Three County Durham councils that suffered no-star inspection ratings are to join a pilot "early intervention" project to help them turn services round.
Chester-le-Street council is facing statutory intervention after failing an Audit Commission housing re-inspection. Sedgefield and Wear Valley councils also got no-star inspections but expect to show rapid improvement before they are re-inspected.

The project will be steered by the Northern Housing Consortium. It will bring in the Housing Quality Network to help the councils focus on improvement and prepare for further inspections.

Consortium chief executive John Moralee said: "We recognise that the lack of resources and skills in some key posts has led to difficulties for smaller authorities. We are looking to use economies of scale to share expertise and resources."

Chester-le-Street strengthened its housing team with strategy and management officers after its second no-star rating last week.

It is holding talks with ministers and says it will cooperate fully if the deputy prime minister goes ahead with a takeover.