The Care Quality Commission found overall improvement, with 95% of councils in the top two categories.

But its annual report rated one in four care homes for the elderly as being adequate at best and found large variations in areas and providers.

Poole, Cornwall, Solihull, Surrey, South Tyneside, Southwark, Peterborough and Bromley are to get extra support.

But Annie Shepperd, a chief executive of one of those councils, Southwark, said the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had made a mistake in rating her authority.

She said the CQC had judged them to be a low spending authority but the other regulator, the Audit Commission, had said they were a top quartile spending authority, "they can't both be right".

"Why have they refused to come and talk to me about this and why have they not given me the evidence when I've got mountains of contrary evidence that their findings are wrong."

The report covers independent providers of care services as well as an assessment of England's 148 local authorities.

It rated 95% of councils in the top two categories, which means they are performing well or excellently - and none was given the bottom "poor" rating.

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