Committee slams Wembley development

A report from the Commons public accounts committee – a parliamentary spending watchdog formed by a cross party selection of MPs – has heavily criticised the Wembley redevelopment scheme.

In a report, published today, the committee said the project had been badly managed and that around £120m of public money had been given to the cause “without proper consideration of financing and viability.”

In the damning report, the committee condemns the way Sport England handled its part in the funding.

The report said: “In handing over £120m at the very beginning of the project, without requiring the Football Association either to contribute funding itself or to provide a guarantee to underwrite the grant, Sport England left itself exposed. Had the project collapsed, it is doubtful that the lottery money would have been recovered.”

It is also sceptical over the decision to include athletics facilities in the stadium. The committee considers the decision to include provision for athletics as “little more than a device” to secure £20m of funding earmarked for athletics, that the Football Association (FA) would otherwise have had to repay.

According to estimates, it will take 17 weeks to convert the stadium each time it is used for athletics – at an additional cost of around £12m.

The unprecedented level of public funding didn’t escape the committee’s criticism either.

It said: “In the event that the stadium is financially successful, the FA will receive all the profits, even though the public sector is providing a fifth of the funding. Guidance should be developed on how to enable the public sector to share in the financial gains generated by ventures that have received public money.”

The 90,000-capacity stadium is expected to open in 2006 – four years later than initially planned.

The cost of the site has more than doubled since construction began. First estimates of the total cost hovered around £320m, but have since increased to £757m. Details: www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/pachome.htm