29 June 2007
More than £675m raised from the sale of London's Olympic Games sites will be handed back to the National Lottery for heritage activities after 2012, outgoing Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has announced.
But Jowell has retained £410m in funds diverted from heritage activities — such as budgets for museums and galleries — that will part-fund the Olympics but will not be paid back to the National Lottery after the games.
That is likely to irk MPs on the Commons' culture, media and sport select committee, who this week published a report calling for full reimbursement of all cash diverted from cultural activities — using the money from the sale of the post-Games sales of Olympic sites.
The MPs had expressed 'deep concern' that up to £2.2bn in lottery monies would be used to fund the Olympics, including more than £1.1bn in possible heritage cash.
The rest of the lottery's contribution will be raised through specific Olympic projects, such as scratch cards.
Committee chair John Whittingdale MP said that many museums and galleries had flourished since the introduction of lottery funding, but the diversion of finances until 2012 would put the boom at risk.
'It was very clear from the evidence to this inquiry that the [heritage] sector does see the Olympics as a unique opportunity but also sees it as a very serious threat,' his report states.
In response, Jowell and London Mayor Ken Livingstone published a memorandum of understanding on June 27, stating that £675m would be paid back to lottery heritage projects after 2012.
But a spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport told Public Finance: 'We are, however, keeping £410m. Officials took the view that the National Lottery should make a significant contribution to the funding of the games that would not be returned.'
The memorandum also outlines how the London Development Agency will be reimbursed £500m, which will cover the cost of it clearing the Olympic Park.
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