London Olympics Bill

The hon. Gentleman is right, in that there is a costing for security. I understand, however, that it is not £20-odd million, but £225 million. Perhaps the Minister can tell us, today or on another occasion, whether that is the total sum or whether, as I suspect, other sums will be available from policing budgets or the overall Home Office budget. I am sure, however, that the Government will keep the matter under constant review. One element of the Bill worries us particularly. We recognise that delivering the games is a huge task, and that additional powers will be needed to meet the challenge. We also understand that we need to grant the Mayor of London Olympic-specific powers allowing him to fulfil his obligations as a signatory to the host city contract. The powers in the Bill are far-reaching, however. Clause 32 is potentially the most controversial measure, as it gives the Greater London Authority—and therefore the Mayor—very wide-ranging powers. In its impact assessment, the Government claim that that there is no risk in the clause because"““power is to be clearly defined and time-limited to address any perceived risk of overspill””." Yet the clause gives the GLA power to ““do anything””"““for the purpose of complying with an obligation of the Mayor of London under the Host City Contract””" or to prepare for and manage the games. It contains no requirement for the GLA to consult the London boroughs that will play such an important role in delivering the Olympics. We fear that the absence of a requirement to consult not only the boroughs that will be the homes of event venues but those that will have to help deliver the transport, street cleaning and logistics to deal with hundreds of thousands of visitors to London will have a major impact on the ability to deliver those services. I hope that the Secretary of State will be willing to work with us to develop a framework allowing proper dialogue and decision making with the London boroughs.