A SECRETARY of State has praised ‘the brilliance of Warrington in leading the world’.
The comments were made during a debate on the video game industry in the House of Commons on Thursday.
Warrington North MP Charlotte Nichols asked the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her department has made of the effectiveness of Government initiatives in supporting the long-term growth of the video game industry.
The secretary of state, Lisa Nandy, gave an oral answer to the question in Parliament.
She said: “We are aware of the importance of the video games sector to the UK as a whole, and the brilliance of Warrington in leading the world.
“This is not just in video games, but in nuclear and in the sheer number of roundabouts to which my honourable friend’s constituency is home.
“We are committed to working with her and others to ensure that we continue to support the video games sector for many years to come.”
As a follow-up, Ms Nichols said: “The Secretary of State will know that we also produce a fifth of the world’s gin in Warrington.
“The UK video games industry is a huge success story, supporting 73,000 jobs, including in Warrington at companies like 10:10, Mindware, Freesphere Entertainment and Second Impact Games, and contributing more to UK GVA than the film and music industries combined.
“To strengthen UK gaming’s global competitiveness, particularly in the context of the announcements from the US, what consideration has the Secretary of State given to enhancing the video games expenditure credit?
In response, Ms Nandy said: “The video games expenditure credit has been incredibly important for us, and we were pleased to announce £5.5million for the UK games fund next year.
“As somebody who has probably put in more hours on Animal Crossing than any other member of the house, I am aware of the joy that video games bring to many people in this country.
“The Prime Minister is working to support industries that have been affected by recent announcements from the United States.
“But we are ensuring the video games are at the heart of that, including by putting them at the heart of a new creative industries sector plan, which will be published in the coming months.”
