Fenland DC has been hailed as the future of local government, after being judged the most improved council in the country. Shadow local government spokesman, Eric Pickles, said ‘Fenland is the future', after new figures from the Audit Commission revealed that the local authority was the most improved in England. The council showed improvements in 72% of its performance indicators, compared with the national average of 48%. Customer satisfaction levels in the council's service shops were rated at 97%, while the contact centre scored 98%. Mr Pickles said: ‘There is one test of any council leadership, and that is to know what their customer satisfaction ratings are. I have been to lots of local authorities and neither the leader, nor the chief executive know what the council's satisfaction ratings are.' Fenland DC leader, Geoffrey Harper, said: ‘To be the most improved council in England, out of 388 local authorities is a truly phenomenal achievement. ‘But it could not have been done without the fantastic team spirit which extends across the organisation, from councillors and officers to frontline staff.'