Organisation
Funding / costs
Transport
Olympic Park
The games
Education
Culture
Paralympics
London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act
Benefits - for the community
Benefits - for sport
Benefits - for the country
Athlete training camps
Environment / sustainability
Security
Our full volunteering programme will be launched in 2006, but you can register your interest now at www.london2012.com. We will keep you in touch with the programme as it develops.
Tickets are not available yet, but the London Organising Committee will advertise them nearer to the event. With 9.6 million tickets to be offered for sale across the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we are determined to make the Games accessible to as many people as possible. Over 4 million tickets will be priced at £20 or less, with those for athletics starting at £15.
All kinds of businesses, large and small, will be needed to deliver the London 2012 Games. Most of the contracts will not be let until after 2008. These tendering opportunities will be publicised by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG). Information about these contracts and other related issues can be found at the business section of the LOCOG website.
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) is organising the 2012 Games. It will concentrate on the actual delivery of the event, with a separate Olympic Delivery Authority managing the Government's and the Mayor's interests in the project. This will be fully accountable to the Government and the Mayor for managing the public money that will be spent on getting the venues and infrastructure ready well in time for 2012.
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) is already running with an interim staff. Over the next six months, full-time appointments will be made to deliver the Games. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) was created by the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006, which received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006. See also: London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act
The three key stakeholders in the London 2012 Olympic Games – the Mayor, the Government and the BOA – share ultimate responsibility for delivering a successful Games. Structures are already in place to allow them to fulfill that responsibility – the LOCOG and ODA will be managed by their own boards on a day-to-day basis, with the overall strategy agreed with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The Government and Mayor have agreed a public funding package of £2.375 billion, which will be found from London Council Tax, the London Development Agency and Lottery funding. While the budgets and estimates for the project do not call for any increase in funding, the Government has guaranteed it will act as the ultimate guarantor of the construction costs of the infrastructure, venues and facilities, necessary for holding the Games.
London Council Tax bills will rise by about 38p per week (based on a typical Band D property) as a contribution to the funding of the 2012 Olympic Games. This is a reasonable contribution for Londoners to make as they will inevitably enjoy most of the benefits of the Games, including the use of the remaining Olympic facilities and the Lower Lea Valley Park. Other benefits will include substantial upgrades of the transport system and increase in the availability of affordable housing stock. However, everybody in the UK will have an opportunity to contribute towards the funding of the Games through the National Lottery.
We have gone over the financial plans for the Games in detail to ensure the project is properly costed, that the money is there and that there is enough in the budget to allow for unforeseen contingencies. We are as confident as we can be that the project will be delivered on time and to budget.
The public funding for the Games is being made via a partnership with the Mayor. This is fair and sensible. We were convinced that there was a better way to fund the Olympic Games than through general taxation – and have devised a package which demonstrates that it can be done.
This method was chosen after a hard-headed assessment. Lottery funding is intended to enable things to happen which simply would not take place if they depended on Government funding alone. Helping to fund the Olympic Games is a very good example of what the Lottery was set up to do.
Funding for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will not only come from the Lottery. It will also come from London council tax and from the London Development Agency.
The Government and the National Lottery Commission, the independent regulator of the National Lottery, are confident that the Olympic Lottery games will raise the £750 million required for the public funding package. Indeed, latest estimates from Camelot, the National Lottery operator, are that Olympic Lottery games might raise more than the £750 million required.
In the unlikely event that the Olympic Lottery games did not reach the target, it would be possible to make up the shortfall from the National Lottery Distribution Fund.
The "Go for Gold" Olympic Games scratch cards went on sale on 28 July 2005 and are already proving a great success.
The Government and the London Development Agency (LDA) both provided £10 million to London 2012 to support the bid. London 2012 also raised some £9 million of private funding.
In addition, a further £10 million was been made available by the Government and LDA to fund projects which supported and developed the bid.
London will deliver outstanding transport for athletes and spectators alike. Our objective is to encourage all spectators to use public transport, walk or cycle to the Games.
