London Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012: Legacy Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Bassam of Brighton
Main Page: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Bassam of Brighton's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
(1 year, 10 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy noble friend raises a very important point. I am not sure of the exact details, so I will have to take that back to the department and write to him.
My Lords, the Birmingham Commonwealth Games may have ended only a couple of months ago, but has the department undertaken an initial assessment of them? If we are to build a lasting legacy from the Games we need to understand, as we did with the London 2012 Olympics, what worked and what did not. One of the big hopes of the Government was that external partnerships and sponsorships would drive forward regeneration of Birmingham. Perhaps the Minister can offer us an early insight into whether any of this is going to bear fruit.
The noble Lord is absolutely right. When we looked at the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games and subsequent sports events, we learned something from each sports event. One thing that was learned in time for Birmingham 2022 was that, rather than necessarily building completely new facilities, we could upgrade or use existing facilities. For example, there was no new velodrome built; we used the London velodrome for the Commonwealth Games. There was a new aqua sports centre built, and that will now be used by the community. In addition, the Secretary of State announced earlier this month that around £60 million of underspent money from the Birmingham 2022 budget will be invested in the local region for the cultural and social legacy.