London Councils has said that Londoners’ financial contribution to staging the 2012 Games means they deserve priority access to tickets.
 
The demand comes following the LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games’) first announcement on ticketing, which involves setting up a database for UK and EU residents to express an interest in attending one of the events in 2012.
 
London Councils has welcomed LOCOG’s commitment to increasing the total number of tickets being made available for the Games and urges Londoners to sign up in order to receive the latest information on ticket availability.
 
However, London Councils, has expressed concern that a database to "register interest" could potentially raise people's expectations as registering doesn’t guarantee tickets.
 
Additionally, London Councils wants LOCOG to work with the boroughs to guarantee as many Londoners as possible will be able to get tickets to events in 2012.
 
London Councils added that Londoners are effectively the largest corporate sponsor of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, paying £625 million through their council tax.

London Councils that it believes this should give them priority access to tickets in the same way that commercial sponsorship will entitle firms such as McDonalds or Coca-Cola to an allocation of tickets.
 
While there are concerns that EU regulations might prevent such an arrangement, London Councils is keen to work with London 2012 to explore a type of sponsorship arrangement which would reward Londoners for their contribution to making the Games happen.
 
London Councils has suggested one solution could be to grant an allocation to each London borough. This allocation could then be distributed to local residents via a ballot or a system that recognises the achievements of local people and their contribution to their community.
 
A recent London Councils survey found that 44 per cent of Londoners hope to get tickets for events in 2012.
 
London Councils’ Chairman Councillor Merrick Cockell said:
“Londoners are as keen as LOCOG that the 2012 Games are a success. But they deserve something back for their investment – as well as for the significant disruption many face in the run-up to, and during, the actual staging of the Games.
 
”We want to support London 2012 to reach out to those people who might not normally be able to attend world-class sport events. A strong commitment was made to London both to inspire and engage young people and to ensure that this is ‘Everyone’s Games’.
 
“We want to work with LOCOG to come up with a solution that achieves this and recognises the central role Londoners are playing in delivering 2012. They are at least as important as any commercial sponsor.”

For more information view:
www.londoncouncils.gov.uk