I am pleased to present my 6th annual road works monitoring report since taking up office in November 2020, covering the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
During the reporting period, there was a further modest increase in road works activity, up 1.9% overall compared to 2023/24. The growth rate was significantly lower than in the previous year and this may indicate that the increasing trend in road works since the Covid pandemic is levelling out.
Unplanned works (i.e. emergency and urgent works) have come into focus in the past year as they are very difficult, if not impossible to co-ordinate effectively. The data suggests that whilst there was a modest increase in 2024/25 compared to the previous year, this is very much in line with the overall increase in works. It is notable that the number of unplanned works was less in 2024/25 (30,235 works) than it was in 2018/19 (31,051 works) and the proportion of all works that are unplanned has reduced from around 24% in 2018/19 to 18% in 2024/25. However, it is also notable that almost half (48%) of all unplanned works are undertaken by Scottish Water. In fact, over half of all Scottish Water works were unplanned in 2024/25.
A key indicator of good planning and co-ordination of works is the proportion of so-called ‘noticing failures’. This indicator was adversely affected in 2023/24 by changes to the time periods for noticing works ‘actual starts’ and ‘works complete’. However, I am pleased to report that both utilities and roads authorities have significantly improved their performance overall in 2024/25 with average noticing failures now at around 5% of all works recorded.
There are two new indicators published for the first time this year. These highlight how utilities respond to defects and how roads authorities carry out inspections of these defects. The results from this first year show that there are a small number of utilities with a very high number of outstanding defects. I am asking utilities to reduce these numbers on an ongoing basis. Similarly, there are a very small number of roads authorities with very high levels of overdue defect inspections, mainly in the large cities. Again, I am asking authorities to reduce these numbers on an ongoing basis.
This is the first year that I can report on the use of inspection powers which were gained in April 2024. I prioritised the inspection of local authority works, looking specifically at their compliance with the Code of Practice for Safety and Street Works and Road Works. There was a considerable effort put in to make sure roads authorities were aware of their obligations during the summer of 2024, with several webinars and presentations to authorities. Through the year, my Compliance Officers observed over 2,300 sites and this highlighted concerns around guarding of live works and provision for pedestrians. The work resulted in two compliance notices being issued, both of which have subsequently been closed following significant improvements in compliance with the Code. However, it is clear that roads authorities need to continue to ensure that their workforce and contractors follow the Code and I will continue to monitor their activity in 2025/26.
As ever, I would like to thank my team and everyone in the road works community for their support and co-operation through the year.
Kevin Hamilton
Scottish Road Works Commissioner