To ask the Minister for the Olympics what steps she has taken to hold discussions with local authorities on how their areas can benefit from the London 2012 Olympics.

I meet regularly with the Chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) and my officials work closely with the LGA. In December I addressed the LGA conference on the Olympics. I regularly attend meetings with the London Councils and meet the five London host borough representatives and on regional visits I meet with local authorities. For example, I visited Norwich in December 2008 and Doncaster in January 2009.

There are also a number of London 2012 schemes that I actively encourage local authorities to get involved in, for example:

The latest round of the Beacon scheme has had an Olympic legacy theme included in it to encourage communities to be more active in promoting best practice on London 2012 themes. I will be announcing the winners at the awards ceremony on the 3 March.

The Inspire Mark was launched in June 2008 to promote non-commercial projects and programmes inspired by the Olympic and Paralympic games. The Mark has already been awarded to seven local authority projects.

I have met with leaders and chief executives of nine London boroughs over the last 12 months to discuss their plans for 2012.

The Local Government Association is represented on the Nations and Regions Group which was set up to ensure that the benefits from London 2012 are UK-wide.

Further to these discussions local authorities are engaged with the Nations and Regions Group, which was set up to ensure that the benefits from London 2012 are UK-wide.