London Mayor Sadiq Khan is inviting independent companies to bid for the right to investigate how conversion costs at the London Stadium were allowed to spiral by £51million since 2015.
Khan ordered the investigation in November when it was revealed that the bill to taxpayers for converting the centrepiece of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games into a multi-purpose venue had climbed to £323m.
Last month, the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), the body that operates the stadium for the Greater London Authority, admitted that problems with the venue’s retractable seating were the biggest cause of the rise in costs.
Premier League side West Ham United, who have a 99-year lease on the 60,000-seat stadium, made a one-off contribution of £15 million to the conversion costs and pay £2.5 million a year in rent. The total price tag for the stadium, which also has a new roof, is estimated to be £752 million.
In a press release, Khan said: “There are some huge questions that need to be answered about the financing of the London Stadium. We need to find out how on earth the transformation costs were allowed to skyrocket, and whether appropriate checks were made before key decisions were made.
“But just as important in this process will be looking to the future to ensure we get the stadium into a situation where we are able to reduce its cost to the taxpayer and it can operate as a successful multi-purpose stadium that our city can be proud of.”
As well as West Ham games, the stadium is set to host the world athletics championships this summer, and music concerts by Depeche Mode, Guns ‘N’ Roses and Robbie Williams.
When questioned by the London Assembly’s budget-monitoring sub-committee in December, LLDC chief executive David Goldstone said “a chunk” of the £51 million increase was due to the contractor hired to build the retractable seating going bust shortly before the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Goldstone said resolving this issue so the venue could stage Rugby World Cup games and still be ready for West Ham’s move to the stadium this season cost £21 million.
The remaining £30 million was spent on other unforeseen improvements to the stadium that were needed, including a large screen and lighting system.
West Ham’s first season at the venue has been a decidedly mixed bag as the club has enjoyed a significant increase in attendances – up 20,000 a game compared to Upton Park – but crowd trouble and complaints about a lack of atmosphere have been the main topics of conversation among fans and pundits.