Budget to fund £7m study into holding an Olympic Games in northern England
The money will pay for a full feasibility study into a Northern Games in the 2040s, looking at venues, transport, cost and the chances of a bid succeeding.
A £7m fund to look at how the Olympic and Paralympic Games could be brought to the north of England will be announced in Wednesday's Budget.
Chancellor John Healey plans to use the money for a full feasibility study into a possible bid for what supporters call a Northern Games. If a bid went ahead and succeeded, the Games could be held across northern cities at some point in the 2040s.
Who will do the work
The study will be carried out by the government, UK Sport and the Northern Mayors, with the British Olympic Association and the British Paralympic Association also involved.
It will examine:
- the venues and transport links a Games would need
- how several cities could share the events between them
- how local communities could benefit
- how much a bid would cost, and how likely it would be to win
This is the second stage of the process. In May the government asked UK Sport to carry out an initial assessment of the costs and benefits of a northern bid. The feasibility study goes into much more detail.
Where the idea came from
The proposal was put forward by the mayors of northern England's city regions and has the backing of a group of former Olympians, including the cyclists Dame Laura Kenny and Dame Sarah Storey.
The chancellor said hosting an event on that scale in the North would be unforgettable and pointed to London 2012 as proof that the UK can stage the Games. The prime minister said he wanted people to feel the excitement of an Olympics in their own towns and communities.
The British Olympic Association, ParalympicsGB and UK Sport welcomed the funding in a joint statement and said they looked forward to working on the study.
The Conservatives said any plans would need careful scrutiny. Shadow sports minister Louie French said hosting the Games would probably be good for the country, but argued the Budget should focus on bringing down everyday costs first.
The cost of London 2012
London was the last UK city to host the Olympics, in 2012. In 2013 the coalition government estimated that staging those Games had cost £8.9bn.
A report the same year by UK Trade and Investment said London 2012 had brought a £9.9bn boost to the economy through new contracts, sales and foreign investment. That figure was questioned at the time, including by the Federation of Small Businesses and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
What happens next
The £7m will be confirmed when the chancellor delivers his first Budget on 28 October. No decision has been made on whether to bid, and the feasibility study will be a key part of that decision.
Olympic hosts are chosen by the International Olympic Committee, usually many years in advance, so any northern bid would be a long-term project.
