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 2001Duncan 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 2001Letter 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 2001Patrick 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 2001Additional 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 2001Wayne 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 2001Bob 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 2001Representative
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 2001As 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 2001Request from
the Review Team (Mr A Bateman) for further information on site
lines and "C Values" for the stadium.
22 August 2001Written response
from Sheffield on the information requested on 21 August.
24 August 2001Request 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 2001Written confirmation
sent by Sheffield concerning the two items requested on the 24
August.
27 September 2001Niall 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 2001DCMS write
to SCC requesting written confirmation of Sheffield's position
in relation to issues raised on 27 August.
1 October 2001SCC/SCT provide
joint written response to questions raised by DCMS on 28 September.
4 October 2001Call 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 upApril-May
2002 (two months)
Detailed design work (four stages)June
2002-November 2003 (17 months)
Stage 1 tenderOctober 2001-January
2003 (four months)
Preliminary AwardFebruary 2003
Stage 2 tenderMarch-June 2003 (four
months)
Main ContractAugust 2003-October 2004
(15 months)
Championship Specific WorksApril-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.
|