The news followed the Government's announcement it was removing single word ratings for children's social care teams and settings.

Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board, said single word judgements could not ‘adequately capture the complexity of adult social care and the work councils do to meet their legal obligations'.

He added: ‘The Government must ensure that the assurance process is, and remains, productive and supportive for councils. Sufficient time must be given to learn the lessons from councils' experiences as more go through the assessment process.'

The LGA chair also called on the Government to develop and implement ‘a fully costed, long-term, sustainable plan to fund social care'.

A CQC spokesperson said: ‘Our assessments were developed alongside the sector to help drive improvement by highlighting good practice and areas for further development.

‘Local authorities have told us of the value of sharing findings to help make immediate improvements, by identifying their strengths and where gaps may exist. The narrative assessments and conversations they spark are central to this.

‘The precise methodology for our local authority assessments, including if assessments result in a rating, is subject to ministerial approval. Any changes to this methodology would be a matter for the Department of Health and Social Care.'

A Department of Health and Social spokesperson said: ‘We recognise the scale and depth of the reforms needed in social care. That's why we will engage widely with the sector as well as people with lived experience on the longer-term reforms needed to build a National Care Service. 

‘We are thoroughly reviewing the Care Quality Commission and as part of that work we have asked the CQC to improve the transparency of their ratings. We are not currently considering a change to the single-word ratings system.'