Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Yesterday the Minister for Culture helped commence the 2007 London Games Festival with a speech in support of the UK games industry. Speaking at the annual conference of the Entertainment and Leisure Publishers Association (ELSPA) Margaret Hodge (OBE) stressed how both she and the government wished to, “nurture and grow the industry.”
Hodge when asked if the current government cared about the industry, specifically under new incentives of tax credits abroad for companies that receive no such exemption in the UK, replied positively stating, “Yes, absolutely, we do.”
Of course the Minister's comments come as no surprise in light of Gordon Brown’s recent appointment of Dr. Tanya Byron to head a report into the industry as a whole; specifically targeting the controversial area’s of censorship, children’s relationship with games and parental understanding of them. Indeed, the Byron review – of which a synopsis of its aims and hopes was eloquently delivered by Dr. Byron herself mere hours before the Minister's speech, outlined her position clearly.
Dr. Byron was quick to state that she was certainly not in the business of scapegoating the industry and, that through her report, wished to “wrestle the debate away from the tabloids.”
The Byron Review is due for publication on the 30th of March 2008 and with its findings able to massively affect both government policy and the UK gaming industry as a whole, both Hodge and Byron were keen to express both the issues that needed to be dealt with and their impartiality to them.
The former Minister for Children stated that while there were many challenges that needed to be addressed when it came around to an industry that “can’t be summed up in a sound bite”, both herself and the government were in total support of it and that her appearance at numerous events in this years LGF, hoped would stress this commitment.
The London Games Festival 2007 runs from October 22nd until early November. Booking and information details can be found at www.londongamesfestival.co.uk. Information on the Byron Review can be found at www.dcfs.gov.uk/byronreview.