London 2012 legacy warning

Responding to the claims of MPs in a post-Games review, the London Legacy Development Corporation said it will not jeopardise the "long-term legacy" of the Olympic Park by rushing to repay its debts.

Also responding to the Public Accounts Committee's review, the Culture department said there are "many lessons learned" from London 2012 which the Government was "sharing for future projects".

The embarrassing sight of empty seats at London 2012 and the availability of tickets for the general public was another concern raised by MPs in their post-Games review.The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was "a shame that so few tickets for popular events were available to the UK public".

Only 51% of tickets for the men's 100 metres final were available to the British public, and less than half of tickets for the track cycling, MPs said.

"International sports bodies and media organisations wield a lot of power and it cannot be easy for individual event organisers to push back at their demands," the PAC said.

"But," it added, "Learning from the experience of the London Games, the Government, possibly alongside other governments and event organisers, should challenge demands for large numbers of accredited seats."

A post-Games review from MPs has raised doubts that £2bn worth of London 2012 funding from the National Lottery will be repaid.

The donation ensured the Lottery would be reimbursed from future returns from developments at the Olympic Park, which was developed using the public funds it boosted.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was "not clear" that the Lottery's interest is being "adequately promoted and protected" by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), which is in charge of securing the economic future of the Park.

The MPs suggest the Government should develop "a mechanism" to ensure the LLDC's decisions are transparent and prioritise the interests of the Lottery.

They said current projections suggest the first repayment to the Lottery will not be until the mid-2020s.

The volunteering legacy from London 2012 is "in danger of fizzling out", MPs have warned in a post-Games review.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairwoman Margaret Hodge said the highly-praised volunteers did a "fantastic job" last summer.

But she warned: "The Cabinet Office must demonstrate that it is not missing the boat so that there is a lasting volunteering legacy both within sport and beyond."

She noted the "extraordinarily successful" Games triggered "a mood of confidence and pride (that) swept the nation - and a feeling that this country can get big projects right."

But MPs said venue security was a "sorry episode" when private security firm G4S failed to recruit enough guards in time.

They said it showed "poor planning and then poor delivery by the private sector" as the scale of venue security was massively underestimated forcing the armed forces and police to step in.

A group of MPs have issued a warning to the public and private sector to protect the legacy of London 2012, from maintaining the volunteering spirit to ensuring that a £2bn Lottery donation is repaid.

The Public Accounts Committee said lessons can still be learned from the Games despite the country's "undoubted triumph" in hosting the Olympics and Paralympics.

The MPs said too few tickets were made available to the public for the box office Olympic events and described the pre-Games G4S security fiasco as a "sorry episode" and "notable blemish" on Britain's hosting duties.

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