SO, we’re getting a new Prime Minister – again! As a local councillor I’ve got three wishes, they’re on top of a plea for extra funding so we can fix our roads.

The first is around planning and housing. For decades we have looked to the market to solve our housing needs. It hasn’t worked and it’s not going to work now.

The post-WW2 Labour government did address the housing crisis. It commissioned councils to build thousands of houses.

No use of the market or viability tests, just building the houses we needed. It was pleasing, therefore, to see our – very likely – new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, make this one of his priorities.

For some reason we have passed the responsibility to developers who are only interested in the money. Surprise, surprise it’s failed.

To blame local councils and the planning regime is just wrong. Of course, there will be crucial infrastructure that is needed and we get that, but to impose ridiculous top-down housing targets, combined with the removal of a democratic say in the process, is verging on madness.

It’s a bit like council tax rises which we’re forced to implement. Please new prime minister, sort this madness out.

Secondly, if you want sustained growth, invest in our children. They are the workforce and engine of the future.

Problem is, it won’t happen overnight and we all want immediate answers. Gimmicks like enterprise zones or freeports are a joke and deliver nothing.

Invest in pre-natal, post-natal, sure start, family hubs, schools, teachers, education, training, whatever it takes to make our children the best equipped to compete in the world economy.

We need to be sure our most vulnerable children, many carrying the scars of trauma and deprivation, have the support they need.

More than money and economic growth, all our children deserve the best. It will take political vision and courage. I hope the new prime minister has these.

Thirdly, the latest round of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is a car crash waiting to happen. It’s going to cost council taxpayers over £1 billion. Of all the things we could be spending money on, re-arranging the deckchairs isn’t one of them. How many potholes could we fill with that amount?

I’m not opposed to LGR, especially if genuine devolution comes with it, but what we have with the current process is a depressing example of how not to do it. The scale, the speed, the changing criteria, are the ingredients for disaster. And of course, the most vulnerable will suffer the most.

Mr Burnham does appear to be pushing for a bigger and better devolution model, which I welcome as it will give the Devon a huge economic boost. Devon is in a position to become the first of his new mayoralties within the next year.

Indeed, I have already written to Mr Burnham to invite him to Devon and have let him know we could hold mayoral elections as early as next May, if he gives us his backing.