Olympic opportunity

Published Monday 2 April 2007 at 14:50

Let me lay to rest any anxieties that have arisen over increased Lottery funding for the Olympic Games.

Winning the right to host the Games is an amazing opportunity for this country, an opportunity that Britain’s artistic and cultural community is better placed than ever before to take advantage of.

Public funding for the arts in England today stands at over £500 million per year, a rise of nearly 75% in real terms in just ten years.

Lottery money will be required to support the Olympics over four years. The transfer of Lottery money I have announced from the Arts Council amounts to £112.5m over that period and compares with a total income, from the Lottery and Exchequer together, for the same period of about £2bn. So the Arts Council is being asked to make a contribution to the Olympic Games of £28 million per year, which amounts to just 5% of its total income across those 48 months.

And this will be a temporary diversion. The money will not start to be taken until [2009] and there is no need for any existing Lottery project to be adversely affected. In addition, London Mayor Ken Livingstone and I have agreed with that any profits that come from the sale of the land after the Olympic Games will be shared between the Lottery and London.

My recent announcement on the budget for the Olympic Games was designed to provide the clarity and certainty that all the organisations involved need to plan and manage their budgets.

And I have been in close discussions with each of the Lottery distributors to ensure that burden is fairly shared and that existing projects are protected.

I believe this is a fair arrangement for all. Sport and the arts will benefit hugely from this country hosting the Olympic Games - not just in London but right across the UK.

The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will encourage global interest in every part of what we do as a country - including the arts, of course - for many years either side of the event.

The cultural dimension of the Games is, as Bill Morris (LOCOG’s Director of Ceremonies, Culture and Education) has pointed out, right at the heart of our plans.

Our legacy ambition to transform the opportunities for people living in East London (one of the poorest areas in Europe) goes together with plans for a cultural legacy for future generations right across the UK.

The artistic and creative success of the arts in England today is down to the individuals involved, to thriving companies and to the creative genius that has always been its hallmark.

All government can do is try to create the conditions where that spark can become a flame.

But I’m certainly very proud of what’s been achieved. Full houses, international awards and the overwhelming buzz that comes from people playing at the top of their game.

Compare this, if you will, to the situation in the ten years before 1997. Real terms cuts in investment, regional theatre in crisis, and our national companies not knowing from one year to the next whether they would be able to stage anything, let alone work that would draw international acclaim.

Within the overall increase in arts funding, theatre funding has more than doubled, to a fraction short of £100 million this year, with more than 250 theatre organisations receiving regular funding. Since 2001, theatre has seen the largest ever increase in public funding.

Lottery funding for the Olympic Games will build on this success.

The events currently being planned for a four-year cultural festival - rising to a crescendo in 2012 - will be a showcase for all that is great in this country across the full range of our cultural and sporting achievements.

It is right that we look to the Lottery to help to support this. The Lottery has always been intended for unique projects that would not have got off the ground without support from a special fund. That is as true for a world-class concert hall, theatre or art gallery, as it is for a sports facility.

As cities such as Barcelona and Sydney before us have found, hosting the Olympic Games is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We should grab it with both hands.

Tessa Jowell

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport