Companies with good employment practices will have an edge in bidding for contracts for the 2012 London Olympics, culture secretary Tessa Jowell has indicated.
The minister, addressing delegates at an Olympics business summit in London today, said the government was “very keen that all the contracts [awarded for the games] are characterised by good employment practices”.
Jowell said Britain would use the 2000 Sydney Olympics employment practice framework, negotiated with business and trades union representatives, as a benchmark.
The framework will set standards that the Olympic authorities will implement for public sector work on the Games and encourage private sector contractors to follow, Jowell told the Financial Times.
The details have yet to be confirmed, but the framework is expected to cover issues such as remuneration, terms and conditions and health and safety.
Jowell also said the government would favour UK businesses and ensure that they were focused on the whole of the UK, not just the south-east.
