Background
51. Another key vulnerability for the UK in the years
ahead will be the Games of the XXX Olympiad, to be held in London
in July and August 2012. There will be 202 competing nations,
with around 20,000 athletes in London, as well as 30 heads of
state visiting at various times. As well as the main games in
London, there will be events within the jurisdiction of Essex,
Dorset, Hertfordshire and Thames Valley Police. It is anticipated
that 7.7 million tickets will be sold for the Games, in addition
to 1.5 million for the Paralympic Games. The 2012 Games will,
therefore, be a massive security challenge in terms of transport
infrastructure, high-profile guests and venues, and the sheer
number of visitors.
52. The lead body for coordinating the Games is the
Government Olympic Executive (GOE), a unit within the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport, headed by its Director-General,
Mr Jeremy Beeton. Responsibility for overseeing the staging of
the Games lies with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic
Games (LOCOG), chaired by Lord Coe, while the construction of
the venues and infrastructure is the responsibility of the Olympic
Delivery Authority, chaired by Mr John Armitt.
53. In October 2007, the Metropolitan Police created
an Olympic Security Directorate (OSD) to coordinate an integrated
approach to security and resilience at the Games. The OSD brought
together 23 different agencies, including the Home Office, the
Ministry of Defence and the emergency services, as well as police
forces outside London. In December 2008, the decision was taken
to move the OSD from the Metropolitan Police to OSCT. Mr Farr
noted that the directorate was simply absorbed into OSCT en
masse: "We have got five directorates. We simply added
a sixth, and that was fine."[38]
54. Assistant Commissioner Robert Quick, then head
of Specialist Operations, told us:
I might just offer the comment from a policing perspective
that, in my role, I am much reassured by recent changes. I think
putting the security planning into the Office of Security and
Counter-Terrorism was a wise move because I think there is a substantial
resource base there and a framework within which to conduct security
planning for the Olympics more effectively, so I am reassured
by that, but I am not complacent and I recognise that there is
still a lot of work to be done and still many issues yet to resolve.[39]
The Olympic challenge
55. Hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games will
be a major logistical and public order challenge across the spectrum.
Mr Farr identified four primary threats to the Games: terrorism;
public disorder; serious crime; and non-malicious hazards. The
sheer mass of people in London for the Games will be a huge challenge,
representing crowds 20 times the size of a football World Cup.
56. OSCT was able to reassure us that the basic resources
were in place to deal with security and public order issues arising
from the Games. The budget for security of the Games is currently
£600 million.[40]
Mr Farr was also confident that the various police forces involved
would be able to cope; there will be a joint Metropolitan Police/ACPO
appointee responsible for nationwide delivery of policing programmes.[41]
57. OSCT has clearly identified the 2012 Olympic
Games as a major challenge for the Government in terms of security,
public order and logistics. We welcome the decision to give OSCT
overall responsibility for the security of the XXX Olympiad, and
are reassured that the issue is being treated with the appropriate
gravity and priority. Engineering a successful, and, moreover,
safe and secure Games, will be a litmus test for the Government's
counter-terrorism strategy.
38 Q 190 Back
39
Q 120 Back
40
Q 192 Back
41
Q 198 Back
