We look at the reports on two neighbouring north London councils at opposite ends of the performance tables.

Camden council - one of 22 "excellent" councils in England - was highlighted by the Audit Commission as an example of how to run a council in an area blighted by poverty.

But neighbouring Islington - the fourth most deprived borough in London - was criticised for providing a "poor" level of service to its residents.

Deprivation was no excuse for councils failing to provide decent services, said Audit Commission Chairman James Strachan.

About the council areas
Labour-run Camden has a population of 193,000. About 27% of people are from ethnic minorities and 125 languages are spoken in the borough. Camden is the 11th most deprived London borough, and the 34th most deprived in England.	Children account for 22% of the 179,000 population of Lib-Dem controlled Islington. It is a diverse community with a significant number of asylum seekers, and a mix of extreme wealth and poverty in close proximity.

Source: Audit Commission

The leadership of all the councils - their focus on driving forward their plans, and priorities - was one of the key areas the inspectors examined in their reports.

School services in Islington were "slow to improve"

Islington's "strong and determined political leadership" won praise, but there was concern that public perception of the council's focus was compromised by some poorly performing services.

The importance of good relationships with the public was an important issue for councils throughout England. Camden was praised for the way it balanced national priorities with the needs of local people.

How are they run?
Camden council is clear about its aims and sticks to its priorities. A range of services are improving, including education, social care for children and adults, housing and libraries. The council is very strong and continues to improve services. Mark: 4/4	Islington council provides weak or poor services. Areas like social care provision are improving, but education standards are slow to improve. Customer satisfaction with the council remains low, but it is focusing on improving services. Mark: 2/4

Source: Audit Commission

As with the flurry of activity in schools before Ofsted inspections, the Audit Commission's visits added an extra burden to the workload of council departments throughout England.

In Islington, council leaders said they were frustrated that their overall rating "looked back on past performance" rather than the potential inspectors had found.

Public perception of councils' performance will be strongly influenced by their overall ratings, and Camden's leaders were obviously pleased their strengths had been recognised.

What they said
Camden council leader Jane Roberts: "We are extremely pleased to be recognised as a high performing council and we welcome the freedoms and flexibilities this will bring. We are not complacent and we will continue to improve."	Islington council leader Steve Hitchins: "It is extremely disappointing to be placed in this category. The CPA could have focused on our recent steps forward, our capacity to improve and our future potential."

Each council was given a detailed breakdown of the performance of key service areas.

There was a substantial discrepancy between the ratings for education services in Camden and Islington.

While Camden's local education authority is ranked in the top 25% in the country, Islington's performance in key education measures was "consistently below the national average".

Marks for main services
Camden	Islington
Education: 4/4	Education: 2/4
Social care child: 3/4	Social care child: 2/4
Social care adult: 3/4	Social care adult: 2/4
Environment: 3/4	Environment: 1/4
Housing: 3/4	Housing: 2/4
Libraries: 3/4	Libraries: 2/4
Benefits: 4/4	Benefits: 1/4
Resources: 3/4	Resources: 2/4

Source: Audit Commission

Councils will be given up to eight weeks to draw up a recovery plan, with the help of private management consultants and a Whitehall manager.

If that fails, boroughs like Islington face having the Government use its powers to take control of the council out of the hands of its chief executive and senior officers.

But celebrations will continue in Camden and the 21 other councils rated "excellent", who may now win greater freedom from Whitehall control over how they raise and use cash.

National perspective

Across the country, the Conservatives controlled 33 of the councils assessed. Nine were excellent, eight were good, 10 were fair, four were weak and two were poor.

Labour controls 67 authorities, with eight excellent, 26 good, 16 fair, 12 weak and five poor.

The Liberal Democrats had nine, with one excellent, four good, one fair, two weak and one poor.

There were 39 authorities where no party had overall control. Three were excellent, 16 were good, 11 fair, four weak and five poor.