A new report from the London Assembly Budget and Performance
Committee has warned that the London Stadium, the home of West
Ham United, is costing Londoners more than £8 million per year to
run. If West Ham are relegated to the Championship, this cost
could increase by £1.5 million.
The London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee has today
published its findings of its investigation into the finances of
London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), the body set up for
managing the physical legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games.
The report also uncovered that:
- COVID-19 has added substantially to construction and
development costs for LLDC’s flagship regeneration scheme—the
East Bank. While the true cost of COVID-19 to the scheme are
still being modelled, confirmed costs to the taxpayer have
already mushroomed by £151 million since the pandemic began.
Costs were already accelerating prior to COVID-19, increasing by
22 per cent between June 2018, when the Mayor publicly launched
the project, and the 2020-21 Budget
- there is now increasing risk that the LLDC will be unable to
repay all of its anticipated £520 million of borrowing and no
planned date when this will ever change
- there is no Plan B if key organisations like the V&A do
not eventually become tenants due to COVID-19
- despite being an entertainment hub, the park has made less of
a loss during the pandemic because there are no events being put
on
AM, Chairman of the Budget & Performance
Committee, said:
“The London Stadium is a financial burden on Londoners, and
the LLDC must continue doing what it can to drive down the costs
associated with it. In light of COVID-19 and the budget issues
facing the Greater London Authority, our Committee can see where
that money would be better spent.
“Another startling discovery that this investigation
uncovered is that despite the significant annual capital spend on
the Queen Elizabeth Park, the LLDC has decreased in value by £381
million between 2014-15 and 2019-20. This is a ticking time bomb
for the next Mayoralty. Londoners should not be expected to keep
pumping huge sums of money into a development that is not only
dropping in value but doesn’t even begin to help address the
capital’s crippling affordable housing issue, despite having the
means.
“It seems like everything with the LLDC was set up with good
intentions, but somewhere along the way things have been lost.
From expensive white elephant football stadiums to low levels of
affordable housing, it is hard to understand or justify the
continued investment in this project which fails to deliver time
and again. The 2012 Olympics are remembered which such pride and
joy throughout the UK, it is a shame to see that its legacy is
now a burden on Londoners instead of helping to solve some of the
biggest issues facing our capital.”
Notes for Editors:
- The LLDC’s finances during the
COVID-19 crisis report is attached.
-
AM, Chairman the Budget & Performance Committee is
available for interview.
- Find out more about the work of the
Budget
& Performance Committee.
- As well as investigating issues that
matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a
balance on the Mayor.
