Background to the Bill:
- The Bill is required so that the Government can create a public sector body to facilitate the staging of the Games, manage the Government’s interest in the Olympic project and manage the public money going in.
- It is also required to ensure that the UK can meet the commitments given in London’s bid about how the Games, and the Olympic environment, will be managed.
The main provisions are:
- Sets up the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to manage public sector involvement in the Games, primarily ensuring the delivery of the venues and necessary infrastructure on time and within budget
- Grant the ODA planning and land acquisition powers
- Create the role of Director of Olympic Transport, within the ODA, who will be in charge of co-ordinating the Olympic transport strategy
- Grant the ODA the power to step in and provide certain local services such as street cleaning where necessary
- Grant the Mayor of London an Olympic-specific power to enable him to fulfil his obligations under the host city contract, thereby avoiding successful legal challenge;
- Provide greater protection of Olympic and Paralympic Intellectual Property
- Restrict opportunities for the commercial exploitation of the Games – giving the ODA powers to conceal or remove advertising; preventing street trading in the vicinity of venues and making ticket touting a criminal offence.
Stakeholder Summary
CCPR
Welcomes the Olympics to London, and acknowledges the potential positive impact the games could have on volunteering and youth participation in sports.
While CCPR acknowledges the importance of placing restrictions on the use of Olympic symbols and associated words, they assert that appropriate exemptions should be available to National Governing Bodies, especially those of Olympic sports.
GMB
welcomes the jobs boost from the Olympics especially in construction and encourages the government to use the same model of employment that was used in the construction of Heathrow Terminal 5. This will help to ensure no workers are killed in the realisation of this project unlike in other winning cities.
CILT, The National Centre for Languages
welcomes the Olympics to London and wishes to raise the importance of languages to a successful Games, they highlight areas where language will be vital to the games:
- languages in London’s education system: The Olympics offer a unique chance to increase the language skills and awareness of a generation of London’s children
- London’s Language Professionals: London already has a wealth of talented linguists and practitioners. Their services will be of paramount importance to the Games
- language support for London’s Public services: Language support services have become a fundamental part of the communications strategies of London’s hospitals, doctors’ surgeries, local authorities, police forces and criminal justice agencies. The seamless operation of such services for routine and emergency situations will be essential for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
- innovation in Language technologies: The scale of communication challenges presented by the Games will require innovative technological solutions. Translation tools and interactive solutions alongside specialist services such as versioning and digital sub-titling allow handling of enquiries and access to information for non-English speakers in settings where it is difficult to achieve direct access to a second language or assisted communication user
Finance & Leasing Association
support the Olympics as a London-based organisation and as the industry's representative
is delighted that London will host the 2012 Olympics
The high level of investment needed to mount the 2012 Olympics, has got to be good news for asset finance. The sheer scale of the development will provide tremendous opportunities for FLA members:
· construction
· technology
· transport
· service sector
· community regeneration
This is our chance to show the world that the UK still leads the field on large scale initiatives.
South London Partnerships
Welcomes the winning of the bid, and highlights the importance of finding a way to allow mass inclusion and involvement in preparing for the Olympics.
SLP fears that constraints placed on the use of Olympic symbols and branding may stand as an impediment to realising the benefits the games present to businesses across the country.
SLP supports the view that creating the opportunity to generate sponsorship income is important in any bid to run a successful games.
