County Hall top dog is given six-figure golden goodbye

That works out to be almost as much as was saved in turning off the lights in Castle Point and Rochford for a year.

Robert Overall, who was the executive director for highways at Essex County Council between 2008 and 2014, left the Tory administration last June just months after the lights went out in Basildon, Castle Point, and Rochford.

He was head of the transport department when the original part-night lighting decision was made in June 2011, and was paid £116,663 as “compensation for loss of employment” in 2014/15.

County Hall hopes to save £1.4million a year by switching off the lights, including £225,000 in Basildon, £64,000 in Castle Point and £59,000 in Rochford.

Julie Young, leader of the opposition Labour group at County Hall, said: “During the pilot of part-night lighting, he would have had a major part in terms of overseeing policy.

“I think it was felt at the time he did not fit in with the new model of being a commissioning authority and the traditional role of highways director was phased out.

“We thought he had disappeared from the council, but £116,000 is a significant sum to pay one person. That’s probably his pay for a year and he’s probably in another job, while being £100,000 better off.”

Mike Mackrory, leader of the Lib Dems, added: “This amount of money has shocked me as I thought it was a mutual decision as he was having health problems.

“It’s a huge sum of money, because the job he is doing is still clearly there. I’m not sure it meets the criteria of the definition of redundancy.”

Robert Overall is pictured far right

David Finch, Essex County Council’s leader, said the payment to Mr Overall was a redundancy package, but his role in 2014/15 – as director for place commissioning – was given to Sonia Davidson-Grant.

Mr Overall, who has since pursued a career in consultancy, was paid £28,667 from April to June, and took home £193,804 in 2013/14 – the last year he was highways boss and the year street lights were turned off.

Mr Overall also acted as deputy chief executive at the authority up until his departure.

He was one of two people to be paid more than £100,000 to be made compulsory redundant last year.

County Hall bosses in big bonuses - after axing 363 staff

Bosses at County Hall shared £32,000 in bonuses while axing hundreds of jobs and slashing services.

Six of Essex County Council’s most senior staff shared £32,023 between them in the same year the authority got rid of 363 jobs.

Opposition councillors and critics have blasted the spend, but County Hall insists that bonuses for senior staff are here to stay – because they reward officers for making cuts.

Jamie Huntman, the leader of the Ukip group at County Hall, said: “At a time when we are suffering cuts, generosity seems to still be available to a privileged few.

“We have to remember this is taxpayers’ money and one has to question the wisdom of this whilst so much of our front line services are under pressure.”

Jamie Huntman

David Finch, the leader of the Conservative administration, said: “Our corporate management board members, like the majority of Essex employees, have performancerelated pay, and they have overseen the delivery of more than £450million of savings.

“We believe that linking pay to performance encourages high performance.

“This is crucial if we are to achieve our objectives and deliver the high quality and value for money services our residents expect.”

Kerry Smith, an independent councillor who represents Westley Heights, said bonuses kept important staff in their jobs.

He said: “If County Hall was to take senior staff for granted, we would see a brain-drain of officers that can’t be easily or cheaply replaced.”