Survey casts doubts over delivery of Olympics

The majority of the British public remain highly sceptical about the country’s ability to successfully deliver the London Olympics in 2012 to the current budget, according to a survey carried out by Pentacle.

The survey, of over 400 people, reveals that 62 per cent are ‘certain’ the site will not be built to budget, with a further 27 per cent not confident that it will. Only one person in ten is confident about the Olympics’ financing.

The results cast wider doubt on the perceived ability of the public sector to deliver large-scale projects in the UK. Ninety per cent of the public believe that Britain’s public authorities are ‘incapable’ of estimating the cost of major public works, whilst 84 per cent think that the government has not been ‘straight with the public’ about the required level of funding.

Fifty-two per cent feel that poor project management by those involved is the single biggest reason for the escalation in costs since Britain won its bid last summer, with 70 per cent arguing a head contractor should be appointed on a fixed-price contract to ‘ring-fence’ further public liability. This challenges the existing organisation of the project, by which the central Olympic Delivery Authorityhas used a number of suppliers to create flexibility.