ePolitix.com Stakeholders comment on the issues that the 2012 Olympics has raised for their organisations.

Party Response: Conservatives

Shadow culture secretary Hugo Swire said: "Today’s fresh revelations of further Olympic overspend come on the back of two highly critical reports from NAO and the Labour dominated select committee.

"Public confidence in the government’s handling of the Olympics is floundering as a result of their refusal to come clean over the cost of planning for the Olympics.

"The only person to blame for this deteriorating situation is Tessa Jowell and she must open the books and tell the truth about spiralling costs at once."

Party Response: Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Don Foster said: "The longer this uncertainty continues over the budget for the 2012 Olympics the more public confidence will wane.

"We urgently need a new budget, independently audited, with a full public and parliamentary debate.

"What will not be acceptable is any further raid on Lottery good causes or on London taxpayers."

Olympic Lottery Distributor response 

The chairman of the Olympic Lottery Distributor, Janet Paraskeva, said: "There is a long way to go, but reaching £100m by the end of January the National Lottery is ahead of schedule in delivering funds to support London 2012. 

"We are funding the Olympic Delivery Authority to create the facilities necessary for the Games and we are very impressed with the progress they are making."

Stakeholder Response: United Response

To send a comment to the United Response click here

A spokesman said: "It would be wrong if the projected overspend on London 2012 results in Lottery funds to good causes being cut, as is being proposed.

"Voluntary organisations and the disadvantaged people they support should not lose out as a result of the Games running over budget.

"As an organisation working with people with learning disabilities or mental health problems, we are concerned that the potential of these groups should not be overlooked in the context of London 2012. 

"The Games offer huge potential for new employment in a deprived area of London.

"Nationally, only 23 per cent of people with learning disabilities are in paid work, but nearly two thirds of those not working would like to have a job.

"We believe that positive action such as supported training and employment targeted specifically at the needs of people with learning disabilities is necessary to increase the numbers in paid work.  

"Our experience of supporting people with learning disabilities into work is that they often prove highly effective and much valued employees and colleagues. 

"We are also concerned that London 2012 should be fully accessible, for people with learning disabilities as well as those with physical or sensory impairments. 

"This means for example taking into account the needs of people who may have difficulty using written material in designing signs and printed materials by using symbols as well as words, which may also assist non-English speakers and save money in translation costs."

Stakeholder Response: DRC

To send a comment to the DRC click here

A spokesman said: "One legacy that the DRC hopes will be secured as the result of the 2012 Olympics is the inclusion of athletes with a learning disability within the Paralympic games that follow the main Olympics.

"Athletes with a learning disability only managed to secure participation in the Paralympic Games in their own right at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

"However at those games a group of non-disabled journalists infiltrated the Spanish basketball team by pretending to have a learning disability.

"After the Paralympics – where the team were successful – they exposed their ‘deception’.

"As a consequence the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) banned all athletes with a learning disability from future Paralympics Games and other international IPC sanctioned events.

"Despite the fact that it is nearly seven years after the original ‘incident’ the ban remains in place.

"This is while IPC and the sports associations representing athletes with a learning disability discuss (although argue is perhaps a more accurate description!) suitable eligibility verification systems to allow an athlete to participate (each athlete seeking to compete in the Paralympics needs to complete an eligibility verification system to prove their impairment).

"The DRC is concerned not just about the ban on elite athletes but the consequential effect it is having.

"Sport is a positive vehicle for social inclusion and for removing the barriers between people in society.

"The ban has had the knock-on effect of preventing the Lottery and statutory sources from funding competitions down to grassroots levels (funding for disability sports is based on involvement in the Paralympics).

"This is causing pain and hardship to athletes now as they are denied the chance to compete against other athletes.

"The DRC hopes that the government will use its influence with the IPC to have the ban on athletes with a learning disability resolved as soon as possible."

Stakeholder Response: The British Swimming Pool Federation

To send a comment to the BSPF click here

A spokesman said: "The British Swimming Pool Federation would be concerned if cost overruns on predicted Olympic Games costs meant that investment in improved swimming facilities throughout the country over the next five years was held back. 

"The much-needed modernisation and expansion of public swimming facilities for the benefit of the whole population – estimated at needing some £2bn – should not be jeopardised by diverting funds to plug gaps in central funding."

Stakeholder Response: FSB

To send a comment to the FSB click here

Following the latest National Audit Office report, a spokesman said: "The NAO are right to highlight that planning for a lasting legacy is a key area of concern, and action is needed to address this issue as a matter of urgency.

"But the legacy of the Games is not just a series of buildings available after 2012.
 
"The real legacy lies in creating an on-going programme of economic regeneration starting now - a well-trained local workforce, a chance for every business to compete effectively for contracting opportunities and a renewed spirit of enterprise in East London.

"The FSB has called on the 2012 team to make sure that major contractors for the Olympic project have to show how they will involve small and local businesses in sub-contracting work.
 
"If small and local businesses do not see clear signs that they can share in the benefits of the Games, their support for the 2012 project may start to fade."

Stakeholder Response: GMB

To send a comment to the GMB click here

A spokesman said: "The London Olympics are back in the news with the National Audit Office publishing a report today on the risk of delivery failure of the 2012 games.

"We are asking our stakeholders for their take on this and the wider implications of the games for public health, transport, voluntary sector funding, sports participation and the potential legacy for London and the UK.

"With respect to the NAO report we believe it has served to highlight the issues previously identified by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) as crucial to ensuring a successful Olympic Games is delivered on time and on budget.

"In fact the NAO report could be characterised as an exercise in common sense.

