Olympic Bid (Hansard, 15 September 2003)

§ 15. Mr. Wyatt
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to announce the name of the chief executive officer of the 2012 London Olympic bid; and if she will make a statement. [129566]

§ Tessa Jowell
The appointment of the chief executive officer of London 2012 Ltd., the company established to take forward the bid to host the Olympic Games in London in 2012, is a matter for the company itself.
I understand that Barbara Cassani, chair of London 2012, is currently considering candidates for the post.

§ 18. Mr. Love
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the committee structure for London's 2012 Olympic bid. [129569]

§ Tessa Jowell
The Board of London 2012 Ltd. has been tasked as the bid committee to prepare the bid to host the 2012 Olympics in London. While a number of executive posts to he board remain to be filled, the board members recently announced by London 2012 Ltd. are as follows:

Barbara Cassani—Chairman

Mike Power—Chief Operating Officer

Neale Coleman

Simon Clegg OBE

Mike Brace

Matthew Pinsent CBE

Craig Reedie CBE

Sir Steve Redgrave

HRH The Princess Royal

Mary Reilly

Derrick Anderson

Patrick Carter

Charles Allen

Sir Howard Bernstein

Lord Paul of Marylebone

Dalton Grant

A stakeholder's Panel of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Mayor of London and Chair of the British Olympic Association has also been established. The stakeholder's panel will have the final right of approval over London's applicant city questionnaire and candidature file.
London 2012 Ltd. will also be establishing a Bid Forum which will allow London 2012 to consult and seek advice from a wider constituency of interested parties from across London and the country.

§ Mr. Moss
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the extent to which the Olympic bid will enhance regional sports facilities. [128654]

§ Tessa Jowell
My Department has assessed that should the UK win the right to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games they will provide the opportunity for a lasting legacy for communities 527W through the investment by visiting teams in enhanced sporting facilities for training and preparing for the Games.
In addition I announced in July that during the bidding phase, community facilities across the UK will be improved through further funding of £100 million from the New Opportunities Fund. In England this will be joined with £31 million from Sport England to provide a fund for community sports facilities in each region.
This investment will be used together with the Olympic Bid to galvanise enthusiasm and encourage and sustain increased participation in sport in our communities.

§ Mr. John Whittingdale
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) how the statement in the Government's response to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee report on A London Olympic Bid, Cm 5867, that special funding streams to meet Olympic costs should be closed by 2013–14, accords with her statement on 15th May,Official Report, column 481, on the length of time that the special London council tax precept will run; [128084]
(2) how long the London council tax precept to contribute to the cost of a London Olympic Games will last; at what level it will be set each year; and what the proceeds will be. [128085]

§ Tessa Jowell
The Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Mayor of London, as published in the response to the Select committee, makes clear that "the Government and Mayor's expectation I that special funding streams to meet Olympic costs should be closed, having provided the necessary amounts, by 2013–14, except that where the Greater London Authority has borrowed to meet capital costs of the Olympics it may be necessary to extend the period during which the Olympic precept is levied to reflect the requirements of the prudential framework for capital finance."
Within that Memorandum, London is required to contribute up to £550 million towards the cost of the staging of the Games, with provision for a further £75 million if needed. The Mayor has said that he will raise this from the London Council Tax from an additional £20 a year charge, or 38p a week, on Council Tax for a band D property, likely to begin in 2006–07 if the hid is successful. On the current tax base it is estimated that this would arise the required £550 million in ten years and a further £75 million within another two years if necessary. However, the Mayor has also advised that during the period from 2006–07 the tax base will increase and so that time period may reduce. In addition, the funding package for the Games allows a £1.2 billion contingency over and above Arup's estimates of required public subsidy for staging the Olympics. The time period for collection of Council Tax would also reduce if all contingencies were not required, and it is the Mayor's expectation that special funding streams should have closed, having provided the necessary amount by 2013–14. In the unlikely event that the full funding package is required, and the GLA has to
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borrow to meet capital costs of staging the Olympics then the period of special funding may extend beyond that dated as allowed for in the Memorandum.
My statement to the House on 15 May on the length of the time that the special London council tax precept would run presented the Government's assessment of a possible worst-case scenario. The Memorandum of Understanding, as I have explained, makes provision for such an eventuality. However, current expectations are that this will not be the se and that special funding streams should be capable of being closed by 2013–14. The Mayor has also advised that current expectations are that in the unlikely event that the full London contribution were required this could be raised in less than 12 years.