Community and Enterprise Resources - Resource Plan progress

Community and Enterprise Resources - Quarter 4 progress

Progress reports on the Resource Plans are provided at the year end point (Quarter 4)

Progress

Our performance management reporting system IMPROVe uses a traffic light format with the following definitions to give a status report on each action or performance measure:

Status Definition
Blue Project complete
Green The timescale or target has been met as per expectations
Amber There has been minor slippage against timescale or minor shortfall against target
Red There has been major slippage against timescale or major shortfall against target
Report later The information is not yet available to allow us to say whether the target has been reached or not. This will be reported when available.
Contextual Included for "information only", to set performance information in context.

The overall summary of Resource Plan progress to date is as follows:

Status Statistical measures Project measures Total %
Blue 0 12 12 20%
Green 15 22 37 61.7%
Amber 3 5 8 13.3%
Red 1 0 1 1.7%
Report later/Contextual 2 0 2 3.3%
Totals 21 39 60 100%

Data as at 29 April 2026.

Key achievements

Key achievements to date against each of the six Connect Outcomes are summarised below:

Connect Outcome - Communities and environment

  • The percentage of streets found to be acceptable during Litter Monitoring Systems Surveys carried out over 2025-26 was 93.9%. This is better than the annual target of 92% and is better than performance over the previous three years.
  • The percentage of household waste sent to landfill in the period January to December 2025 was 1.17%, well within the target of below 5%.
  • There was an increase of 11.61% in the percentage of properties with full fibre connection during 2025-26, bringing the percentage of properties up to 70.48%, compared with the 2024-25 figure (58.87%).
  • Work is continuing on the regional collaboration initiative to expand and enhance vehicle charging infrastructure across the west. A consultant has been appointed to project manage the next phase and to prepare tender documentation.
  • As part of the preparations for the South Lanarkshire Local Development Plan 3 (LDP3), the Evidence Report was presented to Executive Committee in November 2025 and Full Council in December 2025. The Report was submitted to Scottish Ministers in December 2025.
  • Across our capital programme, the number of road safety schemes that have been delivered exceeded the number scheduled, with 112 schemes (87 carriageway/25 footway) completed.
  • A programme of bridge and other structure projects have been completed, including works at Bothwell Bridge and Duke Street Multi Storey Car Park, both Hamilton, Millheugh Bridge, Larkhall, and Elvanfoot Bridge.

In addition to the programmed work, emergency repairs were carried out at a further six bridges.

  • Road safety projects were completed at the following locations:
    • A721 Newbigging to Elsrickle
    • B743 Strathaven to Council Boundary
    • A730 Mill Street at Main Street/Burnhill Street signalised junction, Rutherglen
    • A724 Main Street at/near Bridge Street, Cambuslang
  • The draft Local Transport Strategy (LTS) 2026-2036 was subject to a four-week consultation period in November/December 2025 and was approved at Community and Enterprise Committee in March 2026. The final document is now being produced ready for publication on the council website.
  • The new Hairmyres Transport Interchange, East Kilbride is complete.

Connect Outcome – Education and learning

  • No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome

Connect Outcome - Health and wellbeing

  • The roll out of the further expansion of free school meals for Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment is complete.
  • The £13m Transformation Fund is helping to modernise the leisure and culture estate. Key projects completed during quarter four include:
  • Gym and studio upgrades at Dollan Aqua Centre, 
  • Eastfield Lifestyles, Blantyre Leisure Centre
  • Blackwood Community Wing, Willie Waddell, Coalburn
  • Toilet upgrade at Chatelherault Country Park
  • Roof replacement at Calderglen Country Park
  • conservatory
  • Upgraded air conditioning system at Hamilton Water
  • Palace
  • Replacement changing pavilion at Priory
  • As part of the implementation of the multi-year Play Area Investment Programme, site works are progressing in play areas in Hamilton/Blantyre, and it is anticipated that works will commence in East Kilbride play areas in April 2026.

Connect Outcome – Children and young people

  • No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome

Connect Outcome – Housing and land

  • No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome

Connect Outcome - Our economy

  • UK Government have confirmed the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) spend deadline has been extended to 31 March 2028.
  • Clydesdale Way - Detailed design is in progress, building on the concept design work previously undertaken. Stakeholder engagement sessions took place in October 2025; landowner engagement is ongoing.
  • Shawfield: The current anticipated completion date for all three LUF funded Shawfield projects is late 2026. The council has released £5,369,204 to date, covering expenditure to the end of quarter one 2026-27.
  • The number of participants supported via council-operated employability programmes during 2025-26 was 2,415, with 745 gaining sustainable employment and 801 participants accessing further education or training.
  • East Kilbride Masterplan project is progressing at pace with a number of parallel workstreams being progressed and regular reports to committee on behalf of the Project Board: demolition contractor appointed and on site; enabling works commenced with new access routes fully in place; Planning Permission in Principle approved; detailed design of Civic Heart element, including a new Town Hall, progressing; and a two-stage design and build procurement route being taken forward.
  • Hamilton Masterplan key milestones include: project managers appointed for delivery of the Hamilton Masterplan; former Bairds Department Store returned to council ownership; New Cross Centre now vacant, and work ongoing towards demolition and development proposals; demolition of former Vogue Bingo Hall; and confirmation that the Pride in Place application for Hamilton Town Centre has been successful and an award of up to £20m (Capital and Revenue) made to support eligible activity.

