LOCAL council services could win special approval, catapulting the authority up the list of national rankings.

Bury Council received a "weak" assessment last December in the Audit Commission's first ever round of council comprehensive performance assessments (CPAs).

The council protested that the judgement was "harsh" but immediately increased its efforts to improve overall management and the quality of services.

New informal figures now suggest the council's determination and desire to improve services is reaping results.

The Audit Commission is due to announce revised and updated CPA scores for councils but Bury Council's own calculations, based on already-published data such as the results of service inspections, suggest a rapid improvement. Council bosses estimate this could put Bury among the country's "better" councils.

The council has calculated it has put on at least ten points in service performance terms taking it from "weak" to "fair" and the executive will be told next Wednesday that rapid improvements across key services have delivered success and praise in a number of crucial inspections. These include:

Outstanding education service performance with an excellent Ofsted inspection and a range of data suggesting that Bury could well be in the country's top 20 when official "scores" are unveiled later this month.

A good rating for cultural services following its inspection in the summer.

Dramatic improvements in the quality of the council's housing rents service: up from zero to two stars in a year is a first for any housing team in the country.

Improved social services performance up from one to two stars after an inspection.

Improvement in benefits, housing and use of resources scores.

Leader of Bury Council, Councillor John Byrne, said: "The figures suggest that this is a rapidly improving council, if not the most improved council in the country."

The Audit Commission is due to release its revised and updated assessment of local authority service performance next Thursday.