SO what did we learn about Wednesday's (June 25) Malvern Hills District Council debate on the proposal to share a chief executive with Wychavon District Council?

We learnt that the leader had been carrying on "informal" discussions with Wychavon for over two years.

We learnt that government funding was made available last year, yet the leader said he was unaware of it until agreement had been reached with Wychavon recently, so the proposal can't have been driven by the bid!

We learnt that, over the last seven years out of 216 councils, only 40 have opted to share a chief executive, despite severe financial restraints and the offer of government funding!

We learnt that in all that time there have been no independent studies to indicate the pros and cons, successes and failures of such a move.

We learnt that the Liberal Democrat, Green and independent councillors had dug deep into the subject, well beyond the papers the leadership had presented to them, and discovered that what they were being told by the leadership was not reflected in the wording of the government documents.

Despite all this, the Conservative chairman twice broke with the convention of maintaining the status quo in the event of a tied vote and chose instead to support his party leader's proposal for radical and irreversible change.

Thus the chairman has condemned this council to a future which at best is shrouded in uncertainty and at worst is one of subservience.

Caroline Carver

Malvern