The comprehensive performance assessment framework published last week "plays into the hands of the name-and shame-culture", the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) has warned.

Criticising the retention of the "crude" overall performance categories of excellent, good, fair, weak and poor, the unit said these would "play into the hands of a media baying for blood".

The LGIU also criticised the government for persisting with a system that penalised councils if just one major service area was rated as poor, in the face of overwhelming hostility from local government.

David Spencer, policy officer at the LGIU, described the use of overall judgements as "misleading to the public and damaging to the council".

"It's just an impossible task to say that you are going to be able to accurately rate all councils using five categories," Spencer said.

"It would be better if the whole process led to a description of how various services are performing."

Warning of the knock-on effect on recruitment and morale of a council's negative categorisation, Spencer added: "An ambitious local government worker does not want to hang around in a council that is labelled as failing."

The Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS) welcomed the decision to include five categories instead of four. But chairperson of the ADSS standards and performance committee Tony Hunter warned that pigeon-holing the work of thousands of staff into one category was a "blunt instrument". However, he said it was inevitable in order to provide summary information.

Hunter said the impact of the first round of the CPA process would depend on the tone adopted as the categories were announced later this year. "An overly negative tone will do nothing to promote recruitment and retention or confidence locally," he warned.

Meanwhile, the Local Government Association has welcomed the removal of the double jeopardy rule, which would have led to a council having its overall category limited as a result of a poor performance in social services for adults or children.

Instead, an average score for all judgements of social services will now be used in the final CPA calculation (news, page 7, 24 October).