5. Welsh Conservatives Debate: E-sports

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:48 pm on 8 May 2019.

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Photo of David Melding David Melding Conservative 3:48, 8 May 2019

Well, I must follow the Minister's inspiring observation that, you know, perhaps this is the world that will now mark the next 20 years of devolution, where we debate subjects on which we have broad agreement, but subjects that are still critical to our society—and in this case the economy and creative industries. But, can I thank everyone who has taken part in this debate? It's been a really interesting, informative and generous debate.

Janet started the contributions, and emphasised the entertainment value that people find from games—and they are greatly liberating for so many people. I mean, it's no wonder that they are so valued and enjoyed by people. Then, she looked at some of the UK statistics, which I had not specifically highlighted myself, and NewZoo's estimation of a 6.5 million audience in the UK. She was the first of several speakers to talk about the jobs potential that there is in the future.

Jack Sargeant looked at the growth of the UK market, and really got practical and called for an Assembly competition on FIFA. Darren—that would be the derby match really, from neighbouring areas of north Wales. I thought Jack made a really important point: in fairness to the Welsh Government, it has a record of some success in hosting major events, and we should remember that this also is an area that would be worthy of such support.

Nick Ramsay said that his knowledge was limited but growing in this area, and then delivered a most accomplished, comprehensive speech, which took us to the Bazalgette review and the importance of that really comprehensive report. Again, that’s not something that I referred to, but I do think it’s an excellent piece of work. And he talked about the importance of infrastructure, superfast broadband, and then he also mentioned the importance of STEM, which was taken up by other speakers as well.

The secrets were now gushing all of a sudden, and Rhun said that he’s an e-gamer and he occasionally beats his 15-year-old son in FIFA. So, perhaps he’ll give us more details about where he is in that particular league. But, anyway, perhaps I shouldn’t intrude into family competition. And how much the world has moved away from Subbuteo at the BBC. I have to say I thought that was a lovely image. And Llyr intervened on him and talked about a recent visit he made to a college where the students were developing a game, and just seeing the range of skills that that required, I think that was a very vivid example.

Oscar spent most time on the issue of STEM, reflecting his long-standing interest in skills and the importance of decision making, problem solving, as well as the technical skills and the need to narrow the skills gap. And there is clear applicability here in terms of students picking up these skills whilst doing something they really enjoy. And I think there’s a key opportunity for that, including involving women, who are often very poorly represented in the study of STEM subjects.

Caroline also said that she was new to the subject, but immediately saw its potential as part of a creative industry. I think it’s fair that, of all the speakers, Caroline was the most laissez-faire in her approach, welcoming the growth from the grassroots up and warning against too much governmental activity. But I do think that this is an area where the market is expanding, where it’s not crowded at the moment. There’s an awful lot of potential there, so we’ve got to get ahead, and Government does have a role to play there, as we’re seeing with the likes of the Bazalgette review, the UK Government’s strategy that’s developing, the work in Korea, and last week in Denmark. So, we shouldn’t miss the lessons that that indicates to us as well.

And then, the Minister concluded by saying that this is a developing policy, a useful debate, and I thought he made the very, very important point that we shouldn’t set up e-sports and sports particularly by saying that e-sports stop people being active in real sports. Well, you know, you can do both; you can excel at both. You can enjoy both. That is not the competition. The world is an open and exciting enough place to have e-sport activity and traditional sporting activity. And I think he generally did indicate that the Government has got ambition and an open mind here. We have this slight disagreement about the amendment, but can I just say that I would urge Members to support our motion unamended? But should the motion get amended, then please support the amended motion. Thank you.