Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence


APPENDIX 12

Supplementary memorandum submitted by Sheffield City Council

  From Sheffield City Council and Sheffield City Trust in response to questions raised by the committee following the oral evidence on 16 October 2001 from Mr Bob Kerslake, Chief Executive, Sheffield City Council (SCC) and Mr Steve Brailey, Chief Executive, Sheffield City Trust (SCT)

PRE-BID AND BID

  1.   When were you first asked, and by whom, whether Sheffield would and could host the 2005 World Athletics Championships? Please set out a schedule of subsequent discussions with all relevant parties.

    (a)  Part of the terms of the Carter Review was to look at what alternative venues may be feasible for staging the 2005 WCA if it was found that the Lee Valley National Athletics Stadium (Picketts Lock) was not viable.

    (b)  We anticipated that to carry out the terms of reference the review team would be investigating all existing, relevant athletics stadiums. In preparation for this we carried out feasibility work into the development of the facilities at Don Valley to reach the specification provided at Picketts Lock. Once completed this was prepared to send to Patrick Carter. The day before this was sent we received our first contact from the review team. This and subsequent discussions/communications are scheduled below:

    —  30 July 2001—Duncan Cardow (Carter Review Team) visits Don Valley as part of their initial research on alternative venue options if Picketts Lock is unsuitable. Wayne Coyle (Sports and Events Manager for SCC) in attendance.

    —  31 July 2001—Letter sent from Sheffield City Trust (SCT) to Patrick Carter outlining the facilities available at Don Valley and the cost of upgrading them to meet the specification identified for Picketts Lock.

    —  31 July 2001—Patrick Carter visits Don Valley following report from Duncan Cardow. Steve Brailey and Wayne Coyle explain that a letter has been sent to Mr Carter's office that day. The visit includes a guided tour of facilities plus outline of the developments that would be required at the stadium and the costs. Detail also given on the ancillary facilities in the Lower Don Valley plus the infrastructure available in the city for hosting major sports events.

    —  2 August 2001—Additional written information sent by SCT to the review team giving further detail on the stadium, ancillary areas, city infrastructure, accommodation, transportation and Sheffield's experience in staging world class events.

    —  6-13 August 2001—Wayne Coyle attends the WCA in Edmonton. Even though there was no indication at this time about Sheffield being a possible option for staging the event it was decided that it would be appropriate to look at the event first hand. This would not only provide the opportunity to assess the requirements and Sheffield's ability to stage it but any information gathered may also be useful in planning for other major events that we host.

    —  10 August 2001—Bob Kerslake writes to Patrick Carter confirming Sheffield City Council's support for hosting the event in Sheffield. The letter also confirms that SCC would not be able to directly fund or underwrite the costs of the event.

    —  16 August 2001—Representative from the Carter Review Team (Ian Fytche and Rachel Edwards) visit Don Valley Stadium and meet with Steve Brailey, Wayne Coyle and Ian Stubbs (Head of Sheffield Design and Property). The review team state ask further questions in relation to submission sent by Sheffield on the 2 August.

    —  17 August 2001—As a result of questions from the previous day an e-mail was sent to Rachel Edwards detailing accommodation options for further investigation. A letter is also sent to Review Team (Mr A Bateman) giving further detail on the costs for developing facilities at Don Valley.

    —  21 August 2001—Request from the Review Team (Mr A Bateman) for further information on site lines and "C Values" for the stadium.

    —  22 August 2001—Written response from Sheffield on the information requested on 21 August.

    —  24 August 2001—Request from the Review Team (Rachel Downie) for Sheffield to provide written confirmation on the availability of University accommodation for Athletes and the ownership of the land that would need to be developed to upgrade the stadium.

    —  29 August 2001—Written confirmation sent by Sheffield concerning the two items requested on the 24 August.

    —  27 September 2001—Niall McKenzie (DCMS), Ian Fytche (Sport England) and Greg White (Sport England) visit Don Valley Stadium. In attendance from Sheffield were Bob Kerslake, Steve Brailey, Wayne Coyle and Ian Stubbs. It is stated that there has been no decision yet in relation to the Carter Report and that a final decision would be made in the next week to 10 days. In order to gather further information on Sheffield's suitability to stage the event DCMS raised the following issues:

      —  Sheffield guaranteeing to meet post-2005 operating costs.

      —  Capital investment by SCC/SCT.

      —  Guarantees by SCT/SCC to meet capital cost overspends.

      —  The support that SCC would give to facilitate the championships.

    —  28 September 2001—DCMS write to SCC requesting written confirmation of Sheffield's position in relation to issues raised on 27 August.

    —  1 October 2001—SCC/SCT provide joint written response to questions raised by DCMS on 28 September.

    —  4 October 2001—Call received by Bob Kerslake from DCMS stating that Sheffield had been selected as the alternative venue as Picketts Lock would not be funded.

  2.   To what extent is Sheffield City Council prepared to pursue a full campaign to win the 2005 WCA in a fully open IAAF competition?

  Or is it a question of only pushing at an open door?

    (a)  Sheffield remains committed to staging the 2005 WCA and is prepared to go through a bidding procedure to achieve this. However it is our understanding that the following procedure will be followed:

      —  DCMS and UK Athletics are to write to IAAF informing them of the decision not to progress with a London option and to offer Sheffield as an alternative venue.

      —  The IAAF will announce, following its council meeting on 26/27 November, the outcome of their decision in relation to the staging of the event. It seems to be universally accepted that they will at this point announce that the bidding for the staging of the 2005 event will be re-opened. Information on what the bidding process will be is also expected at this point.

      —  That DCMS and UK Athletics will not make a decision about bidding for the event until they are aware of outcome of either and possibly both of the above.

