Most countries in the world are blamed for not utilising their sports stadiums, most of the South African sports stadiums used for the 2010 Word Cup needs urgent attention. There is currently no plan announced by the government to spend any money on the sports stadiums.
In London, the tables are turned, and the London Stadium bosses are criticised for spending money on the stadiums, not their own money but that of the Taxpayers. £100,000 was paid by the body that is responsible for running the stadium in London; the money was used to develop a communication strategy for the stadium. The problem is that the stadium already has three senior communications staff, and these are paid over £260,000 in total.
£100,000 Spent Will Avoid Higher Costs in Future
LLDC the London Legacy Development Corporation lost over £20 million in the past year and is now criticised for their way of spending the cash from the taxpayers. The LLDC argues that the £100,000 spent will assist in avoiding higher costs later, plus this was a one-off project.
£4 Million Spent on Legal Costs in Dispute with West Ham United
The detailed LLDC expenditure figures published in mid-2018 showed that the organisation funded by taxpayers showed expensed of contracts over £5,000. The LLDC also had an expense worth £4 million on legal cost during a dispute with West Ham United. This lengthy court case started in December; political director James Roberts was disappointed to learn that the LLDC did not do everything possible to keep all costs to a minimum.
2018 Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Campaign £32,000
Instead, the LLDC went the opposite direction and splashed out taxpayers cash on the most expensive PR strategies as well as pointless gasps including award ceremonies and then kicked off at West Ham regarding the costs. There is no arguing from taxpayers against the rule that LLDC urgently need to get their expense in order. The 2018 Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park campaign in the summer got the LLDC to spent £32,000 on buying services and media planning, while the London Stadium, it’s security and catering for the last year awards of East Works came to £19,650.
Do the LLDC Operates within their Yearly Budget
The spokesman for the LLDC says that the organisation has many responsibilities and requires specialist services. All the contracts that are more than £5,000 are published and audited, and the LLDC operates well within the agreed budgets available to it. The £100,000 that is spent on an outside contractor to create a communication strategy started when the post of the director of communication was vacant, and it was also during the period when the LLCD faced multiple legal actions.
The once-off project involves development and research that is part of a strategy to avoid expensive court cases and to offer information to inform the retail strategy. E20, the owners of the London Stadium’s are a subsidiary of LLDC and at year-end dated the 31st of March 2018 reported losses to the value of $22.7 million. Sadiq Kahn, the mayor of London, said he would take control of the situation to reduce the losses, that was back in 2017 when the stadium finances were reviewed.
