ONE-PARTY councils could be wasting up to £2.6 billion a year through being less accountable and more open to corruption, the Electoral Reform Society said yesterday.

The society’s study measured the savings by English councils with “weak electoral accountability,” such as those run by just one party, and those at competitive councils where party colours are more than one hue.

It found one-party councils could be wasting up to £2.6bn a year in procurement and have a 50 per cent higher average “risk of corruption.”

Society head Katie Ghose said: “When single parties have almost complete control of councils, scrutiny and accountability tend to suffer.

“The fact that taxpayers in England could be losing out on £2.6bn a year in potential savings is a damning indictment of an electoral system that gives huge artificial majorities to parties and undermines scrutiny.”

She said first-past-the-post voting should be replaced by the single transferable vote.