In its Comprehensive Performance Assessment the commission gives an overall star rating to each specific council, one being the lowest, four being the highest.

To arrive at the overall rating, the commission looks at a council's use of resources (including value for money), work with children and young people, adult social care arrangements, cultural services, environmental services, payment and collection of benefits, housing services and corporate capacity to improve.

COUNCIL PERFORMANCE RATINGS

Key

Council type: CC: County Council, LBC: London Borough Council, MBC: Metropolitan Borough Council, UA: Unitary Authority

+: Councils that have received a new-style corporate assessment and the score has been used to inform the overall CPA (Comprehensive Performance Assessment) star category.

#: Councils that have received a new-style corporate assessment and the score has been protected. In these cases the previous corporate assessment score has been used to inform the overall category.

Note : The Isles of Scilly are exempt from a star rating in 2007. The Audit Commission has agreed this with the Department for Communities and Local Government based on the applicability of the methodology to the islands' circumstances. An environment, culture or fire and rescue service assessment score for the Isles of Scilly in 2007 has not been published.