23 November 2001
In a hard-hitting report published on November 20, the culture, media and sport select committee vilified the 'sorry and convoluted way' the proposed site of the event limped from Wembley to Picketts Lock and finally to Sheffield.
The plug was pulled on the Picketts Lock project in July when its estimated cost neared £100m. The International Association of Athletics Federations is considering Sheffield as a potential host after originally giving the games to London.
Gerald Kaufman, the committee's chairman, said: 'There ought to be a minister responsible for events. The fact is that what you've got is a load of organisations that get in on the act. Some of them have an interest but no responsibility.
'There should be centralised government machinery for all events, not just sporting events. It's clear to me that the only reason that we're going to get the Commonwealth Games right is that the prime minister accepted that there needs to be a central point of responsibility.'
The committee attacked the parts played by former culture secretary Chris Smith, the Football Association and Lottery funding body Sport England.
The report said Smith's decision to remove athletics from plans to rebuild Wembley as 'beyond the proper responsibilities of the then secretary of state' and described it as 'rushed' and 'perverse'.
The cross-party committee branded the £120m Lottery grant given to the Wembley project by Sport England before all elements of the proposal were in place as 'premature' and 'a cavalier and egregious use of public funds'.
It added that scrutiny by the comptroller and auditor general and the chairman of the Public Accounts committee of the 'scandalously inept use of public money' would be 'valuable'.
Kaufman said: 'Although Lottery money is not taxpayers' money, it is public funds. Sport England handed over £120m to the Football Association/Wembley National Stadium Limited before planning permission had even been applied for.
'This £120m was given specifically for a project. That project has not been realised and we don't know if it will ever be realised.'
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