TOWN Hall leaders are confident that Bury Council will get a superb Christmas present from Government inspectors.

The Audit Commission will announce on Thursday (Dec 18) whether Bury has risen up the Comprehensive Performance Assessment league.

Bury received a "weak" CPA rating last year, one of the worst in the region. But bosses think that, based on their own calculations, the council will move up to the "fair" category: and it stands an excellent chance of reaching "good" next year.

Members at tomorrow's (Wed Dec 17) executive will hear that, based on analysis of published data and recent inspections, council services have improved by 30 per cent. This is attributed to "outstanding" results in education, backed up by higher scores for a range of services from housing rents to environment and use of resources.

If the Commission's official verdict on Thursday backs up this analysis, this will earn the council a re-assessment of its "corporate capacity to improve". If this second inspection produces similarly good results, it means Bury will have moved up two rungs in 18 months. Managers are recommending that the executive asks for this new assessment to be carried out in the first three months of next year.

Improvements of this size will be loudly cheered by councillors, who complained bitterly that last year's "weak" rating was harsh and took no account of Bury's desperate lack of money in comparison to other councils.