    (b)  In making a decision to go forward with a bid there will need to be consultation and agreement with DCMS, UK Athletics, Sport England, UK Sport and Sheffield. There will need to be a clear understanding of the requirements for making a bid and an assessment of the realistic chances of winning it. Once this has been determined a joint decision would need to be made.

    (c)  We feel that a meeting with all the relevant parties should take place as soon as possible (also stated by UK Athletics in their written submission). This request has been put in writing by SCT to the Minister of Sport.

    (d)  We feel that it is only when these discussions have taken place can there be clarity concerning the appropriate action to be taken.

    (e)  At present there is only speculation as to whom will be bidding to stage the event. Once the bidding process is clear we need to gather as much intelligence as possible concerning other potential hosts. This information should then assist in making an informed decision.

  3.   How do you propose to fund a Sheffield bid for the 2005 WCA?

  What is your estimate of the cost of such a bid?

    (a)  In the discussions with the review team and DCMS the cost of bidding has not been raised. All information we had previously supplied was in relation to Sheffield as a suitable host venue and it is IAAF who have now introduced the possibility of a bid being required.

    (b)  Again there would need to be discussions with all relevant parties as to the nature and responsibilities for a bid. We see that UK Sport would play a central role in this process due to their experience in acquiring events through the MSEG.

    (c)  We would anticipate that a bid would be made to UK Sport to support the bid if required.

    (d)  It is difficult to estimate that cost of a bid as the IAAF has yet to set the mechanism or criteria. However I understand that a grant of £260,000 by UK Sport was awarded towards the initial bid cost of bringing the event to London.

  4.   How much did Sheffield's 1995 bid to host the Olympics cost and how was this funded?

    (a)  Sheffield did not bid in 1995 to host the Olympics and in fact have never done so.

PREPARING FOR THE EVENT

  5.   Who would be managing the construction of the Stadium and organising the event?

  Who will be underwriting the event?

    (a)  The management of the construction of the stadium would be carried out by Sheffield City Trust. They would appoint a multi-disciplined consultancy team that would be managed by an appropriately experienced project manager who in turn would report to SCT.

    (b)  A Local Organising Committee (LOC) would be established to carry out the organisation of the event. This would have representation from SCC, SCT, UK Athletics, UK Sport, Sport England and DCMS. The LOC would liaise with and provide regular updates to the IAAF. The LOC is an established mechanism for delivering an event of this nature.

    (c)  Sheffield has always been clear that they are not in a position to underwrite the cost of the event (Confirmed in writing to Patrick Carter on 10 August). UK Athletics in their submission to the present CMS Committee enquiry stated that Sport England have made £15 million available for the staging cost. In their evidence to the Committee inquiry on Staging International Sporting Events (Third Report, Volume II 2001 Col 93) UKA also stated that they were optimistic that the Government would carry out the role of underwriting the event.

  6.   Please supply a breakdown of the estimated costs and contingencies, together with sources of funding, for Sheffield's hosting of the 2005 WCA (including stadium modification and other preparations as well as the event itself).

  In evidence there was some discussion of the required spectator capacity. Has this now been resolved? Please ensure that cost estimates reflect the possibility of provision for c43,000 seats.

  Please supply a provisional timetable for the preparation of the Don Valley Stadium and other development requirements for the WCA.

    (a)  Annex 1 details the costs of developing Don Valley Stadium into a suitable host venue for the 2005 WCA.

    (b)  The total cost in Annex 1 of £20.5 million includes the provision of 38,000 seats. If 43,000 are required the additional cost for provision of these seats would be £4 million making a total cost of £24.5 million. These figures have been presented to the Carter Review and Sport England representatives who in turn have accepted them as robust and appropriate figures.

    (c)  Our discussions with the review team concentrated on the capital cost of developing the stadium. As such work still needs to be done on the revenue costs for staging the event in Sheffield. However we would expect the requirement would be less than the £35 million identified for staging the event in London.

    (d)  The provisional timetable for the preparation of Don Valley Stadium allows for a 31 month build programme. In addition to this it will take four months for championship specific preparation. The detail is as follows:

      Detailed specification drawn up—April-May 2002 (two months)

      Detailed design work (four stages)—June 2002-November 2003 (17 months)

      Stage 1 tender—October 2001-January 2003 (four months)

      Preliminary Award—February 2003

      Stage 2 tender—March-June 2003 (four months)

      Final award—July 2003

      Main Contract—August 2003-October 2004 (15 months)

      Championship Specific Works—April-July 2005.

  7.   Please supply a breakdown of estimated costs and revenue for the redeveloped Don Valley Stadium after the WCA?

    (a)  The detail of the operating costs for the Stadium is detailed in Annex 2.

    (b)  We anticipate that any additional running costs after 2005 will be matched by additional income opportunities.

    (c)  There is a legally binding shortfall agreement, in place until 2024, that guarantees the City Council meets the operating cost of Don Valley Stadium.

  8.   Does the prospect of financing enhanced Don Valley Stadium after 2005 exacerbate your concerns about the way in which Fast Track allocate international athletics fixtures on behalf of UK Athletics at present?

    (a)  Sheffield along with Birmingham and Gateshead have had recent discussions with UK Athletics concerning the allocation of events pre- and post-2005. This is as a result of concerns over the allocation of events. It is our understanding that these discussions will include Fast Track in the future.

    (b)  The main concern from the three stadium owners is that from year to year we have no guarantees of the usage of our facilities for International Athletics. As a result it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify and allocate capital investment into the facilities to ensure they remain at an appropriate level.

    (c)  It is essential that this point is recognised and addressed to ensure the future of the existing athletics facilities in the country. The issue is relevant to Don Valley (as it is other venues) irrespective of enhanced facilities.

    (d)  Following the recent discussions with UK Athletics we are optimistic that this issue will be resolved in the coming months.


 
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