Clause 4 - General functions
London Olympics Bill
3:00 pm
Jo Swinson (Shadow Minister, Culture, Media & Sport; East Dunbartonshire, Liberal Democrat)
We have a lot of sympathy with some of the concerns outlined by the hon. Lady. Obviously, we all hope that the point will ultimately be irrelevant because the games will be delivered on time and to budget. Indeed, given that the robust financial planning that formed part of the initial bid was one of the things that so impressed the judges, we have great hopes that that will be the case. However, it is always worth planning for every eventuality, and the amendment lays down the good principle that the Government should bear the brunt of any cost overrun.
We have already had assurances on that from the Prime Minister, who insisted that the Government must stand behind the bid. In a parliamentary answer, the Secretary of State said that
''the Government will act as the ultimate guarantor of Olympic funding should there be a shortfall between the LOCOG's (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) costs and revenues''.—[Official Report, 20 July 2005; Vol.436, c. 1764 W.]
Lord Coe said that the operating costs were being met through IOC-generated sponsorship. He also said:
''Not a penny of this budget will be drawn from the public purse.''
We have had those assurances, but I understand that there are still concerns, so it is important that the Government live up to what they said. They must make it clear that, in acting as the guarantor, they will ensure that any cost overrun does not fall just on council tax payers in London.