Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral contribution of 24 October 2017, Official Report, column 158, on delivering reassurance to business in accordance with its needs, what form that reassurance will take.

Since the referendum, HMG has carried out extensive and diverse engagement with hundreds of businesses of all sizes across the UK on the potential implications of our withdrawal from the EU. The Chancellor has played, and will continue to play, a crucial role in this engagement.

In September, he chaired the first meeting of the Business Advisory Group, a new group created by government to ensure that business is not only heard but is influential throughout the negotiations. It is jointly chaired by the Chancellor, Business Secretary and Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, and attended by the five main business representative bodies (CBI, IoD, EEF, BCC and FSB). The second meeting, chaired by the Business Secretary, took place yesterday.

The Chancellor has also attended the two meetings of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council, which brings together leading business figures from various sectors and provides a direct link to business on the Government’s Brexit strategy. Treasury Ministers have also taken part in other cross-government engagement events.

And the Chancellor continues to engage with businesses across the economy to understand their perspective not just on Brexit, but on all issues affecting their operations.

In addition to this, Treasury ministers and officials continue to undertake a wide range of business engagement with firms from across the economy. This is particularly focused on, but not limited to, Treasury’s priority areas of financial services and customs.

The government remains committed to making the UK the best place in Europe to own and grow a business. That includes supporting those businesses that trade with the EU and wider international markets, as well as continuing to encourage record foreign direct investment that supports business and communities up and down the country.