Dear Editor,

So, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is in the market for a new chief executive.

I have a novel idea, why isn't the position left vacant to see if it makes any difference?

There must be other highly paid executives who can share some of the duties. This would save the council tax payer £149,000. What a result- and I will not even charge a consultancy fee.

But of course the position will be filled and for £149,000, we will get another 'recycled' public servant who has outstayed his welcome elsewhere.   

We need more people from the private sector running public services. Would we have had the PPE shortage, if someone with retail supply chain experience had been in the NHS? I doubt it.

There is a revolving door of public servants. It does not matter how competent you are. You have a job for life until you retire on a pension those in the private sector can only dream of. Where's a 'hard rain' when you need one?

D.J. White, Coates Close, Basingstoke