Olympics budget fails to include cost of civil servants’ time

The cost of civil servants’ time has been left out of the budget for the 2012 Olympics, MPs revealed today.

A report published by the Public Accounts committee said that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s revised budget of £9.3bn – itself more than double the original £4bn estimate – left out several important costs.

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Among these are the £650m spent by the London Development Agency on the land for the Olympic Park, the yet-to-be-decided contribution of the private sector to the costs of the Olympic village, up to £2bn of ‘staging costs’, and the time of government officials.

“The budget excludes the costs of staff in government organisations carrying out Olympic-related work, including the Government Olympic Executive set up to manage and co-ordinate the government’s interest in the Games, and the costs of improving wider transport links in London,” said the report. “These activities are essential to the delivery of a successful Games.”