North Lincolnshire Council has been rated a 'good' authority by a team of Government inspectors, making it one of the best performing councils in the country.

In the council equivalent of football league tables the authority was graded 'good' together with 54 other authorities.

But the unitary authority was highest placed council of its type in the country.

A total 149 councils across the country were inspected and then ranked in the table under the headings 'excellent', 'good', 'fair', 'weak' and 'poor'.

The council, which employs around 6,000 people and delivers hundreds of services to the 157,000 people of North Lincolnshire, from schools to caring for the elderly, was awarded three out of a possible four points by the inspectors.

It was a top performer in the former Humberside region with only it and the East Riding of Yorkshire getting 'good' ratings - Hull and neighbouring North East Lincolnshire were both classed as 'poor', the lowest possible rating.

Unusually, council leader Coun Nic Dakin and Conservative opposition leader Coun Don Stewart were agreed on one issue - the authority could have been awarded an 'excellent' rating if it had not been for a 'poor' rating last year in housing and a recent 'fair' rating for leisure services.

Chief executive Dr Michael Garnett agreed too that the council could have had a higher rating.

A team of inspectors from local Government watchdog the Audit Commission spent two weeks in August looking into every aspect of the authority. That included interviews with councillors, officers, tenants, service users and examining mountains of paperwork. They had five possible findings - excellent, good, fair, weak or poor.

Coun Dakin said: "To come out with a 'good' is an excellent result for the council and the people of North Lincolnshire.
"It shows independent inspectors have recognised how the council is an effective and efficient organisation.
"Without the hard work of all the staff here we would not have got this judgement today.
"It is a tribute to our employees."

The authority, which is currently undergoing a reorganisation and streamlining exercise called Reshaping the Council, would now be striving for an 'excellent' grading when the inspectors next called.

Dr Garnett said: "From the information we have received from the inspectors and with the Reshaping the Council exercise underway, I believe we can take the council and staff forward to become an 'excellent' council."

Coun Stewart, Conservative opposition leader, said: "This council could have had an 'excellent' rating if it had followed advice from the Conservative group.

"It should have done more to attract people to its leisure services, instead of cutting budgets, but it is the housing department that has let everybody down, including some of the most vulnerable people in the area, and it must carry the can for that."

Coun Dakin said the rating reflected well for businesses and the area's economy in that North Lincolnshire, unlike some parts of the country, had a stable local authority and was well placed to attract more investors.

The Government had made it clear, too, top performing authorities would get more freedom with less inspections, less central control and more choice on how to spend money.

Details on these arrangements were expected to emerge in the New Year.

"We are confident we will be able to use these rewards to further improve services to benefit local people," added Coun Dakin.

More details of the inspection were posted on the council's website and visitors can direct comments to Coun Dakin and Dr Garnett.

How all the marks were awarded
Individual services from North Lincolnshire Council were given marks out of four too. They were: