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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his oral contribution of 12 December, when he plans to announce sector deals for the (a) food and drink, (b) hospitality, (c) steel, (d) care and (e) agriculture sectors.

There is no deadline for sector deals. We will prioritise proposals that are ambitious, deliverable, have clear implementation plans and demonstrate analytically robust and real-world impact on the productivity of their sector.

There is also no requirement for any sector to have a deal but we are prepared to work with those which can self-organise behind strong leadership, offer a compelling case for sector specific action, and set out clear proposals to transform their sector.

Since the publication of the Green Paper in January the response has been emphatic, not only in endorsing the concept of Sector Deals but in generating a wide range of proposals and we have been working with many of them in recent months. We will announce details in the New Year.