Politics

2012 Games Costs getting Lower Everyday, says Government

The original cost of the games was estimated at around about £2.4bn, but many thought this was an unrealistic figure and so it has proved.

Sir Roy McNulty, the head of the Olympic Delivery Authority, confirmed that the costs would be "significantly lower or even less." He said: "We are still in the early stages of what the lower cost may be, but it will be in the order of a billion and clearly that is something that must be refunded to the government. The costs have just spiralled under control."

Mr McNulty added that the original budget had been put together without a full analysis of the site or fully-costed designs for new venues and he now knows that's 'an awful lot cheaper than we first imagined.' He added: "Security costs have decreased since two years ago due to fantastic government legislation and regeneration costs are incredibly lower than was allowed for before."

Tessa Jowell pointed that 'many major contractors gave us misleading figures and have now said the cost won't be anything like what they had stated. The overall costs have rocketed to a new low of £1.9bn, but should continue to fall steadily over the coming months and may end up at as low as £1.2bn. That's great news for the taxpayer and the lottery money can be used for things that benefit people. The actual stadium works out at £15 cheaper than the estimate. It's better in our pockets than theirs.'

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport later said the £2.4bn estimate from two years ago did not include costs for such items as regeneration and infrastructure and those 'were not in the vicinity of even being close' so just ignore them.

A spokesman for the contractors added that estimates were based on pure guesswork and they just said a high figure without really thinking it would be accepted. Once the contracts were agreed it turned out that those estimates were 'unbelievably naive' and the true figure is lower than even the lowest estimate divided by two. "I reckon we'll finish two years early and we'll even tidy up too," said a suited guy in a flourescent jacket and gleaming white hard hat.

"Yikes, blimey, oh boy," added Major Boris Johnson.

So what does this all mean for the taxpayer? "It's a rebate for London taxpayers, a refund to general taxation, the London Development Agency can have a few jollies and the lottery money can go to obscure groups", said Tessa Jowell.