Insolvency

Mr. Oaten
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 29 June 2009, Official Report, column 97W, on insolvency, how many reports from insolvency practitioners alleging misconduct have been received by the Insolvency Service in each of the last three years; and how many such reports have been pursued to investigation stage.

Ian Lucas
[holding answer 13 July 2009]: The information is as follows:

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|                         |2006-07|2007-08|2008-09|
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|Unfitted returns received|4,120  |3,991  |4,752  |
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|Investigations           |1,260  |1,691  |1,073  |
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Mr. Oaten
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many company directors have been disqualified from the Insolvency Service following an investigation in each of the last three years; and what the average disqualification period was in each such year.

Ian Lucas
[holding answer 13 July 2009]: The Insolvency Service obtains disqualifications under sections 6 and 8 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA). Some disqualifications are obtained under section 2 of the CDDA following criminal proceedings that have resulted in directors being convicted of an indictable offence in connection with the promotion, formation, management, liquidation or striking off of a company.

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|Directors disqualified |2006-07|2007-08|2008-09|
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|(a) Under section 6    |       |       |       |
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|Directors disqualified |1,149  |1,066  |1,204  |
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|Average period in years|5.5    |5.9    |6.3    |
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|                       |       |       |       |
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|(b) Under section 8    |       |       |       |
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|Directors disqualified |26     |28     |23     |
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|Average period in years|6.5    |6.2    |6.3    |
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|                       |       |       |       |
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|(c) Under section 2    |       |       |       |
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|Directors disqualified |51     |79     |48     |
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|Average period in years|n/k    |n/k    |5.7    |
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Mr. Oaten
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 29 June 2009, Official Report, column 97W, on insolvency, what estimate he has made of the cost of regulating compliance with Statement of Insolvency Practice 16; and from which budget such costs will be met.

Ian Lucas
[holding answer 13 July 2009]: The cost of the Insolvency Service’s monitoring of Statement of Insolvency Practice (SIP) 16, relating to pre-packaged administrations, has been estimated at £100,000 for the current financial year. The monitoring is undertaken on a cost recovery basis, and will therefore be recovered from the recognised professional bodies that regulate insolvency practitioners by way of levy.

The cost of regulating insolvency practitioners’ compliance with SIP 16 in terms of considering and implementing appropriate regulatory and disciplinary actions remains with the relevant recognised professional bodies.