Locog and G4S Square Up To Each Other

Locog and G4S are squaring up for a battle over G4S's fees for the security cover they provided (or rather didn't provide) for the London 2012 Olympics.

Paul Deighton, CEO of Locog, told the Home Affairs Select Committee that Locog stopped payments to G4S on July 13, two days after G4S admitted that it would not be able to deliver the 10,400 security guards it had agreed to deploy.

The Telegraph reports that Locog has paid G4S £90M of a total £240M, and that the rest (according to Mr Deighton) is subject to negotiation.

Deighton said:

“We had absolutely clear and consistent reassurances from the senior management that they’d be able to deliver ... up until that fateful day on July 11. We shouldn’t over-complicate this. They just failed to deliver because their own processes broke down.”

Step forward Nick Buckles, CEO of G4S, who also appeared before the committee. Unsurprisingly he has a different view, and is of the opinion that G4S should be paid in full:

“I’m not going to sit here and say we did a great job, but we delivered a significant proportion of the contract. I expect them to pay us in line with the terms of the contract.”

The contract would make fascinating reading. However, I doubt that we will ever be able to read the contract as it is shrouded in secrecy.

As I have stated before:

"This is of course what happens when a major project/event is not run in an open transparent manner, and is not subject to scrutiny by independent professionals acting in the interests of the taxpayer."

The hapless taxpayer will end up footing the bill for the largess and incompetence of Locog and G4S.

Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com

www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"