How will City Hall repay £231 million of Olympic Park debts?

22 NOVEMBER 2011

Why did the Mayor take on Olympic park debts[1] without a government commitment to fully cover them? [2] And how is City Hall planning to repay the £231 million[3] owed?

Members of the London Assembly’s Budget and Performance Committee will tomorrow question the Mayor’s chief of staff Sir Edward Lister about how these debts will be paid and what effect this could have on other services in the capital.

The following guests will attend the meeting from 10am:

  • Sir Edward Lister, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff
  • Jeff Jacobs, Head of Paid Service and Executive Director of Communities and Intelligence, GLA
  • Martin Clarke, Executive Director of Resources, GLA
  • Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Executive Director of Development and Environment, GLA
  • David Lunts, Executive Director of Housing and Regeneration, GLA
  • Neale Coleman, Director of London 2012 Coordination, GLA

The meeting is part of the Committee’s examination of the draft Greater London Authority (GLA) budget for 2012-13.

The Budget and Performance Committee meeting will take place on Wednesday 23 November from 10am in Committee Room 5 at City Hall (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1).

Media and members of the public are invited to attend.  The meeting can also be viewed via webcast

Notes for Editors:

  1. The London Development Agency (LDA) bought and remediated the land for the Olympic Park through large borrowings from central Government. On 30 September 2010 the Olympic land was transferred to the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) debt-free and from April next year the GLA takes over the Olympic land debt.
  2. The draft GLA budget, for 2012-13 is based on the assumption of no grant funding to cover Olympic land debt beyond March 2014.
  3. The Olympic land debt will be £349 million in April 2012. Government funding will enable this to be reduced to £231 million by 31 March 2014.
  4. See full agenda papers for the meeting
  5. The Chair of the Budget and Performance Committee, John Biggs AM, is available for interview.  See contact details below.
  6. As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.

For media enquiries, please contact Julie Wheldon/Lisa Moore on 020 7983 4228/4283.  For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer.  Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.