TWO members of Swindon Council have swapped roles in a mini-reshuffle.

Deputy leader of the council, Coun Ian Dobie (Con, Haydon Wick) takes over the Social Services brief from Coun Jemima Milton (Con, Chiseldon and Wroughton).

And Coun Milton has taken over Coun Dobie's old job, overseeing transport and environmental services. Coun Dobie will continue as deputy leader.

Council leader Mike Bawden (Con, Old Town and Lawns) said: "By putting the deputy leader into the post of lead member for social services, I am sending a clear sign that I am determined to deliver improvements.

"I shall be ensuring that social services in Swindon gets rid of its zero star failure rating.

"Ian Dobie is an experienced councillor with considerable time and energy for the job. I am not prepared to see another year of failure."

Coun Bawden paid tribute to Coun Milton's efforts to put beleaguered Social Services on the road to recovery. "She has performed in a careful, dedicated way, despite the most difficult circumstances," he said.

"She has been courageous in facing up to the failures we inherited from the Labour administration and has taken difficult decisions on issues which Labour refused to tackle."

Coun Dobie is a former RAF squadron leader who was at the forefront of rescuing thousands of Kurds in 1991 who had been driven into the mountains by Saddam Hussein's troops.

When based in the UK, he was in charge of 1,200 personnel and a multi-million pound budget of taxpayers' money.

"This is a challenge I couldn't resist," he said.

Coun Milton said that, as a farmer, the environment was "very close to my heart".