Comment: Sporting legacy for 2012 Games

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Today's Public Accounts Committee reports on the 2012 Olympics should sound alarm bells. While the report on the Olympic site concludes that preparations are "broadly on track", it also warns that difficulties experienced by the Australian developer of the athletes' village, LendLease, may mean that the taxpayer ends up paying more. On sport, the MPs say that no progress has been made on raising £100 million of funding for elite athletes from the private sector. But most seriously, they warn that there is a real danger 2012 will deliver no real legacy of increased grassroots participation in sport - one of the London bid's key selling points.

The problems with the Olympic village reflect the hazards of projections made during a property boom; it would be quite unacceptable if the Government ended up trying to pass any increased costs on to London council tax payers. Meanwhile ministers need to sort out the issue of elite funding quickly if they are to meet their targets for British medals in the Games.

But it is the conclusions on the sporting legacy that are most worrying. The report identifies lack of facilities as a key problem. For example, a number of London swimming pools remain closed, while a key athletics stadium in Enfield will stay shut all summer. MPs demand that Lottery-funded elite athletes do more to promote grassroots sport, and that the Government sets up a working group to focus on the sporting legacy. Their worries are echoed by the head of the British Olympic Association, Lord Moynihan: he says that "a lot of fine words" have not been matched by real investment or commitment to facilities. And this is before cuts in Lottery funding because of money being diverted to the Olympics start to kick in.

If the 2012 Games are to retain public enthusiasm, and merit their huge cost, they must fulfil their promise of a lasting sporting legacy. Minister and planners should now focus on that as a matter of urgency.