Press release

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games remain on time and within budget

The overall funding package for the Games remains at £9.298 billion

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Figures from the Government’s February 2012 Olympic Quarterly Economic Report show that the overall funding package for the Games remains at £9.298 billion with £527 million of uncommitted contingency available, a reduction of £1 million on the previous quarter. The Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) construction programme is 96 per cent complete.

The anticipated final cost of the ODA’s construction, infrastructure and transport programme is £6.777 billion - a decrease of £79 million on the previous quarter. This includes £26 million that the ODA has returned to the DCMS which is being transferred to LOCOG and the OPLC for work on Park Venues and security. On a like-for-like basis, the ODA’s anticipated final cost has reduced by £211 million since the 2010 Spending Review.

Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson said:

“With 150 days to go to the Games, we remain on time and within budget with more than £500 million of uncommitted contingency remaining. This puts us in a strong position and gives me increasing confidence that we can deliver the Games under budget.”

Dennis Hone, Chief Executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, said:

“Once again we can report that the expected final cost of the venues and infrastructure for London 2012 is down, with costs squeezed again, bringing savings now within sight of the £1bn mark. We remain on the Olympic Park to complete the parklands, roads and spectator access. We will complete our role by working with transport operators to get spectators to venues and keep people moving, licensing and enforcing the rules for trading and advertising, concluding contracts and transforming Games-time apartments in the Olympic Village into homes for families after the athletes are gone.”

The ODA has achieved £38 million of new savings in the quarter October to December 2011 taking the total achieved since the November 2007 baseline to more than £950 million. Construction of the venues and infrastructure for the Games is 96 per cent complete with the Olympic Park and Village handed over from the ODA to LOCOG in January 2012 so they can prepare the venues for staging the Games.

A number of items of work have been transferred to LOCOG following the handover, as they are now best placed to deliver them. Accordingly, £24 million has been released to LOCOG for operational security and for the conversion of venues for the Paralympic Games. Up to £12m has also been released to LOCOG for capital works which will have legacy benefits, including the fit out of the media centres, the installation of electric vehicle charging points and the relocation of the hockey pitches to Eton Manor following the Games.

As planned, funds have also been released for pedestrian management outside Games venues (£57.7 million) and additional utilities resilience measures across Games venues (£12.5 million). These costs were previously forecast so do not constitute an increase, but rather a confirmation of previous budget assumptions.

The remaining balance of contingency within the public sector funding package now stands at £425 million with an additional £102 million available to the ODA in programme contingency to cover assessed risk. In total, this leaves £527 million of uncommitted contingency remaining.

The change to the ODA anticipated final cost is due to a number of factors, including:

  • A decrease of £72m in the Programme Contingency required to meet remaining assessed  risks;

  • A net £29m increase in transport operating expenditure reflecting a reallocation of £34m to venue transport operations offset by £5m savings;

  • A decrease of £15m largely due to LOCOG taking responsibility for operational security from January 2012;

  • A reduction of £6m in the forecast construction costs of the Village due to close out of commercial contracts; and

  • An increase of £3m in the International Broadcast Centre and the Main Press Centre costs due to commissioning of the building and improved drainage systems.

Notes to Editors

  1. A copy of the report is available on the DCMS website.

  2. This report covers the period 1 October 2011 to 31 December 2011.

  3. The public sector funding package for the Games announced in March 2007 was £9.325 billion. On 24 May 2010, the Government announced that it would be reduced by £27m to £9.298bn.

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Published 28 February 2012