ODA blasted for spending £40m on consultants

Olympic bosses have been accused of “unbelievably excessive” use of consultants after spending £40m on advisers.

Official figures of Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) expenditure show huge payments made to consultants since its formation three years ago.

In its first year the ODA paid £20,684,165 to consultants, £14m the following year and £5m in the 12 months to July.

It also forked out more than £5m to recruitment bodies to appoint senior executives including chief executive David Higgins, according to the Evening Standard.

The figures were revealed following a parliamentary question by Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster, who countered that consultants were already employed at other public bodies to oversee the Games.

“Consultants do have a role to play in such a major project,” he said.

“But, with over a thousand civil servants already planning and scrutinising the work, this amount of consultancy seems unbelievably excessive.”

An ODA spokesman said consultants were essential during the set up of the agency to ensure it got up and running quickly.

“The ODA remains relatively small in size given that it is delivering the biggest construction project in Europe and the continued intermittent use of consultancies in specialist areas is helping maintain the strong progress.”