Baroness Ford, chairwoman of The Olympic Park Legacy Company (tasked with attracting developers to take on the Olympics site after 2012), is refusing to take on a £800M debt from the LDA (incurred in buying up the land for the 2012 Olympics).
The Evening Standard claims that she has been successful in convincing the Department for Communities and Local Government to take the loan on to its books.
However, if this is the case, this will breach Treasury rules on departmental borrowing.
The LDA, as you will recall, has a £160M black hole in its accounts as a result of lousy internal financial controls; it refuses to hold onto the debt, without mincing words, because it can't honour it without cutting back on other projects.
Ever get the feeling that there are simply too many agencies trying to "run" the 2012 games (ie stick their snouts into the Olympic trough)?
Ever get the feeling that the Olympics budget is out of control?
A mess by anyone's standards, courtesy of Nu Labour!
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Showing posts with label labour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labour. Show all posts
Monday, September 21, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
The £160M Black Hole
In June I noted that:
"a £100M black hole has appeared, as if by magic, in the 2012 Olympics accounts of the London Development Agency (LDA) - the budget for which is not included in the £12BN Olympics budget".
Unfortunately, it seems that the size of this black hole has increased by over 50%.
The Times has obtained the unpublished report by KPMG into the black hole, which states that the black hole has expanded to £160M.
Unsurprisingly the report, according to The Times, "hints at a cover-up by officials who waited more than a year before alerting senior managers to cost overruns".
A £1.4BN compensation deal was agreed with businesses who were forcibly removed from the Olympics site. However, approximately 70 firms have yet to receive their money.
Seemingly the LDA has not set aside enough to settle the outstanding claims.
KPMG noted that staff in the Olympic Legacy Directorate, the department in charge of the scheme, should have been aware of spiralling costs as early as April 2008.
Neither the person overseeing the budget nor his finance manager were qualified accountants. A remarkably inept arrangement, even by the standards of the Labour government and the London Labour administration (under Ken Livingstone) at the time.
The report states:
"The basic requirements for managing and accounting for a budget were not met. None of the senior officers of the LDA to whom we spoke accepted responsibility for checking the accuracy of the accounting information."
It would seem that those "in charge" of the Olympic finances couldn't "run a piss up in brewery", and then did their best to try to hide their failings. Hardly surprising that the budget for this Labour "ego fest" has ballooned from £3BN to £12BN (including £2BN running costs).
BTW, isn't funny how those "in charge" conveniently forget to add on the £2BN running costs whenever they talk about the costs?
For why?
They are trying to keep the headline figure reported in the media below the psychological break point of £10BN.
Unfortunately for the politicians, they will learn that the trouble with black holes is that they just keep growing.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
"a £100M black hole has appeared, as if by magic, in the 2012 Olympics accounts of the London Development Agency (LDA) - the budget for which is not included in the £12BN Olympics budget".
Unfortunately, it seems that the size of this black hole has increased by over 50%.
The Times has obtained the unpublished report by KPMG into the black hole, which states that the black hole has expanded to £160M.
Unsurprisingly the report, according to The Times, "hints at a cover-up by officials who waited more than a year before alerting senior managers to cost overruns".
A £1.4BN compensation deal was agreed with businesses who were forcibly removed from the Olympics site. However, approximately 70 firms have yet to receive their money.
Seemingly the LDA has not set aside enough to settle the outstanding claims.
KPMG noted that staff in the Olympic Legacy Directorate, the department in charge of the scheme, should have been aware of spiralling costs as early as April 2008.
Neither the person overseeing the budget nor his finance manager were qualified accountants. A remarkably inept arrangement, even by the standards of the Labour government and the London Labour administration (under Ken Livingstone) at the time.
The report states:
"The basic requirements for managing and accounting for a budget were not met. None of the senior officers of the LDA to whom we spoke accepted responsibility for checking the accuracy of the accounting information."
It would seem that those "in charge" of the Olympic finances couldn't "run a piss up in brewery", and then did their best to try to hide their failings. Hardly surprising that the budget for this Labour "ego fest" has ballooned from £3BN to £12BN (including £2BN running costs).
BTW, isn't funny how those "in charge" conveniently forget to add on the £2BN running costs whenever they talk about the costs?
For why?
They are trying to keep the headline figure reported in the media below the psychological break point of £10BN.
Unfortunately for the politicians, they will learn that the trouble with black holes is that they just keep growing.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Friday, August 14, 2009
Women's Boxing Given Green Light
The IOC's decision to allow women's boxing at the London 2012 Olympics has produced an effusive outburst of joy from Tessa Jowell (who will not be Olympics Minister by the time the games are staged).
She is quoted by the BBC:
"It will be a landmark moment come London 2012 when for the first time every sport will have women participating in it.
There are still major disparities in the number of medals women can win compared to men but this is a step in the right direction.
In this country women's boxing has come on in leaps and bounds and is growing quickly at all levels.
London 2012 will now create the first-ever generation of boxing heroines and hopefully inspire even more women to take up the sport."
Funny that, I thought that Labour and the Nanny state were anti boxing; as they regard it as dangerous and violent?
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
She is quoted by the BBC:
"It will be a landmark moment come London 2012 when for the first time every sport will have women participating in it.
There are still major disparities in the number of medals women can win compared to men but this is a step in the right direction.
In this country women's boxing has come on in leaps and bounds and is growing quickly at all levels.
London 2012 will now create the first-ever generation of boxing heroines and hopefully inspire even more women to take up the sport."
Funny that, I thought that Labour and the Nanny state were anti boxing; as they regard it as dangerous and violent?
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Police Powers
It seems that ZaNuLabour have given the police some quite extraordinary powers in the run up to the 2012 London Olympics. The police will be entitled to enter private homes and seize political posters during the London 2012 Olympics.
Those who break the rules could be fined up to £20K.
The powers were introduced by the Olympics Act 2006, and passed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in theory to preserve the monopoly of official advertisers on the London 2012 site.
The powers allow advertising posters or hoardings placed in shop or home to be removed. However, as with all ZaNuLabour legislation, it has been drafted so "broadly" that it also includes 'non-commercial material' - which could include legitimate campaign literature.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Those who break the rules could be fined up to £20K.
The powers were introduced by the Olympics Act 2006, and passed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in theory to preserve the monopoly of official advertisers on the London 2012 site.
The powers allow advertising posters or hoardings placed in shop or home to be removed. However, as with all ZaNuLabour legislation, it has been drafted so "broadly" that it also includes 'non-commercial material' - which could include legitimate campaign literature.
Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics
Don't forget to visit www.theolympicswarehouse.com
www.olympicsdiary.com brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)