Olympics Minister Says Taxpayers Will Not Pay For London Security Failures

(ATR) British Olympics minister Hugh Robertson says that "not a penny more" of public money will be spent on filling the gaps in security left by contractor G4S.

Robertson was speaking Wednesday to reporters at the London Media Center about the budget of London 2012 at a scheduled news conference.

The message was the same as that back in May when the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced that there was $744 million left in uncommitted contingency.

Robertson emphasized that none of it would be spent on additional security in the wake of the G4S's failure to deliver enough trained staff.

"We are absolutely clear we are not going to spend a penny more of taxpayer’s money on security for the Games," he said. "We are in the process of activating the penalty clauses in the [private security] contract there to make sure that the taxpayer is not exposed for the failures of G4S.

"Not a penny of the remaining contingency will be used to make up for the mistakes of the last few days by G4S."

The Olympics and sports minister also confirmed that the penalty clauses do affect the entire G4S contract, including the $89 million management fee – despite G4S chief executive Nick Buckles saying Tuesday that he intends to still claim the fee.

Robertson added that it was always the government's intention to have a mix of police, private security and armed forces present at the Games, though the mix had changed recently. He maintained his absolute confidence that London would "deliver a safe and secure Games".

It was also reported Wednesday that the opening ceremony had been cut in length, but Robertson was quick to dismiss any suggestion that this decision was to do with security concerns.

"The decision to cut the length of the opening ceremony has nothing to do with G4S and the security issue," he said. "It’s all about cutting the length to finish between 12 and 12:30 p.m. so people can get home because the last train from central London leaves at 2:30 a.m."

He added: "This is absolutely a transport concern, not a security one in any way."

The briefing also revealed that the budget contingency would remain in place until after the Games when discussions will be held to decide whether it needs to be spent on anything or returned to the government.

Reported in London by Christian Radnedge

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