About this release

This quarterly releasecontains the lateststatistics on personal andcorporate insolvencies inScotland. Statistics on theDebt Arrangement Schemeare also reported.

The statistics are compiledby Accountant inBankruptcy (AiB), anexecutive agency of theScottish Government.

The majority of thestatistics presented arederived from AiBadministrative records.Estimates for 2018­19 areprovisional until finalfigures are published in 24July 2019.

Non­statutory debtsolutions, where debtorsmake their ownarrangements withcreditors or enter informaldebt management planswith a debt managementfirm, are not included inthese statistics.

Scottish Insolvency Statistics:January to March 2019 (2018­19 Quarter 4)24 April 2019An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland

Responsible statisticianKen O'NeillKen.O'Neill@aib.gov.uk

Media enquires0300 200 2600Next update24 July 2019

Provisional estimates show that in 2018­19personal insolvencies in Scotland increased by20.5% to 12,779 from 10,602 in 2017­18.

Personal insolvenices (bankruptcies and protected trust deeds (PTDs))rose for the third consecutive year but remain below levels seen between2006­07 and 2013­14 (see chart 1).

For another type of statutory debt solution, the Debt ArrangementScheme (DAS), there were 2,544 Debt Payment Programmes (DPPs)approved in 2018­19, 226 more than a year earlier (shown in chart 1).Corporate insolvencies increased from 884 in 2017­18 to 966 in 2018­19.

Chart 1. Statutory debt solutions by type: Scotland, 1996­97 to 2018­19(provisional), annual data (table D1)

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In this releaseMain points ­ quarterly (p2), Mainpoints ­ annual (p3), Bankruptcy (p4),PTDs (p5), DAS (p6), Corporateinsolvency (p8), Infographic (p10),Background (p11)

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Main points for January to March 2019 Key terms

Debtor: any person whoowes money to another.

Creditor: any person,business or organisationthat is owed money byanother.

Bankruptcy: (also knownas sequestration inScotland) is a legaldeclaration that someonecannot pay their debts. If aperson is declaredbankrupt, control of thingsthat they own, is passed toa trustee who may sellthem to pay money owedto creditors. A regularpayment from a person'sincome may also have tobe made.

Protected trust deed(PTD): a form ofinsolvency that transfers adebtor's estate to a trusteeto be realised for thebenefit of creditors.

Debt ArrangementScheme (DAS): a ScottishGovernment debtmanagement tool. Allows adebtor to repay their debtsthrough a Debt PaymentProgramme by giving moretime for repayments freefrom the threat ofenforcement (diligence) orbankruptcy.

Table 1. Summary of Scottish Insolvency Statistics for January to March 2019(2018­19 Q4): Scotland, quarterly data (table D1)

There were 3,272 personal insolvencies in 2018­19 Q4, more than the2,533 recorded in 2017­18 Q4 (see table 1 and chart 2). Bankruptciesincreased by 14.4% when compared with the same quarter in theprevious year. PTDs increased by 40.0% over the same period andwas the main contributor to the overall increase in personalinsolvencies.

There were 597 approved DAS applications compared with 489 for thesame quarter from 2017­18 (also shown in chart 2).

Corporate insolvencies increased from 259 in 2017­18 Q4 to 280 in2018­19 Q4.

Chart 2. Statutory debt solutions by type: Scotland, April to June 2006 to Januaryto March 2019, quarterly data (figures for 2018­19 provisional) (table D1)

No seasonaladjustment

The data used in thisrelease are not seasonallyadjusted. We recommendyou use year­on­yearcomparisons (for example2018­19 Q4 compared with2017­18 Q4) rather thanmaking quarter­on­quartercomparisons.

Data used in thisrelease

The data used in thisstatistical release areavailable here.

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Main points for the financial year 2018­19

Chart 3. Quarterly and cumulative personal insolvencies: Scotland, April 2017 toMarch 2018 and April 2018 to March 2019 (provisional), quarterly data (table D1)

Chart 3 shows the quarterly path of personal insolvencies within the yearby presenting both quarterly and cumulative personal insolvencies in thecurrent financial year and compares these with the previous financialyear. Further time series infographics are shown in the adjacent sidebar.

Table 2. Summary of Scottish Insolvency Statistics for 2017­18 and 2018­19:Scotland, annual data (table D1)

Provisional results for 2018­19 show that there were 12,779 personalinsolvencies, 2,177 more personal insolvencies than in 2017­18 (seetable 2). This increase was due to PTDs, which increased by 32.9%. Ineach year since 2015­16, more PTDs have been registered thanbankruptcy awards.

Awards of bankruptcies increased by 4.7%. It is important to note thatthese provisional results will not be finalised until 24 July 2019. Thelate reporting of creditor petitions, in particular, may lead to differencesbetween first provisional estimates and actual finalised figures. Forexample, the provisional 2017­18 bankruptcies estimate was 4,540 andthen finalised to 4,644, a difference of 2.3% mainly due to creditorpetitions revisions.

