Clause 65
Finance (No.2) Bill
11:30 am
Celia Barlow (PPS (Ian Pearson, Minister of State), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Hove, Labour)
I welcome my right hon. Friend’s assertion that the Olympics will have a major effect on the whole country. However, I seek clarification of paragraph 13 of the explanatory note to the clause, which states that
“The International Olympic Committee included a requirement in the bid process for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games that tax in the host country should not have a significant impact on the Games. As a result of the successful London bid the Government is committed to providing certain tax exemptions, including: LOCOG would be exempt from corporation tax; Withholding tax would not be levied on royalties, and other annual payments made to LOCOG.”
With regard to the regulations for LOCOG, competitors and staff, the receipt of tax relief gives the organisers a responsibility to ensure that these are not just London Olympics, but games for the whole of the United Kingdom.
The Olympic games will be held not only in London but in other parts of the country, as will training camps—the city of Brighton and Hove, of which my constituency is part, is hoping to play host to some teams. We need to ensure that the games are embraced by all the people of the United Kingdom, so these clauses must not be thought of as enabling the Government to provide subsidies for the capital from those who live outside London.
Will my hon. Friend clarify that the tax relief that is rightly to be given to those concerned with the Olympics, and which was part of the London bid, will apply also to providers situated outside London, such as sports venues in my area?