BBC's hotels for Olympic staff who live just eight miles from the stadium - Daily Mail
By Simon Walters and Glen Owen
Last updated at 1:46 AM on 18th September 2011
The BBC was accused of 'an extraordinary waste of money' last night for renting hotel rooms for staff covering next year's Olympics who live just eight miles from the stadium.
The army of BBC journalists and technicians covering the Games have been told the Corporation will pay for them to stay in a hotel if they live more than 45 minutes from the Olympic Park in East London.
The decision is likely to cause anger among licence-fee payers, particularly those who live in the capital. Nearly half of London commuters spend more than 45 minutes travelling into work each day.
And yet BBC staff who could easily commute to the Olympic venue will qualify for a hotel room – in some cases for nearly three weeks.
BBC employees who live in trendy Hampstead in North London, for example, will qualify. According to the Tubeplanner internet site being used by the BBC, the Underground journey from the affluent suburb to Stratford, where the stadium is situated, takes 49 minutes, even though it is a mere ten miles from Stratford.
Tory MP John Whittingdale, Chairman of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said: 'This would appear to be an extraordinary waste of money.
'There will be no such thing as a cheap hotel room in London during the Olympics.'
Mr Whittingdale, MP for Maldon in Essex, said: 'Many of my constituents spend more than 45 minutes commuting to work in London. They don't get free hotel rooms so why should the BBC?'
The BBC is expected to send at least 750 people to the Olympics, the majority of whom will be based at the Olympic Park in Stratford. That is nearly twice the number it sent to the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Waste of money: John Whittingdale said there was no such thing as a cheap hotel room during the Olympics
The Corporation said it had not yet calculated how many would be outside the '45-minute' travel zone.
But since most BBC staff are thought to live in the London suburbs or beyond, hundreds could qualify, sending the bill soaring into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Hotels have doubled and trebled their room rates to cash in on the huge number of tourists planning to visit London to see the Games.
A BBC spokeswoman justified the 45-minute rule by saying: 'We will only explore accommodation options for essential staff who would have to spend more than an hour-and-a-half each day on public transport.
'This excludes the time taken getting to and from their station, and into and through security at the Olympic sites. In many cases this will be very early in the morning or late at night given the round- the-clock broadcasting demands. We are also encouraging staff to stay with family or friends when that is possible.
'We have not yet finalised staff numbers working on the Games or accommodation details.
'However we have agreed the principle that the accommodation for staff will be predominately budget with much of it student accommodation. There will be no top-range hotels for staff.'
A BBC source added: 'The 45 minutes allocated is only the time taken on transport. This excludes journey time to and from various stations and getting through security in the Olympic park, which can take a long time. This added to the journey time could make transport time easily up to two hours each way.
'Add this on to the shifts essential staff will be working, without accommodation nearer the Olympic park, the working day could be very long. The accommodation is very basic.'
The javelin trains that will move passengers from Kings Cross to Stratford were not included in the figures, despite reducing journey times
The spokeswoman said the calculations were based on 'the existing Tube planner facility' on the internet.
That does not include the Javelin train service from King's Cross to Stratford due to open next year that will reduce some journey times. The BBC say the hotel rooms will be available to staff for the 16 days of the event, from July 27 to August 12, and for 'several days' before it starts.
While some BBC staff who live a few miles from the Olympic Park will get free hotel rooms, others who live in the Home Counties close to mainline railway stations with fast trains into the capital, will lose out.
For example, someone who lives in Chelmsford, Essex, 30 miles from the stadium, will not qualify because the journey to the Olympic Park is a 44-minute journey and will have to commute to and from the stadium each day.
18 Sep, 2011--
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