London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Amendment) Bill

Lord Rosser Excerpts

Monday 3rd October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Rosser]

My Lords, we have had an interesting and wide-ranging debate on a Bill which itself is not particularly interesting and is certainly not wide-ranging. The Bill amends parts of the 2006 Act but does not contain any new provisions. We support the Bill but, as my noble friend Lord Stevenson of Balmacara said, there are a number of issues which we will wish to pursue in Committee.

The parts of the original Bill which this Bill amends relate to advertising and trading, ticket touting and traffic management regulations. On advertising and trading, the Government have undertaken a consultation on the proposed draft regulations, which will start to be laid before Parliament and debated very shortly.

A further change made by the Bill is that any articles seized because they contravene the regulations will be dealt with by ODA enforcement officers and not the police. This apparently is to reduce the workload on the police. However, on policing, can the Minister say whether police officers from outside London will be moved into London for the period of the Games and, if so, who will be covering their positions in the light of police cuts? Is the intention perhaps that additional policing and security requirements will be covered by, for example, Territorial Armed Forces personnel, and, if so, what powers will they have?

The intention under the Bill’s provisions is that enforcement officers, mainly from local authorities, will be designated by the ODA. Bearing in mind that there are a number of Olympic and Paralympic venues, how many enforcement officers is it anticipated will be needed and for how many weeks, and how big an area around a venue will be covered by the Olympic Games regulations?

Where an Olympic venue is covered by these regulations on advertising and trading, will the regulations apply only on days when an event is taking place at that venue or will they apply throughout the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games on a continuous basis? What will happen to the normal enforcement activity in the local authorities in and outside London whose officers are on Olympic and Paralympic Games work? What will be the costs of this additional enforcement work for the Games and who will pay for it? Will the enforcement officers be exercising police powers or local authority enforcement powers in carrying out their duties during the Olympic and Paralympic Games?

I do not intend to dwell, as have a number of your Lordships, on the ticketing arrangements. I have not been allocated any Olympic Games tickets myself, although that may be related to the fact that I did not apply. I have, however, applied for tickets to the Paralympics and am waiting to see whether I am successful. However, on the issue raised by, among others, the noble Baroness, Lady Doocey, the Minister for Sport said at Second Reading in the other place:

“I should emphasise that this measure is aimed squarely at touts. Nothing in the law at present, or as a result of this change, prevents those who have games tickets from selling them at face value to family and friends. LOCOG will also run an official ticket exchange … so that people who find that they can no longer use tickets that they have bought legitimately can dispose of them”.

Can the Minister say whether this is still the policy?

As has been said, the Bill provides for an increase in the maximum fine for touting of Games tickets from £5,000 to £20,000 to provide a greater deterrent. The Minister in the other place said:

“A disincentive of £20,000 to someone perpetrating large-scale commercial ticketing fraud is likely to be much more effective than a disincentive of £5,000”.—[Official Report, Commons, 28/4/11; cols. 372-73.]

While we support raising the maximum penalty, if large-scale, organised, criminal, commercial ticketing fraud is likely, I am not entirely sure that even a maximum fine of £20,000 would be a major deterrent. My main question is to ask with whom this has been discussed and whether it is anticipated that maximum fines, or fines close to the maximum will be imposed. There is usually a significant difference between the maximum fine for an offence that can be imposed and the fines that are actually imposed.

The 2006 Act provided for the creation and enforcement of traffic management measures for the Games, and this Bill makes some amendments, including the ability to make temporary traffic regulation orders in connection with the Games at short notice, and civil enforcement in relation to the contravention of some orders. Not everyone has been happy with the Olympic route network but it was in effect a requirement of our becoming the host city. It will need to be implemented and operated with a high degree of common sense if transport is not to become a major adverse talking point of the Games.

Much has been said, including today, about the Olympic legacy. We hope, among other things, that hosting the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will lead to more people—not least young people—taking part in sport. However, it has recently been reported that fewer than a third of schools have signed up to the plans to revive competitive sport in schools in the light of the Olympics. Many schools lack the facilities to stage such competitions or provide the means to transport pupils to take part. There are reports that sports teachers do not see the Government’s plans as a substitute for the schools sport partnerships, funding for which has been withdrawn. Can the Minister tell us the current position on this issue, and also where we are with increasing sports participation among young people and adults and delivering the sports legacy, which was a key part of our bid? Sport England figures earlier this year showed that 17 sports had recorded a decline in the number of people playing once a week since 2007-08 and only four had recorded a statistically significant increase. What targets or measures of assessment do the Government now expect to achieve in relation to this part of the sports legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games?

In that regard, and I pursue a point referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Higgins, what guarantees can the Minister give that the Government’s changes to the planning system, with a presumption in favour of “sustainable development” will not jeopardise the Olympic sporting legacy by leading to a further reduction in playing fields, most of which are owned by local authorities which are increasingly short of money?

The Olympic and Paralympic Games will bring many benefits—indeed they have already brought benefits—but we need to do everything we can to ensure the successful delivery of the legacy on increasing participation in sport. The Olympic park, the largest public sector building project in the whole of Europe, has been a major success story, and is being delivered on time and under budget. It is a tribute to the work of a great many and not least, as the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, and my noble friend Lady Ford said, to John Armitt and David Higgins who have provided inspired leadership of the Olympic Delivery Authority. When the park is complete, 30,000 people will have worked on it, a fifth of whom will be residents of the six host boroughs which is considerably higher than the target of 10 to 15 per cent. Some 50,000 jobs will be created once the commercial development has been finished. One hopes that a significant percentage of both the jobs and the housing will go to local people since regeneration was an important part of our successful Olympic bid.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games will provide a showcase for our country, and for London more than anywhere else. We have an opportunity to show the world—those who come to this country, both for the Games and following the Games, and the billions who turn on to watch the Games—what a wonderful country this is and how much our capital city has to offer. If we continue to progress as we have so far, we will also show our expertise in organising and running this major world event, our expertise in the sporting field, and our expertise in making sure that we do not miss out on this once-in-a- lifetime opportunity.