Latest news with #DevonCounty
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Reform Devon county councillors reported to police by colleague
Infighting in the Reform UK party in Devon has seen two county councillors and an election agent reported to police by a colleague over election Stevens and his brother Tony were elected for Reform in May and documents seen by the BBC allege Neil Stevens spent about £170 more than the campaign spending was reported to police by Ed Hill, who was also elected for Reform in May and was the chairman of the Exeter branch but was removed from the post for what the party says was bringing it "into disrepute".Neil Stevens said he misunderstood the process and his election agent Rob Sheridan said he was "confident" there were no errors. Tony Stevens declined to comment. The Reform UK party won 18 seats in the Devon County Council elections held on 1 May - becoming the second biggest party on the council behind the Liberal Stevens won the Alphington and Cowick seat with 1,126 votes - 72 votes ahead of the Labour candidate Yvonne Atkinson, with the Liberal Democrats a close third on 1,030 county council elections, spending limits are set in each ward according to the number of Alphington and Cowick the limit was set at £1,827.04 - however the election expenditure return papers for Stevens show he spent £1, was previously the election agent for Stevens but papers seen by the BBC show Sheridan was appointed as election agent on 3 June, a day before the election expenses forms were also alleges that a £250 podcast recording expense claimed by Tony Stevens, who won his Exwick and St Thomas seat by 22 votes, should be split equally between the brothers - further raising the expenditure of Neil said he reported his concerns relating to Sheridan and Neil and Tony Stevens to the police and to the Electoral Commission on 1 said he had made "a clear promise to the people of Exeter" to "hold our candidates and councillors to the same high standards we expect of others".A spokesman from the national Reform UK party told the BBC: "Ed Hill has been removed as chairman of Reform UK Exeter after bringing the party into disrepute."There's currently an ongoing internal investigation into the matter so we won't be commenting further." Neil Stevens told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he believed the spending limit only related to the money he had personally contributed to his campaign – £1,703.60 – and not to donations of £292.12 he received, meaning he believed he was below the spending told the LDRS he was "confident" there were no errors and that third parties had checked added further checks to the returns were now being made, and if there had been an error, then an amended return would be filed. Exceeding limits on candidate expenses can lead to an unlimited fine, while making a false declaration attracts the same punishment and/or up to six months in prison for a less serious summary conviction, or up to 12 months on indictment, according to the College of Policing.A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said the spending limit applied "to all spending during the regulated period in the run up to the local elections" including any personal money spent and donations received. It said: "Any allegations of spending over the limit would be a matter for the police."Devon and Cornwall Police did not respond to requests for comment.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Lib Dems take control of Devon County Council
Improving services for children and fixing roads are the top two priorities for the new leader of Devon County Democrat Julian Brazil will lead a minority administration and has included Green Party leader Jacqui Hodgson as a cabinet member for climate change and 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 said the council had been "failing our most vulnerable children" and vowed to improve services starting by splitting responsibility 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 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". 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 said there was a "plague of potholes" and improving highways maintenance would be a top priority, with Dan Thomas taking charge of the cabinet 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 came in second with 18 seats, the Conservatives with seven, the Greens with six and two 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."
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Devon County Council children's services rated inadequate again
Children in Devon are "at risk of harm" due to continued failings in council services, a report has Ofsted report into children's services at Devon County Council rated the council as "inadequate" and said "serious weaknesses remain".The council was previously rated inadequate in March 2020 for its children's services which cover children in care and children who need help and council's chief executive said it would now "focus all our energies on continuing to work on our improvement journey". The Ofsted report was carried out in September 2024 but was only published on County Council was under Conservative control at the time of the inspection but is now under no overall control following the local elections, with a new leader to be appointed on 22 report said there was a risk of harm particularly for "children experiencing neglect and domestic abuse, those at risk of extra-familial harm and care leavers living in unsuitable accommodation".Inspectors found basic checks were "not completed consistently when children are accommodated in an emergency".They said there was a "lack of immediate planning to ensure that children are helped and kept safe" and delays in child protection strategy discussions "leave some children at potential risk of ongoing significant harm".The report also said: "When children are first identified as being at risk of criminal or sexual exploitation, the response is not sufficiently effective across the partnership for all children." 'Decisive action' The report said there had been "increased stability in leadership" which had "an impact on practice, from a very low base".It said there had been "decisive action" leading to "positive change" but "the current positive impact for children and care leavers is not widespread".Donna Manson, chief executive of the county council, said: "We have much to do but we must also recognise that progress is being made."Our ethos is that children and young people must be in our hearts, in our minds and in our sight."
