Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what meetings her Department has had with Durham County Council to discuss preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

BEIS Ministers and officials have been engaging throughout the country with businesses of all sizes and their representatives, trade associations and local enterprise partnerships, including through regular meetings. We communicate regularly with intermediaries to ensure businesses obtain information quickly and efficiently. We will continue to engage across the business population to ensure their priorities are reflected and that businesses have the latest information on how to prepare themselves for Brexit, including through a targeted series of roadshows and events.

The Government also has a business readiness website designed to keep businesses and consumers informed about what no deal might mean for them, with information on a range of measures that may need to be taken in order to prepare. These notices are being regularly updated with the latest information, for example BEIS have published 18 sector specific guides with the top three to six priorities per sector on GOV.UK. These guides can be easily accessed through an interactive business search tool https://www.gov.uk/get-ready-brexit-check