MPs blame 'slack' Sport England for Wembley fiasco
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An urgent internal inquiry was under way at England's sports administrator last night after MPs denounced its handling of the Wembley saga as "slack, slovenly and supine".
In an acerbic and wide-ranging report, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee attacked Sport England for "dereliction of duty" over public money, ministers for "equivocating at a critical moment" and football administrators for being "over-confident and over-ambitious".
Despite speculation over a last-minute hitch in negotiations, Wembley National Stadium Ltd insisted the deal to build the new stadium would be reached this month, with work starting in September.
The MPs demanded that Wembley's £120m lottery grant should be returned if the scheme collapsed. But they complained that there was little control over its use and that it could prove difficult to retrieve the cash. Sport England, which distributes lottery money for sporting causes, was also condemned for agreeing to a revised plan for the stadium that will mean fewer seats for the public.
The report said: "Despite the size of the lottery grant, and the importance of the project, Sport England did not do its job properly ... Sport England created a rod for its own back in relation to the Wembley project. Serious lessons have emerged that need to be learnt to ensure the project proceeds to completion without further mishap and that such a mess cannot be recreated in the future."
David Moffett, Sport England's chief executive, said: "I have today commissioned an internal report into all our dealings in the project, and the role that all partners played. It is important to remember Sport England has kept the project intact."
He said it would have failed if it had demanded the £120m back and added: "We are close to delivering a world-beating stadium design for football, rugby league and athletics."
Michael Jeffries, the new chairman of Wembley National Stadium Ltd, said: "The concerns expressed in the report relate to historical events and not the project as currently constituted." He said most of the problems had already been tackled.
Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: "There are clearly lessons to be learnt ... I have already put in place systems to require distributors to undertake full, robust, independent risk assessments for major projects such as this. The project is making good progress and I look forward to the FA successfully concluding their discussions with the banks."
Michael Fabricant, a Tory committee member, attacked ministers for giving false hope to Birmingham and Coventry that they could provide credible rival projects.
He said: "I believe they are perfectly justified in claiming compensation from the Government to refund council tax-payers' and private money invested in their bids. This amounts to over £1m. They might also now wish to seek a judicial review into the handling of this whole issue."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments