Oxfordshire County Council has been using FixMyStreet Pro to handle reports of local street and highway issues since 2016.
After letting the service embed for a couple of years, the council launched a volunteer highways reporting scheme as part of the Oxfordshire Together programme. The initiative was designed to increase community involvement in highways maintenance by enabling trained volunteers, known as “super users”, to identify and report qualifying highway defects through FixMyStreet.
Speaking about the scheme in June 2026 at one of our FixMyStreet Pro User Groups, Oxfordshire’s Senior System Officer, Antonia Pavalache, shared a case study on how using a community-centric and flexible tool like FixMyStreet Pro has enabled the council to more efficiently identify and address highways issues while fostering greater community ownership and engagement.
The challenge
Oxfordshire’s highways team recognised a growing desire among residents and councillors to become more involved in maintaining and improving their local areas.
While the council already benefited from the sense of community and transparency created by displaying all existing reports publicly on the FixMyStreet map, Antonia explains how Oxfordshire wanted to go a step further and create a more structured approach that would:
- Improve visibility of local highway issues
- Harness residents’ knowledge of their communities
- Support highways maintenance teams with additional “on the ground” intelligence
- Strengthen relationships between the council and local communities
- Increase coverage across the county without significantly increasing operational resources
The council also wanted to better understand community priorities and ensure local concerns were reflected in maintenance activity.
The solution
Taking advantage of FixMyStreet Pro’s ability to create unlimited user accounts, with as many different permissions as is required, Oxfordshire put together a volunteer-led FixMyStreet Super User Scheme that enables trained community members to identify and report highways defects using FixMyStreet.
Dedicated accounts, created for Oxfordshire, give trained volunteers a slightly higher level of permissions when reporting problems through FixMyStreet. For example, they can include specific details surplus to those asked of a standard user, such as the exact depth of a pothole, which can help to fast-track more urgent problems.
The model creates a direct route from local observation through to the council’s maintenance processes, ensuring that issues identified by volunteers can be assessed and actioned efficiently.
“Local knowledge does make a huge difference.”
Recruitment and training
Oxfordshire’s volunteers are primarily recruited through its local town and parish councils, helping the scheme reach individuals who are already active within their communities.
The onboarding process includes:
Initial training
- One-hour online training session
- Delivered with support from highway inspectors
- Covers defect identification, reporting requirements, and scheme scope
- Explains the difference between reportable safety defects and issues requiring immediate intervention
Practical support
- Follow-up site visits
- Hands-on guidance in identifying and reporting defects
- Ongoing access to a dedicated support team
Volunteers receive continued support throughout their participation, with regular communication channels available for questions and feedback.
How the scheme works
Oxfordshire asks its volunteer super users to focus on qualifying highway defects, including issues such as:
- Potholes
- Kerbing defects
- Vegetation-related issues
- Other predefined maintenance categories
To support accurate reporting, the reporting forms were tailored to capture additional information required by contractors, including:
- Defect dimensions
- Hazard details
- Road speed limits
- Traffic management considerations
Reports are reviewed before being passed into the council’s internal asset management system, provided by Causeway, and then forwarded to contractors for action.
The process is overseen by a dedicated volunteer support team that:
- Reviews report quality
- Maintains communication with volunteers
- Provides additional guidance where needed
- Identifies opportunities for process improvement
Results and impact
Since launching in 2019, Oxfordshire’s FixMyStreet Super User Scheme now has 230 active volunteers across the county, who submit around 1,700 defects annually.
Improved coverage
The super users provide regular monitoring of local areas, creating greater visibility of developing issues that may not be identified through scheduled inspections alone.
Examples include:
- Monitoring potholes that deteriorate between inspections
- Identifying pathway obstructions
- Highlighting defects that may require escalation
- Providing feedback on completed repairs
Community engagement
According to Antonia, the initiative has been well received by local communities, with volunteers reporting a strong sense of pride and ownership in helping improve their local areas, while councillors and residents gain greater visibility into the maintenance process.
The scheme has also strengthened communication between the council and communities by creating regular opportunities for dialogue and feedback, something that’s been especially useful while navigating internal restructures:
“Local knowledge does make a huge difference. For example, if there is a pathway obstruction, the inspector only does monthly inspections. There is no better way of identifying issues as they occur than somebody who is proactive in the community.”
Operational benefits
The council benefits from:
- Increased local intelligence.
- Better understanding of community priorities.
- Earlier identification of defects.
- More effective use of inspector resources.
- Enhanced quality assurance through local monitoring.
Key success factors
Oxfordshire identified several factors as having contributed to the success of the programme:
- Clear role definitions and reporting boundaries
- Structured training delivered by highway professionals
- Dedicated volunteer support
- Tailored reporting workflows within FixMyStreet
- Strong communication between volunteers, inspectors and contractors
- Regular feedback and engagement opportunities
Safety and governance
The scheme operates within clearly defined safety parameters.
Volunteers are not expected to work on high-speed roads and are restricted to designated environments where participation can be managed safely.
The programme provides volunteers with meaningful involvement while ensuring responsibility for urgent and high-risk defects remains with qualified highways professionals.
Conclusion
Oxfordshire’s FixMyStreet Super User Scheme demonstrates how FixMyStreet Pro can be used as more than a public reporting tool.
By adapting the platform to support trained volunteers, the council created a structured process that extends their visibility of local issues, strengthens community engagement and improves the effectiveness of highways maintenance.
Wishing a huge thank you to Antonia for talking to us about the scheme!
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