Money it had spare
£1.5m
when the budget was set
South Lanarkshire was the only council in Scotland that did not ask for more. It set its budget with money to spare.
Holding the council to account · Checked 2026-08-02
South Lanarkshire Council: what was promised and what happened
South Lanarkshire was the only council in Scotland that did not ask for more money this year. It set its budget with £1.5m to spare. But the audit says more money is still needed in the years ahead. It also says the council does not routinely show whether its service changes affect the quality people receive.
What this means
South Lanarkshire set its budget with £1.5m to spare. It was the only council in Scotland that did not ask for more. On the measures every council reports the same way, it is worse than the Scottish average on 3 of 6. Independent auditors have 2 warnings about it that are still open. Every figure below links to the official paper it came from.
Words with a dotted underline have a quick explanation. Hover or tap them.
The headline
Three things to know
If you only read one part, read this. The detailed figures and official source links come after it.
Worse than the Scotland average
3 of 6
measures compared
Every council reports these the same way, so it is a fair comparison. The other 3 are better than average.
Watchdog warnings still open
2
not signed off
Independent auditors raised these and they are not closed yet. They do not work for the council.
Follow the money
What the published figures say
These figures show what the council planned to spend on everyday services and what it still needed to find. That second number is not money already missing. The final accounts show what really happened after the year ended. A pays for everyday services. A pays for big, long-term things.
Money for everyday council services
£1,086.7m
2026/27 budget
South Lanarkshire Council planned to spend £1,086.7m on everyday services in 2026/27. It is a budget, not the final amount spent.
Money left before other changes
£1.5m
2026/27
When the budget was set, South Lanarkshire Council had £1.5m left before its other changes were counted. This is a budget-setting figure, not a final year-end result.
Savings the council planned to make
£4.2m
2026/27
The 2026/27 plan says the council will save £4.2m. That money has not necessarily been saved yet. The final accounts will show whether it happened.
Money the budget does not explain
£11.5m
2026/27
The budget puts £11.5m into a box called ‘other measures’. This can include council tax, extra income, money already set aside or other actions. The published table does not show how much comes from each one.
Source: Local government budgets 2026/27
The bit nobody explains
Why your council says it needs more money
Councils say they need more money nearly every year, whatever they are given. Here is what that really means, and who ends up paying for it.
31 of Scotland’s 32 councils said they needed more money this year.
Only South Lanarkshire said it had money left over. South Lanarkshire was the one that did not. It had £1.5m left over.
The money from the Scottish Government went up that year, not down. Councils got £15.7bn. That is up 2% on the year before, even after prices rose. And the amount they say they are short has stayed about the same for seven years running. It works out at about 3p in every pound they spend.
So what is a “budget gap”?
Before a council sets its budget, it works out two numbers. What it thinks its services will cost. And what money it thinks it will get.
If the cost is bigger, the difference is the gap. It is a plan, made before any decisions. It is not money missing from a bank account.
The law says a council cannot plan to spend more than it gets. So the gap always gets closed. It has to be. The real question is who pays to close it.
Who paid to close it
This is every council added together, for 2026/27.
- 35.2%Council tax went up£221m
- 26.8%Savings that repeat every year£168m
- 19.4%Money taken out of the savings pot£122m
- 8.5%Other one-off actions
- 5.4%Other repeating actions
- 2.7%Higher fees and charges£17m
- 1.8%One-off savings£12m
The biggest single way the gap was closed was your council tax. £221m of it. Every council in Scotland put its rate up. The average rise was 7.7%. It ran from 4% in City of Edinburgh to 10% in Aberdeenshire and Moray. That was the second year in a row. Over the two years together, bills went up 18% on average.
Do they lose money if they spend less?
A lot of people assume a council has to spend the lot, or it gets less next year. That is not how the grant works.
The Scottish Government works out each council’s share using a formula. It counts things the council cannot change:
- How many people live in the area
- How many children are at school
- How poor the area is
- How far apart people live, and how many miles of road there are
It does not count how well the council managed last year’s money. A council that comes in on budget does not get less the next year for doing it.
Where every £1 comes from
- 60pA grant from the Scottish Government
- 20pCouncil tax
- 18pBusiness rates, paid by shops and offices
- 2pMoney set aside, and other income
Council tax is only about a fifth of the money. So putting it up does not raise much next to the whole budget. But it comes straight out of your pocket.
Those are the facts. What you make of them is up to you.
Councils work out and describe their budget gap in different ways, so these figures are not a perfect like-for-like comparison. Audit Scotland says comparisons should be made with caution. Figures from Local government budgets 2026/27, Audit Scotland, for the Accounts Commission, June 2026. How the formula works is set out by SPICe, the Scottish Parliament's research service.
The missing evidence
What we still do not know about services
A goal is what the council said it wanted to achieve. The result is what happened. They sit side by side here, and it is flagged when the two numbers cannot be compared fairly.
Red means a goal was missed or a matter is still open. Green means a goal was met or the action is marked complete. Grey means there is not enough evidence for a firm result.
No service goal has been independently checked for this council yet. That is a research gap, not proof that every goal was met.