Geographicalcoverage

This release coversinsolvencies in Scotland.Statistics covering England& Wales, and NorthernIreland are available fromThe Insolvency Service.

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Personal insolvency: Awards of bankruptcy Types of bankruptcy:debtor application

A person can apply to AiBto make themselvesbankrupt through a debtorapplication. To apply forbankruptcy a person musthave received moneyadvice from a qualifiedmoney adviser (forexample from a localauthority money adviceunit or Citizens AdviceBureau). The two types ofdebtor application forbankruptcy in Scotlandare:

Minimal Asset Process(MAP): for people on alow income who do notown property and havevery little in savings orother assets. Conditionsfor a MAP are if a person'sdebts are at least £1,500and not more than£17,000, or own assets notexceeding £2,000. Adebtor will be dischargedafter six months, if theycontinue to meet the MAPcriteria, (cases will beconverted to FullAdministration where it isfound that debtors do notmeet MAP criteria). MAPreplaced the LILAbankruptcy in April 2015.

Full Administration: whenconditions set out in MAPare not met. Conditions forFull Administration are if aperson's debts are over£3,000, or own assetsvaluing £2,000 or above.

Bankruptcies in 2018­19 Q4 increased when compared with the samequarter in the previous year. There were 1,223 bankruptcies awardedin 2018­19 Q4, a 14.4% increase when compared with 2017­18 Q4.

Of the 1,223 awards of bankruptcy in 2018­19 Q4, 82.7% came fromdebtor applications. The remaining bankruptcies came from creditorpetitions (16.9%) and trust deed petitions (0.3%).

Creditor petitions decreased from 298 in 2017­18 Q4 to 207 in 2018­19Q4. Creditor petitions are approved by courts with AiB only recordingwhen a creditor petition has been awarded. The number of creditorpetitions recorded, therefore, could be influenced by the late reportingof creditor petitions court orders. Under the current revisions policyquarterly creditor petitions figures are revised quarterly to account forlate reporting or missing cases.

Types of bankruptcy:creditor and trust deedpetitions

A creditor or trustee undera trust deed can apply,subject to conditions, tomake a person bankruptthrough a creditor or trustdeed petition to a sheriffcourt. AiB only receivesdebtor applications forbankruptcy.

Debtor applications for bankruptcy increased by 31.3% from 771 in2017­18 Q4 to 1,012 in 2018­19 Q4. There are two types of debtorapplications for bankruptcy: MAP or Full Administration. FullAdministration bankruptcies increased by 34.6% from 338 to 455 andMAP bankruptcies increased by 28.6% from 433 to 557.

The majority of bankruptcies awarded through debtor applications areMAP cases. The MAP bankruptcy replaced the Low Income Low Asset(LILA) bankruptcy in April 2015.

Chart 4 shows the recent trend in bankruptcies awarded through debtorapplications since April to June 2009. The number of LILA bankruptcyawards followed the declining trend in overall bankruptcies since2008­09. There was a spike in activity in April to June 2012 likely as aresult of the scheduled increase in fees to access bankruptcy beingintroduced on 1 June 2012. Legislative and operational changesintroduced through the Bankruptcy and Debt Advice (Scotland) Act2014 (BADA(S)) on 1 April 2015 was the most likely cause for thesharp decline in the number of bankruptcies awarded in April to June2015.

Since the start of 2015­16, MAP and Full Administration awards havegradually increased but overall levels remain low when compared withbankruptcy levels in 2008­09 and 2009­10.

Awards of bankruptcy: debtor applications

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Debtor applications forbankruptcy

Not all debtor applicationsfor bankruptcy result in anaward being made andapplications can berejected (criteria forbankruptcy not met),returned (applicationerrors) or withdrawn.

In 2018­19 Q4, 1,027debtor applications forbankruptcy were receivedby AiB compared with 749received in 2017­18 Q4.The trend in debtorapplications will follow asimilar trend tobankruptcies awarded.

Personal insolvency: Protected trust deeds

There were 2,049 PTDs registered in 2018­19 Q4, a 40.0% increaseon the same quarter in 2017­18. The number of PTDs have followed asimilar trend to bankruptcies and have been increasing since 2014­15Q4 (see chart 5).

What is a protectedtrust deed (PTD)?

A PTD is a formal debtsolution where anagreement is madebetween a debtor andcreditors to repay part orall of their debt.

The debtor conveys theirestate to an insolvencypractitioner (the trustee) toadminister for the benefitof creditors and thearrangement normallyincludes a contributionfrom income for a setperiod.

Provided the debtorcomplies with the terms oftheir deed, the creditorscan take no further actionto pursue the debt or tomake the debtor bankrupt.This is similar to IndividualVoluntary Agreements inEngland and Wales,although there areimportant differences in theway they are set up andadministered.

