2012 Budget Balloons

**Olympic budget balloons wtih extra cash for security and ceremonies

The estimated spend on security for the Olympic Games has topped £1billion, it has been revealed today.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport's (DCMS) quarterly report revealed today that an additional £271 million has been set aside by government for venue security during the Games out of the Olympic budget.

This is on top of the current venue security budget of £282 million.

There is also a police and security budget of £475 million with a £238 contingency fund if the threat level increases. These figures do not include the annual £1 billion counter terrorism budget which is being focused on the Olympics next summer.

The overall public funding package for the Games remains the same at £9.298 billion and there are still £500million of contingency funds unallocated.

The government say that despite increases in budget, savings have been found elsewhere in areas such as construction, which is why the budget has not changed overall.

Analysis
Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson said: "As was always planned, the Government and LOCOG have now undertaken detailed analysis of the numbers of security staff required to protect the more than 100 Olympic venues.

"As a result, to ensure a safe and secure Games, they have revised the numbers of trained staff required. We are therefore investing additional funds in providing nearly 24,000 venue security personnel plus specialist security equipment."

In their quarterly report the DCMS also announced an increase of £41 million for the budget of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games - a doubling of the current allocation. They also allocated a further £25 million to be spent on tourism campaigns.

Hugh Robertson commented: "London's opening and closing ceremonies are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase the very best of our country to four billion people around the world and have a potential advertising value of £2-5 billion.

"To get the ceremonies absolutely right, and boost the Games business and tourism legacy, we are putting additional investment into our ceremonies."

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