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Ian Lucas (Wrexham) (Lab): Will the authority have an obligation to pursue sustainable development in its operations? This is a huge opportunity for a low-carbon games. In my constituency, we have a major manufacturer of solar cells. We have a vital opportunity to develop a showcase for that industry, and to catch the imagination of the general public and deliver a low-carbon games.
Tessa Jowell: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention. Sustainability was one of the key characteristics of the bid when it was presented to the IOC back in February and it is certainly a very clear criterion that the Deputy Prime Minister will be looking to address in all the regeneration investment that will be going into the Olympic park.
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington, North) (Lab): Will the Secretary of State give way?
Tessa Jowell: I want to make progress, if I may.
After the games, the Olympic delivery authority will take charge of reconfiguring the venues. That is vital, because of our intention to use the Olympics as an opportunity to create facilities with a lasting purpose, not just in London but right across the UK. Indeed, a number of facilities, such as swimming pools and indoor arenas, will be relocated from the Olympic park to other
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parts of the UK. This is an absolutely critical issue in meeting the very high legacy threshold that we have set in judging the success of the games.
The ODA will have a small board containing between seven and 11 people who will provide expert advice and oversight in each of these areas. There will be direct lines of accountability to the Secretary of State, who will make board appointments and have the power to direct the ODA if necessary.
We have discussed these arrangements with the Office of Government Commerce, which is satisfied that they are fit for purpose. The OGC will be engaged throughout the process in ensuring the most rigorous oversight of the tenders and then of the contracts as they are let. The ODA will also be the planning authority for the Olympic park. To ensure propriety, decisions on planning applications will be taken by a discrete planning committee. The committee will follow the model established by the urban development corporation.
Mr. Kevan Jones (North Durham) (Lab): I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the work that she did to secure the success of the Olympic bid, but in terms of being able to spread the benefits of the Olympics around the country, can she also give consideration to the fact that, if contracts are going to be let, regional development agencies should be involved in this process so that companies in the regions might access all the work that will come out of the Olympic bid?
Tessa Jowell: My hon. Friend is absolutely right and it is for that reason that we have on the face of the Bill given regional development authorities a responsibility in this respect, which would by implication extend not just to bidding for contracts but to seeking to maximise the tourism benefits of the Olympic games to their region. This is all part of the intention to ensure that the whole UK benefits from the games; obviously the games will have the greatest economic impact in London but we hope that by purposeful policies, starting early, we can spread those benefits throughout the UK.
Ms Sally Keeble (Northampton, North) (Lab): Northampton is in the middle of one of the Government's growth areas and therefore well placed to help with the regeneration process. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that towns that might want to provide training facilities, provide support for teams or provide premises for different sports will be able to access the guidance and be on an absolutely level playing field for bidding to be part of this enormously successful project?
Tessa Jowell:
In addition to the role of the regional development agencies, which I have outlined, the nations and regions committee that was established by the bid team will continue to underpin the efforts to secure the maximum UK-wide benefit of preparation camps and the other potential opportunities that I have outlined, and I am sure that my hon. Friend, who is a
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passionate advocate for her constituency, will ensure that people in Northampton have a chance to secure some of those benefits.
Mr. Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op): Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Tessa Jowell: No; I am going to make some progress.
The Olympic delivery authority will be the planning authority for the Olympic park. As I said, to ensure propriety, planning decisions will be taken by a discrete planning committee.
Mrs. Jacqui Lait (Beckenham) (Con): Before the Secretary of State moves on, will she give way?
The importance of the ODA to the Olympic project is evident—a single body with a clear task, accountable to Parliament. The ODA will be a time-limited body, focused on delivering the London games, and clause 7 therefore provides for the Secretary of State, having consulted the Mayor, to lay an order to dissolve the ODA at that stage.
I shall now turn to the way in which the legislation seeks to meet the clear requirements that are set down by the International Olympic Committee. It will be equally important that there is careful management of the Olympic environment during the games to fulfil the commitments that have been given in London's bid book.
The ODA will co-operate with local authorities to ensure that the streets are kept clean and well lit and will be able to step in to do that work itself if necessary. It will also have a role in enforcing the regulations that restrict unauthorised advertising and trading around venues. Those regulations will be needed to comply with the requirement of the host city contract. Clauses 17 to 31 and schedules 2 and 3 aim to restrict the commercial exploitation of the games in five ways: by updating the existing Olympic symbol protection legislation, for instance to include protection for the Paralympic symbols; by providing additional protection against ambush marketers who try to associate themselves unfairly with the games, by using words like London, summer and 2012; by allowing regulations to be made restricting unauthorised advertising around Olympic venues; by allowing the same sort of regulations to be made restricting unauthorised street trading; and by making ticket touting a criminal offence in relation to Olympic events. These provisions all reflect the commitments made in London's bid documents to meet the requirements of the IOC's host city contract.
I turn now briefly to the Mayor's powers. It was the Mayor of London, along with the British Olympic Association, who signed the host city contract with the IOC, and to provide absolute clarity that the Mayor can honour his commitment, clauses 32 and 33 will give the Mayor a specific Olympic power to comply with his obligations under the contract and to prepare for and manage aspects of the London Olympics. Clause 33 also provides that the GLA's Olympic power can be switched off by the Secretary of State.
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I have set out for the House the way in which the Bill will meet the particularly stringent IOC requirements in relation to the control of advertising, with criminal sanctions to enforce breaches, and I have set out the role of local planning authorities—
Tessa Jowell: I will give way on planning.
Mrs. Lait: I am most grateful to the right hon. Lady because this could reduce the length of my speech. Under clause 4, which refers to the ODA's planning powers, she herself said in her earlier comments that the LDA is in negotiation with roughly 350 businesses at present, but under the terms of the Bill the ODA has to implement the current planning guidelines. That means that there is a limit to the negotiations. Is she saying that the planning legislation overrides the negotiations that the LDA is currently undertaking, such that 350 businesses could well go out of business because they cannot get the proper value that they should get?
Tessa Jowell: I think, with respect, that the hon. Lady is confusing two things. The LDA is negotiating relocation with up to some 350 businesses and I do not wish to be drawn on detailed negotiations of a contractual nature. The LDA is the proper body to negotiate with those business and to secure a satisfactory outcome. That is the point. This does not impact on the planning powers of the ODA.
Clauses 21 and 22 set out the role of the ODA and of local planning authorities. There are further powers relating to the control of street trading in the vicinity of Olympic venues and sanctions to curtail that. Consistent with the IOC's requirements, clause 29 makes ticket touting a criminal offence specifically in relation to the 2012 games.
I have mentioned the importance that the IOC attaches to the protection of Olympic symbols. That protection is extended in clauses 30 and 31. Clause 31 and schedule 3 create a specific event association right in relation to the 2012 games. The measure is designed to prevent people from using innovative ways to associate themselves with the games but without using specific protected words or symbols.
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