Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support defence companies.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Defence Industrial Strategy is the defence sector plan for the Modern Industrial Strategy and underlines this Government’s commitment to making defence an engine for growth
The DIS outlines how the Government will back UK-based businesses by launching the offsets consultation, increase spending on SMEs, create a Defence Office for SME Growth, and provide additional support to companies to export. It announced an ambitious skills package of £182million to enable industry to recruit and build the well-paid jobs that will keep the UK secure in the future.
The DIS also outlines how the MOD will conduct early market engagement with industry to inform procurement decisions.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to deliver a pay restoration framework for resident doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Each year the Government allows the independent Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB) to make recommendations on headline pay for doctors, including resident doctors.
In May 2025, the Government announced the 2025/26 pay awards for National Health Service staff in England, accepting the headline pay recommendations of the DDRB, for consultants, specialty and specialist doctors, and resident doctors for the 2025/26 period.
Resident doctors received one of the highest pay awards of the entire public sector this year, meaning an average 28.9% pay rise compared to three years ago.
The DDRB has been remitted and the process for 2026/27 pay is already under way.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the provision of specialist (a) wheelchairs, (b) beds and (c) armchairs for tall disabled people.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services. National Health Service trusts work with the patient and wheelchair supplier to best meet the patient’s needs and requirements.
A typical hospital bed is 200 centimetres long and can be extended by 20 centimetres with pressure relieving infills available. With regards to armchairs, the NHS Supply Chain works with customers and suppliers if any bespoke products are needed in the market.
Equipment provision, where required for use in peoples’ own homes, is typically through a community equipment service; these are usually funded through a combination of the local authority and local NHS and provided via an outsourced provider or a locally-run service.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of potential impact of the Video Games Expenditure Credit on levels of (a) employment, (b) investment, (c) studio formation and (d) IP development.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of the creative industries, including the key role they play in driving economic growth. Video games jobs are highly productive at nearly double the average national output, and technology developed by games businesses contributes an estimated £1.3 billion output to the UK economy each year.
Video games companies benefit from the Video Games Expenditure Credit, which provides a tax credit of 34 per cent on UK video games development costs.
It is too soon to conduct an assessment of VGEC’s impact given it was introduced on 1 January 2024, after which there will be a lag of at least 12 months as accounting periods end and corporation tax returns are filed. An evaluation of the Video Game Tax Relief (VGTR), which VGEC is replacing, was published in July 2017. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/video-game-tax-relief-evaluation.
The government will continue to work with industry to monitor the VGEC and its effectiveness on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the cost to local authorities of developers successfully contesting (a) section 106 agreements and (b) a Community Infrastructure Levy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Planning Inspectorate publish quarterly data on planning appeals, including data on appeals received, decided, and allowed. This can be found on gov.uk here at table 2.8.
The government has not undertaken a centralised assessment of costs to local planning authorities.
It is right and fair that developers are able to access appropriate appeals processes. A person who considers a Community Infrastructure Levy charge to have been incorrectly calculated can seek a formal review of the calculation by the levy charging authority and may also seek an independent assessment of the calculation through an appeal to the Valuation Office Agency if deemed necessary following review by the authority.
Applicants do not have to agree to a proposed planning obligation (section 106 agreement). However, this may lead to a refusal of planning permission or non-determination of the application. An appeal may be made against the non-determination or refusal of planning permission. In certain circumstances, an appeal may also be made to the Planning Inspectorate against a refusal to change a planning obligation.
The government is committed to strengthening the system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many video games studios have received (a) Video Games Tax Relief and (b) Video Games Expenditure Credit since they were introduced.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of the creative industries, including the key role they play in driving economic growth. Video games jobs are highly productive at nearly double the average national output, and technology developed by games businesses contributes an estimated £1.3 billion output to the UK economy each year.
Video games companies benefit from the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC), which was introduced on 1 January 2024 and provides a tax credit of 34 per cent on UK video games development costs. All new games must claim VGEC from 1 April 2025 and VGTR will expire in April 2027.
HMRC publish annual creative industry tax relief statistics on gov.uk, that can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/creative-industries-statistics
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds information on the number of students that undertook undergraduate degrees in Games and Animation in the (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2023-24 academic years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the 2023/24 academic year, there were 15,450 undergraduate enrolments across all UK higher education (HE) providers in the subject area ‘Computer games and animation’ (common aggregation hierarchy (CAH) subject code 11-01-06).
In the 2013/14 academic year, there were 4,065 undergraduate enrolments across all UK HE providers in the subject areas ‘Games’ (Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) subject code I6) and ‘Computer generated visual & audio effects’ (JACS subject code I7).
In 2019/20, a new subject classification system, the Higher Education Classification of Subjects and the CAH, was introduced to replace the JACS. Subjects in both systems have been chosen to match as closely as possible, but counts of enrolments may not be directly comparable between the two systems.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to encourage students to study video game design degrees.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to supporting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects, including computer games design courses, which are vital to the UK’s research base, innovation capacity and Industrial Strategy.
For the 2025/26 academic year, two-thirds of the £1.3 billion Strategic Priorities Grant recurrent funding to higher education providers is allocated to support the provision of high-cost subjects. From this funding, the Office for Students is allocating £289.50 per full-time equivalent student to providers for computer games design students.
The department continues to invest in the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) to improve the quality of computing teaching and increase uptake of computing qualifications. To raise awareness of further study and careers in computing and digital, the NCCE facilitates industry-led outreach events. In July 2025, over 3,000 students attended an NCCE webinar focused on careers in the games industry and further events are being planned in collaboration with partners including British Esports.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what grant funding is available to help support training in small and medium-sized enterprises in the video games development sector.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Games Fund (UKGF) provides grant funding to small and medium-sized enterprises in the video games sector for development of new intellectual property, as well as development programmes for new graduate talent. As part of the recently published Creative Industries Sector Plan, the government announced the £30 million Games Growth Package, including an expansion of the UKGF over the next three years.
Since its inception in 2015, the UKGF has supported 440 companies with grant funding, and over 200 teams through talent development programmes Tranzfuser and DunDuv.
Small and medium-sized enterprises in the video games sector have also benefited from other support provided by DCMS and its arms-length bodies. This includes through the Create Growth Programme, which supports high-growth creative businesses to scale up and become investment ready.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many video games studios have been supported by the UK Games Fund.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Games Fund (UKGF) provides grant funding to small and medium-sized enterprises in the video games sector for development of new intellectual property, as well as development programmes for new graduate talent. As part of the recently published Creative Industries Sector Plan, the government announced the £30 million Games Growth Package, including an expansion of the UKGF over the next three years.
Since its inception in 2015, the UKGF has supported 440 companies with grant funding, and over 200 teams through talent development programmes Tranzfuser and DunDuv.
Small and medium-sized enterprises in the video games sector have also benefited from other support provided by DCMS and its arms-length bodies. This includes through the Create Growth Programme, which supports high-growth creative businesses to scale up and become investment ready.