Lib Dems take control of Devon County Council

Liberal Democrat Julian Brazil has been voted in as the new leader of Devon County Council

Improving services for children and fixing roads are the top two priorities for the new leader of Devon County Council.

Liberal Democrat Julian Brazil will lead a minority administration and has included Green Party leader Jacqui Hodgson as a cabinet member for climate change and biodiversity.

Ofsted said earlier in May there was a "risk of harm" to children in Devon due to continued failings in services while the cost of special educational needs services posed a "risk to the ongoing financial stability" of the council.

Brazil said the council had been "failing our most vulnerable children" and vowed to improve services starting by splitting responsibility between three cabinet members.

Responsibility for children's services will now be split between three cabinet members

Brazil will take on responsibility for education, with Denise Bickley in charge of special educational needs and disabilities (Send), and Richard Jefferies taking responsibility for children's social services.

The council leader said: "The only way we can deliver the services the public need and deserve is to work with our partners, by creating productive relationships with agencies from the NHS to schools, from parish and town councils to community groups.

"We have been failing our most vulnerable children for far too long, and we want to send a message - our children need us, and we must deliver."

He said improvements to children's services "should be the judge of the success or failure of this administration".

Fixing potholes on roads around Devon is one of the top priorities of the new administration

Devon County Council has the largest road network in England to look after and is understood to have a backlog of pothole repairs that would cost about £200m to fix.

Brazil said there was a "plague of potholes" and improving highways maintenance would be a top priority, with Dan Thomas taking charge of the cabinet role.

He said he would be looking at bringing maintenance contracts "back in-house" and suggested previous rubbish collection problems in South Hams was an example of "when things go wrong" when outsourcing services.

'Change of culture'

The Liberal Democrats took 27 seats in the elections on 1 May making them the largest party but four seats short of an overall majority.

Reform came in second with 18 seats, the Conservatives with seven, the Greens with six and two Independents.

Brazil said he wanted to work with all party groups and introduce a "change of culture" at the council.

"It doesn't matter what political tribe you're from, if your top priority is to do what's best for your community, then we're on the same side," he said.

"Too much time and energy can be wasted over petty political squabbles when we should be focused on delivering the services residents expect."