I read in the Echo Tony Ball states the council need to pay Bala Mahendran and other senior officers the inflated salaries they receive to keep them as employees of the council.

Has anyone in power at Basildon Council thought of capping or reducing these salaries and see what happens?

If the senior directors are worth higher wages, then other authorities will head hunt them, which I doubt very much. I have not seen much evidence Mr Mahendran is worth anything like the enormous wage he is paid.

I find it disgusting his salary and job are protected while workers on much lower wages are either losing their jobs or facing a wage freeze.

John Knock
Codenham Green
Basildon

...Where does it end with Basildon Council paying way over the top to senior council officials?

The latest episode concerns a council director being paid a bonus for doing what he is employed for – £10,000 for saving money.

This, plus a possible salary increase, plus £10,000 bonus. The total cannot be far off £200,000.

One of the projects for which he earned the bonus was laying off 100 workers a few weeks before Christmas.

A spokesman states: “We believe the £10,000 paid for these additional duties is good value for money.”

Does the council expect us to swallow that one?

If this is the normal way the council is run who else is eligible for bonuses if they perform extra duties?

The mind boggles.

A Backham
Paslowes
Basildon