Tackling anti-social behaviour across South Lanarkshire

Published: Friday 11 July 2025

This image shows Councillor Davie McLachlan leaning on one of the council's CCTV vans with a member of staff looking out the window

Anti-social behaviour across South Lanarkshire is being tackled thanks to joint working between a number of partners.

Housing Officers, Anti-Social Behaviour Officers and Mediators from the Joint Problem Solving Unit work closely with partners such as Police Scotland.

For cases reported to the local housing teams or Joint Problem Solving Unit during 2024/25, where anti-social behaviour was proven, this led to the council taking robust action with officers issuing 94 Verbal Reminder of Responsibilities Warnings, 251 Initial Written Warnings, 106 Final Written Warnings and 52 Behaviour Contracts.

After taking court action for the most serious cases, Sherrifs at court granted 25 Interim Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, 17 Full Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and Eviction Orders for nine council tenancies involving proven serious anti-social behaviour or convicted for being concerned in the supply of drugs offences. 

Chair of the council’s Housing and Technical Resources Committee, Councillor Davie McLachlan, said: “When there is clear evidence of anti-social behaviour, we use our powers to ensure action is taken, whether it is something minor or at the more serious end of the scale.

“It’s important to point out that a lot of the time anti-social behaviour can be complex, with neighbours often having very different perceptions of the root causes of the behaviours and who is to blame.

“A multi-agency approach is also something we rely on, including working with partners in the emergency services.

“Very often reported issues can be neighbour disputes, inconsiderate or annoying behaviours and don’t meet the anti-social behaviour threshold. 

“For many of these, the council doesn’t have any powers of enforcement, and the solution relies within those involved in the dispute to change behaviours or understand the impact of their behaviour on neighbours. 

“For neighbour disputes, the council operates the Community Neighbour Mediation Service, part of the overall anti-social response services, which currently has a 98% success rate where all parties in the dispute engage with the service.” 

More information on mediation can be found on the council’s website.

Additionally, Community Wardens carry out pro-active street or estate patrols within areas identified as experiencing anti-social behaviour problems, with over 10,000 patrols carried out, often in partnership with Police Scotland. The wardens responded to or identified a total of 15,000 incidents such as graffiti, fly-tipping, disorder, vulnerable persons requiring assistance and attended large scale community events.