Olympics "Budget" Beyond Belief!

The arguments over the Olympics "Budget" continue, with the Public Accounts Committee laying to Jonathan Stephens the most senior civil servant in soon to be "resigned" Jeremy Hunt's Department for Culture Media and Sport.

The Telegraph reports that the cost of providing security for the games has rocketed skywards, eg elements of the main contract with private security provider G4S (the company that illegally bans photos being taken on public land) have increased by up to seven times.

Liberal Democrat MP Ian Swales said it was “beyond belief” that the Government would have agreed to such a huge increase in the security budget (£86M to £284M) if it had not been forced to do the deal in a hurry having underestimated the original requirement. 

PAC took Stephens to task for this, along with his response to a recent PAC report which described the Olympic budget as “finely balanced”.

Margaret Hodge (Chairman of PAC) quite rightly said that PAC had the right to tell the public the real cost of the Olympics.

For good measure Hodge, again quite rightly,  said it was “dishonest” not to acknowledge that some costs outside the Games budget, such as transport improvements, could be interpreted as Olympic spending.

Stephens claims that he remained “very confident” that the Games would be delivered within the £9.3BN budget.

Which is all very well except that, as has already been pointed out, the "budget" is £12BN!

The whole Olympics "Budget" is in fact beyond belief!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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OIympics Budget Cat Is Finally Out of The Bag

The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), and the rest of the government, are less than pleased that the true costs of the Olympics £12BN (including £2BN running costs) has finally hit the headlines of the mainstream media.

The Telegraph reports that Jonathan Stephens, the senior civil servant at DCMS, has written to Margaret Hodge (Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee) to complain about the fact that PAC have quoted a figure higher than the £9BN sanctioned by the government and dutifully reported by the MSM.

The £2BN running costs will come from the taxpayer (therefore it is a cost). However, the government is so keen to keep the headline figure below £10BN (a psychological breakpoint) that it is using an accounting fudge to hide the extra £2BN (by claiming some monies will be recouped, and others are not "Olympic costs").

Smoke and mirrors will no longer hide this con trick, the budget cat (reported here in 2007) is finally out of the bag and about time too!


Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

Don't forget to visit www.olympicswarehouse.com

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