Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones told the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee yesterday that the staging of the 2012 London Olympics could cost Wales up to £100 million in lost grants and associated funding opportunities:
Some projects may never get off the ground without the initial injection of Lottery cash, Mr Jones said.
“I think it’s felt across the arts and sports as well, and in other areas.
“Because of the loss of Lottery funding, it’s very often impossible to proceed with certain projects.”
The Welsh Assembly Government is in dispute with the Treasury over whether it should get a windfall through the Barnett formula of money spent on regenerating east London in preparation for the Olympics and Paralympics.
Mr Jones said: “The one bone of contention that the Welsh Assembly Government has with the funding is the fact that a great deal of the spend on the London Olympics is on regeneration.
“If that’s regeneration money, then we believe there should be a Barnett consequential of that. There’s a need for regeneration all over the UK and I would argue in many, many parts of Wales.”
Eleanor Burnham, the Liberal Democrats’ culture spokeswoman regretted the impact of the Lottery cuts.:
Arguing that Welsh facilities needed urgent investment, she said: “I’m upset and really concerned because at the moment lots of leisure centres are coming to the end of their useful lives… we are really not giving the facilities to our youth that they deserve.”
Ms Burnham said voluntary groups had been hit by the combination of the credit crunch and the effect of the Olympics on the availability of Lottery cash.
The Western Mail reveals that just four companies or organisations from Wales have won work supplying the Olympic Delivery Authority. Eleven have been shortlisted for contracts ranging from the provision of flooring to roller doors.
More here.
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