Snouts In The Trough

How reassuring to see that, despite the current recession and a budget that is out of control, those tasked with keeping the costs of the London Olympics 2012 under control are making sure that they are personally not in danger of facing any undue financial hardship.

CLM, a consortium of surveyors overseeing the Olympic construction project, received £151M last year (double what had been previously paid).

On top of this largess to the consultants, Olympic bosses found the time and the funds to award themselves some very generous pay rises.

Staff at the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) took home £30M, including £2M of bonuses. David Higgins, CEO, received took home £537K (generously deferring half of his £201K bonus until 2012).

Howard Shiplee, director of construction, claimed £19,343 in expenses, including £11,478 on hotels and nearly £2,280 on taxis.

It is reassuring to know that those who are running this "venture" on behalf of the taxpayer, really know and understand the true value of money.

Our money safe in their hands!

Yes?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Cuts

Over £20M per annum, for the next 3 years, will be cut from the London budget to cover irregularities in the 2012 Olympics accounts.

The black hole (estimated at being between £60M-£100M) in the accounts means that the London Development Agency, the Mayor of London's economic and business unit, does not have sufficient reserves to cover compensatory commitments owed to businesses forcibly relocated from the Olympic Park.

KPMG are conducting a forensic investigation into the irregularities, and will issue a report at the end of July.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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No Cuts?

In spite of the recession, Lord Coe continues to insist that the "fluid" budget for the London 2012 Olympics (currently standing at £12BN, including £2BN running costs) will not be cut.

Given that the government is planning to make cuts in the public sector of up to 30%, quite how he can make such an unrealistic and frankly ridiculous promise is a mystery.

No project or spending commitment is ringfenced. The Olympics is most certainly a target for cuts, as it is a badly managed waste of money that was not professionally costed at the time of inception.

Coe is quoted:

"The budgets are set so stories that the Olympics might suffer from cuts in public spending are inaccurate."

Coe is wrong, a budget is just that - a budget.

Until the money is spent, the budget can be adjusted up or down (until now, that adjustment has been upwards). Coe knows from his time as an MP that no budget is set in stone, to suggest otherwise is highly misleading and demonstrates and ostrich "head in the sand" mentality.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Brothel Funds Olympic Bid

Full marks to Logan Campbell from New Zealand for using his initiative wrt sourcing funds for his Olympics 2012 bid to win a medal at taekwondo, he has opened a 14 bedroom brothel.

New Zealand decriminalised prostitution six years ago, and brothels are allowed to operate with few restrictions.

However, Team NZ funding manager John Schofield is not happy. He is quoted in the Sunday Star Times:

"Selection takes into account not just performance but also the athlete's ability to serve as an example to the youth of the country."

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Jowell Contradicts Johnson

Tessa Jowell has contradicted Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, over the legacy of the London Olympic Stadium.

Johnson said last week that it would be "very foolish to rule out" retaining at least a 50,000 capacity as England bids to host the 2018 World Cup

However, Jowell claims that it will not be a potential venue for the 2018 World Cup.

"We don't need another football stadium, we have got Wembley.

Funding the maintenance of a stadium between 2012 and 2018 is quite a stretch, so I think we will continue to develop the plan that we have for the Olympic Stadium."

The one small problem with Jowell blocking this is that she will be leaving Parliament at the next election, some two years before the Games. The final decision over the legacy of the stadium will therefore be made by someone else.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Cyber Crime

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams of Scotland Yard has warned that international criminal networks are preparing to target the London 2012 Olympics, using the Internet to carry out their frauds.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Williams, speaking at Association of Chief Police Officers annual conference, said:

"There is a lot of work to be done with e-crime and the Olympics. First of all we need to get the money sorted and there is an imperative about that now.

We know from Canada and Beijing that the threats are real and they have grown in the last six months.

These are all potentially subject to abuses and we need to understand these and put plans in place very quickly now.

That is a projected area of work and it is where e-crime meets the more significant threats and terrorism threats."

Needless to say, the police are asking for more money to help them fight the 2012 threat. Funny how the Olympics is used by all and sundry as an excuse to get the begging bowl out!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Jowell To Quit

The hapless Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell, is to quit Parliament at the next election (latest 2010). Which means that she will be quitting at least two years before the London games.

Will this make any difference to the Olympics?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Legacy Targets Falling Short

The London Assembly Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee stated in a report today that organisers of the London 2012 Olympics are falling short on delivering employment targets, tourism strategy and sports participation.

Quote:

"The promise of a legacy was a significant factor in London winning the bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Urban and social regeneration, and increased sports participation, were to be the hallmarks of these Games.

Some aspects are on track, but there are still areas that need more attention to deliver the promises that were made."

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Photos Banned

Photographers wishing to take pictures of the Olympic construction site in East London have been warned they will be questioned if suspected of photographing 'security operations'.

Amateur photographer Dr Patrick Green found this out to his cost on 14 June, when security guards stopped him taking pictures from a public road that leads to the Olympic site.

