Culture secretary lauds UK construction effort after Olympics project comes in under budget

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has lauded the achievement of the UK construction industry after news emerged that the cost of staging the 2012 Olympics is set to come in 拢476m under budget.

Hunt, the minister with cabinet-level responsibility for the games, said this amount remains of a 拢2bn contingency fund, which was part of the overall 拢9.3bn budget.

He told London鈥檚 Evening Standard: 鈥淚t is a massive testament to the way the project has been managed. This project is turning heads all over the world.

鈥淭he British construction industry has not had the best of reputations. We鈥檝e been known for cost overruns and delays and here we have one of the biggest construction projects in Europe on time and set at the 2007 budget with nearly half a billion still left in the pot.鈥�

Topics