Auditors appointed to investigate London Stadium

The London Mayor has appointed auditors Moore Stephens to conduct his investigation into the London Stadium  transformation costs, the deal with West Ham and the ongoing operating costs.

The purpose of the investigation is listed as:

•    To provide a narrative explanation of the history of the London Stadium, including all relevant construction, financial and operational arrangements, with a particular focus on the stadium’s conversion into a multi-use arena and the subsequent negotiations and arrangements

•    To confirm the key decision points and contractual commitments made, including the financial and operational projections that informed the significant investment of public money into transformation works and who was responsible for them

•    To assess whether the work leading to the decisions and commitments made was sufficiently robust and subject to appropriate levels of due diligence and negotiation to ensure that value for money was achieved for the taxpayer after taking into account the legacy objectives and expected benefits

•    To report on the stadium’s financial viability in terms of an assessment of the ongoing and future operating costs and income of the current working arrangements

•    To identify any lessons that can be learnt

•    To work with all relevant organisations to obtain evidence for this work, reporting any lack of co-operation to the Mayor’s office

•    To produce a report for publication.

The investigation and its resulting report will cover three distinct phases in the genesis and life of the Stadium:

1.    The Olympic bodies’ original decision making in determining the design and nature of the Stadium built for the Games and what thought was given to how the Stadium would be used post-Games

2.    The decision making of LLDC and its forebears in the tendering for and delivery of the Stadium transformation in light of the original design and its legacy objectives

3.    Decisions pertaining to the current operational arrangement for the Stadium, including those made by LLDC, LB Newham and E20 Stadium LLP, and those taken by Her Majesty’s Government and the GLA such as hosting the 2015 Rugby World Cup and the 2017 World Athletics.

Moore Stephen’s project plan is for a draft report to be presented to the GLA in June 2017.  The report will then be finalised and a public report made available to the public later in the summer.