Cost of Olympics goes down - nah, just kidding

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. 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, still does not include a revised security bill or regeneration costs, is still far below the £8bn some critics say is likely.

Ms Jowell told the Commons culture, media and sport committee the rise was partly due to a doubling in the price of steel and also a decision to revise transport costs to take into account inflation in the years to 2012.

This is inept stuff, even for Tessa who is notoriously careless with her own finances (see earlier Blog entry). Lets consider these excuses

- The price of steel has increased – In the midst of a world construction boom, who does this surprise?
- Inflation in transport costs was not taken into account – are you kidding me? Resign
- VAT was not taken into account – this is first year cost accounting, and you’d fail your course if you hadn’t allowed for VAT
- Revised security bill – what’s changed between now and July 6, the climate is identical
- Regeneration costs – Loads of this simply wasn’t accounted for in the initial cost estimate of £2.4B
All total crap. The frustrating thing is, this was utterly predictable, just like Wembley, Scottish parliamant building, Welsh assembly building, just like the Dome. Lessons have not been learned and no-one will be held to account. If you are in government, you are beyond accountability, regardless of how much you screw up.