The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 is an independent body which monitors and assures the sustainability of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. When London bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games it promised to have independent monitoring of the sustainability of the programme. The Commission was set up in January 2007 to fulfil this promise. It is the first time such a Commission has ever been established.
The Commission monitors the sustainability plans, objectives and progress of the organisations responsible for building and delivering the London 2012 Games (the Key Stakeholders). Currently this includes:
- Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), responsible for building the Olympic and Paralympic venues and infrastructure
- London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), responsible for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012
- Government Olympic Executive (GOE), the government department with overall responsibility for the Games, and other government departments and bodies
- Greater London Authority (GLA), responsible for ensuring London is ready for the Games and keeps running during Games-time, other members of the GLA Group such as Transport for London also have a role
- Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), responsible for management and development of the Olympic Park after the Games.
The Commission reports on the plans and progress of these bodies to the Olympic Board and publicly via this website.
The Olympic Board oversees the delivery of the London 2012 programme. Its members are:
- Jeremy Hunt, Culture Secretary (co-Chair)
- Boris Johnson, Mayor of London (co-Chair)
- Lord Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG
- Lord Colin Moynihan, Chair of the British Olympic Association.
Former Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, Sir Menzies Campbell and Don Foster also sit on the Board as observers.
Commission structure
The Commission consists of:
- a part-time paid Chair who reports to the Chair of the Olympic Board
- Commissioners,who attend quarterly full Commission meetings and provide expert advice and guidance on different aspects of sustainability on a voluntary basis
- a register of Co-opted Experts who are called upon as required and provide their expertise on a voluntary basis
- a small paid Secretariat that carries out the assurance programme and co-ordinates all the activities of the Commission.
Funding
The Commission’s budget and funding arrangements for 2011–13 were approved by the funding partners in February 2011. The Commission’s budget is administered by the GLA. From 2011–13, we are funded by the following organisations:
- ODA 30%
- GLA – TfL 10%
- GLA – LDA 10%
- GOE 20%
- LOCOG 30%
The Commission has been funded as follows: 2011-12 £353,249 and 2012-13 £404,044.
The Commission is hosted by the GLA and is based at City Hall but operates as an independent commission in accordance with its Terms of Reference.
The Commission’s Terms of Reference establish it until 31 March 2014. However the Olympic Board decided in conjunction with the last funding round to bring forward the closure of the Commission to March 2013. Post-Games the Commission will oversee the sustainability of the transition of the Olympic Park for legacy use.
