Security Costs of Olympics £11 Billion

[Paddy]

That's £11,000,000,000 on top of the £24,000,000,000 cost to taxpayers. (About £1500 per taxpayer?)


Olympic Shambles

Olympic security organisers and G4S, the company contracted to guard games venues, were battling to restore faith in their operations on Thursday as the home secretary admitted the armed forces would have to fill a last-minute shortfall in private security staff.

Amid fiery questioning from fellow MPs Theresa May denied charges from the opposition that she was presiding over a security “shambles”, and admitted that the G4S personnel shortfall had only “crystallised” 24 hours earlier, despite close Home Office supervision of the £284m contract.

Security Contract Pushes Costs of Olympics Towards £11 Billion

Today the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee reported that the £9.3 billion Public Sector Funding Package for this summer's Olympics is close to running out, because of a £271 million increase in the cost of security for the venues and £41 million for more extravagant opening and closing ceremonies. The report states that "the increase in the overall cost of venue security is the main reason why the Public Sector Funding Package is now so finely balanced". In a statement, the committee chair Margaret Hodge now estimates that the full cost to the public of the Games and legacy projects is "already heading for around £11 billion".

[AtW]

Can't be surely, £11 bln? That's like hiring 1 mln people for £10k to work for 3 weeks holding each others arms or something.

[Doggy Styles]

Can't be surely, £11 bln? That's like hiring 1 mln people for £10k to work for 3 weeks holding each others arms or something.

No, the thread title is wrong.

Security and OTHER extra costs between them are pushing the TOTAL cost of the games from 9.5 to 11 billion. In the opinion of Margaret Hodge.

[AtW]

Oh yeah, I forgot Paddy worked as Pravda's Chief Editor.

[TimberWolf]

What is the revenue expected to be? And the anticipated net profit or loss, whatever the financial term for that is.

Is it a little unfair that London should benefit and the rest of the country pay?

[AtW]

Is it a little unfair that London should benefit and the rest of the country pay?

Unfair is the new normal.

Didn't you get the memo?

[TimberWolf]

Host cities routinely underestimate the costs and overstate the benefits of the Games. London is no exception. The city's bid proclaimed: "Every sector of the economy will benefit from the staging of the Olympic Games." Originally slated to cost about £2.4bn, Olympic costs jumped to £9.3bn by 2007. The National Audit Office noted that public-sector funding has almost tripled, while private-sector contributions dwindled to less than 2%. Recently, the House of Commons' public accounts committee revealed costs were "heading for around £11bn". Meanwhile, Olympics critic Julian Cheyne of Games Monitor calculates costs at £13bn. A Sky Sports investigation included public transport upgrade costs, catapulting the five-ring price tag to £24bn.

London organisers were anxious not to add to the herd, so in August 2011 they sold the village at a taxpayer loss of £275m to the Qatari ruling family's property firm. Quizzically, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt championed the transaction as a "fantastic deal that will give taxpayers a great return and shows how we are securing a legacy from London's Games".
What is the real price of the London Olympics? | Jules Boykoff | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

And so on.

[escapeUK]

Unfair is the new normal.

Didn't you get the memo?

Hardly new.

[wobbegong]

That's £11,000,000,000 on top of the £24,000,000,000 cost to taxpayers. (About £1500 per taxpayer?)

Which would surely equal a total of £35 billion?

Yet Margaret Hodge now estimates that the full cost to the public of the Games and legacy projects is "already heading for around £11 billion".

[sbakoola]

Which would surely equal a total of £35 billion?

Yet Margaret Hodge now estimates that the full cost to the public of the Games and legacy projects is "already heading for around £11 billion".

And this is going to stop some silly Bob walking into a public place and causing acts of terrorism ?