Photo: Andy Wilkes

Figures released by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) last week reveal that out of the five host boroughs Hackney has the lowest number of workers on the site, with only 130 out of 6,423 hailing from the borough.

Fellow host boroughs Waltham Forest and Newham have over double the number of workers with 484 and 267 workers respectively. Greenwich represents 215 of the overall workforce while 193 workers come from neighbouring borough Tower Hamlets.

Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington described the numbers as a ‘travesty.’ This comes after her plea for Government officials to prioritise jobs for East London youths during the construction of Olympic facilities, which ELL covered in July.

“Opportunities have clearly been missed by the ODA which has failed to take advantage of a local workforce which is ready and willing to work. They’ve also failed to give opportunities to young people in the area, with just 7 apprentices on the site hailing from Hackney.”

She added, “These latest figures are an insult to my constituents, to the homeowners, businesses and taxpayers, who were sold the Games on the promise that we would see a regeneration of the East End.”