To ask Her Majesty's Government how many submissions on devolving corporation tax were made to the HM Treasury consultation on Rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy by the original closing date of 24 June; how many persons attended the high level consultation meeting on 7 July; how this meeting was publicised across Northern Ireland; and which organisations were invited to attend.

Initial analysis suggests that around 450 responses had been received by 24 June 2011 in response to the HM Treasury consultation on rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy and that by the time the consultation closed on 8 July, over 700 responses were received.

Excluding Ministers and officials from the Northern Ireland Executive, NIO and HM Treasury, a total of about 25 people attended the consultation meeting on 7 July. Invitees included representatives from a broad spectrum of organisations. A full list is given below:

Construction Employers Federation, Queen's University, the Law Society, NI Human Rights Commission, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, NI Manufacturing Group, BDO, Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, Ernst & Young, University of Ulster, the Federation of Small Businesses, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (NI Committee), NI Public Service Alliance, Colleges NI, the Economic Reform Group, Committee for the Administration of Justice, Invest NI, the Centre for Competitiveness, NI Food and Drink Association, Ulster Society Charted Accountants Ireland, the Confederation of British Industry, KPMG, Enterprise NI, Momentum, Manufacturing NI, NI Chamber of Commerce, NI Independent Retail Trade Association, and the Institute of Directors.

The list of invitees was drawn up in consultation with the Northern Ireland Office and the NI Departments for Finance and Personnel and Enterprise, Trade and Investment.