Hackney worst council in England

Hackney is the worst council in England for the second year in a row.

The east London borough, run by a directly-elected Labour mayor, has again come bottom of official league tables.

It is classed as "poor" by the Audit Commission alongside Lambeth, Waltham Forest and seven other local authorities in England.

But it is the only council to get only one point - the lowest possible score - for both its ability to improve and the quality of its services.

Today's league tables are released amid growing concern at the failure of local authorities to offer value for money as council tax bills soar.

Average bills in Hackney went up by 13 per cent this year and are among the highest in London at £1,158 for a benchmark Band D property.

The Audit Commission report highlights Hackney's environment and libraries and leisure services as areas of particular weakness.

But the commission did praise it for improvements in education and social services and declared it one of the 10 most improved councils in the country.

Commission chief executive Steve Bundred said: "If Hackney maintains that improvement, we would expect to see it move out of the poor category very quickly."

Hackney mayor Jules Pipe disputed that the council was the worst in the country.

He said the fact that the ratings had only been partially updated since last year had made it impossible for them to convey major advances.

"I realise there is a mountain to climb but I'm pleased we are going in the right direction," he said.

The commission bases its judgment on technical measures of every town hall's performance, such as the amount of council tax they collect. Councils are classed as excellent, good, fair, weak or poor once the results are collated.

Six of London's 33 boroughs improved their performance on last year, including Islington, which hauled itself out of the poor category and is now rated "weak".

But Hillingdon dropped from fair to weak, while Kingston upon Thames lost its "excellent" status.