Unitary: 62 councils compared

Ranked against other unitary councils only. Unitary councils range from cities such as Bristol and Leicester to large rural areas such as Cornwall and North Yorkshire, so they differ among themselves as well as from the boroughs. The Isles of Scilly is shown but not ranked.

Council rankings
RankOverall	Council	BandOverall	Control	Service qualityrank, 1 = best	Value for moneyrank, 1 = best	Financial healthrank, 1 = best
1	Hartlepool	Top quarter	NOC · Reform UK-led	1	55	10
2	North Lincolnshire	Top quarter	Conservative majority	4	13	11
3	Telford and Wrekin	Top quarter	Labour majority	2	38	28
4	County Durham	Top quarter	Reform UK majority	15	5	8
5	Darlington	Top quarter	NOC · Labour-led	7	31	7
6	Blackburn with Darwen	Top quarter	Labour minority	8	32	6
7	Dorset	Top quarter	NOC · Lib Dem-led	6	28	33
8	North Somerset	Top quarter	NOC · Lib Dem-led	12	16	15
9	North Yorkshire	Top quarter	Conservative minority	21	23	1
10	Wokingham	Top quarter	Lib Dem majority	5	43	20
11	Wiltshire	Top quarter	NOC · Lib Dem-led	13	12	32
12	Rutland	Top quarter	Lib Dem minority	11	35	12
13	Westmorland and Furness	Top quarter	Lib Dem majority	3	59	21
14	Milton Keynes	Top quarter	NOC · Lib Dem-led	32	11	2
15	Bracknell Forest	Top quarter	Labour minority	10	42	27
16	York	Upper middle	Labour majority	24	10	22
17	Southend-on-Sea	Upper middle	NOC · Labour-led	25	30	13
18	Shropshire	Upper middle	Lib Dem majority	14	22	54
19	Redcar and Cleveland	Upper middle	Labour minority	9	33	53
20	North East Lincolnshire	Upper middle	Conservative minority	26	14	30
21	Central Bedfordshire	Upper middle	Independent minority	20	6	39
22	Luton	Upper middle	Labour majority	41	3	9
23	Northumberland	Upper middle	Conservative minority	18	39	16
24	Stockton-on-Tees	Upper middle	Labour minority	35	9	14
25	Cheshire West and Chester	Upper middle	Labour minority	29	24	29
26	Southampton	Upper middle	Labour minority	23	19	43
27	South Gloucestershire	Upper middle	NOC · Lib Dem-led	22	53	18
28	East Riding of Yorkshire	Upper middle	Conservative minority	37	15	23
29	Derby	Upper middle	Labour minority	36	18	24
30	Peterborough	Upper middle	Labour minority	43	1	57
31	Stoke-on-Trent	Upper middle	Labour majority	16	50	56
32	Warrington	Lower middle	Labour majority	17	47	45
33	Cornwall	Lower middle	NOC · Lib Dem-led	30	54	31
34	Thurrock	Lower middle	Reform UK majority	19	49	51
35	Bath and North East Somerset	Lower middle	Lib Dem majority	31	44	34
36	Windsor and Maidenhead	Lower middle	Lib Dem majority	34	21	50
37	Middlesbrough	Lower middle	Labour mayor	28	41	52
38	Cheshire East	Lower middle	NOC · Labour-led	33	25	60
39	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	Lower middle	NOC · Lib Dem-led	39	34	36
40	Leicester	Lower middle	Labour mayor	51	37	4
41	Kingston upon Hull, City of	Lower middle	Lib Dem minority	47	17	35
42	Herefordshire, County of	Lower middle	Conservative minority	38	57	25
43	West Berkshire	Lower middle	Lib Dem majority	27	58	55
44	North Northamptonshire	Lower middle	Reform UK majority	52	20	17
45	Buckinghamshire	Lower middle	Conservative majority	60	4	3
46	Portsmouth	Lower middle	Lib Dem majority	54	36	5
47	Torbay	Bottom quarter	Conservative minority	46	52	19
48	Medway	Bottom quarter	Labour majority	40	48	48
49	Isle of Wight	Bottom quarter	NOC · Independent-led	44	46	42
50	Brighton and Hove	Bottom quarter	Labour majority	42	51	44
51	Reading	Bottom quarter	Labour majority	48	56	38
52	Bristol, City of	Bottom quarter	NOC · Green-led	56	45	26
53	Somerset	Bottom quarter	Lib Dem majority	55	27	47
54	Cumberland *	Bottom quarter	Labour majority	50	–	–
55	Plymouth	Bottom quarter	Labour majority	49	40	61
56	Swindon	Bottom quarter	Conservative minority	57	26	46
57	West Northamptonshire	Bottom quarter	Reform UK majority	59	8	49
58	Bedford	Bottom quarter	Conservative mayor	58	29	41
59	Halton	Bottom quarter	Labour majority	45	61	59
60	Blackpool	Bottom quarter	Labour majority	53	60	37
61	Nottingham	Bottom quarter	Labour majority	61	7	40
62	Slough	Bottom quarter	NOC · Conservative-led	62	2	58

Control shows who runs the council (NOC = no overall control), from Open Council Data UK (context only, not scored). Pillar columns show each council's rank out of 62. Overall weights: service quality 60%, value for money 20%, financial health 20%. Rank positions in the middle of the table are sensitive to weighting, so the bands are the more reliable guide.
* Ranked on the data available: some spending and finance returns have not yet been published for this council.