"Clearly the issue of risk management is paramount, as the experience with Wembley has proven, however a cursory glance at the tender prepared by the ODA when selecting a Delivery Partner – eventually awarded to CLM – shows the consideration they have already given to this element of the Games preparation and the importance they attach to it.

"We also agree with the need to establish a 'robust lifetime budget' but we are equally aware that this needs to be balanced with the ODA, CLM and any other organisation retaining a capacity to respond to any issues arising throughout the course of the construction and preparation for the Games.

"We also recognise the interdependence and interaction of many different agencies and bodies and as a result have been key supporters of the TUC initiative in establishing a London 2012 ‘umbrella group’ of trade unions whose members will be required to work on the Games in many different capacities.

"With respect to the wider implications the GMB is committed to working with Government, the ODA, CLM and other responsible agencies and bodies through the trade unions’ London 2012 group in order to realise the legacy commitments made to residents and workers not only in East London boroughs, but across the United Kingdom.

"This includes setting exemplary standards in the public procurement process regarding terms and conditions of employment, supply chain monitoring and proactive engagement of groups from BME, disabled and other minority backgrounds.

"Infrastructure work relating to housing, transport, public health, training and development programmes should also be key considerations when determining where public money will be spent."

Stakeholder Response: The Association for Physical Education.

To send a comment to the Association of Physical Education click here

Following the publication of the latest NAO report, a spokesman said: "The Association for Physical Education is the UK representative organisation for people and agencies, delivering or supporting the delivery of physical education in schools and in the wider community. 

"Its primary role is establishing and sustaining physical education at the heart of school life and whole-school development, and the development of a workforce with the skills and qualities required to assure high quality physical education and sport in schools and in the wider community.

"AfPE welcomes the report of the National Audit Office, and draws attention to the pledges which were made during the preparation and presentation of London’s bid for the 2012 Games. 

"AfPE believes that since the bid was won, insufficient attention has been given by the government to the existing weaknesses and needs of the sport infrastructure; and to the level and sustainability of investment required to perform as a world class sporting nation. 

"This is reflected in the National Audit Office’s identification of main areas of risk, which must be managed for the successful delivery of the Games, especially planning for a lasting legacy. 

"This must apply, not only to top level sport, but also to the grass-roots systems, including local authorities, education and clubs, which generate future talented performers.

"AfPE supports the efforts of other organisations which have drawn attention to the dangers of funding drift, away from grass roots and schools, to elite sport, because of the uncertainties in budget planning for the 2012 Games. 

"It is essential that the UK learns from the experiences of other countries which have hosted the Games, where funding drift has led directly to decline in participation during the years following the Games.

"AfPE commends the commitment to a lasting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but strongly believes that insufficient attention has yet been given to investment in the people, organisations and infrastructure which are the basis for the UK sport system. 

"Since national curriculum physical education is the only statutory entitlement in the whole sport system, and is the basis for all future participation and achievement in sport and physical activity, AfPE believes that physical education must be sustained and supported, as a crucial part of both sport and education national policy. 

"While there has been significant investment in physical education and school sport during the last decade, there remain systemic weaknesses which should be addressed as part of a lasting 2012 legacy.

"AfPE has identified and is addressing the following challenges which need to be addressed, if a lasting legacy is to be left for future generations:

• Lack of time for preparation for physical education (commonly less than six hours) in many courses of initial training for primary teachers. This is a glaringly obvious weakness in the delivery system, as is the paucity of sustainable programmes of in-service training for the same teachers when they have entered the system.

• The need for investment into the quality of learning and experience in physical education and school sport, which are so influential for retention and sustained engagement.

• Recruitment of new entrants into physical education teaching fails to reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of children in schools.  This is a serious weakness, especially for children whose home and schools lie in the areas of the Olympic sites; they need appropriate role models and encouragement, if they are to feel that the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics genuinely belong to.

"In our view the risks highlighted particularly around legacy and funding are of particular concern.

"The ongoing reports in relation to the funding for the Games infrastructure and regeneration have significantly impacted on the confidence partners have in relation to London hosting

"The implication of the increasing bad publicity around costs will result in the loss of credibility for the Games which will have an increasing effect on the ability to attract sponsors and the ongoing public support.

"At the end of last year public support for the Games was reported at an all time high, residents, businesses and community groups will play a crucial role in delivering the legacy at a local, across the whole of London and indeed the country, and grass roots level.

"Despite a raft of Olympic delivery plans to secure the Games time legacy that all acknowledge the key role of the above there are no dedicated resources or funding outside of the host boroughs to secure that legacy.

"For example under the Olympic delivery plan 4.5 - Maximising the increase in London participation at community and grass roots level in all sport and across all groups there is the target of developing 33 multi sport community facilities by 2009 however there is no dedicated funding to enable this.

"This is just one of many examples where funding at a more local level to secure the legacy from the Games has not been considered.

"Equally in relation to the recent transport strategy that has been consulted upon for Games time transport there is little consideration or improvement for transport and congestion impacts outside of East London.

"In south London we have been actively supporting the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games since the bid time. We have established a Task Force sub regionally and an action plan to secure the benefits from the London Games for south London.

"The themes within the action plan broadly match those of the regional London plans and the national plans:

• Business and employment
• Tourism and leisure
•  Culture, festivals and events
•  Skills, jobs and volunteering
•  Sports and Healthy Living
•  Holding and preparation camps

"We feel that there are significant benefits for the sub region in playing its part to host the Games in 2012 however it is vital for us that issues with funding and the legacy are clarified quickly to ensure the ongoing support for the Games and to enable the local legacy to be secured."