Emergency help, local decisions
The Crisis Grant gap in South Lanarkshire Council
In 2025/26, South Lanarkshire Council awarded a Crisis Grant in 61% of decided applications. Scotland's rate was 65%. The same national scheme produced council rates from 52% to 89%.
Decisions resulting in an award
61%
About 6,215 awards from 10,180 decisions.
Compared with Scotland
-4 points
Rank #24 of 32 when published award rates are ordered highest to lowest.
Decided by the deadline
99%
By the end of the next working day, January to March 2026.
Average award
£95
£595,532 in Crisis Grant expenditure during 2025/26.
Five complete years
This is not just one quarter
Share of decisions resulting in an award
2021/22South Lanarkshire Council 62% · Scotland 66%
2022/23South Lanarkshire Council 61% · Scotland 63%
2023/24South Lanarkshire Council 60% · Scotland 62%
2024/25South Lanarkshire Council 58% · Scotland 63%
2025/26South Lanarkshire Council 61% · Scotland 65%
The question this council needs to answer
South Lanarkshire Council's published award rate is 4 percentage points below Scotland. That does not remove the need for scrutiny: the council should still publish enough information to show how decisions are made consistently and whether rejected applicants can use the review process.
A higher rate is not automatically better and a lower rate is not proof of unlawful or ruthless decision-making. The figures prove different outcomes. They do not establish motive, applicant need or decision quality on their own.
Source: Scottish Government, Scottish Welfare Fund statistics to 31 March 2026, Tables 6, 18, 24, 28 and 36. Open the source workbook.
Same ruler for all 32 councils
How your council compares
Every council in Scotland reports these figures the same way, so this is a fair comparison. The year is shown for each figure.
Main roads needing repair
The share of the council's A-class roads flagged for repair.
Here: 26.5% · Scotland: 30.3% · 2025/26 · 3.7 percentage points less than the Scotland figure
Cost of bin collection, per property
What the council spends collecting bins, per property, each year.
Here: £83.48 · Scotland: £77.26 · 2024/25 · £6 more than the Scotland figure
Council tax actually collected
How much of the year's council tax came in on time.
Here: 96.4% · Scotland: 95.5% · 2024/25 · 0.9 percentage points more than the Scotland figure
Cost per primary school pupil
What the council spends on each primary pupil in a year.
Here: £7,755 · Scotland: £7,606 · 2024/25 · £149 more than the Scotland figure
Lower is not better here. It means less money spent on each child, which can mean good value or it can mean less help in the classroom. This one is not scored.
Sick days per staff member
Average days lost to sickness per council worker, not counting teachers.
Here: 15.5 days · Scotland: 14.5 days · 2024/25 · 1.0 days more than the Scotland figure
Household waste recycled
The share of household waste that gets recycled.
Here: 40.7% · Scotland: 44.3% · 2024/25 · 3.6 percentage points less than the Scotland figure
Happy with street cleaning
The share of adults happy with how clean the streets are.
Here: 57.3% · Scotland: 57.0% · 2024/25 · 0.3 percentage points more than the Scotland figure
Figures from the Local Government Benchmarking Framework, published by the Improvement Service, the national comparison every council takes part in. Data file retrieved 2026-08-03. Check the data yourself.
Councils like yours
How South Lanarkshire compares with similar councils
Comparing a big city with a small island council is not fair on either. So the Improvement Service, which runs the national benchmarking, sorts all 32 councils into groups of eight and publishes an average for each group. The grouping and every average below are theirs, not mine. Bin, road and recycling measures are grouped by how urban or rural an area is. Collection and satisfaction measures are grouped by deprivation.
For services shaped by geography, such as bins, roads and recycling
South Lanarkshire is grouped with mainly rural councils:
For services shaped by deprivation, such as collection rates and satisfaction
South Lanarkshire is grouped with the next most affluent councils:
The share of the council's A-class roads flagged for repair.
2025-26
- South Lanarkshire
- 26.5%
- Similar councils
- 24.9%
- Scotland
- 30.3%
In 2010-11, the first year published, the figure here was 27.9%. Figures are adjusted for inflation by the publisher, so the two years can be compared.
What the council spends collecting bins, per property, each year.
2024-25
- South Lanarkshire
- £83.48
- Similar councils
- £64.64
- Scotland
- £77.26
In 2012-13, the first year published, the figure here was £92.29. Figures are adjusted for inflation by the publisher, so the two years can be compared.
How much of the year's council tax came in on time.
2024-25
- South Lanarkshire
- 96.4%
- Similar councils
- 96.1%
- Scotland
- 95.5%
In 2010-11, the first year published, the figure here was 94.7%. Figures are adjusted for inflation by the publisher, so the two years can be compared.
What the council spends on each primary pupil in a year.
2024-25
- South Lanarkshire
- £7,755
- Similar councils
- £7,648
- Scotland
- £7,606
In 2010-11, the first year published, the figure here was £6,168. Figures are adjusted for inflation by the publisher, so the two years can be compared.
Lower is not better here. It means less money spent on each child, which can mean good value or it can mean less help in the classroom. This one is not scored.
Average days lost to sickness per council worker, not counting teachers.
