Sir - The meeting of South Oxfordshire District Council on July 16 did nothing to restore people's flagging confidence in local government.

Democratic checks and balances were abandoned and important considerations were ignored.

In the event, two-thirds of the council did not support the decision made and half of the councillors did not attend. There will be good reasons in some cases, but where were the rest?

The matter under consideration was a vital one - cutting costs while maintaining effective services. The item under consideration was should there be a shared chief executive with the Vale of White Horse District Council? No consideration was given to the idea that, now that local governance is carried out by an executive cabinet, is a chief executive needed at all?

This debate, with all its pros and cons, needs be held somewhere and soon: such a debate must be based on an independent report, not one produced by the chief executives involved.

SODC sets its budget at the council meeting in February 2009, so why the breakneck haste?

The right of call-in (councillors not involved in cabinet decisions having the opportunity to robustly and reflectively review any decision) was waived, thereby allowing the council meeting of July 16 to be arranged immediately after the cabinet meeting with no call-in (cooling off) period.

When scrutiny chairman, David Turner, gave his reasons for waiving the right of call-in he did not mention the hasty nature of this decision; it follows he did not say he was satisfied there were good reasons why the views of residents and colleague councillors should be precluded by this speedy turn of events.

Sadly, as a member of the public, I was there.

Neville Harris, Didcot