U.K. Government Watchdog Group Hails London Games As Good Value For Money

The U.K. government's spending watchdog has “hailed” the $14.5B (all figures U.S.). of public money spent on the London Games “as good value, but said strong leadership is needed if promised legacy benefits are to be realized,” according to Owen Gibson of the GUARDIAN. The National Audit Office (NAO) said, "By any reasonable measure the Games were a success and the big picture is that they have delivered value for money." The NAO report hailed Olympic Creative Dir Danny Boyle's Opening Ceremony “as a great success.” The report said that the “final bill for the ceremonies, including money allocated to the separate unit formed to cover transport, catering and logistics,” was $177M. It found that the final investment in the Games involved around $1.6B of operational costs, encompassing $827M “for venue security, that were not included" in the original '07 $15B public sector spending package. The NAO highlighted the “lack of planning on venue security … as the only example of poor forward planning” (GUARDIAN, 12/5).