In ‘a hardhitting report’ to be published next Tuesday, the Commons public accounts committee has lambasted the run-away costs of the Olympics, which have spiralled from about £3.4bn to more than £ 9bn.
Don Touhig, Labour MP on the committee, has slated the multibillion-pound rise as likely to go ‘into the Guinness Book of Records for the most catastrophic financial mismanagement in the history of the world’, the Evening Standard reports.
According to the London Development Agency (LDA) the original budget for taking over the Olympic Park site in Stratford had been £594m, but by the end of March £578.4m had already been spent.
Information provided under a freedom of information request reveals LDA saying: ‘the current estimated outturn budget for land and disturbance compensation payments is £624.41m, with the increase of £30.37m funded from the approved budget contingency’.
Further reading:
Olympics cost controller picks up £10m windfall
Comments