THE head of Basildon Council received a £22,000 bonus during a secret meeting despite his pay package already topping £200,000.

The council ordered a meeting to be closed to the public and press while chief executive Scott Logan’s performance was discussed.

However the annual financial report, now released, has revealed he was given a £21,831 bonus, almost equivalent to the average annual wage in Basildon.

Council officers refused to say what in his performance merited the maximum ten per cent bonus.

Mr Logan was paid £166,025 with pension contributions of more than £30,000 paid for by taxpayers and almost £4,000 in expenses.

The figures covered 2018/19.

Deputy leader Kerry Smith said: “Scott Logan does do a good job in his role but I do sympathise with the tax payers.”

A council spokesman said: “Under the council’s policy, performance related pay is available to its senior officers.

“The pay up to a maximum of ten per cent of salary is available, dependent upon performance against a number of stretching objectives and behaviours, linked to the corporate plan.

“Any pay award to the chief executive is decided by councillors following appraisal by an independent external adviser.”

Pat Greene, 44, of High Road, Laindon said: “Residents should not be paying for this.

“I think this is disgusting - it should be used for services.”

Tory councillor Andrew Baggott defended the decision.

He said: “I approve of this, if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.

“There’s no reason why a person who does little work should be paid the same as someone who does the most work.

“I am a great believer in performance related pay.”