MORE than half the region's councils have been judged excellent in new local authority league tables published today.

Bolton, Lancashire, Stockport, Tameside and Wigan retained four-star ratings - the top mark - while Warrington and Cheshire moved up from three.

Manchester remained on three (good), while Oldham stayed on two (fair). Four more councils - Bury, Rochdale, Trafford and Salford - moved up from two to three.

The news comes as a particular victory for Salford, which as recently as 2002 was branded a one-star (weak) council.

The ratings, known as Comprehensive Performance Assessments and compiled by the Audit Commission, judge councils on a combination of how well they use public money and the quality of what they provide, such as education and social services.

A total of 149 local authorities nationwide were given ratings, with 47 getting four stars and 71 three. The authorities are also judged separately on how quickly they are getting better. Of the 13 councils in this region, only Tameside was described as `improving strongly'.

Stars

Bolton, Bury, Lancashire, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Trafford, Warrington and Wigan were all `improving well', and Cheshire, Manchester and Salford `adequately'. Tameside was the only council in the region to get both four stars and a `strong' improvement rating.

Chief executive Jane Callender said: "We will continue to listen to what local people want and work hard with our partners to deliver their priorities."

Stockport council leader Brian Millard said: "This is a real tribute to the workforce and elected members."

Cliff Morris, leader of Bolton council, said: "This is great news, placing Bolton again among the top tier of councils."

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