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The ODA's full year accounts are not for the faint hearted

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athletesvillage.jpgThe ODA has published its annual reports and accounts which you can view here and of course it would make for spectacularly scary reading if it wasn't all being underwritten by the government.

The accounts for 2008-09 reveal a deficit of £642,865,000 (2007-08: £269,275,000) which the ODA says has arisen mainly because of the accounting treatment of Grant in Aid which is not matched by income in the Income and Expenditure Account.

Fortunately it says that following discussions with its funders - the DCMS, the Olympic Lottery Distributor (OLD) and the Greater London Authority (GLA) - it is "confident that resources will be secured to enable the ODA to meet its financial and operational objectives".

They are certainly an understanding bunch.

Nevertheless, the sheer magnitude of the deficit shouldn't overshadow just how much is being achieved and the accounts are full of examples of the speed of progress in actually getting the whole thing delivered despite private sector funding having evaporated.

Two things will no doubt stick in the throat. One is the £3.55m in banking and legal costs that the government has had to shell out because, if the ODA is right, Lend Lease's offer of a £375m bank financing package didn't offer value for money.

The second is the fairly hefty remuneration packages being shelled out to Board members and Staff members.

Of course they are no doubt doing a good job and undoubtedly it's a tough job and Emmanuel Adebayor is asking for £170,000 a week to go to Manchester City after all.

But still, a £30.4m staff bill and pay outs of £537,000 to chief executive David Higgins and £297,000 to Ralph Luck, director of property, doesn't have the ring of value for money.

The new introduction this year is a special document showing expenses (no public sector accounts would be complete without them now).

You can click here to see it.

It all seems pretty above board to me although quite how Board member Peter Mason only managed to bill £26 of expenses while director of construction Howard Shiplee chalked up £19,343.63 is beyond me just now.

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This page contains a single entry by Paul Norman published on July 16, 2009 3:43 PM.

Sex industry eyes Olympics legacy was the previous entry in this blog.

Las Vegas Sands to gamble on Olympics Park? is the next entry in this blog.

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