Olympics "£476m under budget"

HangTime · 13 Jun 2012 at 23:38

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18421211

Sounds like a lot of spin to me, maybe I've misinterpreted but from what I can tell even if you ignore the talk about quadrupling the original budget, the fact that there was £2bn contigency included in the updated budget effectively means that it will cost over £1.5bn more than the revised estimate excluding contingency?

Using up >75% of contingency isn't something to crow about in my book, yes technically it has been 'budgeted for' but effectively what it means is that a lot more money was spent than what had been estimated.

ViZioN8 · 13 Jun 2012 at 23:42

I had the exact same thought when I first read it. So much spin its ridiculous.

Using 4 times the original budget shouldn't be seen as a win.

shadow_boxer · 14 Jun 2012 at 00:14

Surely a fail? Spin doctors at it again. No doubt Jeremy Hunt would be hoping to get some of the credit? :rolleyes:

arknor · 14 Jun 2012 at 00:16

The budget was revised upwards after taking into account previously overlooked costs such as VAT,

lol...... incompetent?

helpimcrap · 14 Jun 2012 at 08:07

arknor said:
lol...... incompetent?

oh. my. god. :rolleyes:

We have idiots like this sorting out a worldwide event and they 'overlook' VAT!?!?

edscdk · 14 Jun 2012 at 08:18

but with all hte sold tickets and rights will it make a profit?

arknor · 14 Jun 2012 at 15:24

helpimcrap said:
oh. my. god.

We have idiots like this sorting out a worldwide event and they 'overlook' VAT!?!?

any real company wouldnt be so happy if VAT was overlooked sending the budget spiraling over.

why is it acceptable when its the goverment?

HangTime · 14 Jun 2012 at 19:22

edscdk said:
but with all hte sold tickets and rights will it make a profit?

I suspect not all the revenue from that will go to the same people, the IOC or whatever it is called will no doubt be taking their cut.

Difficult to quantify the benefits, there should in theory be significant boosts to UK industry as a result (especially tourism and the like) leading to a net gain for the country as a whole, but again how the cash is divided up is another matter.

V F · 15 Jun 2012 at 01:24

shadow_boxer said:
Surely a fail? Spin doctors at it again. No doubt Jeremy Hunt would be hoping to get some of the credit?

...and Tessa Jowell? not see her on the Sky News sofa a few nights ago with Kelvin MacKenzie? seething!

semi-pro waster · 16 Jun 2012 at 11:54

arknor said:
any real company wouldnt be so happy if VAT was overlooked sending the budget spiraling over.

why is it acceptable when its the goverment?

I don't know the precise details of the VAT that was overlooked but some items/services are exempt from VAT under certain circumstances and not at other times which means it's not always that simple to get it right. I might agree that it shouldn't have proceeded erroneously but I can understand why it's more complicated than it might first appear.