Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast that real business investment will fall 0.6 percentage points as a share of gross domestic product from 2023 to 2029, and what plans they have to address the risk of business investment falling.

Growth is the central mission of this government, and investment is central to this. This is why we have established the National Wealth Fund, which is expected to catalyse over £70bn of private investment; announced ambitious planning reforms to remove blockages to investment; and put forward proposals to reform the UK pensions system which could unlock around £80 billion of productive investment.

Our modern Industrial Strategy will also set out plans to support investment in growth-driving sectors and, in October, the international business community put its confidence in the UK’s growth potential, committing £63 billion of investment around the International Investment Summit.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects real business investment to grow at 0.8 per cent on average each year between 2025 and 2029.

The OBR also expects the crowding-in of private investment as a result of the public investment announced in the Budget to increase potential output, increasing GDP by 0.4% after ten years, and by 1.4% in the long-run.