Commonwealth Games 2014

The Cost of the Games

In March 2008, the cost of hosting the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow was estimated at £373m, with the stadium alone estimated at £98m and the Scottish Parliament only meeting 80% of costs.

While the city has staked a large part of its events-based tourism strategy on showpieces like the Commonwealth Games as part of regenerating Glasgow, the Games do not have a good track-record for generating revenue. According to reports, they led to 'financial meltdown in Edinburgh when it hosted the Games in 1986 [which] led to the city reporting a £ 3 million deficit on a £ 27 billion budget. South of the Border, the experience of Manchester is similarly worrying. The company behind the 2002 Games came within hours of insolvency until the Government rode to the rescue with an extra £ 105 million in public subsidies.'

Costly Junkets

Since Glasgow won the bid, the campaign has been mired in controversy, largely due to the travel costs run up by members of its steering group including Bailie Liz Cameron, Glasgow City Council Leader, Steven Purcell, and Chief Executive of Culture and Sport Glasgow, Bridget McConnell.

Following initial resistance to release figures under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, Kevin Dunion ruled that Glasgow City Council must co-operate. This revealed that a £5 million fund had been set up by the Scottish Executive and Glasgow City Council to meet expenses incurred in winning the bid, with representatives of the Glasgow team visiting 68 countries in seven months, staying at top hotels as far afield as Asia and the Caribbean at a cost to taxpayers of £250,000. The ceremony in Sri Lanka at which the winning bid was announced was attended by 46 Scots councillors, MSPs and their wives, costing £100,000.