OUR front page headline in this week's Malvern Gazette reads 'public sector v private sector', although it is not our intention to suggest one is better than the other, rather that each has things to learn from the other.

Certainly, we are not suggesting the public sector would be better if it treated its staff as the Royal Mail has Malvern postman John Jenkins, sacked after 47 years in the job because of an injury he sustained at work.

Looked at purely from the bottom line, it is no doubt a sensible decision and in its new competitive market place, the bottom line is what matters.

Without these kind of tough decisions, there may not be a Royal Mail, although you might ask whether that matters if the public service ethos that sees postman as a popular part of the community is lost in the process?

At times, as tax-payers we feel the public sector could pay a little more attention to the bottom line.

Councils should, on occasion, ask more searching question of themselves before spending taxpayers' money.

Would Worcestershire County Council really be any the worse off without a new £70,000 post to "promote the council and enhance its reputation through the focused support and promotion of councillors as community leaders"?

You don't need "consultation" and "(two-way) communication" to tell you what people expect of their council.

They want the services they use, be they schools or social services, to be the best they can and the Council Tax to be as low as possible. People will communicate very clearly if they feel this is not what they are getting.