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London 2012 saves £400m on budget

The Olympic and Paralympic Games in London this year came in under budget, according to figures released on Tuesday morning by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Officials said expectations that the cost of the Games would come in nearly £400m under budget were correct. Funds set aside for this summer’s sporting events will be used to support the legacy of the Games, and renovations have started on the Olympic Village before it re-opens as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Hugh Robertson, the Minister for Sport and Tourism, said he expects the funding package to come in under £9bn, although a definite figure cannot yet be ascertained.

Forecasts say the Games cost around £8.921bn, to give a £377m saving on the original budget which was over £9bn.

Construction projects run by ODA and LOCOG that will transform sports venues and training grounds in East London.

These projects will cost approximately £6.714bn, to make a saving of just over £1bn.

Mr Robertson, MP, commented: “London 2012 was a tremendous success and it is a significant achievement to deliver this large and complex programme on time and under budget.

“The work of the construction and delivery teams, from the ODA and LOCOG, has set a very high standard and I have no doubt that London 2012 has set a new benchmark for the management of Olympic and Paralympic Games in future.”

Dennis Hone, Chief Executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority said the Games this summer is an event that “will never be forgotten.”

He said: “We are pleased to report even more savings made through careful stewardship of public money.”

The DCMS stated that savings were made to the construction package after contingency money went unspent and savings were made.

ODA’s final costs have shrank from original estimates, as a result of transport funding won by LOCOG and lower business rates on land and infrastructure costs.

DCMS made it clear that no cash had been won back as a result of the G4S security debacle, and said that despite a £36m increase in costs associated with the Olympic Village completion, money had been saved on the budget.

Mr Hone concluded: “We are now entering the final phase of the ODA’s work, transforming the Olympic Village into thousands of new homes and building a community that will become established, grow and mature in the decades ahead – a London 2012 legacy for generations to come.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .