"The programme to deliver the venues and infrastructure
for the 2012 Games remains on course, so it looks as if value for
money will be achieved in this area.
"However, not everything is rosy. The Government is
confident that there is money available to meet known risks, but,
in my view, the likelihood that the Games can still be funded
within the existing £9.3 billion public sector funding package is
so finely balanced that there is a real risk more money will be
needed.
Moreover, important issues relating to the cost and
staffing of venue security and restrictions on transport in London
are still unresolved. The experience of spectators, visitors and
Londoners in general would be diminished and the reputation of the
Games put at risk if these issues were not sorted
out."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 6
December 2011
The Olympic Delivery Authority remains on course to deliver its
work on the Olympic Park on time, within budget and to the standard
required. On current projections, however, almost the whole of the
£9.298 billion Public Sector Funding Package for the 2012 Games is
likely to be required, with little scope for further unforeseen
costs to emerge in the eight months left.
According to today's NAO report, the construction project was
91.9 per cent complete at the end of September 2011, against a
target of 92.5 per cent. Fourteen of the 26 construction projects
have been completed and handed over and the remaining projects are
on course. The Olympic Delivery Authority has also either
completed, or is on course to complete, its transport
infrastructure projects, such as increasing capacity on the
Docklands Light Railway.
Overall, for operational planning, good progress is being made
across almost all of the principal areas of work. However, detailed
work by the delivery bodies has identified significant challenges,
particularly in the cost of venue security and some elements of
transport planning.
The likely cost of venue security for the taxpayer has nearly
doubled in the last year: the latest estimate is £553 million, an
increase of £271 million. The London Organising Committee, LOCOG,
had estimated that it would need 10,000 security guards. The
current estimate is for as many as 23,700, requiring LOCOG to
renegotiate its contractual requirements and producing a
significant recruitment challenge.
In transport planning, there have been delays to the full
integration of some elements of the transport programme. Until this
is completed, it will not be possible to inform local authorities,
businesses and individuals of the full impact of the Games on
transport in London.
The prospect of legacy benefits was a key element of London's
bid. The Legacy Company is on track to select a developer for the
first phase of housing on the Olympic Park but has experienced
setbacks in securing users for the Media Centre and the Main
Stadium. It will be years before the value for money of legacy
projects can be fully assessed.
Publication details:
HC: 1596, 2010-2012
ISBN: 9780102977028