This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6167504.stm

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Jowell grilled on Olympics costs Jowell says Olympic cost up £900m
(30 minutes later)
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell is being grilled by MPs about the London Olympics, after organisers said costs could rise £1.5bn to £5bn. The expected cost of the 2012 London Olympic park has risen 40% since the games were won in July 2005, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has told MPs.
Ms Jowell is being questioned by the Commons culture, media and sport committee about an unexpected VAT bill for building costs. The extra £900m cost was likely to be met by London council tax payers and lottery funds, Ms Jowell suggested.
The new £3.3bn estimate is still far below the £8bn critics say the Olympics will cost if things like regeneration linked to the games are included.
The Tories said the budget had gone "disastrously wrong".The Tories said the budget had gone "disastrously wrong".
But Chancellor Gordon Brown said the government was "committed" to making the Games work. Ms Jowell told the Commons culture, media and sport committee the £3.3bn did not include the cost of regenerating the area or the cost of the local organisation committee.
She blamed the rise in cost on a doubling in the price of steel and revising transport costs to take into account inflation in the years to 2012.
Ms Jowell, who said the games would leave a legacy "for ever" in East London, told MPs an unexpected VAT bill for building costs was unlikely to add to the overall cost to taxpayers of the games.
'Construction plans''Construction plans'
Last week, London mayor Ken Livingstone estimated the total bill for the games - awarded to the city last year - could exceed £5bn. Asked who would meet the extra £900m cost, Ms Jowell said discussions were on-going, but the earlier "memorandum of understanding" had been for overspends to be met by a mix of London council tax payers, and lottery games.
The rise is being blamed on extra security, the VAT bill and government demands for a contingency fund. The original budget includes a contribution of £625m from London council tax payers - which works out at £20 a year for 25 years - and £1.5bn from Lottery games.
Ms Jowell is also likely to face questions over former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch's remark that the time needed to organise the games properly was "going very fast". Ms Jowell suggested that one other option being discussed was getting the Treasury to waive its 12p take from Lottery tickets sold.
HAVE YOUR SAY You could have guaranteed that the costs would go massively over budget. Just look at Wembley John, UK href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=4776&edition=1&ttl=20061121110536" class="">Send us your comments However, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) says land is being prepared and buildings demolished, with construction work due to start in mid-2008. She said that whatever funding arrangement was agreed it had to be "fair, sustainable and proportionate".
Shadow sport and Olympic minister Hugh Robertson said: "I do not want to hear any more spin from the government about the Olympics. HAVE YOUR SAY You could have guaranteed that the costs would go massively over budget. Just look at Wembley John, UK href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=4776&edition=1&ttl=20061121110536" class="">Send us your comments
Ahead of the committee hearing shadow sport and Olympic minister Hugh Robertson said: "I do not want to hear any more spin from the government about the Olympics.
"What I want now is transparency and accountability over the true cost and an explanation of why the original budget has gone so disastrously wrong."What I want now is transparency and accountability over the true cost and an explanation of why the original budget has gone so disastrously wrong.
"It looks like monumental government incompetence.""It looks like monumental government incompetence."
The Liberal Democrats say the government should pay for the extra cost.The Liberal Democrats say the government should pay for the extra cost.
The ODA and the government are reviewing the original 2004 budget for the games and are expected to announce a revised financial plan next February. The ODA and the government are reviewing the original budget for the games and are expected to announce a revised financial plan next February.