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| London 2012: Venue security guard numbers rise | London 2012: Venue security guard numbers rise |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| An estimated 23,700 security staff will be needed to ensure the safety of London's Olympic venues during the 2012 Games, the government has announced. | |
| Figures from the November 2011 Olympic Quarterly Economic Report estimate a further £271m is needed to cover the cost of extra security guards. | |
| The projected number required is more than double the initial estimate of 10,000 security personnel for venues. | |
| The budget for ceremonies has also doubled with an extra £41m allocation. | The budget for ceremonies has also doubled with an extra £41m allocation. |
| The money for both increases comes from within the £9.3bn public funding budget for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said. | |
| It has been re-allocated from savings made from the public expenditure budget for the Games and is additional to the private funding budget raised by the Games organisers Locog. | |
| The funding for the ceremonies was made available with the agreement of Prime Minister David Cameron after he was presented with the plans for the opening and closing nights of the Olympics and Paralympics. | |
| Security review | |
| Funding for the venue security budget is likely to rise from £282m to £553m but the government said the increase in numbers of security guards was "not in response to any specific security threat". | |
| Following a review of security arrangements in 2010 it said it was confident the core safety and security programme could be delivered within the £475m announced in the December 2010 Spending Review. | Following a review of security arrangements in 2010 it said it was confident the core safety and security programme could be delivered within the £475m announced in the December 2010 Spending Review. |
| However, it said further funding was being made available to support Olympic organisers, Locog, in delivering security at all 2012 venues by funding extra security staff as well as specialist search and screening equipment. | However, it said further funding was being made available to support Olympic organisers, Locog, in delivering security at all 2012 venues by funding extra security staff as well as specialist search and screening equipment. |
| Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson said: "The Government and Locog have now undertaken detailed analysis of the numbers of security staff required to protect the more than 100 Olympic venues. | Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson said: "The Government and Locog have now undertaken detailed analysis of the numbers of security staff required to protect the more than 100 Olympic venues. |
| "As a result, to ensure a safe and secure Games, they have revised the numbers of trained staff required. We are therefore investing additional funds in providing nearly 24,000 venue security personnel plus specialist security equipment. | "As a result, to ensure a safe and secure Games, they have revised the numbers of trained staff required. We are therefore investing additional funds in providing nearly 24,000 venue security personnel plus specialist security equipment. |
| He also said the opening and closing ceremonies were a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase the very best of our country to four billion people around the world and have a potential advertising value of £2-5 billion". | He also said the opening and closing ceremonies were a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase the very best of our country to four billion people around the world and have a potential advertising value of £2-5 billion". |
| "To get the ceremonies absolutely right, and boost the Games business and tourism legacy, we are putting additional investment into our ceremonies," he said. | "To get the ceremonies absolutely right, and boost the Games business and tourism legacy, we are putting additional investment into our ceremonies," he said. |
| As part of the re-allocation of funds, an extra £25m has also been set aside for campaigns, both in the UK and abroad, to maximise the economic benefits of the Games. | |
| According to the report the final cost of the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA) construction, infrastructure and transport programme is £6.865m, down £394m since July. Including funding for transformation work, this rises to £7.189 billion, which is down £61m. | |
| 'Fury' over plans | |
| The Olympics is set to be one of the UK's biggest security tests - a 64-day operation, from when the Olympic village opens on 13 July to the time the Paralympic village closes on 12 September, covering 34 venues across Britain. | |
| Last month Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said ground-to-air missiles would be deployed to protect the 2012 Olympics if deemed operationally necessary, after reports emerged the US was unhappy with the UK's security plans. | |
| The Guardian had claimed the US was furious with security plans and wanted to send up to 1,000 of its own people, including 500 FBI agents, although the US Embassy's Charge d'Affaires later rejected the story and said she had "the utmost confidence in the British government's arrangements to ensure safety and security for the Games". | |
| Security personnel - which will be drawn from private firm G4S, the military and Locog volunteers - will be operational at more than 100 competition and non-competition venues across the UK. |