Lottery cash for Olympics not repaid until 2031 - Telegraph.co.uk- Cash Pay
The controversial £675 million raid on the National Lottery to pay for the increased cost of the London 2012 Olympics could take until 2031 to be repaid in full, it emerged yesterday. Andrew Travers, finance officer for the London Development Agency, told the London Assembly that while most of the extra Lottery cash would be clawed back from land sales at the Olympic Park 10 years after the Games, it could take another decade for the full amount to be realised. The revelations plunged the Government into another row over the 2012 budget on the eve of a crucial vote in the House of Lords on proposals to transfer £1 billion from Lottery causes from 2009 to pay for Games cost over-runs. Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding between the Government and London Mayor Ken Livingstone, the first £650m from land sales will go to the LDA. Despite pressure from lottery distributors to refund the money taken from good causes as quickly as possible, Jowell conceded the need to maximise land values could mean a lengthy wait. We would certainly expect that the LDA would start selling the land after 2012, but the period of selling the land may be up to 10 years. Find Out More
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