ESSEX County Council has spent almost £900,000 of taxpayers' money in just three years on private medical insurance for senior members of staff.
The authority dipped into the public purse to the tune of £878,120 between April 2009 and April 2012 to provide medical cover for up to 331 employees.
The most expensive year was 2010/11, in which the council forked out £316,083 to pay for insurance for 284 workers.
The previous year, the bill was £291,995 for 331 staff, while the outlay was £270,041 for 287 employees in 2011/12.
As of September 6 this year, 264 members of staff are in receipt of medical cover, which is provided by healthcare giant Bupa.
The insurance policy is available to those at Band 7 or above – who earn from £46,000 to £210,000 a year – and provides cover for the employee and their spouse or the employee and their children.
Details of the payments were uncovered by the Gazette using the Freedom of Information Act.
Some 74 per cent of council tax paid by Brentwood residents goes to the county council.
Robert Oxley, campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "We are already paying the salaries of these staff and funding any NHS healthcare they require through our taxes, so there is no justification for fleecing taxpayers for private health insurance.
"This is an incredible amount of money to spend on perks for a select few staff at a time when everything must be done to find savings.
"County Hall staff already take home generous salaries: they don't need even more added perks and if they want private health insurance they can pay for it. What's more, if senior officials in the public sector aren't willing to use the NHS, it hardly imbues confidence in the system."
Liberal Democrat county councillor David Kendall, who represents Brentwood South, said: "I believe this perk should be axed and the money should be reinvested into frontline services.
"Many Essex residents haven't even got a decent pension to look forward to never mind the luxury of private medical insurance.
"It's high time the Tories running County Hall woke up to the realities faced by our taxpayers and put their house in order."
Tory Brentwood borough councillor Russell Quirk said: "Is a £900k private health care bill over three years justifiable?
"Would the 300 or so council staff that benefit from this only accept employment at Essex County Council on the basis that such a perk is included?
"I doubt that is the case."
A statement from the council read: "Essex County Council, as one of the largest local authorities in the country, wants to attract the best from all industries to help us deliver high quality services.
"One way is by offering the option of private medical insurance."
A council spokesman claimed that giving senior employees medical insurance helped the authority to save money. He said: "Essex County Council wishes to recruit and retain the highest calibre of employees and this benefit is part of the remuneration package.
"This has helped the council to deliver a complex change programme, which has so far saved around £370 million."