Hackney is the worst council in England for the second year in a row.
The east London borough, run by a directly-elected Labour mayor, has again come bottom of official league tables.
It is classed as "poor" by the Audit Commission alongside Lambeth, Waltham Forest and seven other local authorities in England.
But it is the only council to get only one point - the lowest possible score - for both its ability to improve and the quality of its services.
Social workers at an east London council have been criticised by a judge who heard that a baby died only six days after it had been taken off an "at risk" register.
Tyrell Rowe, who was 19-months old, died in hospital on 17 October from brain damage after being repeatedly punched in the face.
The Old Bailey heard that after his death a number of other broken bones were discovered which had been caused in the previous two months.
Hackney Council social services had been supervising the baby, but had not examined him during that period.
TWO councillors were jailed yesterday for their part in the country's largest vote-rigging conspiracy, which "betrayed democracy" in one of the most deprived areas of Britain.
Isaac Liebowitz, a Conservative, and Zev Lieberman, a Liberal Democrat, raised enough bogus votes to change the course of the 1998 municipal elections in Hackney, east London, by robbing Labour of a stronghold ward. The men created non-existent voters, registered electors at addresses that did not exist and tricked elderly women into signing away their vote.
Special Branch officers, who spent 18 months investigating the matter, described it as "the largest attempt to subvert the democratic process" that they had come across. Judge Jeremy Connor sentenced Liebowitz, 35, to six months in jail and Lieberman, 29, to four months at Wood Green Crown Court, north London, yesterday.
Rubbish piles up, hundreds face rent arrears misery as officials from other areas try to help sort out years of infighting and incompetence
Rubbish piled high in black bags and boxes outside houses and shops awaits the elusive council dust cart. The grubby streets, swirling with the remains of bursting refuse sacks and last week's takeaways, are rarely swept. "It's easier to spot the rats than find the binman," jokes an elderly woman, laden with shopping bags, as she stumbles between the high rises.
Around the tower blocks, in an area dominated by council housing, the walkways are crumbling and the window frames rotting. "In 20 years we haven't had a lick of paint," yells Rose Richardson, a 78-year-old who chairs a community association on the Trelawney estate. "They make promises, but they always put it back. They treat us terribly badly."
