Spinning a two star rating

South Tyneside Council tells a good tale

The good people at South Tyneside Council Press Office continue to impress with their journalistic efforts to put the best possible spin on less than outstanding outcomes. Yesterday they sexed up the report from the Commission for Social Care Inspection which awarded our council a two star rating for adult services. Council Leader Paul Waggott is reported as saying:

“I was very pleased that inspectors have once again given us two stars as it demonstrates that we are continuing to sustain the improvements we have delivered in recent years. It is reassuring to see that the outstanding efforts of the staff involved have once again been recognised.”

I wonder what he means by sustained improvements? For four consecutive years we have been awarded two stars with no more than a promising capacity to improve services.

Heaven knows how they will explain the news when we actually get three stars!