Dear Mr Batsworth,

Freedom of Information request

Thank you for your letter which was received on 19 March 2009 in which you asked for a summary of information on all expenditure to date related to the London 2012 Olympics, incurred and funded by the Council. You asked that the information include staff salaries, elected officials expenses, other administration and publicity expenses, funding of events and of any projects or initiatives in any way related to the Olympics.

The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Unit was established to co-ordinate activities within the Council and across the borough. The Unit works to ensure Hackney not only contributes to a great Games for London but that the borough is well placed to secure the best possible sustainable benefits for residents from being a host borough for 2012. High on the agenda are: transport, neighbourhood regeneration, training and jobs, promotion of sport, leisure and arts, and culture.

The Office of the 5 Boroughs works closely with Hackney Council's 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Unit. It was created by the five Olympic host boroughs, Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest, to promote joint working where this would secure greater benefits from the London Games for local people. The Office offers a main point of contact for the Olympic organisations in relation to issues where the boroughs have joint interests.

As a result of the sheer scale of the Olympics and the work presently being undertaken at Hackney alone I have estimated that it will cost more than the appropriate limit to consider your request.

The appropriate limit is specified in regulations and for the Council this is set at £450. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the Council hold the information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information.

To identify all the staff time associated with the Olympics would in itself exceed the free 18 hours as the influence of the Olympics is increasing in a variety of Council functions. As it is such a major event with such extensive impact on the Borough an increasing number of policies and projects at present relate not only to the successful hosting of the games but also the legacy of the games and the benefits to the borough in consequence of the games. Both direct and indirect staff time has been, is being and will be spent on these matters.

If you narrow the scope of your request the Council may be able to provide the information within the appropriate limit. For instance are you specifically seeking information concerning the hosting of the games or are you concerned with the work on the environmental, economic and social benefits which the award of the games to London might bring to Hackney? As an alternative we may be able to provide you with a statement of accounts for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Unit and possibly information on the expenditure incurred by the 5 Boroughs Unit in light of Hackney's role as accountable body which is one of 5 contributors to the costs of the Unit. Any reformulated request I receive will be treated as a fresh FOI request.

Information on funding the Olympics games can be found at London 2012 website at the following link:

http://www.london2012.com/about/funding/index.php

If you have any queries or concerns about this letter then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

If you are dissatisfied with this response and wish to appeal, please write to the Information Governance Team, Appeals, 6-15 Florfield Road, Hackney London E8 1DTand your complaint will be dealt with through our Internal Review procedure.

If you are still not satisfied following the Internal Review, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner. He can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF 
Telephone: 01625 545 700

Yours sincerely

Reaz Khedarun

Corporate Information Governance Officer

Reaz Khedarun, Corporate Information Governance Officer - ICT, Customer and Corporate Services

6-15 Florfield Road, Reading Lane, London E8 1DT