CUMBRIA County Council has been judged as "improving well" in the latest Audit Commission assessment of local authorities, reports Ruth Lythe.

The authority has increased its rating from one to two stars in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment rating unveiled yesterday (Thursday, February 22).

Last year the council was judged as one of the worst performing in Britain in the CPA assessment, which awarded it just one star out of a possible four.

But in this year's round of assessments, called the Harder Test, the authority's score has improved dramatically across a range of areas.

Inspectors also awarded CCC a score of three out of four in its direction of travel rating, showing that the authority was improving well.

For full story see this week's Westmorland Gazette.