U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has “ordered that more money be spent on London’s Olympic ceremonies after deciding that existing plans risked missing a unique opportunity to promote the UK,” according to Paul Kelso of the London TELEGRAPH. Cameron’s “intervention, which will see the cost of the ceremonies double -- with the taxpayer contributing a further [US$64M] to the budget -- comes as Parliament’s official spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, warned that London may break its [US$14.5B] budget and require more public money.” Cameron ordered the additional spending “after he was shown the plans put together by the artistic director, Danny Boyle.” Cameron reportedly “wanted additional spending to give the ceremonies more creative elements and balance the International Olympic Committee’s protocol requirements, such as the athletes’ parade.” U.K. Minister for Sport & Olympics Hugh Robertson said that the “bulk of the money would be spent on ‘technical areas’” (London TELEGRAPH, 12/6). Robertson denied that LOCOG was “engaging in any kind of ‘arms race we won’t win,’ insisting that their goal was not to replicate Beijing’s 2008 extravaganza -- which is thought to have cost” around US$313M. The FINANCIAL TIMES’ Kortekaas & Blitz note “doubling the budget is likely to provoke controversy at a time when the country is facing a prolonged squeeze in its finances” (FINANCIAL TIMES, 12/6).
RISING COSTS: In London, Robin Scott-Elliot reports the National Audit Office also found that the budget for venue security increased by US$423M “on the back of a dramatic revision in the required number of security personnel.” An original estimate of “10,000 guards by London 2012 organisers has proved woefully inadequate.” Instead, “23,700 will be required to secure more than 100 venues at the Olympic Park and around the country.” That takes the cost of venue security to US$863M -- up from last year's estimate of US$440M (London INDEPENDENT, 12/6). National Audit Office Comptroller & Auditor General Amyas Morse said, “Not everything is rosy. The Government is confident that there is money available to meet known risks, but, in my view, the likelihood that the Games can still be funded within the existing [US$14.5B] public sector funding package is so finely balanced that there is a real risk more money will be needed” (LONDON TIMES, 12/6).
