintenance budgets combined with sustained high levels of construction inflation has significantly reduced the length of road network that we can treat on an annual basis.

Number of people killed or seriously injured on roads
What this means	This indicator reports on the number of people killed or seriously injured on the South Lanarkshire road network.
Why this matters	A key objective for the council is to proactively reduce casualties on the South Lanarkshire road network. We have attempted to achieve this in a number of ways; through specific engineering measures at schools; through speed limiting initiatives; and by incorporating enhanced road markings, road studs, upgraded warning signage, anti-skid surfacing and visibility improvements.
Our performance and how we compare	Comparator	2020	2021	2022	Are we improving?
	SLC	96	87	92	Yes
	Scotland	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes
How we have performed in improving this public service	Casualty statistics through this period were affected by Covid-19 Pandemic travel restrictions and altered travel patterns.

For further information on our road safety services, follow the links to our web pages: Road safety services, Primary school road safety play and Pre-school road safety.

We will take forward the following key areas for improvement:

seek to maintain the condition of our road network through implementation of our Roads Investment Programme
continue to focus on road accident reduction projects, with the aim of reducing road casualties on the roads of South Lanarkshire and making roads safer for all users
Produce a new Local Transport Strategy for South Lanarkshire to support the National and Regional Transport Strategy as well as the provisions, where appropriate, of the Transport Scotland Act

• Roads in winter
• Watch a short video on winter roads maintenance

Resource Plans are prepared each year by all council Resources to outline the key developments they intend to take forward in the year. Performance and actions relating to roads and lighting can be found in the Community and Enterprise Resource Plan

Twice a year, performance reports are presented to council committees on progress against the Resource Plans. In addition, reports detailing progress against the Council Plan Connect Outcomes are prepared. See Quarter 2 and Quarter 4 performance reports for further information.

More information on our outcomes can be found in the Council Plan Connect and also the Annual Performance Spotlights.

Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) allows councils to work together, to use performance information in a way which will help understand variations, share knowledge, expertise and good practice, with a view to making improvements. For more information and links relating to this framework go to the 'Benchmarking' paragraph on the Improvement and how we compare page on our website.

The information contained within this report reflects the position based on the data available at the time of publication (March 2024)