Dee Doocey welcomes Olympic progress report but warns against complacency over legacy

10.00.00pm GMT Thu 14th Jun 2007

This week the International Olympic Committee visited London to assess London's progress, and gave a very positive report, saying that preparations were "on time and on track". They also said that London was more advanced in their preparations than any host city in Olympic history.

However, Dee Doocey, the Lib Dem Olympic spokesperson on the London Assembly, issued a note of caution. "Whilst I clearly welcome the reports from the IOC that London is progressing well, I still have reservations about certain aspects of the legacy from the Olympic and Paralympic Games. There is a real issue over the cycling legacy that will be left after 2012, and for some time now I have been working closely with various cycling bodies in London, and the Olympic Delivery Authority, to ensure that the cycling facilities London was promised after 2012 are actually delivered."

"And it is all very well having an Olympic roadshow to encourage people to 'join in', but the fact is that an extra £60 million is being diverted from grass roots sports as a result of the increase in the Olympics budget. How are local sports clubs expected to thrive if their funding is being cut? But my main concern is that the employment and skills we have been promised will not actually reach the people who need them most - those in the hardest to reach, most deprived communities in London."