Every working day London's transport systems handle some 20 million journeys, nearly 11 million of which are made on public transport. We will make best use of this extensive infrastructure for the 2012 Olympic Games.
On average, use of public transport falls by 20% in August when the Games will be held, whereas the Games are expected to add only 5% extra demand.
The Olympic Park will be the best connected in history with 10 rail lines and three stations serving the Park (Sydney had just one rail line); a train carrying spectators will arrive on average every 15 seconds. By 2010 these 10 lines will be able to transport 240,000 people per hour.
Nine lines are in operation now and the 10th, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), will begin operation in early 2007. The CTRL will provide the Olympic Javelin rail service – connecting the Olympic Park with King's Cross/St Pancras, the heart of London, in just seven minutes.
The Olympic Delivery Authority, working in conjunction with Transport for London and the Department for Transport, is responsible for meeting the transport requirements that will be generated by the 2012 Games.
As set out in the Candidate File presented to the International Olympic Committee, we have budgeted £690 million for specific Olympic-related transport schemes. These schemes are in addition to the Mayor's £10bn, five year investment strategy for London transport systems which is taking place regardless of the award of the Games.
90% of the venues will be served by three or more modes of public transport, ensuring quick and easy access. For example, the Olympic Javelin service will connect King's Cross station to the Olympic Park, with a journey time of just seven minutes.
Each spectator ticket will include travel within London on the entire London public transport system on the day of the event, through to 4 a.m. next morning.
What has been achieved since London was awarded the Games in July 2005?
- The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Bill has received Royal Assent, formally creating the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), which will be responsible for constructing the infrastructure for the Olympics;
- The ODA Chairman and Chief Executive have been appointed, and the ODA Board has been announced and met for the first time on 27 April 2006.
- The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) extension to City Airport opened on time and on budget in December 2005;
- Tunnelling has commenced on the next extension of the DLR to Woolwich Arsenal;
- The Kings Cross Eastern Concourse and Northern Ticket Hall now have agreed funding and will be completed in time for the Olympics;
- Detailed design work for improvements to Stratford Regional Station has commenced;
- The Jubilee line 7th car upgrade was delivered on time, increasing capacity by 17%
Some of the most successful Olympic Games so far staged have used the Olympic Park concept, based on the idea of a compact Games. We also took note of what the athletes themselves told us as part of the bidding process - that an Olympic Park concept enhanced their experience of competing. The concept means we leave behind a significant green space – the Lower Lea Valley Park. This will be the largest new urban park in Europe for 150 years.
We recognise that the construction programme for the Olympic Park will require excellent project management. Some key steps have already been taken:
- 80% of the land is already in public ownership and powers exist to acquire the rest
- Outline planning permission has already been obtained for the Olympic Park
- A detailed timeline for the construction of the Olympic Park has been developed
- Initial contracts for underground powerlines have already been awarded and work is in progress
- Three further contracts are expected to be awarded before the end of 2005
- An outline design for the Aquatic Centre has already been agreed
The location of venues was driven by the use of the Olympic Park concept and by the desire to stimulate the regeneration of East London. The International Olympic Committee demand a compact Games and therefore we had to ensure, as far as possible, that all venues were close to the Olympic Park and readily accessible.
We will use existing world-class facilities in both London and the rest of the UK, notably for football and sailing. The football venues will be at Newcastle, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham and Glasgow, with the sailing at Weymouth. Other venues include Broxbourne, Eton Dorney and Weald Country Park.
All the new Olympic venues are being designed and built in the first instance for the 2012 Games. We have committed to the International Olympic Committee that all venues will be completed well in time for the Games and available, in advance, for Test Events. As soon as the Games are over, all of the venues will be converted for use by local communities and elite athletes
The facilities that are to remain after the Games will be designed, built and operated with a view to ensuring their long-term viability. The Olympic Stadium will be scaled down after 2012 (reduced seating capacity) to provide an outstanding venue for sports like athletics – giving us the chance to host other major events in years to come. The Mayor has also made it clear that there will be funding available to ensure that those venues remain open, providing great facilities for Londoners for decades to come. In addition, five swimming and diving pools and four indoor arenas will be dismantled and relocated to other areas in the UK.
