Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support Northern Ireland's business community.

The UK Government is committed to supporting businesses across the UK as part of the Prime Minister’s commitment to levelling up our regions. In doing so, the UK Government has supported NI businesses through:

• The British Business Bank, which has supported 1,250 SMEs in Northern Ireland with £80.2m (as at December 2018) since 2014. In the last year alone, over 1,000 loans have been granted to NI businesses, valued at £7.3m;

• At Spring Statement, a UK-wide review of the Aggregates Levy was launched which will consider the impact of the levy on businesses in Northern Ireland; and

• Delivering an ambitious set of City Deals worth over £400m.