Olympic Games 2012: North West

Greg Mulholland
To ask the Minister for the Olympics what steps she is taking to ensure the North West region obtains a legacy from the London 2012 Olympics.

Tessa Jowell
The Government and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games established the Nations and Regions Group to ensure UK-wide engagement and to maximise the legacy for London 2012. This group works directly with representatives from each of the Nations and English regions to maximise the sporting, commercial, cultural and other benefits of the 2012 Games.

Business in Leeds has already benefited from the contract opportunities linked to the London 2012 Games. Yorkshire and Humber region has won more than 119 London 2012 business contracts, 21 companies are based in Leeds.

As part of the programme to maximise the sporting opportunities for the regions Yorkshire has a total of 49 Pre Games Training Camps including John Charles Centre for Sport. The Dutch swimming team have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to use Leeds for their training for London 2012.

The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad project, which includes The Artists Taking the Lead, announced ‘Leeds Canvas’ as a winner. This is a ‘first time ever’ citywide collaboration between artists and arts organisations and will continue beyond 2012 leaving a cultural legacy for Leeds.

Also many schools in Leeds are participating in Get Set, the official London 2012 education programme for schools across the UK. To date, Leeds has 88 schools registered.