A REPORT questioning the accountability and value for money of councils dominated by a single party has been rubbished as ‘speculative nonsense’ by a leading Wychavon councillor.
Leader of Wychavon District Council Coun Linda Robinson has hit back at the report by claiming residents are more satisfied than ever with the value for money the council is providing.
The high profile pressure group, the Electoral Reform Society, didn’t focus specifically on Wychavon but described the quality of services, value for money and accountability of one-party dominated councils across England as a ‘cause for concern.’
Conservatives have dominated the council since 1999, with currently 39 Tory councillors taking their seats in the council chamber compared to just five Liberal Democrats and one UKIP councillor.
Coun Robinson said: “Frankly this is a lot of speculative nonsense. The fact is Wychavon has just achieved its highest ever value for money score from residents. We also increased the number of candidates standing at the 2015 district council elections when compared with 2011, to give voters as much choice as possible.
“We comply with all procurement legislation and strive to get maximum value out of every pound. We also recently updated our anti-fraud and corruption policy to reinforce our zero tolerance position on this matter.
“We have various means of holding the council to account including allowing councillors and the public to ask questions at Council meetings and an active Overview and Scrutiny Committee.”
Single-party councils typically achieved lower price savings on projects and were at higher risk of corruption according to the reports findings.
A spokesperson for the ERS said: “Our research does not make specific claims about individual councils, nor does it suggest that every council dominated by one party performs badly on procurement.
“Of course some one-party councils are models of excellence and efficiency. Nevertheless, the overall picture is clear – one-party councils, taken as a whole, are at higher risk of corruption and could be missing out on significant savings through their tendering processes.”
