Torbay Council is to choose a new inspection date

The former Conservative administration at Torbay Council had been very unhappy with a report which gave it a rating of "poor".

The Tories had looked at ways of stopping the commission publishing its report, including lodging papers at the High Court saying the assessment was illegal.

However, the new Liberal Democrat administration, which took over last month, has said it has spent its first month in office in negotiations with the commission looking for a way forward.

We will be protecting their [taxpayers'] interests Chris Harris, Torbay Council leader

The commission said in its report: "A recurrent theme of inspection findings of Torbay Council has been the lack of strategic capacity and leadership."

The council's former leaders said staff had worked with the commission to improve services and that had not been taken into account in what was described as an "arbitrary scoring system" for the rating.

They threatened to take the commission to court, a plan the then opposition Liberal Democrats argued against, saying it was a waste of tax payers' money.

However, the report added: "Although the council still has a long way to go, it is moving in the right direction."

The Liberal Democrats gained power in last month's local elections.

New council leader Chris Harris said as a result of stopping the legal threat, the council can have a new assessment at a time of its choosing.

Joint announcement

He said: "The view of the previous administration was that the commission was unlawful in the way that it conducted its inspections.

"The view of the new administration is that it was lawful. That gives us a new starting point for new negotiations with the commission with a view to settling this.

"The impact on the taxpayers will be that we will be protecting their interests.

"We have secured a re-inspection of our choosing, where we hope to reasonably demonstrate the council has improved."