A PANEL of Southampton councillors last night voted unanimously behind closed doors to hand out pay rises to chief officers – then refused to say how much they were.

The Daily Echo was ejected from the meeting and a security guard placed at the door of the meeting room, so that councillors could decide in secret whether to upgrade salary bands for 22 chief officers by up to 13 per cent, backdated to April.

It potentially meant pay rises of up to £13,000 for the five top executive directors, who each earn more than £100,000.

Yet the council refused to say exactly how much they got, claiming that it was confidential personal information.

The move was condemned by Mark Wallace, campaign director of the Taxpayers’ Alliance.

He said: “It’s shocking they won’t say. It’s disgraceful that such crucial information is being kept secret from the people who pay the bills.

“The fact is people deserve to know the pay details because that way they can make their mind up about whether they are getting a good deal.

“Officers have no right to keep this information behind closed doors. Even in the private sector senior salary and pay rises are published.”

Unison branch secretary Mike Tucker said: “I would be disappointed if they agreed the original proposal. The increases for senior managers were disproportionate and unacceptable at a time then the council is about to announce budget cuts and is reviewing the pay and conditions for the lowest-paid workers.”

A panel of six councillors spent about an hour thrashing out the salary band rises with chief executive Brad Roynon and executive director of resources Carolyn Williamson. Solicitor to the council Mark Heath also sat in.

Ejecting the Daily Echo, Tory panel chairman Cllr Linda Norris said that it was not appropriate to disclose the pay details as a “legal expectation of privacy” outweighed the public interest in the information, which could be classed as secret because it related to “individual personal details”.

Chief officers declined to comment as they left the meeting.

None of the councillors on the employment and appeals panel would comment either, except Cllr Norris, who insisted: “Nobody it getting £13,000. Nobody is getting a fortune.”

Asked for further details she would only confirm that the new salary grades would equate to a 1.65 per cent increase to the chief officer pay bill.