Olympic and Paralympic Games (Legacy)

Jeremy Hunt Excerpts

Monday 20th December 2010 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

This statement is to set out the Government’s priorities for the legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games. Further detail of the Government’s plans is provided in the Government’s legacy plan “Plans for the Legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games”, copies of which will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses today.

In the coalition agreement we committed ourselves to producing a safe and secure games that leave a lasting legacy. Our task is not only to ensure that the games are a success as iconic sporting occasions but also that we make the most of the games for the nation. We, as Government, will focus on four areas in doing this:

Harnessing the United Kingdom’s passion for sport to increase school-based and grass-roots participation in competitive sport—and to encourage the whole population to be more physically active;

Exploiting to the full the opportunities for economic growth offered by hosting the games, particularly with reference to inward investment and tourism;

Promoting community engagement and participation in voluntary work across all groups in society through the games; and

Ensuring that the Olympic park can be developed after the games as one of the principal drivers of regeneration in east London, with particular focus on the digital and creative industries.

This is a statement on behalf of the UK Government. However the games’ legacy is being driven across the UK and beyond by a rich variety of organisations, communities and individuals, including: the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA); the British Olympic Association (BOA) and British Paralympic Association (BPA); Sport England and UK Sport; the Mayor of London, the Olympic Park Legacy Company and the host boroughs (Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest); the Nations and Regions Group established by Government and LOCOG to achieve maximum benefits from the games and their legacy across the UK; devolved Administrations in the nations and a large number of other local authorities across the UK; the games’ sponsors and other businesses; and many third sector organisations operating at national and local levels. A small number of examples of the great work already going on across the country are included in the Government’s legacy plan, but there are many hundreds of others.