UK Government offers to share financial risk for Glasgow Commonwealth Games
The UK Government has offered to share the financial risk for the Commonwealth Games coming to Glasgow in 2026, according to reports.
Neither the UK nor the Scottish Governments are willing to underwrite the scaled-back event.
But the BBC has reported that Labour sports minister Stephanie Peacock has backed "an additional contribution of up to £2.3m" for the event in a letter to the SNP health secretary Neil Gray.
Peacock then said it would be her "strong preference" for the Scottish Government to match that figure to help cover any increase in safety and security costs if terror threat levels rise before the games.
The letter reportedly said Gray told the UK Government in August that Glasgow hosting the Games would be "contingent on the UK government providing a full, uncapped underwrite of financial risk connected to the event".
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But Peacock wrote that the "justification for your request... is less clear".
She added that the UK government "cannot commit to fully underwriting the risk for an event the Scottish government has committed to host".
She added Commonwealth Games Scotland had already requested an underwrite and that around £27m is already earmarked as a contingency fund.
The letter also said none of the proposed funding could "enhance the concept or ambition of the Games".
This seemed to be in response to a suggestion from Gray that some of the extra funds could be used for bolstering the stripped-back event.
Commonwealth Games Scotland backed plans to stage the Games in Glasgow again after Victoria in Australia controversially pulled out.
Around £100m in compensation has been secured from the Victorian Government.
Glasgow hosted the Games in 2014 but the 2026 event would be much smaller. It would feature between 10 and 13 sports, compared to 18 that took place a decade ago.
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