A NEW league table designed to give a true picture of councils' performances has put Wiltshire County Council at the top.

The table was created by Nottinghamshire County Council to try to give a more accurate picture of how councils across the land are faring.

The results are based on best value inspections and Social Services Inspectorate and Audit Commission joint reviews.

Best value judges councils on how their services provide value for money.

But the rankings cannot include how the county's education service performs, as school inspectors Ofsted keeps how it grades councils a closely guarded secret.

Top of the table overall was Hartlepool Borough Council, but Wiltshire was the joint top-ranking county council, which provides more services than a borough council.

Wiltshire shared the top spot with Hertfordshire in the table, which compared the performance of 148 councils.

County council chief executive Keith Robinson said: "We continually strive to provide excellent services within available resources to improve the quality of life for the people of Wiltshire. To have that work recognised nationally is very pleasing."

The council is currently awaiting the results of another assessment on its performance, this time by the Audit Commission.

The Conservative-controlled council is one of 10 that asked to be assessed first in a national programme that will ultimately report on how well councils across the country are performing.

Last autumn a government white paper announced ministers wanted performance rankings for councils, so the public can gauge how well or badly their county council is providing essential services.

Wiltshire County Council's main responsibilities are education, roads and public transport, strategic planning, and social services.