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MPs attack Olympic chiefs over soaring wages for 2012
Matthew Beard17 Mar 2009
Olympics chiefs came under fire today over the rising wage bill for the 2012 project.
New figures showed that the cost of civil service auditors has soared by one third this year.
And in a further sign of the generous 2012 benefits, former banker Paul Deighton is poised to become the best-paid Olympics chief with a bumper package of up to £750,000.
MPs attacked the figures, saying that Olympics wages should not be immune to the recession.
Mr Deighton, the chief executive of the 2012 organising committee, Locog, is expected hit the jackpot this month with a substantial performance-related windfall on top of his £450,000 salary.
He is guaranteed a £204,000 loyalty bonus accrued over the last two years and may be in line for £100,000 performance-related pay this year.
Mr Deighton has helped raise £500million in sponsorship towards Locog's target of £2billion in commercial revenue. Locog aims to raise £2billion towards the cost of the Games and receives nothing from the publicly funded £9.3billion Olympic budget.
Mr Deighton is entitled to a maximum 75 per cent of his salary again in bonuses, or about £2million, if he remains for the six years of the project. But his final pay cheque could be further boosted as his contract entitles him to double his bonus in 2012 if he has done an "exceptional" job.
Under this incentive scheme he would receive a final maximum pay-off of around £1.6million in salary and bonuses.
Liberal Democrat Olympic spokesman Don Foster said: "This is a time when all bonuses paid now and in the future must be challenged and the Olympics is no exception. It is important to ensure that tough and challenging targets are set both at Locog and the Olympic Delivery Authority to ensure that there is a lasting legacy from the Olympics for the whole nation and not just for the individual."
A Locog spokeswoman said Mr Deighton may not receive the full bonus for 2009. She added: "Bonuses are awarded for company performance. If we weren't performing, there would be no bonuses - and these bonuses are from Locog's private funds and are not funded by the taxpayer."
Figures in a parliamentary answer showed salaries at the Government Olympic Executive totalled £3.9million in the last 12 months - a 30 per cent rise on the previous year.
The number of civil servants working in the Executive has doubled to 70 in the past year and will increase again to around 100 before 2012.
Critics claim the Executive duplicates much of the scrutiny and cost control work being done by other public bodies and private consultants.
Tory shadow Olympics minister Hugh Robertson said: "At a time of severe economic recession, it is extraordinary that the cost of paying civil servants working on London 2012 has risen by over a third in one year alone.
"We receive a considerable number of complaints that the Government Olympic Executive is overstaffed and these figures support that viewpoint."
Olympics minister Tessa Jowell defended the GOE, saying it is "the only organisation overseeing the entire Olympic project... ensuring the Games are delivered within the £9.3billion public sector funding provision".
Reader views (16)
I am still amazed that that Jowell still tell us that the budget will not be increased. As far I can see, they are already scrapping many project to stay in budget. What are they going to do. Cancel some of the events. A total scam that started with the worst of all. Remember Ken and his cronies?
- Lauren, London UK, 12/04/2009 00:01
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JUST SCRAP WHOLE THING NOW BEFORE WE WASTE A FEW BILLIONS MORE
- Mike, London England, 07/04/2009 08:48
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Time to lobby non - labour MP`s on a total rethink on whether we, the people want to subsidise Coe`s gravy train.
If we spent a tenth of the money lavished on the olympics and it’s parasitic entourage for health and exercise in schools (the only arena where kids can’t opt out), then we might see some improvement in the future.
The con that is the idea that olympics = more enthusiasm for fitness is not proven - most will sit cheering in front of a screen, mouths full of fast food!
And incidentally - don’t advertise medal winners as "Olympians" - Olympians were Greek gods who resided on mount Olympus, so speaking as an atheist, God knows what Zeus would have made of it all!
- Darius Midwinter, London UK, 10/03/2009 08:57
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This Stretford "re-development" project needs stopping now. It needs moving to Central London who in the crisis we have needs most money! Use the facilities we already have and repair the central London infrastructure instead of wasting money on these new buildings and extensions into wasteland.
- Georgie, Islington, London, 10/03/2009 08:35
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This has been a disaster for Britain and London all the way. Let's get it over with, cheaply, and forget about it.
- Pat, London, 09/03/2009 21:07
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Another Nu Labor disaster getting these Olympics in the wrong place of town and now wasting too much in the economic crisis.
- Steveo, London, 09/03/2009 18:30
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Amazing the lucky few and cronies at the top all earning big bucks. No work for British workers except for everybody else outside these islands. The political correct Labour's utopia !
- Joe, Swanley Kent, 09/03/2009 16:51
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The world would think better of us if we did the right thing and abandoned the Olympics right now. We can't get back the money already squandered, but we can stop spending any more. No one needs this extravaganza, whose principal beneficiaries are apparatchiks and commercial companies. The tax payer cannot afford such a public waste of money, and the long term benefits for London, if any, are minuscule in relation to the cost.
- Simon Evans, Devizes, UK, 09/03/2009 16:49
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So why not get rid of them all and employ cheaper Management from former Eastern Europe. At least they'll be able to communicate with the workers
- Bj, London, 09/03/2009 16:27
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A criminal waste of taxpayers and London council taxpayers money. This government and the olympic chiefs are out of control. It seems to be a gravy train for a lot of useless people.
- Maggie, London UK, 09/03/2009 15:41
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Since the day London won the bid - and every day since then - we tax payers have been saying that the predicted cost of hosting the games was based on lies and deceipt. Tessa Jowell ought to be removed from office and the olympic committee disbanded and an attempt made to salvage the situation by utilising what facilities we have throughout the country. To proceed with this debacle is going to prove to be a catastrophic disaster which will make this country bankrupt.
- R.F., Yorks, UK, 09/03/2009 15:26
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24 octobre 2006
2012 Olympics 'won't be another Wembley fiasco'
London's Olympics chiefs pledged today that the 2012 Games will be on time, on budget - and not another Wembley fiasco.
Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Olympics Organising Committee, told the Culture, Media and Sport Committee: "We are certainly confident at this stage that the sources of revenue are sufficient to leave us at the organising committee with revenues that will match our expected expenditure.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-412337/2012-Olympics-wont-Wembley-fiasco.html
March 2, 2009
Mr Deighton is in a gloriously unique position and, modestly, for a man whose wealth is estimated at £110 million
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article5827170.ece
Well, well, well....
- Dan, italy - italy, 09/03/2009 15:21
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Give Paul Deighton et al their bonuses but make them employ indigenous workers before the rest of the world!
- WA, Oxfordshire, England, 09/03/2009 13:59
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Cancelling the Olympics will save a lot more money as well.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland, 09/03/2009 11:53
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Absolutely - better civil servants than over paid consultants - and looking at who they employed for the handover on last weeks "Building the Olympic Dream" programme - you could probably save at least two salaries there - as the two people inncharge of the handover looked pretty incompetant.
- Jc, W6, 09/03/2009 11:15
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Better to have civil servants in the jobs, then management consultants who cost the taxpayer over 3 times more. Removing consultants on silly high fees will free up millions to create a lot more jobs on the Olympics.
- Mike, london, 09/03/2009 10:20
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