London Olympics 2012 Update

In 2005 London won the bid for hosting the Olympics in 2012. It was originally estimated to cost the city £2.4b. Two years later this figure has risen to £9.35b, nearly four times the original forecast.

Many people are asking why the Olympics estimate has risen so dramatically. And will they have to pay for it? The answer is: yes. In order to accommodate the construction costs for the Olympic Park and the various venues as well as regeneration of the east end of London, council tax payers across the city are being hit by increased tax and security costs. But the contributions do not end here.

The budget will be broken down into the following areas:

£3.1bn: Site construction
£1.7bn: Regeneration and infrastructure
£2.7bn: Programme contingency
£840m: Olympic Delivery Authority tax bill
£600m: Extra security
£390m: Non-ODA provision

In order to aid funding, there is a plan to use an additional £675m of lottery funds which will aim to donate £1 out of every £5 from the Good Cause Fund. This takes the lottery Olympics contribution up to £2.2b.

With this in mind £6b is set to be granted from government; Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, is set to contribute £300m (a huge sigh of relief as this is not to be taken from increased travel fares) and a remainder £2.2b is said to cover costs of running the event. It is hoped that this £2.2b will be met by the sales of tickets, sponsorship and advertising.

According to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport the original costing did not allow for regeneration, but rest assured, the new £9.35b does. All I can suggest is to watch this space as I’m sure that this is not the last we shall see of inflating Olympics costs.

If you would like to find out more about helping out at the London Olympics 2012, please visit:
www.london2012.org/en/gettinginvolved
to register your details.

Or if you are involved with the bidding and construction of the 2012 Olympics venues and wish to discuss software solutions to make the process more efficient and cost effective, call Mass on 0118 977 8560 or email info@mass-plc.com.