Payout for ex-Olympic chief "a scandal" - Doocey

9.15.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 19th Jul 2007

Commenting on the revelation that Jack Lemley, who quit as Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority last October, had received a £611,000 pay-off for little more than seven months work, Dee Doocey Liberal Democrat Olympics Spokesperson on the London Assembly, said:

"This is an absolute scandal and disgraceful waste of taxpayers money. We were told by the ODA in October last year that Jack Lemley resigned his post of Chairman to return to America and pursue his business interests. Yet today we learned he was payed off with a handsome package of almost £400,000. This raises serious questions as to whether Mr Lemley jumped or if he was pushed.

'There are also question marks as to why Mr Lemley, who was said to be earning £120,000 a year for a two-day week, has ended up walking away with over £600,000 of taxpayer's money after only ten months in the job. All this must be seen against the background of the Olympic budget having quadrupled in the last a year. ODA chiefs must explain to Londoners how this shameful mess was allowed to happen.'