Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has been highly ranked in a nationwide assessment.
The local authority was rated at 43rd out of 318 in an independent analysis based on information from the Office for Local Government (Oflog).
Among Newcastle’s strong points recognised were financial management, waste collection and recycling, and planning efficiency.
The listing prepared by The Times newspaper shed light on the big variation in performance between councils across the country.
The publication took the opportunity of fresh data from newly-formed watchdog Oflog to offer readers the chance to learn about the “worst and best” authorities.
Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said: “I’m delighted to see an independent assessment rank Newcastle among the top 20 per cent of English councils.
“We are working hard on delivering good services to residents at a low cost and it is part of our policy to be transparent about what we do and how we do it.
“We regularly publish information throughout the year about waste collection, town centre footfall, food inspections, the volume of inquiries handled by our staff and so on, so residents can hold us to account.
“Last year an independent Local Government Association review of our work praised our efforts, but we know we can always do better.”
Oflog measures councils across 27 categories, some of which do not apply to Newcastle as a second tier authority. The Times newspaper compared data and ranked councils accordingly.
