TIGA welcomes UK Spending Review’s focus on creative industries, but emphasizes “importance” of UK Games Fund

Trade body TIGA has responded to the spending review outlined by the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling the government’s commitment to increasing funding for the creative industries as “encouraging.”

Reeves’ spending review was published on June 11. It included a “significant increase in funding to support regional growth and drive innovation, develop creative places, and ensure the UK’s creative industries remain world-leading,” designating the creative industries as one of the government’s eight growth driving sectors.

In a statement, the organization said: “The Government’s commitment to ‘a significant increase in funding for the creative industries as one of the government’s eight growth driving sectors’ is encouraging. We look forward to seeing the specific policies that will be set out in the Creative Industries Sector Plan and the forthcoming Industrial Strategy White Paper.

“Plans in the [spending review] for capital investment, investment in education and for the British Business Bank are also positive,” TIGA CEO, Dr Richard Wilson OBE, added. “The UK games industry will also be looking with interest to the Autumn Budget. The single most important measure that the Government can take to drive investment, employment and studio growth in the UK video games industry is to enhance the Video Games Expenditure Credit.

“In our submission to Government, as well as emphasising the importance of investing in the UK Games Fund, we suggested that it could consider raising the rate of VGEC from 34 per cent to 39 per cent; raising qualifying expenditure from 80 per cent to 100 per cent; and or introducing an Independent Games Tax Credit (IGTC) with a rate of 53 per cent on 80 per cent of qualifying costs, on budgets for games of up to £23.5 million, in line with the existing Independent Film Tax Credit. One or more of these reforms would help to keep the UK a leading location for game development globally, boost investment, create high skilled jobs, and encourage the growth of games clusters throughout the UK.”

Earlier this year, TIGA announced the appointment of four new board members from across the UK games industry.