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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address reports of falling confidence amongst business leaders with regard to Brexit.

The joint agreement reached in December, which confirmed a shared desire to make progress on an implementation period; and that sufficient progress had been made to progress to phase two of negotiations for exiting the EU, was widely welcomed by businesses and has helped business optimism.

Business optimism is also driven by confidence in the long-term performance of the economy. The Industrial Strategy, published by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy last year, sets out a long-term vision of an economy that boosts productivity and earning power throughout the UK.