A £1.5M DEAL between the city and county council has still not got a start date – despite it being formally agreed last month.

As part of the year-long contract, the city council’s Oxford Direct Services company will be in charge of the maintenance of all of Oxford’s roads.

It would be a major change on what happens at the moment. Although Oxford Direct Services maintains minor roads, it would assume responsibilities for the state of all major roads – including Botley Road, Abingdon Road and Cowley Road.

Currently the state of those major roads is the responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council and repairs are undertaken by its contractor, Skanska.

Oxfordshire County Council confirmed on Friday that there are still issues that need to be ironed out before the agreement is finalised.

Council spokesman Martin Crabtree said: “We are working closely with the city council on the finer details of the agreement and do not have a confirmed start date yet. In the meantime maintenance is being carried out as normal in the city.”

When the outline deal was announced, the city council said it was hopeful its Direct Services staff would be able to target repairs better than Skanska.

Another advantage of the deal for the councils is that Oxford Direct Services has a depot in the city, which makes work easier to complete for it than Skanska, which does not. As a result the company will be able to concentrate on roads outside the city.