Some demonstration sports were included in the Olympic Games up until 1992. The host city organising committee integrated the demonstration sports into the official Olympic Sports programme. However, this created a great deal of extra work and costs and at the IOC 95th session in 1989 it was decided that demonstration sports should be eliminated as from 1996 Atlanta.
Ordinarily a sport may only be added to the programme seven years before the date of the Games and this is done by the IOC Session. There will be no new sports for the 2012 Games.
In addition, at its session in July 2005, the IOC decided to remove softball and baseball from the schedule.
How will we ensure that our athletes win medals?The Government is committed to maintaining the level of lottery funding to elite athletes at the same level as provided in the run up to the Athens Games. This investment helped lead to our best ever medal haul, in terms of medals won, since the Antwerp Games in 1920. It was also the greatest ever performance by a British Paralympic team. In the four-year Olympic cycle leading up to Athens 2004, approximately £100 million was invested in support for our Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Will the Government amend firearms legislation to allow British target shooting competitors to practice for and compete at the 2012 Olympic Games?
There are no current plans to amend Home Office legislation which bans the private possession of handguns. This legislation was introduced in 1997 and 1998 following the terrible school murders in Dunblane.
There are currently seventeen disciplines in the Olympic Games within shooting, three of which are affected by the current firearm legislation. They are 25m pistol (30+30 shots) Women; 25m rapid fire pistol (60 shots) Men and 50m pistol (60 shots) Men. The current legislation means that target shooting sports using prohibited pistols can no longer be carried out or developed in Britain and that competitors wishing to practice for these events must do so abroad.
In terms of London's ability to host the Olympic and Paralympic shooting events special arrangements will be put in place to allow pistol shooting events at the 2012 Olympic Games as happened at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, in Manchester. These arrangements will include a warm up event if this is deemed necessary. This is possible because when the legislation was going through Parliament, a commitment was made that favourable consideration would be given to allowing pistol shooting events to take place should any major multi-event Games be held in this country.
The Home Secretary has powers to allow this to happen and has already indicated that these powers will be activated.
The message of the Olympic Games is a simple but powerful one: that we can all be inspired to succeed. Now London has been awarded the 2012 Games, this message has more relevance than ever.
With our National School Sport strategy we are now well on the way to ensuring that 75% of our children do at least two hours of high quality PE and sport per week by 2006, and 85% by 2008. We are also ensuring that children can take up competitive opportunities at whatever age or level, and the most talented are able to develop and sharpen their skills through our investment in Competition Managers (from September 2005).
London 2012 has created a schools Assembly Pack to promote the ideas of being inspired to achieve your personal best, set new standards, learn together and support the efforts of others through a series of images and ideas. The primary schools pack aims to encourage and motivate children all over the UK to focus on their own personal goals and development.
The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) is working closely with us and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOGOG) to develop this area further.
A young ambassadors programme (using the Olympic volunteer scheme) has been designed to encourage involvement of children from the most deprived areas of the UK. (For more information, see the DfES website
The 2012 Games will showcase our vibrant cultural life to an international audience. A four-year cultural festival will start after the 2008 Beijing Games, continuing until the end of the Games in 2012. The cultural festival, known as the Cultural Olympiad, will be nationwide and will celebrate the diverse cultures in the UK through events, exhibitions and educational activities. This will include the Olympic torch relay, where the Olympic flame will pass through ever town and city in the UK before making it's way to London for the opening ceremony of the Games.