2024-25
- South Lanarkshire
- 15.5 days
- Similar councils
- 14.8 days
- Scotland
- 14.5 days
In 2010-11, the first year published, the figure here was 9.9 days. Figures are adjusted for inflation by the publisher, so the two years can be compared.
The share of household waste that gets recycled.
2024-25
- South Lanarkshire
- 40.7%
- Similar councils
- 49.1%
- Scotland
- 44.3%
In 2010-11, the first year published, the figure here was 38.2%. Figures are adjusted for inflation by the publisher, so the two years can be compared.
The share of adults happy with how clean the streets are.
2024-25
- South Lanarkshire
- 57.3%
- Similar councils
- 54.7%
- Scotland
- 57.0%
In 2013-14, the first year published, the figure here was 74.8%. Figures are adjusted for inflation by the publisher, so the two years can be compared.
Groups and averages from the Local Government Benchmarking Framework, Improvement Service. “Similar councils” is the average for the group of eight that includes South Lanarkshire, on the set of councils the publisher uses for that measure.
Outside checks
What the auditors found
These are checks by people outside the council: Audit Scotland, the Accounts Commission and the Scottish Housing Regulator. An is a point they recorded after checking the books or how a service works. is the formal name for one of those checks. It is not a gold star for every service.
Audit Scotland / Accounts Commission · 2025-09
More money is still needed over the next few years
The council reported money left over in its 2025/26 plan, but the audit found that more money was still needed over the next few years. The council was using different possible plans and service-change reviews to work out what to do next.
What was recommended: Keep the plan for the next few years up to date and show how savings will protect essential services.
Source: South Lanarkshire Council 2024/25 Annual Audit Report
Audit Scotland / Accounts Commission · 2025-09
Savings are tracked, but service results are not tracked separately
The audit found that the council focuses on the money saved by service changes, but does not routinely report what happened to service quality or to people using services.
What was recommended: Report both the money saved and what happened to service quality and outcomes after each major change.
Source: South Lanarkshire Council 2024/25 Annual Audit Report
2 findings remain marked open in this record. That is a status from the source, not a claim that nothing has changed since publication.
What your council said it would do
Promises and deadlines
A is something the council said it would do. We look for a date, an owner and later proof. Saying it in a plan is not the same as finishing it.
Report what service users get after changes
Needs new evidenceTrack service quality and results alongside the money saved by service-change projects.
- Owner:
- The council and its senior officers
- Due:
- Not published
The audit says a exists, but service-change results are not routinely shown separately. No later report is included here.
Source: South Lanarkshire Council 2024/25 Annual Audit Report
Keep the plan for the next few years under review
Needs new evidenceUse different possible plans and service-change reviews to solve the remaining money problem over the next few years.
- Owner:
- The council and its senior officers
- Due:
- Not published
The audit records ongoing work but no final date for closing the gap.
Source: South Lanarkshire Council 2024/25 Annual Audit Report
What we still do not know
This is a first, source-complete record, not a claim that every council decision is covered. These gaps stay visible so the page cannot pretend to know more than the evidence supports.
- South Lanarkshire reported £1.5m left over before other changes when setting its 2026/27 budget. This is not the same as a final year-end result.
- The audit says the council has improvement plans for measures below the Scottish average, but this page does not yet list those measures or goals.
- The exact money problem after later decisions needs a current council plan.
- No individual councillor is linked to a budget or service result here.
Show the 2 official sources
- 01Local government budgets 2026/27
Audit Scotland / Accounts Commission · 2026-06-11
The money for everyday services, the extra money councils said they needed when setting their 2026/27 budgets, planned savings and other budget entries. These figures come from council returns, not final accounts, and councils describe their money problems in different ways.
- 02South Lanarkshire Council 2024/25 Annual Audit Report
Audit Scotland / Accounts Commission · 2025-09
The audit's findings on the money problem over the next few years, the new finance system, savings from service changes and results for people.
Council officers and elected members can send corrections or a response through the contact page. Confirmed changes will be dated and recorded here.
Straight answers
Questions people ask
How much money does South Lanarkshire Council receive?
South Lanarkshire Council has £1,086.7m listed under Money for everyday council services for 2026/27 budget. It is a budget or , not proof of the final amount spent, and the other figures on this page are kept separate.
Has South Lanarkshire Council missed any goals?
No service-goal result has been checked for this record yet.
What percentage of Crisis Grant applications does South Lanarkshire Council award?
In 2025/26, 61% of decided Crisis Grant applications in South Lanarkshire Council resulted in an award, compared with 65% across Scotland. This is an rate for applications, not unique people, and it does not by itself explain why councils differ.
Does this page prove that a councillor is personally responsible?
No. It records what the council, its officers, auditors and regulators published. It does not assign an individual motive or blame without a separate documented decision trail.
See the poverty figures alongside this record
The South Lanarkshire area page shows the local poverty, work and pay figures that explain why council decisions matter.
One simple next step
Not ready to write yet?
Get told when South Lanarkshire's figures change
Councils publish new figures every year, and almost nobody hears about it. I read the audits and the budget papers when they land, and send one email when the numbers move. A few times a year. Nothing else, ever.