Jowell: No more money for London 2012- 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell has stated that the successes at the Beijing Olympics will not transfer into additional funds for London 2012.
Jowell confirmed that the budget would remain at £9.325bn and any overspends on Olympic projects would be balanced by scaling back spending in other areas.
At the time of the bid, costs were estimated at just over £4bn, but last year the budget was put at £9.325bn.
The National Audit Office has warned that spending may rise further due to uncertainty of costs of security and unsigned construction contracts.
Commented Jowell: ‘Within the overall ceiling of £9.325bn there's no more money. The budget can not be exceeded because there is no more money.
‘If we have to find more money for a particular aspect of the programme, then savings will have to be affected elsewhere and everybody involved in the programme understands that.’
British athletes could still face a potential £100m shortfall in sports funding, which UK Sport had expected to come from the private sector but is finding difficult to raise because of the credit crunch.
The chairman of the British Olympic Association, Lord Moynihan, has called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to commit the government to make up any shortfall.
CommentsAdd Comment