Cultural events already planned in London include:
- During the Games there will be major cultural events across London to accompany the sporting competition. These include:
Major public spaces like Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and parks across London will host live music, comedy, fireworks and large screens showing Olympic action
- The Olympic Park will have a similar format for athletes when not performing
- Accompanying festival of world youth culture
- Month-long Olympic Proms to coincide with the Games
- Royal Shakespeare Company and the Globe to host a series of International productions
- London's museums to host "Five Rings" exhibition drawn from five continents
- Five-day Olympic Carnival (inspired by the Notting Hill Carnival)
Both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will make best use of the UK's creative talents. The Opening ceremony will re-affirm the belief of Baron Pierre de Coubertin (the founder of the Modern Olympic Movement) in the power of sport and culture. The ceremonies will be themed around links across water – each nation will cross a bridge spanning an electronic flow of flags from all competing nations. The Closing Ceremony will acknowledge Londoners, the Games organisers and the athletes before handing over the Games to the next host city.
Finally, a gift of friendship will be given to the next host city and London's theatrical expertise will be placed at their disposal.
Yes. The Paralympic Games will use many of the same facilities but will run at a later date, similar to the arrangements that were used at the Athens Olympic Games.
The GB Paralympic Team has a fabulous track record. The team for Athens comprised 170 athletes who competed in 15 sports. They won 35 gold medals, 30 silvers and 29 bronzes. The medal tally was enough to ensure Britain finished 2nd in the overall medal table behind China. The team also came 2nd in the medal table in Sydney (behind Australia) and 4th in Atlanta in 1996.
The biggest Paralympic sports event in the world will be coming to London providing an outstanding showcase for disabled sport – both in Britain and abroad. That is why UK Sport has increased funding for our Paralympic Sports in advance of the Beijing Paralympic Games.
The Government is in discussion with UK Sport, BOA and BPA about the level of public funding required to ensure that the Paralympic Team performs to its full potential in 2012.
The London 2012 Paralympic Games will be the biggest Paralympic sports event in the world, providing an outstanding showcase for disabled sport – both in Britain and abroad. We are confident that the fantastic support we will see across all the sports of the Olympic Games will continue into the Paralympics, in a country that pioneered disabled sport. London hosted the first ever Paralympic Games in 1948, and more than 10.8 million people watched the BBC coverage of the Athens Paralympic Games.
The purpose of London 2012 is to deliver accessible and inclusive designs for all facilities, to maximise media coverage and strengthen the Paralympic Movement. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are the pinnacle of every athlete's career. London 2012 will strive to provide conditions that enable the athletes to compete in an environment of excellence, friendship and enjoyment.
There will be impressive new facilities with inclusive design principles built into them from the outset. London's transport system will have the same accessibility, with the capital's 21,000 taxis and entire Docklands Light Railway (DLR) network fully accessible to people with disabilities. All of London's 8,800 buses will be fully accessible by 2012.
London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act
The Act does three main things:
- It sets up the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to manage the Government's interest in the Olympic project:
o The ODA is clearly accountable for public money spent on getting venues and infrastructure ready on time and on budget;
o The ODA is provided with planning and land acquisition powers, along with specific transport powers which give the ODA prime responsibility for co-ordinating the Olympic Transport Plan;
o The ODA also has the power to ensure the provision of necessary services such as street cleaning and lighting around venues during the Games.
- Grants the Mayor of London (who is a signatory to the Host City Contract) Olympic-specific powers:
o These powers enable the Greater London Authority and Mayor to fulfil all obligations to help prepare for and stage the Games.
- Ensures that we meet the commitments given in London's bid on how the Games, and the Olympic environment, will be managed:
o In line with International Olympic Committee requirements, the Act regulates commercial exploitation of the Games. Olympic symbols and intellectual property are given additional legal protection. Controls will be placed on advertising and street trading around venues. Ticket touting is made a criminal offence for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
In addition, Regional Development Agencies have a new specific purpose of preparing for the Games.
Read the full text of the Act, along with the Explanatory Notes at the Office of Public Sector Information's website
The Act received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006, and some of its provisions (including those that set up the ODA, outlaw ambush marketing and give the Mayor of London Olympic-specific powers) came into force on that date.
