Property: £5000 party a mere bagatelle when set against the Olympic underspend

Olympic Delivery Authority chairman Sir John Armitt should not be condemned for spending £5000 of public money on hosting a party at his club, the Athenaeum.

The figure shows up in the 2012/13 accounts for the ODA published last week. Let’s hope some of those responsible for constructing the Games hundreds of millions under budget and to time were invited.

There were plenty of doomsayers suggesting the £9.3 billion cost would spiral — as late as March 2012, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee were warning that increased security costs could push the budget up to £11 billion. But no. The security budget was blown, but only by £14 million.

Not that ODA accounts are all good cheer. The athletes village cost £1.36 billion to build. The 2800 homes were sold for £835 million — a half billion shortfall.