THE low level of job opportunities on the 2012 Olympics for East London’s unemployed has been slammed as “scandalous” by London Assembly members. They pressed the authority during Questions for significant improvements
THE low level of job opportunities on the 2012 Olympics for East London's unemployed has been slammed as "scandalous" by London Assembly members.
Liberal Democrat members pressed the Olympics authority's chief executive and chairman during Questions for significant improvements in the record of job creation.
Not enough unemployed in the 'host' boroughs were being offered work or training on the Stratford construction site, they said.
"There are 46,000 unemployed in the immediate surrounding areas," Lib Dem Olympics spokesperson Dee Doocey told the Assembly. "Sadly, that figure is continuing to rise.
"It is scandalous that only a pitiful 112 of the 4,500 jobs created have gone to unemployed people in the area."
The Olympics authority "cannot hide behind national comparisons with other building sites," Doocey maintained. The 2012 Games had a specific task to provide a 'legacy' which must include new jobs and training opportunities for East Londoners.
It was time the authority "rose to the challenge" with a real jobs legacy from the Olympics.
Not enough opportunities were being offered to those on the dole in the neighbouring boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham Hackney and Waltham Forest.
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