SOCIAL care for older people is improving in Middlesbrough, according to a report.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection report stated that the town's services served most people well and had a promising capacity to improve.

This year, social services will build on the development and tackle areas where performance needs improving.

Middlesborough Council's executive member for social care, Brenda Thompson, said: "This is a very encouraging report that shows that older people can rely on good services in Middlesbrough, which are going to get even better.

"We are making a lot of progress in involving older people and their carers in shaping social care services.

"They make a major contribution to life in the town and its economy and we want that to be acknowledged in how all our services develop."

The commission's report said that social services staff had a good working relationship with health and housing providers and were developing projects combining all areas.

Inspectors said: "We found that Middlesbrough was making significant efforts to involve people and organisations in the planning of services."

When service users were asked for their views, most people felt that social workers and other care staff were easy to contact, treated them with respect and involved them in decisions about the service they received.

Inspectors said the service needed to improve the reliability of home care services from independent providers, promote of the take-up of direct payments and also encourage carers to get involved in planning services.