Olympic plan starts to unravel

Last week’s unholy mess saw Tessa Jowell blurt out a £900m increase in the budget to a parliamentary select committee. This was subsequently gainsaid by London Mayor Ken Livingstone. It was a lesson in how not to inspire confidence in the running of the programme.

To pluck out £500m of the increase and put most of it down to rising steel prices was pure farce, and asked more questions than it answered. Any more of this and the clichés that are trotted out from the national media about the poor management skills within our industry, which are largely based on that large football stadium that has gone pear-shaped, will be conclusively proven to those commentators who blame the actors given the lines rather than the scriptwriters who direct them.

One’s fervent hope is that once as accurate a budget as possible is agreed on by the government early next year then the client, the Olympic Delivery Authority, and its delivery partner CLM can be relatively undisturbed by political interference and left to get on with the job. Not surprisingly insiders at CLM are tearing their hair out at the current communications cock-up. Why start throwing figures around when the review of the cost plan is unfinished and the full nature of the business case, which includes receipts as well as expenditure, is still up in the air? “Let’s be transparent over costs when we have something concrete to release” is the message from within.

Getting over this hurdle should be a significant step. But one can’t help having a nagging concern. Can this project fundamentally avoid the curse that strikes so many high-profile major projects, that of the many-headed client? Will the government be able to tie its hands behind its back and not make further changes as the years pass? I have my doubts.