LONDON VAUXHALL DEALERS

LONDON – The British government said Wednesday the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is on track to be delivered on time and even trumpeted the fact it is "under budget."

Figures from the Government’s last quarterly economic report before the Games indicate the overall funding package for the Games remains at £9.3 billion ($14.4 billlion) with £476 million ($738.5 million) of "uncommitted contingency" available.

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The final cost of the Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) construction and transport program is projected to hit £6.76 billion ($10.5 billion) – a decrease of £16 million ($24.8 million) on the previous quarter.

Savings made by the ODA up to May 31 this year have hurdled the billion dollar mark, reaching $1.55 billion.

Culture Olympics Media and Sport minister Jeremy Hunt said: "With only 44 days to go before the Olympics it is fantastic news that there is still £476 million of contingency funds left. Britain has proved that not only can we put on a great show for the world to watch like we did with the Jubilee but that we can also deliver big construction projects on time and on budget.”

Hunt himself is facing a vote in the British parliament Wednesday over whether or not he should resign and whether or not he broke the ministerial code over his interactions with representatives of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. during the regulatory review process of the conglomerate's plan to acquire full control of pay TV firm BSkyB.

Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson said: “With a matter of weeks to go until London 2012 we are in a strong place. The transformation of the previously contaminated land into the Olympic Park on time and under budget is a great success story for UK plc."

The Olympic Park and Village were transferred from the ODA to LOCOG in January, to allow it to prepare the venues for staging the Games.

Funding made available to LOCOG has increased by £29 million ($45 million) in the quarter, as a result of these transfers from the ODA, and for additional infrastructure works.

Additional funding of £19 million ($29.5 million) has also been made available "to improve crowd management and public information in central London and the ‘last mile’ – the distance between transport hubs and Games venues."

The change to the ODA’s anticipated final cost is due to several factors including a reduction of £14 million ($21.7 million) in the assessed program contingency required to meet remaining risks and a reduction of £8 million ($12.4 million) in program delivery costs due to savings achieved on the costs of CLM and a potential reduction in IT costs.

The Olympic Delivery Authority’s program is now 98 per cent complete, but it will not reach 100 per cent until after the Games when its work will include the transformation of apartments in the Olympic Village into thousands of new homes, removing partitions and fitting kitchens, organizers said.