DCMS rejects claim it will be abolished

Culture department officials have branded news reports predicting its demise as “absolute rubbish”.

The DCMS, which overseas and enacts policy for the UK’s medias and sports – including video games – was on Friday faced with rumours that it will be scrapped altogether.

Harriet Harman, Labour’s shadow culture secretary, wrote in the Evening Standard: “There are well-sourced rumours in Westminster and the arts world that after the Olympics, the government will announce that the DCMS is no longer needed.”

But a DCMS spokesperson claimed the report was "absolute rubbish". Number 10, meanwhile, told the BBC that it "did not recognise" the reports.

Unsubstantiated policy rumours occasionally emerge when the civil service brainstorms a range of options that often include unlikely scenarios that nevertheless require examination.

The Institute of Economic Affairs, a financial think-tank, has already calculated that scrapping the DCMS could save about £1.6 billion in certain costs.

Richard Wilson, the CEO of games trade group Tiga, has said he hoped the DCMS remains operational due to its strong ties with games sector.