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• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

OK. If we take the example of the Olympic Boulevard, that is the main Olympic marathon route back into the Olympic Park after they have done their 26 miles. The aspiration would be that that looks good on television, for example. That is not your responsibility?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

OK. There is an interesting challenge here which is that virtually the whole of the rest of the world is very keen to make sure that the Olympics do not go over budget, whereas a lot of my constituents in East London are very anxious to make sure that, in making sure the Olympics do not go over budget, we do not spend too little on the regeneration benefits for the area. The individual borough councils, for example, have aspirations as to how the Olympics will improve their areas. One that pops up is the Olympic Boulevard idea, supported by...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

Can I move on to the question of jobs and employment. There has been a lot of focus on the budgets ensuring that people are adequately trained to build the facilities. Do you have a responsibility for thinking about legacy land uses and the ways in which communities will benefit from those uses of land? The one that is held up very often is the Broadcast Centre which could become a major employment venue in the future. What is your role in that, or are you simply trying to get the cheapest building up quickly, do not care if it...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

I suppose I should declare, for the record, that I am the Deputy Chair of the UDC, although I would not accept that it is the only body responsible for this work.

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

Right, OK. If we want to make sure that the boundaries, although you could physically walk across them after the Games, are softened to a point where a resident of Bow or of Hackney Wick can walk into the Olympic Park after the Games as if it was next door to them, and talk about responsibility for funding that and making sure it happens, is that again not your responsibility?

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

Sir Roy, how much of the £500 million construction contingency has so far been earmarked to be spent? There has been a lot of talk about this and a lot of rumours in the industry.

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

My only point really on this is that it is in that area where costs can so easily run away. In the industry, there are rumours; you speak to any of the major contractors or the journalists in the area, and they will tell you that £350 million of the £500 million has so far been earmarked, and that insiders within the ODA have told them this.

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

Does that include taking advice from the people on Lord James of Blackheath's team who had to bail out some of the consequences of the Dome? The police were involved in that.

• Question by: Damian Hockney
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

So it will not go to CLM (CH2M Hill International, Laing O'Rourke, Mace)? They will not be the people who will do it?

• Question by: Bob Neill
• Meeting date: 25 April 2007

The trouble that I have is that the more one departs from basic commercial practice, when we fall into public sector practice, the greater the risk, history tells us, of budget overruns.