NORTHUMBERLAND County Council has hit back at claims it is the “worst value” local authority in the country following an investigation by a national newspaper.

In an article published by the Telegraph, the paper analysed council tax rates and then compared them to the “quality of services provided”. It compared all upper-tier local authorities in England for which the data was “available”.

Among the factors considered were the number of highly-rated schools and care homes and the state of the roads, as well as the amount of social housing and the number of burglaries.

The investigation also looked at the proportion of all collected waste sent for recycling, composting or reuse.

The Telegraph did acknowledge that Northumberland has a high proportion of its state-funded schools rated as “Good” or “Outstanding” by Ofsted. However, it was marked down because of a “relatively low” rate of recycling, composting and reuse rate (30 per cent) and “below average” rankings on road maintenance and social housing.

According to the council’s website, Northumberland residents pay an average council tax rate for a band D property of £2,154 following a 4.55 per cent hike this year. Data from the think tank the Taxpayer’s Alliance showed that, on average, residents in Northumberland pay out 9.12 per cent of their average household income in council tax.

This was calculated by comparing council tax rates with ONS data on local earnings.

The council hit back at the Telegraph’s claims, pointing out it was being compared to other councils that cover “very different demographical and geographical” areas and were simply “not comparable”.

A spokesman for the council said: “The analysis undertaken does not bear the most basic of scrutiny. Northumberland is a large, rural, county with unique factors.

“The council area is being compared with other areas of very different demographical and geographical data and is not comparable. We strongly disagree with how the model has brought these measures together which do not represent our performance as a council, especially given they are calculated on an average rating.

“The indicators and data used make no sense and do not reflect the services the council actually provide. To give an example specifically around social housing, it totally fails to understand how social housing in Northumberland is delivered – total social housing in Northumberland is 26,300 units delivered by a number of parties.

“Comparing a rural county with 3,000 miles of roads against an urban area with significantly less miles of roads is unbalanced. Meanwhile, burglary rates are included which are the sole responsibility of the police and have no link to council services.  In short, the analysis is simply misleading.

“On many individual measures for services which the council is actually responsible for, we know we are performing well above average. For example, NCC is proud to have 94.5 per cent of its schools rated good and outstanding, the highest proportion in the North East. 83.2 per cent of care homes are rated good or outstanding, and our roads are well maintained and invested in.

“We value our communities and continue to invest in them to ensure our residents have the best opportunities. We are investing heavily in our schools and post-16 learning provision as well as our leisure facilities, parks and libraries at a time when many other local authorities are having to cut back on this provision.

“None of this is reflected in the model being presented. We have repeatedly raised our concerns on the model that has been used and are disappointed that these have not been taken on board.”

Elsewhere, Gateshead Council came second last for value under the Telegraph’s analysis. At the other end of the scale, the best value council was Wigan, where residents pay just £1,480 in council tax for a band D property.