02 February 2006 | Rebecca Ellinor
The man responsible for the delivery of much of the London 2012 Olympic Games is planning to outsource the bulk of its project management, including utilities and venue construction.
David Higgins, chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), which is charged with creating the infrastructure, unveiled the plan at a business summit held last week at Canary Wharf.
He told delegates: "We are clear what role we want the ODA to adopt. We will have the capacity to drill into specifications and design briefs and really understand them and value manage. But having done that, we intend a project management organisation to deliver it for us."
A decision on what exactly will be outsourced has not been finalised. But he added that the outsourced body would carry out the procurement of designers and contractors and be responsible for the management of them.
Higgins said that where possible the organisation hoped to use the procurement policy to promote best practice.
He said the ODA hoped to "learn from the best in their class" and referred to Heathrow's Terminal 5 and work the MoD is carrying out around the UK.
Lifecycle costing, sustainability, training, health and safety, supplier diversity, fair employment and ethical sourcing were among his key considerations for procurement.
Tessa Jowell, culture secretary, who was also speaking at the summit, signalled a desire to award contracts to British businesses where possible.
"The government will be spending £3 billion on infrastructure for the games and we want that money to work to the benefit of our economy. This doesn't mean a 'Buy British' campaign, but we want to ensure public money is recycled into the British economy," she said.
"We want to learn about buying processes to enshrine good employment standards and industrial relations, while not driving up costs."
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