The level of social care is on the up, according to a new report from the Chief Inspector of Social Services in Wales. The annual report for 2005-06 found ‘accumulating evidence of improvement' in local authority social services, and acknowledged the strong commitment across the nation at both managerial and operational level to improve the quality of services. The news has been welcomed by the WLGA's spokesman for social services, Cllr Meryl Gravell, who said: ‘I am extremely encouraged by this report. ‘Councils are delivering year-on-year improvement, and have taken a wholehearted approach towards improving the quality of their social services.' But, he admitted there was still room for improvement in approaches to commissioning and contracting. Singled out for praise in the report were Torfaen, Cardiff and Blaenau Gwent councils, which had shown particular progress in social care. Other key findings were a raised level of performance across the country as a result of better collaboration, higher satisfaction levels among users, and a marked improvement in tackling recruitment and retention problems.