New Olympics legacy body means 170 LDA job losses

The London Development Agency (LDA) will be slimmed down significantly, while a new body is to be set up to handle the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics, the LDA's interim chief executive has indicated.

Peter Rogers told the Financial Times that he would fundamentally overhaul the LDA, abandoning the agency's support for a series of controversial community projects in an attempt to win the backing of the business community.

Around 170 of the LDA's 649 staff posts will be made redundant as part of the restructure.

The changes follow a difficult period for the LDA, which saw the removal of its former chief executive, Manny Lewis, and its chairman, May Reilly.

There were also media allegations that it had injected cash into projects close to Lee Jasper, the former race adviser to former London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

"I am refocusing the LDA on its priorities of long-term growth for London, on producing skills and providing jobs.

"Such a long-term strategy was not apparent in this agency," Rogers told the paper.