A COUNCIL heavily criticised in a Government report has only made limited progress in addressing its problems, according to officials.

Teesdale District Council was rated poor in a Comprehensive Performance Assessment last year.

A new Audit Commission report has found that the council still faces significant challenges to modernise its culture and organisation.

However, the newly appointed leader, Ken Robinson, said the pace of improvement should rise significantly.

The report said the council still provided some good services, but that some services were still weak.

Progress has been made in developing services the council has lacked.

Audit Commission spokeswoman Sarah Diggle said: "The council is now becoming clearer about its problems, and recent changes to leadership arrangements should help it to tackle them.

"With a lot of external support, the council has made some progress in strengthening the way it works. But the changes are recent and are not yet fully embedded.

"Although there are some encouraging early signs, there is still a lot to do."

A council spokesman said: "Progress in making improvements might have been slower than some would have liked, but there have been fundamental changes to our overall culture and organisation."