MPs hit out on Olympic funding
Wednesday, 30 April 2008 12:00 AM
The government's increase of the London 2012 Olympics budget was "damaging" for confidence in the Games' budget, MPs have said.
A report from the Commons' culture, media and sport committee made the criticism about the budget increase from just over £4 billion at the time of the bid to £9.3 billion in 2007.
There was also criticism for the fourfold increase in the budget for the Aquatics Centre, which the report claims "appears to be over-designed. and an expensive way of providing the facilities for water sports needed during the Games".
"The history of the Aquatics Centre shows a risible approach to cost control and that the Games organisers seem to be willing to spend money like water," the MPs declared.
The committee claimed there were also concerns over whether receipts from the sales of land and property after the Olympic Games will be as high as the government and the mayor of London's office expect.
The report also expressed disappointment that a comprehensive plan for using the Olympics to maximise participation in sport in the UK has yet to be published.
The committee said that while there has been "a great deal of talk about the Games' potential to build levels of participation", the "profusion of commitments, promises and plans being developed is bewildering" and that "none of what is proposed amounts to a single, comprehensive, nationwide strategy".
There is also criticism for the plans to raise £100 million from the private sector.
There was some positive news for the Games organisers, however, with the committee concluding that the London Olympics should now be delivered within its final budget.
The committee's chairman John Whittingdale said: "We were pleased to find that, since we last reported, a more realistic approach has been adopted, and we expect that the Games should be delivered comfortably within budget, given that there is a 60 per cent contingency built in.
"We believe that the Lottery should have first call on any unspent contingency. We are disappointed that, so far, little progress has been made in setting out a clear strategy for delivering a permanent increase in sporting participation, despite this being a key feature of the bid."
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