Oxfordshire council criticised for prioritising thousands on website over fixing roads which 'resemble surface of moon'

It has been revealed Oxfordshire County Council forked out £9,534 on revitalising its main page’s online presence.

Money was allocated for the project in November when external staff were asked to put together the project in 15 days.

But some have questioned the decision to spend the money on a new homepage rather than putting it towards other projects.

Conservative county councillor Liam Walker said: “This is just another example of the total disregard the coalition has with taxpayers’ money.

“This money could have been better spent fixing our roads which quite frankly resemble the surface of the moon at the moment.

“I fail to see how updating the website homepage is a key priority when other key council services are under so much pressure.”

Details on the total spend was obtained by Nick Wright who submitted a Freedom of Information request to the council on January 30 this year.

Mr Wright said: “How many potholes will that pay for?

“It seems like its part of a much large project spending far too much on computers and not enough on people.”

User research was undertaken in stages throughout the four months of the project and there was a testing period of 20 days.

There was a 121.82 per cent increase in page views between January and February this year compared to last since the launch of the new webpage.

A council spokesman said: “The website is a key information source for residents, which requires continual review and updates.

“The changes to the homepage are part of the council’s wider digital aims to improve the speed and ease to which residents can both engage with the council, finding the information or advice they are looking for or complete a transaction such as paying a bill.

“This can ultimately reduce unnecessary and more costly contact into the council.”

Discussion about where council money should be allocated comes in the aftermath of a heated 10-hour budget debate.

Conservative opposition leader Eddie Reeves said: “The residents out there want us to do the basics better.

“They want us to fix potholes and clear vegetation.

“No more money should be wasted on ideological tokenism.”

The final budget included a Labour amendment which provided £300,000 revenue funding for borrowing to support additional funding for scheduled highways maintenance.