Other provisions in the Act will be brought into force by orders made by the Secretary of State. This includes the power to make regulations about advertising and street trading around Games venues. It is anticipated that these regulations will be made much closer to 2012. You should refer to the Explanatory Notes for a compete guide as to which provisions came into force on Royal Assent and which will be commenced by order.
The measures in the Act are designed to enable us to deliver a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012. Many are time-limited - once the Games are over, they will no longer be relevant, so will cease to apply.
Exactly when they cease will vary depending on the nature of the power.
For example, the restrictions on advertising and trading will cease to apply five days after the Games. So will the Olympic Transport Plan.
The Act gives the Secretary of State power to dissolve the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and to rescind the Mayor's Olympic-specific powers by order. We expect such orders to be made once the Games are over and once the ODA has made the necessary arrangements for the legacy use of venues, although the exact date cannot be predicted at this stage.
The Act provides for restrictions on marketing in five ways:
- Regulations on advertising in the vicinity of Games venues
- Regulations on street trading in the vicinity of Games venues
- Restrictions on ticket touting
- Clarification of protection for Olympic symbols
- Specific restrictions on associations with the London Games
top
Regulations on advertising in the vicinity of Games venues
As a result of the International Olympic Committee's requirements, we need to be able to regulate advertising in and around Games venues. The IOC requires that venues are clean from advertising and that advertising around venues is controlled. This is in order to protect what the IOC term the 'look and feel' of Games venues and to prevent over-commercialisation of the Games.
The advertising regulations will restrict advertising in the immediate vicinity of Olympic venues – likely to be around 200 – 300m. Regulations will be in force for a maximum of two weeks prior to the opening ceremony, up to a maximum of five days after the Paralympics closing ceremony. In practice, we expect regulations to be in place for much shorter periods around venues that are only used for a few days, such as for football in Cardiff. A draft of these regulations will be published around 2010 and we will consult on that draft.
Regulations on street trading in the vicinity of Games venues
Similar to the regulations on advertising, we must control street trading around Olympic venues as a result of IOC requirements. The Olympic Delivery Authority, in consultation with local licensing authorities, will grant authorisations for trading in the vicinity of Games venues. The regulations will be in place for the shortest time possible and in a tightly defined area. These regulations will be published in draft form around 2010 for consultation.
Ticket touting
The Act makes it an offence to sell, or to offer to sell, a ticket for the London Olympics in a public place or in the course of business. Prevention of ticket touting is a requirement of the IOC that we agreed to upon signing the Host City Contract.
Clarification of protection for Olympic symbols
The Act updates the Olympic Symbols etc. (Protection) Act 1995 to clarify existing protections and extend them to the Paralympics. The Act also, in one area, provides extra protection for Olympic (and Paralympic) intellectual property.
Specific restrictions on associations with the London Games
The Act creates a new intellectual property right specifically related to the 2012 Games – the London Olympics association right. The right makes it an offence for a person to create - in the course of trade - a commercial, contractual or structural association between a good or service and the London Olympics, unless they are authorised to do so.
This means that only those authorised can associate themselves commercially with the Games. We have created this right as a result of the International Olympic Committee's requirements to prevent unauthorised commercial exploitation of the Games. The right provides protection to sponsors, and ensures that their investment in the Games will not be hijacked by non-sponsors. The association right came into force on 30 March 2006 and will last until 31 December 2012.
Where can I find out more?
Yes. The athletes village will be converted into 3,600 apartments after the Games and the London Development Agency (LDA) estimates that a total of 9,000 new homes will finally be available in the Olympic Park – many of them affordable to local people. This will create a desirable and socially diverse new residential area in a community transformed by the Games.
The future plans for the Lower Lea Valley area include major regeneration of one of the most deprived areas of the capital and the country. It is expected that this will release the enormous potential of the Lower Lea Valley and create a modern 21st century quarter in East London. This will mean jobs leading up to the Games and well beyond as the regeneration evolves. Newham has the youngest population in Europe and potentially the main beneficiaries from the job, housing, health and leisure industries will be a whole generation of young people and children.
