The Chancellor requested to meet with Oliver to hear views on skills provision and training, particularly on how businesses can appropriately skill their workforce to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future, and the role of Government in skills training.

Oliver made the following longstanding TIGA recommendations to the Chancellor:

• That government should reduce tuition fees for undergraduates taking mathematics and computer science degrees
• That teachers in STEM subjects must be highly qualified and should be rewarded for leaving industry to teach
• Computer programming should be introduced at an early age - the ICT curriculum should be examined to determine whether it could be expanded to include courses on simple game development, which would inspire students.
• The government should work with universities to enable them to flex and refresh their courses more rapidly in response to UK industry demand.
• Tax credits should be offered to companies who invest resources in supporting schools, colleges and universities to improve their courses.
• Information and access to support for ongoing internal industry training should be improved.
• Ensure R&D tax credits are fit for purpose for knowledge based industries

Philip said: "It's hugely encouraging that the Chancellor is consulting the games industry on the issues of skills and education. TIGA has been leading the debate on education and skills required by the games industry and the Chancellor was very receptive to the ideas presented. We'll continue to lobby Government on these and other issues that can improve the business environment for UK games developers. I hope the Chancellor will seriously consider the proposals outlined today and look forward to further consultation on these issues."