WILTSHIRE Council leader Baroness Jane Scott was in jubilant mood on Monday as she welcomed newly elected councillors to Trowbridge as Conservatives celebrated an increased majority.

She said: "I am absolutely delighted with the outcome. It shows that the people of Wiltshire are pleased with what we have achieved. I am also pleased that we have a better spread of councillors from younger age groups and more ethnic representation.

The council is now made up of 68 Tories, 20 Liberal Democrats, three Labour and seven independent members compared with 61 Conservative, 32 Lib/Dems, three Labour, nine independents and one UKIP before last Thursday's election. The turnout was 39.59 per cent of the electorate.

One of the biggest shocks of the election was the loss of Liberal Democrat leader Glenis Ansell who was ousted from Calne North after losing out to former Calne Mayor Tom Rounds from the Conservatives. She declared that she would be back back on the unitary authority.

She said: "I am very disappointed as I worked quite hard in my ward and tried to represent my community to the best of my ability but unfortunately that was not enough in the end.

"I have to say I was surprised by the vote. The reaction I got when I was out campaigning was positive so it was hard to take."

Another surprise was the loss in Melksham Without North of veteran Terry Chivers standing as an independent who lost out to Conservative Phil Alford.

Coun Scott, who retained her own seat at Bybrook, said her victory showed that she could sit in the House of Lords and lead Wiltshire Council. She said after the vote was announced: "I'm delighted to retain my seat, having gone into the House of Lords people might think that I can't do the job but I absolutely can.

"I balance my time and the people that I represent they say they are happy. I think now we can do more with a bigger conservative majority and we've got some big plans."

On Monday she outlined some of those plans to the Gazette in connection with health and social care. She said it was not sustainable to keep the two services separate and it was vital for the council and the NHS to work more closely together.

She said: "We must have a joined up service. At the moment an elderly person who has been discharged from hospital may have three or four health professionals from different places turning up on their doorstep the next day. We need to become more efficient so we provide a better service."

She also said it was vital that jobs in care were given a different image so it was easier to recruit. She said: "At the moment there is this idea that if you can't get a job doing anything else you go into the care sector. We have to change that by giving more training so people can gain qualifications and feel more valued."

She said it might then be possible for carers going into people's homes to carry out some nursing procedures. She was also adamant that if as predicted after the General Election a cap was introduced on how much elderly people have to pay towards their care councils would have to reimbursed by central government. She said: "That is something I would lobby for."