The 2012 Olympic Games offer an unprecedented opportunity to put in place comprehensive and innovative programmes for elite sport across a wide range of Olympic and Paralympic sports. Winning the chance to host the 2012 Games will help motivate all agencies involved in elite sport to share, and strive to achieve, a common vision for elite sport success. The legacy of the London Olympic Institute and the enhanced facilities and infrastructure will help support the development of elite athletes within the context of the strategies of the individual sports National Governing Bodies.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the Olympic Games boosts the existing strategies for grassroots sport. From 2002 to 2006 £1.2 billion is being invested to improve sport in schools, assist amateur sports clubs and improve coaching and talent development. Further funding will come from the New Opportunities Fund to improve community activities across the UK – in total £100 million.
Five new major sports facilities will remain in the Lower Lea Valley – the aquatics centre, velopark, hockey arena, indoor sports arena and the main stadium (reduced to 25,000 seats) as well as the canoe centre at Broxbourne. We aim to leave behind world-class sports facilities which meet a clearly defined sporting need and become the heart of existing communities.
Hosting the Olympic Games will provide an opportunity to realise huge benefits for the whole of the UK – in social, economic and sporting terms. The UK must work hard to secure and maximise those benefits. These include:
- Procurement opportunities for UK companies
Recent Olympic Games have demonstrated the wealth of opportunities for the host nation's businesses
- Boost to UK tourism
The Games will have an estimated global TV audience of 4 billion people, providing a unique opportunity to showcase London and the rest of the UK. Visitors to the Games will naturally want to see what else the UK has on offer
- Test events
The International Olympic Committee requires a host nation to carry out test events leading up to the Games and International Sports Federations are keen to stage events in the Olympic host countries – allowing their athletes to acclimatise in advance of the Games
- Inspiration
The Games will be an inspiration for the whole nation to adopt healthier lifestyles and help towards making us a more active nation
We are establishing a Nations and Regions Group which will bring together all the major local and national agencies and partners to develop strategies and plans to ensure that the whole of the UK benefits from the Games. These plans will ensure communities across the UK can benefit from all of the opportunities that hosting the Olympic Games affords.
Drawing on the Olympic ideal, London hosting the Games will help promote a national strategy to highlight the joys and benefits of physical activity. It is hoped that greater participation in these areas will contribute towards a reduction in obesity within the population and reduce ill-health amongst the poorest communities.
Experience from previous Olympic Games show that many countries establish pre-Games Training Camps within the host nation well in advance of the event. The Sydney Olympic Games demonstrated this well, with 39 countries setting up facilities. The UK is in a strong position to attract visiting teams with our excellent sporting infrastructure and facilities.
We will work closely with national sports councils, the London Organising Committee (LOCOG) and the British Olympic Association (BOA) and all parts of the UK through the Nations and Regions Group to ensure that the potential benefits of hosting training camps can be maximised.
There will be opportunities to bid to host pre-Olympic Games preparation camps around the country, for foreign teams taking part.
These will be the 'greenest' Games in history because:
- The Games will reclaim derelict, unused and contaminated land in the Lower Lea Valley and turn it into an environmental zone with new green spaces and revived wetlands. The area will be the biggest new park London has seen since Victorian times
- All work carried out before, during and after the London 2012 games will minimise waste pollution and the impact on London's wildlife habitats. The Games will be sustainable – ensuring that resources and the environment will be protected and conserved for future generations
- No permanent buildings will be erected on London's prized green spaces such as hackney Marshes and London Fields
- London aims to hold a totally "car-free" event in 2012. Only disabled drivers would be allowed car access to Olympic venues
Our Police and intelligence agencies are at the forefront of the international effort to combat terrorism and they will do everything in their power to deliver a safe and secure Games in 2012. Officers from the Metropolitain Police played a leading role in keeping the Athens Olympic Games secure and peaceful – and did a great job. That experience has added to the knowledge that our police already had, built-up over decades. A string of major events have passed off without problems, whether it be Euro 96 and the Commonwealth Games or annual events such as the London Marathon and football internationals..
|
