SLASHING council manager numbers could cut an estimated “£500,000 a year”, a councillor has claimed.

Liberal Democrat Charles Tucker asked that Wychavon District Council approach neighbouring Malvern Hills District Council to look at sharing a single chief executive officer and senior management team. He raised the issue by tabling an opposition debate at the end of Wychavon’s full council meeting saying the “the public would want to hear why councillors voted down a £500,000 saving”.

Making his case he said: “We’ve heard Paul Middlebrough [council leader] explain the dire financial predictions facing this council – 25 per cent government funding cuts over four years.

“At this time we should investigate all ways and means of savings without hitting frontline services.”

He said the council should work with Malvern Hills council to investigate “joint management” because the two authorities had much in common. His party colleague and group leader Coun Margaret Rowley attracted mutters of derision from Tory councillors when she said the two councils could even lend staff. “Perhaps we could loan them the services of a chief executive at a price?” she said.

Conservative councillor Judy Pearce was scathing saying: “Without affecting services we could lend our senior management team to another council on the basis of a couple of days a week?

“Our senior management team have been honed down from nine to six as it is.

“We need them here to deal with our own problems and keep our services on track.”

She accused the opposition party group of short-sightedness, saying: “If we accepted this proposal tonight then every member of our senior management team would have to be given an ‘at-risk’ notice on their desk tomorrow morning – that’s the last thing I want to give them.”

Coun Martin King accused Coun Tucker of spouting “wild, worthy, woolly, waffles” saying his £500,000 estimate was “uncosted”.

But Coun Liz Tucker, Lib Dem group member, said if the council was serious about the cuts it was facing it had to “think outside of the box”.

Two councils already sharing a chief executive are Bromsgrove District Council and Redditch Borough Council, said Coun Tucker.

But Coun Pearce said that they had a senior management team costing £1.7 million per year, against Wychavon’s current costs of £466,000 – “less than half the cost, with a district population which is the largest in Worcestershire,” she said.

Coun Middlebrough offered to discuss the proposal with Coun Rowley and chief executive Jack Hegarty if the debate was withdrawn from a vote. Coun Tucker agreed to withdraw the matter on that basis.

A spokeswoman for Malvern Hills District Council said they had been made aware of the proposal by officers at Wychavon.

l Your Worcester News was the only member of the media to attend this meeting.