What assessment she has made of the opportunities for businesses in Gateshead and Washington arising from the 2012 London Olympic games.

In excess of 500 contracts will be let in the course of preparing for the Olympics. To ensure that the economic benefits extend throughout the United Kingdom, including, I hope, to my hon. Friend's Constituency, we have asked every regional development agency to develop an Olympics business plan.

I will do all that I can to encourage businesses in my Constituency to bid for work for the 2012 games. It would benefit my constituency if Gateshead international stadium, which is in my patch, could be used a training camp. I understand that the RDA, together with the central Olympics committee, is contemplating a clearance system to match countries with areas. Is there a timetable for that and, if so, can my right hon. Friend shed any light on it?

I know that many hon. Members are keen to bring preparation camps to their own areas. As my hon. Friend rightly says, the local organising committee is developing plans for those. I am sure that Gateshead will, as usual, be at the forefront in offering its excellent facilities.

If benefits will accrue to Gateshead and Washington in the way that the Secretary of State claims, can she assure me that the good people of that area will share equally in the cost with the benighted people of London?

The right hon. Gentleman would benefit from reading the brief on the funding of the Olympics. Yes, the residents of Gateshead and Washington will contribute to the costs through the lottery. Because the greatest benefit will, beyond doubt, fall to London, it, in common with every other host city, will contribute through a levy on the council tax payer.

Has the British Chambers of Commerce been in touch with its counterparts in Atlanta, Sydney or Athens to get any information about how businesses in those cities were able to use the Olympics, so that we might benefit from such information?

We are drawing on all relevant experience of hosting the Olympic games and we have been directly in touch with, for example, Atlanta and Sydney. Perhaps Sydney is the best example of the way in which careful planning of the economic benefits can bring enormous gains in tourism and other sources of income for the local economy.

I am sure that the stadium in the Constituency of Mrs. Hodgson can play a part. However, will the Secretary of State take careful note of the fact that, in Aldershot, we have the most magnificent sporting facilities? the army has provided many of them, either at taxpayers' expense or, more likely, at the expense of the regiments, battalions and corps. Will she ensure that the Government take advantage of all those facilities, which are available in close proximity to London, so that businesses in those areas can benefit as much as the young sportsmen and women and the facilities there?

I shall ensure that the local organising committee has its attention drawn to the hon. Gentleman's paean of praise for his Constituency.

The business opportunities that my hon. Friend Mrs. Hodgson identified for the good people of Gateshead could be replicated in any of our constituencies. Does my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State agree that they could be further enhanced if we had a British Olympic football team? The football authorities have some concerns about such a project. Will she agree to meet them to hear at first hand and discuss their concerns?

As my hon. Friend knows, the dispute is long-running and as yet unresolved. It is a matter for the local organising committee and I know that its chairman is as keen as my hon. Friend for a British football team to compete in 2012.

Given that the level of expectation that Mrs. Hodgson expressed is replicated in constituencies throughout the country, and given the requirement to do so much more about sport and the pressure on the lottery already to pay for the games, is not there a danger that we will simply run out of money? What plans do the Government have to finance all that and so much else that was promised during the bid process?

As the hon. Gentleman knows, and in the spirit of cross-party agreement on the Olympics, we sought to share information with the Opposition parties. The budget is clear and we keep it constantly under review. Of course, circumstances can change in relation to the costs of development and so forth. However, we believe that our budget is sound.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned funding expectation. That is a fair point. Apart from the Olympic budget, £1.5 billion in the next three years will go into school sport and developing sporting talent, and more than that will go into developing sporting infrastructure. The expectation that we are creating is being met by an unprecedented investment in developing the talent of young people who dream of being athletes.