Olympics testing two months behind schedule, says NAO

The testing and exercising plan for the Olympic Games remains two months behind schedule, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report released today. 

However, the report, Preparations for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: Progress Report December 2011, went on to say that the plan is more satisfactory now than it was when an initial report was released in February, and that testing activity should be up to date by the end of the year. The plan includes the testing of the technology being integrated by Locog.

A final schedule of programme-wide testing was released in August this year, following the critical February report, also released by the NAO. The report claimed the continuing lack of a final schedule was among the top risks facing the Olympic Games.

The August plan set out the milestones that must be met by each workstream to provide assurance that it is ready to deliver in 2012.

Recent exercises "have demonstrated improved readiness, and the delivery bodies now have increased confidence that the programme will have caught up by the end of 2011", the report said. These exercises include the first of three major cross-programme exercises to test readiness, command, control and communications.

"However, the timetable to test and assure systems and processes remains tight," added the report.