The Government must work to secure the legacy of last year's successful London Olympic Games, MPs have warned.
A report issued today by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reviewing the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games found the games were a great triumph and showed the nation can get big projects right.
Government departments – led by the Department for Culture Media and Sport - worked effectively together and with other bodies such as the Olympic Delivery Authority to deliver the construction programme on time and within budget and complex arrangements, the MPs found.
Responsibility for securing investment in the Olympic Park and providing financial returns has now devolved to the London Legacy Development Corporation. But the MPs expressed concern the lottery good causes lack influence about future sales, despite such decision affecting when and how much cash would be returned.
Margaret Hodge, chair of the PAC said: ‘A lot of organizations, central and local, have responsibilities for the many individual projects making up the legacy programme, in such areas as business, tourism and increased sports participation.
'We expect the Cabinet Office to exercise strong leadership, coordinating all of this diffuse effort and ensuring the legacy as a whole is being achieved.'
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesman said: "The government is committed to delivering a tangible, lasting legacy from the Games and work is well under way on this.
‘We have been crystal clear that the lottery has an entitlement to receive £675m from land sales from the Olympic Park, that is bound by a legal agreement between the government and Mayor of London.'
London Legacy Development Corporation chief executive Dennis Hone said: ‘We are looking at what would be the best solution, not just for the area of the Olympic Park, but also for the wider regeneration of the East End.'
'While there is a drive to maximise receipts and get the taxpayers' money back, no-one would want us to act as some kind of rapacious developer at the risk of jeopardising the long-term legacy of the Park.
'It is a balance and we have to work that through over the coming months.