Amateur Photographer quoted him:

"One guard also threatened to call more security who he said 'would come with dogs'.

At first I didn't notice that there was a security guard in a cabin to the left of the barrier and took a few pictures. I then walked closer to get a better view. Next to the blue fence is what I assumed to be part of the Olympic Village construction and I wanted to include that in my picture.

The guard saw me and called out that photography was forbidden… I said that I was on public land, could take pictures if I wanted and that this had been confirmed by Olympics bosses in the past."

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Slump Hits Flats

The Guardian reports that the slump in property prices has resulted in the number of post Olympic apartments, in London's Olympic Park, being reduced from 4,200 to about 2,800.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Lost!

Despite continuous assurances from those "in charge" of the London Olympics, and their political masters, that everything is under control (despite a rise in the budget from under £3BN to £12BN) it seems that £100M of taxpayers' money has been "lost".

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.

A routine audit of the accounts has uncovered large accounting irregularities, and a team of external accountants from KPMG has been called in to investigate the "lost" money.

Gareth Blacker, who oversaw the purchase of the huge Olympic site on the Lea Valley, and his accountant have been suspended. No evidence of wrongdoing is attached to either Mr Blacker or his accountant.

A source told The Times:

"This has gone beyond a routine audit, into the realms of a fraud investigation".

This gives me little faith in how our £12BN Olympics' budget is being "managed".

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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London's Burning

Despite costing £1.4BN the new fire emergency response control system, designed to deal with major incidents such as a terrorist attack at the 2012 Olympics, will not be operational until after the Games.

It needs to be up and running at least a year before the Games, in order to allow problems to be ironed out. However, it is likely to be delayed until after 2012.

Money well spent!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Bankruptcy Looms

The British Olympic Association (BOA) made a £1.5M loss last year (the previous year it made a loss of £1.3M), which required it to beg for £2M of funding from the Organising Committee for London 2012.

In the event that the BOA cannot staunch these ongoing losses, it will be bankrupt before the games in 2012.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Mass Grave Found on Olympics Site

Reuters report:

"An ancient burial pit containing 45 severed skulls, that could be a mass war grave dating back to Roman times, has been found under a road being built for the 2012 British Olympics."

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Held To Ransom

What's the betting Bob Crow tries it on again during the Olympics?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Regeneration?

Figures provided by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) show that of the 4,101 workers employed in constructing the Olympic Park, approximately 20% are from the five local boroughs.

Within the 20%, only 115 were formerly unemployed in Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets or Waltham Forest.

The cost of the Olympic Park is currently estimated to be £1.1BN.

Not much of a legacy for the local community!

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Olympic Bugs

It seems that we may be taking one step further to becoming a police state. Emulating the Chinese, the police are studying Chinese surveillance tactics as they ready themselves for the 2012 London Olympics.

One tactic being considered is the installation of miniature microphones in thousands of taxis. These bugs will transmit passengers' conversations to a police control room. The police, if they consider the conversation to be "suspect", would then activate a disabling device to stop the cabs.

Another tactic used by the Chinese was to embed tracking microchips in the tickets and passes of Olympics spectators.

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Appalling Waste

Lord Lucas, during question time on Tuesday, said:

"Is it not a strange definition of cost-effective and a most appalling waste to spend £40m on a shooting venue at Woolwich, which will be destroyed immediately after the Olympics, rather than £10m less for a facility at Bisley that will be used for generations?"

I agree.

However, what is £40M in an ever expanding budget that currently stands at £12BN (including £2BN running costs)?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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Naval Protection

Seemingly the Royal Navy is on standby to deploy, what the government would have us believe is, the world's most advanced destroyer to protect the 2012 Olympics from attack.

One of the new Daring class of Type 45 destroyers will be deployed in the Thames estuary.

All very well. However, the ships are not yet fitted out and are not expected to be ready until at least 2011.

There is a very real chance that delays and teething problems will mean that the destroyers will not be ready in time for the 2012 Games.

Additionally, owing to government cutbacks (how ironic given the cost of the Olympics!), the destroyers will not have their missile systems installed at the time of their planned Olympic deployment.

What exactly are they expected to be able to do then?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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2000 More Police Needed?

People are never shy of jumping on the Olympics bandwagon, and using it as an excuse for demanding more money/resources.

True to form Paul McKeever, Chairman of the Police Federation, has stepped up to the plate and asked for 2000 more police officers. He is quoted in publicservice.co.uk:

"We must not lose sight that we will also be policing the biggest sporting event this country has handled in 2012, when the Olympics comes to the UK.

How we are expected to deal with the demands this will place upon the service, in addition to the increasing property crime rates with fewer officers per head of the population, is beyond me. My real fear is that the level of service and protection we will be able to afford the public will be severely affected unless action to address this is taken now."

Well, he would say that wouldn't he?

Olympic Medals won during the Beijing 2008 Olympics

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