The Royal Borough has been ranked as one of the top performing local authorities for adult social care following independent research by IMPOWER.

The Impower Index, which looks at local authority performance within social care and at cost per head, found that the council is achieving greater outcomes in adult social care from a less than average spend per head than the majority of councils across the country.

The Royal Borough was rated in the top 15 in the Impower Index while Rutland County Council came out top.

Cllr Stuart Carroll, Lead Member Adult Social Care, Children Services, Health and Mental Health, said: “We are delighted to be ranked in the top 15 in this index that continues to show that we are investing in our vulnerable adults as well as providing life-long support to our residents.

"The council spends 41 per cent of its net service budget on vulnerable adults which equates to approximately £35.4 million each year."

This ranking follows the recent announcement that the Royal Borough’s children’s services have been rated good by Ofsted.

It comes as welcome news for the borough after a number of bruising meetings at which the ruling Conservatives have faced tough criticism from opposition councillors as they were forced to raise the Council Tax and make budget cuts to counteract low reserves.