21 Jan 2009
Further funding from the £9.3bn budget for the London 2012 Games has been allocated to support the building of the Olympic Village and International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre (IBC/MPC), the Government announced today.
The site of the International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre (IBC/MPC) before construction
The overall £9.3bn budget for the Games remains unchanged and the contingency remains sufficient to cover the remaining risks to the project.
The funding confirms a permanent IBC/MPC structure with some temporary elements during the Games, when it will host around 20,000 of the world’s media. After the Games it will become a new employment space in Hackney.
The funding also enables construction to continue on the Village, which will house up to 17,000 athletes during the Olympic Games and over 6,000 during the Paralympic Games. After the Games it will be transformed into up to 3,000 new homes, including affordable housing and accommodation for sale and rent.
The use of part of the budget’s contingency funds is needed to meet a shortfall in private sector funding as a result of the global economic downturn.
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: ‘The Village and media centres are absolutely essential to a successful London Games with a real lasting legacy. With private sector funding now much more difficult to secure because of the global economic downturn, it is right that we take steps to safeguard these projects.
‘The extra funds we have allocated today come from existing contingency funds within the overall £9.3 billion budget. Lower than anticipated construction inflation and good progress across the project has reduced risks, meaning that the overall budget is unchanged and enough contingency funds remain. We are determined to deliver the games within budget.’
Read the full Government media release.