In addition to working towards the Connect Outcomes, we will continually aim to improve and ensure effective and efficient use of resources, and that business will be conducted with integrity and transparency and will operate to the highest standards. In order to monitor and report progress against these values, Resource outcomes have also been identified, under the heading Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value. Related achievements to date are summarised below:

  • A programme of projects to deliver the Frontline First Fund was identified across South Lanarkshire. These works included environmental improvements to local landscaping where older shrub beds have been removed and changed over to grass areas for easier maintenance, and clearance of weeds on overgrown footpaths to present cleaner, safer footpaths for people to use.

Progress to date against the full suite of measures is contained in the Resource Plan Quarter 2 progress report 2025/26, which was presented to the Community and Enterprise Resources Committee on 16 December 2025.

Scope for improvement

One measure has been classified as ‘red’ (major slippage against timescale or shortfall against target) in this reporting period.

  • Percentage of total household waste that is recycled in the calendar year 2025. This measure is reported per calendar year, so the figure, 40.63% relates to the period January to December 2025. The recycling rate is lower than that reported for the same period in 2024 (41.83%). However, it is still below the target 50%.  Chargeable garden waste permits were introduced in April 2025 and one of the known risks associated with the scheme was reduction in the amount of organic waste collected for recycling (composting). However, the garden waste permit scheme is just one factor affecting the recycling rate. In June 2025, issues with the council's bulky waste treatment contractor meant that waste that had been previously recycled needed to be sent to landfill until a new contract was awarded.

The new contract commenced on 1 October 2025 and the service continues to monitor the contract performance and its impact on waste statistics.

Report later

A further analysis introduced to aid scrutiny of performance, is to highlight and explain all measures that have changed status from Quarter 2 to Quarter 4. On analysis of these, three measures show a decline in performance, details of which are included in the table below. The remaining measures under scrutiny showed an improvement in status between Quarter 2 and Quarter 4, for example, changed from Green or Report later to Blue (complete) and need no further action

Measure Q2 Status  Q4 status Q4 comments
Percentage of total household waste that is recycled in the calendar year. Amber Red

This measure is reported per calendar year, so the figure shown (40.63%) relates to the period January to December 2025. The recycling rate is lower than that reported for the same period in 2024 (41.83%) and the target 50%.

Chargeable garden waste permits were introduced in April 2025 and one of the known risks associated with the scheme was reduction in the amount of organic waste collected for recycling (composting).

However, the garden waste permit scheme is just one factor affecting the recycling rate. In June 2025, issues with the council's bulky waste treatment contractor meant that waste that had been previously recycled needed to be sent to landfill until a new contract was awarded.

The new contract commenced on 1 October 2025, and the service continues to monitor the contract performance and its impact on waste statistics
Percentage of U class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment (Roads Condition). Report later Amber

This figure is derived from The Scottish Collaboration of Transportation Specialists (SCOTS) Road Condition Index (RCI) survey which is undertaken each year. The target of 32.4% for 2024-26 is based on the results for the period 2023-25. The actual figure for 2024-26 of 32.9% indicates a slight regression of 0.5% in our Unclassified road network, based on the current survey results and sections of roads surveyed.
Work with Business Gateway (BG) to deliver on the revised Business Gateway delivery targets providing an annual progress report to Community and Enterprise Committee in August 2025. Green Amber

The report was presented to Community and Enterprise Resources Committee in October 2025 and in March 2026. These figures demonstrate a significant upturn in performance in quarter four but also shows that the targets have not been met.

The latest figures highlight the ongoing uncertainty facing Scotland’s SME base, with confidence remaining fragile and growth continuing to weaken. A combination of structural pressures and wider economic headwinds is constraining performance across the sector. Key contributing factors include:

  • Rising input, energy, and operational costs- Weak consumer demand and slowing economic momentum
  • Global instability and international trade disruptions- Inflation driven wage and cost pressures
  • Persistent supply chain challenges and ongoing post Brexit adjustments

We are continuing to embed the services of the Business Gateway into the business facing services that South Lanarkshire deliver, for example Planning, and Environmental Health.

In addition to this, we will be offering in 2026-27 a more generous suite of business support grants that will increase referrals to the Business Gateway.