Olympics: The cost of London's 2012 Olympic Park has increased by £900 million, it was claimed today.
Outlining the increase British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said the additional an extra £400 million was required to pay the delivery partner consortium CLM to ensure the 2012 Games come in on budget and on time.
The new £3.3 billion figure, up from £2.375 billion, also pays for The National Audit Office, the Whitehall spending watchdog, to "work closely" with organisers on the finances, she said
An increase in the park costs was blamed on the doubling in the price of steel and a decision to revise transport costs to take into account inflation in the run-up to 2012.
Jowell told MPs: "An additional cost of £400million, not included in the original bid, is in order to fund the delivery partner whose overriding reponsibility is to ensure the costs of the Games are kept on budget and that the timescales are kept."
Jowell said that the extra £900 million would most likely be made up by the London council taxpayers, and Lottery games.