Jowell: Olympic contingency fund may need raiding again

9 December, 2008

Answering MPs questions at the culture, media and sport select committee today, Jowell insisted that using the contingency fund was not “any kind of failure”.

The government has already released £95 million of contingency funding to help keep the Olympic construction programme on schedule.

Asked about funding for the International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre, which was being designed by Allies & Morrison on the Olympic park but could now be split over two sites in Hackney and Stratford, Jowell said the government “haven’t given up” on private sector funding.

“There is, at the moment, no private sector contribution on the table and that is a change since the contract was first signed, but the venue has to be built,” she said.

“This is not a good time to pursue private sector investment but, remember, there is a three and a half year build and development programme. Just because now isn't right, doesn't mean that in two, two and half year's time, conditions may not be better and more sympathetic to getting private sector investment.”

In other Olympics' news, the London mayor's representative on the board of the 2012 organising committee, businessman David Ross, resigned earlier today.

Ross earlier stepped down from the board of Carphone Warehouse following the revelation that he had used millions of pounds of shares in the company as security for personal loans without informing other directors of the company - a potential breach of city disclosure regulations.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: “I appreciate why David Ross feels he ought to stand down from the board of LOCOG and the legacy board of advisors. He will, nevertheless, be a loss, having played an active and very useful role over the last seven months.

"I am particularly grateful to him for identifying serious issues with the 2012 Olympic Games that needed to be urgently addressed. His report into planning the delivery of the legacy of the games helped the entire Olympic family to focus on a range of pressing concerns, including security, budget and legacy. I wish him well in the future.”

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