DCMS delays appointment of Olympic chair
By Liz Stephens
The appointment of Tony Hall to the board of the London organising committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) is being delayed by governmental dithering, politics.co.uk can reveal.
It is an open secret that Tony Hall is due to be announced as joining the board of Locog and heading the Cultural Olympiad.
However politics.co.uk has learned that Locog had hoped to make an official announcement two weeks ago but has been delayed due to an inability by senior government ministers to determine what Mr Hall’s responsibilities should actually be.
London mayor Boris Johnson is apparently furious at the inability of ministers Ben Bradshaw and Tessa Jowell from the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) to make a decision and expedite the coronation of Hall.
In an email to a member of the Olympic committee, the mayor called the delay in making the announcement by DCMS nothing short of a farce.
Locog is so keen for the appointment of Mr Hall to be announced that members of the organisation have been dropping hints to the press all week – possibly in an attempt to put pressure on the DCMS to speed up the process.
One of the reasons the organisation is so keen to overcome DCMS stalling is because it also wants to announce its successful £16 million bid for funding for the Cultural Olympiad, the nationwide culture programme linked to the Olympics.
The additional funding from the Olympic Lottery Distributor means the culture team can begin an ambitious nationwide programme to get young people involved in cultural events from now until the Games.
The team is believed to be keen to begin the work of allocating the cash – which would be overseen by Mr Hall – but they have been unable to announce the award, leaving them powerless to do anything, because of the hold up in announcing Mr Hall’s appointment.
Part of his role will involve taking over responsibilities that have until now been carried out by Jude Kelly who is understood to have stepped down from her role as chair of the culture, ceremonies and education committee for the London Olympics at the end of June to begin to advise future host cities of the Games.
This is also yet to be officially announced by Locog.
Tony Hall is currently chief executive of the Royal Opera House. A spokesman for the Royal Opera House said yesterday he would be continuing this role. They added Mr Hall is refusing to comment on his appointment to the board of Locog “until an official announcement is made.”
The former head of BBC news is generally considered to be a ‘safe pair of hands’.
politics.co.uk asked DCMS for a statement regarding the appointment of Mr Hall and the reasons for the delay in the announcement but, as yet, it has not been recieved.
