Olympic planning 'risks' warning

The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also criticised the lack of plans for ensuring Olympic facilities meet users' needs after the Games. And it accused ministers of seriously underestimating the costs of the Games and being overly optimistic about private sector funding.

As the ultimate funding guarantor, the Government had left itself "financially exposed", the PAC cautioned.

Since London was chosen as the host city for the 2012 Olympics, two new bodies have been set up: the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to provide facilities and the London Organising Committee (LOC) to stage the Games.

In a report published on Tuesday, the PAC hailed progress in several areas, including re-routing power lines on the Olympic Park site and the start of procurement activity by the ODA. But it also warned: "No one individual has overall responsibility for delivering the Games, however, and the large number of bodies involved presents significant risks, for example to timely decision-taking."

The committee advised: "The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) should develop a framework of timely progress and risk reporting, which ultimately feeds through to the Olympic Board and provides early warning of potential difficulties.

"This framework should be supported by arrangements in each individual organisation, and work to complete these should be a priority."

The PAC's Tory chairman, Edward Leigh, argued: "If the London Olympic and Paralympic Games are to be the great success we all want them to be, then the risks to delivery will have to be managed with an iron hand. The DCMS is ultimately responsible for co-ordinating the array of bodies involved. It is worrying, therefore, that strong arrangements for monitoring progress and managing risk are so far not in place."

Tuesday's report urges DCMS to agree what needs deciding, when and by who, and to ensure continuity of key people on major projects. Incentive arrangements are needed with contractors to ensure costs do not spiral or standards drop if the delivery timetable slips. The committee, made up of MPs from all parties, also delivered a withering verdict on DCMS costing of the Games.

At £9.3 billion, the revised budget was £6 billion more than estimated at the time of the bid when "whole categories of cost were omitted, including tax, contingency margin and security", it said.