THE condition of Oxfordshire’s roads is going ‘downhill’ because less money is being spent fixing them, a council chief has admitted.

A third of all stretches studied by the council in April could need work done to them, council documents show, and the money set aside for roads each year has almost halved since 2010.

Oxfordshire County Council director of infrastructure delivery Owen Jenkins was quizzed by councillors about its contract with Swedish firm Skanska, which was paid £40m last year – along with a £700,000 bonus – to tend to the county council’s roads.

Mr Jenkins said: “Year on year the road condition is going downhill. That is about the money we are pumping in rather than the contract.”

As part of a 10-year contract, Skanska is responsible for maintaining the county’s 2,800 miles of carriageway and 2,500 miles of pavements.

Skanska is responsible for routine highways maintenance, highway design and construction.

It also covers other transport planning and vehicle maintenance and designed and built the new layout for Frideswide Square.

The firm is also working on congestion improvements at Milton Interchange.

However, the council insisted the deterioration in the condition of roads is in keeping with the national trend.

In April, 33 per cent of 10-metre stretches on A and B roads were marked as ‘red’ – which might have required pothole repairs or resurfacing – or ‘amber’, by needing less severe work, such as surface dressing. That is up from 28 per cent a year before.

At a county council audit and governance committee on Wednesday, Mr Jenkins said: “We let this contract in 2009. This was at a time when we were spending money on highways.

“We still have budgets but they are not the same as back then. It matters what we pump into the system.”

The council's highway revenue budget for staff and works in 2010 was £34.6m – but this financial year is £17.5m.

Lib Dem county councillor Roz Smith said the condition of roads were regularly reported as a problem for residents in her Headington and Quarry ward.

She said during the meeting: “Potholes come up every day; I am stopped every day. It’s so important that we get this right.”

She added: “Money coming into the council is decreasing and have been decreasing for many years and I think Owen Jenkins recognised this when he said it would be managing decline.”

The council said that as a result of a new machine, a Dragon patcher, the cost of filling potholes has decreased from £120 to £20 – so Skanska should be able to fill them more quickly.

But the council demand is much greater than its two machines can cope with and some roads remain unsatisfactory, according to a Minister Lovell resident.

Dorothy Holloway has been annoyed over the state of West Oxfordshire’s roads and pavements since she broke her arm walking through Witney in December 2015.

She said: “There has been no improvement since I started belly-aching about it.”

She added: “As I see it, the longer the roads are left the worse they’re going to get. It’s saving a tuppence but in the long run it’s going to cost them four pence.”

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Martin Crabtree said: “Our roads are a prime asset and we do all we can to maintain them within the funds and resources we have available. We work very closely with our contractors in order to get as much as possible out of the money that we have available and use a variety of techniques to repair and extend the life of our roads.

“We also collect data on the condition of the roads so that we are able to target our resources to best effect and also make bids for additional government funding when opportunities arise. Our programme of work is based on condition, use and strategic importance.

“Overall the condition of our roads reflects the situation nationally – there is nothing unusual about the funding levels in Oxfordshire. However we value our roads as much as residents do and that is why we are continuing to seek ways in which we can make more of an impact.”