SOCIAL services chiefs in Darlington are hoping to receive an improved rating from the Government.

The borough council's social services department, soon to be scrapped to make way for a new children's services unit, will learn in a week's time what star rating it has been awarded.

The authority was given a poor one-star rating last year and pledged to make improvements.

Yesterday, social services director Margaret Asquith told councillors that she hoped recent work would pay off.

"Going on the evidence we have, I would hope that it will be a two-star rating," she said.

The service has eliminated its lengthy waiting times for occupational therapy.

Inspectors had said the times were "unacceptably long".

There has also been a reduction in the number of children placed outside the Darlington borough.

Mrs Asquith said the educational achievements of children in care were a key issue, particularly as none gained a GCSE A* to C grade last year.