Public performance reports

Environmental health and trading standards

The Council Plan Connect, outlines our 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 quality of life 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 Environmental Health and Trading Standards Services.

South Lanarkshire Council has a statutory responsibility to protect public health and the environment. It does this through the work of our Environmental Health service, which undertakes inspection programmes and investigates complaints. Key areas of responsibility include: food safety, health and safety at work, air quality, flytipping enforcement, and nuisance investigation, such as noise pollution and pest control.

Another important role for the council is protecting consumers of goods and services through the work of our Trading Standards service. This service carries out a range of regulatory and inspection activities, offers advice and assistance to consumers experiencing problems, and helps businesses and traders comply with trading standards and other legislation.

Percentage of fly tipping complaints receiving an initial response from Environmental Health within two working days - Target - 90%

What this means
This indicator measures the council’s success in responding to complaints about fly-tipping within the target time of two working days.

Why this matters
This indicator shows how quickly we respond to complaints relating to this environmental crime and demonstrates how effectively the council is achieving its statutory purpose of protecting and improving the health, safety and the environment of the people of South Lanarkshire.

Our performance and how we compare

Comparator	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	Are we improving?
SLC	99.8%	99.8%	99.99%	Yes
Scotland	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes

How we have performed in improving this public service
A total of 2711 complaints were received during the year (April 2023 - March 2024), and 99.99% of these fly-tipping complaints were responded to within two working days, exceeding the 90% target. Performance has remained consistently high.

Follow the link for more information on reporting fly-tipping.

Percentage of dog fouling complaints receiving an initial response from Environmental Health within two working days - Target - 95%

What this means
This indicator measures the council’s success in responding to complaints about dog fouling within the target time of two working days.

Our performance and how we compare

Comparator	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	Are we improving?
SLC	96.9%	99.0%	99.48%	Yes
Scotland	N/A	N/A	N/A	Yes

How we have performed in improving this public service
A total of 572 dog fouling complaints were received during the year (April 2023 - March 2024), with 99.48% of all dog fouling complaints responded to within two days. Performance in 2023-24 exceeded the 95% target and showed improvement when compared with 2022-23.

Follow the link for more information on dog fouling.

Domestic noise - average time between time of complaint and attendance on site by Environmental Health Team (in hours) - Target 1.5 hours

What this means
This indicator measures the response time when initially handling and investigating complaints of domestic noise abuse. It includes only those complaints that require attendance ‘on site’, which means at the home of the person making the complaint or the home that is the subject of the complaint.

Our performance and how we compare

Comparator	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	Are we improving?
SLC	34.8 minutes	35.4 minutes	36.6 minutes	N/A
Scotland	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

How we have performed in improving this public service
Over the course of the year (April 2023 - March 2024), the average response time for complaints that required a visit was 0.61 hours (36.6 minutes), exceeding the target. However, the length of time was slightly longer than in 2022-23.

Follow the link for more information on anti-social behaviour.

Percentage of consumer complaints completed by Trading Standards within 14 days of receipt - Target 80%

What this means
This indicator provides a measure of our efficiency in dealing with consumer complaints (irrespective of the outcome) against a target of 14 days.

Why this matters
This indicator shows how quickly the Trading Standards service responds to consumers experiencing problems and gives a general indication of how effectively the service protects consumers of goods and services in South Lanarkshire.

Our performance and how we compare

Comparator	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	Are we improving?
SLC	81%	75%	85%	Yes
Scotland	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

How we have performed in improving this public service
988 complaints closed with £189 returned to South Lanarkshire consumers in civil redress. 85% of consumer complaints were completed by Trading Standards within the 14 day target.

Follow the link for more information on trading standards.

Percentage of business advice enquiries responded to within 21 days of receipt - Target 95%

What this means
This indicator provides a measure of our efficiency in dealing with requests for advice from businesses. The indicator calculates the proportion of business enquiries responded to within the target timescale.

Why this matters
This indicator shows how efficiently we are responding to business enquiries, thereby helping businesses meet their legal obligations and at the same time achieving our statutory purpose of promoting and contributing to the maintenance of a safe, fair and equitable trading environment.

Our performance and how we compare

Comparator	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	Are we improving?
SLC	86%	91%	90%	No
Scotland	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

How we have performed in improving this public service
90% of business advice enquiries were responded to within 21 days of receipt, below the 95% target. In response to recruiting difficulties in 2022-23, the service has embarked on a training programme to expand the number of officers qualified to provide regulatory advice to businesses. It is hoped this proactive approach will result in performance being on target next year.

Follow the link for more information on consumer advice.

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 Environmental Health and Trading Standards 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 Priorities are prepared - see Quarter 2 (September) and Quarter 4 (March - year end) 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 2025).