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UK kids’ tax breaks: the industry reacts

The UK government’s plan for a tax break for the production of UK children’s live-action television has been unanimously welcomed after months of campaigning by the local kids’ sector.

In his Autumn Statement yesterday, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne confirmed the new tax relief will be available from April 1 next year at a rate of 25% on qualifying production expenditure, bringing it in line with the existing animation and high-end TV tax breaks.

Reaction from the kids’, film and investment sectors has been universally positive after a long battle by the industry to get the law extended.

“The Chancellor’s announcement is welcome news to the TV industry which has been calling for this decision for some time,” said Sue Taylor, relationship director, at Barclays’ technology, media and telecoms team.

“There have been a number of great successes in children’s TV produced in the UK over the last few years, including Mister Maker and Horrible Histories, but these successes are few and far between compared to 10 years ago.

“Over the last decade, budgets have shrunk and as a result 90% of children’s TV is now repeats, with content dominated by US imports, according to (producers’ trade body) Pact. The introduction of tax credits will help restore the children’s TV sector in the UK and provide vital support for production companies to shoot here rather than abroad, putting Britain back on the map as a cost-effective destination for production.”

Meanwhile, Adrian Wootton, CEO of the British Film Commission and Film London, said: “We are delighted by the Chancellor’s intention to further enhance the UK’s Creative Sector Tax Reliefs. The country has seen significant benefits thanks to the film, high-end television and animation reliefs, and extending them to include live-action children’s programming is a logical step.

“We also welcome the Government’s planned consultation on the high-end television tax relief, which will further enhance the UK’s offer to international clients, and attract more investment to the UK. We look forward to working with government and industry partners through the consultation process.”

Amanda Nevill, CEO of the British Film Institute (BFI), also welcomed the news, adding that it would “provide a valuable boost to the sector.”

“The BFI administers the cultural test for the creative sector tax reliefs already for film, high end television, video games and animation programmes, and we look forward to working with government and partners across the industry in developing the new relief for children’s television,” Nevill said.

The UK has a history of producing popular and commercially lucrative kids’ live-action programming, such as preschool hits Teletubbies and Tweenies

A tax break for kids’ live-action could improve UK television exports and also help boost international coproduction opportunities, meaning dramas with international appeal in the vein of Anglo-German copro Wolfblood could become more common. The series airs on CBBC and ZDF in Germany.

Directors UK, the industry body representing over 5,500 TV and Film directors, described Osborne’s announcement as “great news.”

“The UK is world-renowned for its innovative children’s programming and it is great that the government is recognising the cultural and economic importance of children’s TV in the production landscape,” said Beryl Richards, vice chair of organisation.

Auditing firm Deloitte said the new tax relief would allow programmes to be commissioned that otherwise wouldn’t be made.

“Ofcom figures show that our children watch almost 17 hours of television per week,” said Sally Jones, the company’s tax director, referring to the UK’s media regulator.

“Measures that encourage the production of high quality, educational and also entertaining programmes, is great news. The UK has a great track record of doing just that – the Teletubbies, for example, were and still are cutting-edge – but most children’s programmes make little, if any, money.”

Jean-Benoit Berty, head of Ernst and Young’s UK technology, media and telecommunications practice, added: “This is a good decision and will be welcomed by the industry, which has long called for change. It’s good to see that the government is acting to ensure this dynamic sector is safeguarded in a high competitive, fast-moving global economy.”

The kids’ TV production community also hopes the tax break will encourage UK broadcasters such as ITV to commission more children’s content, while there are also hopes global broadcasters such as Disney and Viacom, as well as new players such as Netflix and Amazon, will now invest more in children’s programming in the UK.

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