TIGA speaks out as Dept. of Culture, Media & Sport is put under threat
Luke Stratford April 23, 2012 - 8:29 pmNews: As tax-cutting initiatives put pressure on the UK government to streamline, TIGA urges the coalition to reconsider cutting the political keystone to the British games industry.
Under the burden of the budget, the coalition government has been put under pressure to trim sails in order to fund proposed tax cuts has placed the Department of Culture, Media & Sport in the line of fire. Naturally, this is a critical issue to the flagging native games industry, as well as the greated creative industries as a whole, leading to TIGA putting forward their strong recommendation that the government reconsider.
The proposed cut, as suggested by a report made by the Institute of Economic Affairs, was rebuked by TIGA CEO, Dr. Richard Wilson, saying; ‘Abolition of the DCMS would entail costs. Tacit knowledge would be lost in any reorganization, thereby impairing government performance.’
‘The creative industries, including video games, are important for the future economic success of the UK. They need a focused department and a voice in government,’ he continued, in a press release issued via TIGA’s main site. The press release went on to highlight the relatively low costs incurred by the DCMS in comparison to their critical poplicy forming responsibilities, questioning why the government would choose to damage such a minor drain on resources when other areas demand much more funds.
Given that the DCMS is essentially a co-ordinating body responsible for many other, often independent, groups and funtions, with ongoing investigations into the 2012 Olympic Games and the Murdoch/Phone Hacking inquiries, it seems like a very bad idea to suddenly cut out the department at such a pivotal time.
