London Olympics Bill

I shall leave the Minister to comment on the Government amendments and concentrate on amendment No. 15. All hon. Members will be aware that from the beginning we have wanted every nation and region of this country to participate in and benefit from the Olympic and Paralympic games of 2012. We appear to have done much business in Committee on 18 October, as every reference I have made to Committee has been from that date. It is therefore appropriate to cite the Minister’s comments on this issue:"““The 2012 Olympic competitions will take place across the country, and every region will have the opportunity to benefit and to capitalise on them.””—[Official Report, Standing Committee D, 18 October 2005; c. 138.]" We all agree with that. In Loughborough, Bath and Sheffield, we are all looking forward to all the nations and regions benefiting from the games. For those of us who live in England, the regional development agencies will have a crucial role to play in helping to facilitate the participation of the regions and sub-regions. Therefore, nobody would be surprised to see that clause 35 states:"““The purposes of a regional development agency (listed in section 4 of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 (c. 45)) shall include the purpose of preparing for the London Olympics.””" That is right and proper and I am delighted that it is the case. However, hon. Members who have studied the Bill will note that the clause also states:"““But a regional development agency shall not do anything by virtue only of subsection (1) except at the request of the Olympic Delivery Authority.””" In other words, the RDAs, which should play a key role in helping the regions and sub-regions to prepare for the Olympic games, will be able to do so only if they are authorised by the ODA. The ODA will have an iron grip on RDAs’ ability to prepare for the Olympics. The RDAs have become increasingly concerned by clause 35, largely because—I confess—I kept drawing it to their attention and asking what they thought about it. They believe that it could limit their scope in preparing for the games. They are concerned about the possible confusion over the relative powers and leverages of the respective parties involved. They are concerned about the perceived leadership role given to the ODA over regional involvement in the games, instead of a co-ordinating role. The RDAs are also concerned about the potential funding consequences if the ODA asks them to do things outside their normal corporate plans or funding limits. I have no doubt that the Minister will assure me that the RDAs need not be concerned, but I hope that he will spell out in some detail how he sees the relationship between the RDAs and the ODA operating. We already know that the RDAs are working actively to promote participation and involvement in the games and I hope that the Minister will reassure me that that work will not be put in jeopardy. If the RDAs are to be in some way limited by a body, should it be the ODA? The ODA is largely responsible for the major infrastructure work and transport plans, and in some parts of the country the RDAs will be involved. The South West of England Regional Development Agency, for example, will be involved in the infrastructure in Weymouth, where the sailing will take place. It may also be involved in work around the beautiful city of Bath, because of our potential involvement. But the RDAs will want to be involved in far more than the necessary structural work. LOCOG is the other body with a crucial role to play and hon. Members who did not have the chance to participate in our deliberations in Committee may not know where it fits in on the wonderful diagrams that we received from the Minister. LOCOG will have a nations and regions sub-committee, led by Charles Allen. We all admire the work that he did in helping us to win the bid and I am sure that we will admire the work that he will do chairing that reinvigorated and reformed nations and regions sub-committee. It is interesting to note that when the sub-committee had its first meeting recently, it described its remit. At its inauguration, Charles Allen said that"““this group has a vital role in making sure that nations and regions really benefit from London’s Olympic Bid””." According to a media release, the sub-committee then discussed issues including how best to engage people across the UK in the bid; how the business and sporting benefits could be put in reach for everyone, including tourism, jobs, contracts, sporting events and more; links with arts,. culture and education; auditing the regional facilities available for use in the run-up to the 2012 games; and providing practical advice on applying for and running preparation camps for the games. That is the remit of a LOCOG sub-committee, yet those things sound remarkably like many of the areas of responsibility of RDAs.