I've fallen in love with Doncaster
And the experts-six senior local government figures who spent a week in Doncaster in June-also highlighted a new culture of transparency as a key to success.
However, their Corporate Peer Challenge report also highlighted a worrying performance in the Children's Services department.
That department was at centre of a scandal in 2009 when two young boys in the care of the council carried out sadistic assaults on two younger children in the south Yorkshire village of Edlington.
The council apologised in 2010 and promised to improve.
However, council leaders admit much more work in that area is needed and the authority received a poor Ofsted rating as recently as March.
But in almost every other area, the LGA inspectors were impressed.
“The council is no longer an outlier,” they concluded. “Doncaster is now functioning well.
“A key factor in this new stability is the leadership of Mayor Ros Jones and her cabinet, supported by the chief executive and her officers.
“Staff reported that whereas in the past, decision making was stifled by dysfunction and division, now it takes place following healthy debate, and by following due process.
“According to staff there has been a 'sea change' in the culture.
“Governance has been overhauled over the last four years. Senior staff report decision-making is quicker and more transparent.
“There are fewer complaints about the behaviour of elected members.”
It added: “Governance has been overhauled over the last four years.”
Doncaster, a metropolitan borough where 93 per cent of the population is white British, witnessed a small surge in British National Party activity around five years ago when the far right group polled 11 per cent in the election. That has since disappeared.
It had adopted a directly elected mayoralty in 2001 and until 2009 Labour dominated.
However, in 2009, the English Democrats' Peter Davies won the mayoralty, while Labour maintained dominance in the council chamber.
Then last year, Mr Davies narrowly lost the election to Labour's Ros Jones in a poll that also saw Labour control the council chamber again.
It was a vote that helped improve stability.
But much of the transformation has taken place at officer level, the experts believe.
Their report said: “[There has been] a visible culture change away from one of fear and disillusionment towards openness and improvement.
“The concept of officers as leaders as change is widespread, and they report themselves to be more confident, positive and about working for Doncaster and are responding to the visible, supportive leadership examples set by the mayor and the chief executive.”
It added: “Overview and Scrutiny is regarded much improved and is no longer operating as a parallel structure with the purpose of undermining the mayor.”
Ms Miller told Express.co.uk: “This council was wearing the 'worst council in Britain' badge. It's now normal.
“Team Doncaster is a phrase I use a lot: it's about involving people and saying 'we're all in this together'.
“The old Doncaster had a 'pull up the drawbridge' mentality, but that's changed.
“People weren't even allowed to use social media such as Twitter to promote the council when I arrived.
“You need to be open, you need to invite people in and invite them to take a look. “You need to create open channels of communication. The old Doncaster was too busy looking inwards.”
The LGA report has been sent to Eric Pickles, who is now being urged to take the council out of special measures.
The poorly performing children's services department may prove to be a stumbling block to that outcome, although from this autumn that area is being outsourced to an arm's length trust.
Mr Pickles may find a compromise interim solution but Ms Miller insisted: “We're now ready to stand on our own feet.”
As for her own future, she said she was staying put: “We've still got stacks to do and I want to see it through.
“I've fallen in love with Doncaster.”
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