Chart 4. Awards of bankruptcy by type (debtor applications only): Scotland, Aprilto June 2009 to January to March 2019, quarterly data (figures for 2018­19provisional) (table D1)

In Scotland, a trustee is appointed to administer each bankruptcy. TheAccountant in Bankruptcy (The Accountant) will be the trustee unlessan insolvency practitioner is nominated to act. In all cases awardedunder MAP, The Accountant must act as trustee. In the fourth quarter of2018­19, The Accountant was appointed trustee in 1,048 casesawarded, 85.7% of bankruptcies for the quarter.

Case administration

A debtor in a bankruptcy will normally be bankrupt for one year. Afterthis period they may be discharged. Although the debtor is discharged,the administration of the bankruptcy continues until the trustee hasdealt with all of the estate and accounted for their work so that they canseek their own discharge. A debtor must continue to co­operate withthe trustee until the trustee's discharge.

In 2018­19 Q4, there were 962 debtors discharged and 1,420 trusteesdischarged.

Bankruptcies discharged

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Debt Arrangement Scheme

The Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) is a statutory debt managementsolution administered by AiB. Under DAS, a debtor commits to a DebtPayment Programme (DPP) which allows them to repay their debtsbased on their disposable income while they are protected fromcreditors taking any action against them to recover their debt. If theDPP is approved, all interest, fees and charges on the debt will befrozen and waived if the programme is completed in full.

Key terms

Insolvency Practitioner:a person (usually, but notnecessarily, a charteredaccountant) licensed andauthorised to act as atrustee in sequestrations ortrust deeds.

Trustee: person whoadministers a bankruptcyor trust deed. Insequestrations a trusteecan be either the AiB or aprivate insolvencypractitioner. In trust deeds,trustees must be aninsolvency practitioner.

Chart 5. Personal insolvencies by type: Scotland, April to June 2005 to January toMarch 2019, quarterly data (figures for 2018­19 provisional) (table D1)

As with awards of bankruptcies, the trend in PTDs registered is likely tobe affected by legislative and operational changes. For example, theBADA(S) reforms, introduced from 1 April 2015, aligned the paymentperiod in bankruptcy and PTDs to 48 months. Prior to this, thoseagreeing to a PTD were typically paying contributions for anadditional year compared with those in bankruptcy. These changeshave likely led to an increase in PTD activity levels. In 2018­19 Q4,more PTDs were registered than bankruptcy awards, as has been thecase since 2015­16 Q1.

PTDs discharged

A debtor in a PTD is normally discharged after 48 months. If the debtormakes the agreed payments, and co­operates with the trustee then thetrustee will apply to AiB for the debtor to be discharged.

After the debtor has been discharged, the trustee may remain in officeas long as necessary to conclude the administration of the trust deed.

In the fourth quarter of 2018­19, there were 991 debtors dischargedand 1,515 trustees discharged.

AiB 2017­18 corporatereport

The AiB Annual Report andAccounts for 2017­18include a summary oninsolvency statistics in2017­18 and additionalinformation on division offunds by bankruptcy typeas well as local authorityanalysis. The 2017­18annual report is availablehere.

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Approved DAS applications

In 2018­19 Q4, there were 597 approved DPPs under DAS comparedwith the 489 approved in 2017­18 Q4 (see chart 6). Approved DASDPPs increased year­on­year between 2006­07 and 2012­13 likely dueto changes in legislation and improvements to the DAS Administrator’sIT system (see the background section for more information onlegislative changes).

Completed DAS DPPs

A DPP reaches completion when the debt in the DPP has been paid infull, minus the fees paid to the DAS Administrator and the paymentsdistributor. There were 413 completed DAS DPPs in 2018­19 Q4, a2.2% increase when compared with 2017­18 Q4.

The volume of DAS completions will depend on activity levels severalyears earlier with the average length of a DPP under DAS beingaround seven years. We can expect a lower but steady volume ofcompletions in line with current applications approved compared withprevious completion levels.

Variations to a DASDPP

If a debtor's circumstanceschange and they can nolonger afford the agreedpayments, or if they wantto increase the level ofpayment, they can applyfor a variation to their DASDPP. Variations can alsoinclude a change to thelength of the DPP orattaching a new condition.

In the fourth quarter of2018­19, 657 applicationsto vary a DPP under DASwere approved while 35were rejected. The numberof approved variations was5.4% of live DAS cases.

Revocations to a DASDPP

A DPP is automaticallyrevoked if the debtor ismade bankrupt or enters atrust deed which becomesprotected. There are also anumber of grounds wherethe debtor, a moneyadviser acting on behalf ofthe debtor or a creditor inthe DPP can apply torevoke a DPP. If the DPPis revoked, the debtor maybe liable for all interest,fees, penalties and othercharges that would havebeen payable had the DPPnot been approved.

A total of 313 applicationsto revoke a DAS DPP wereapproved in the fourthquarter of 2018­19 and141 were rejected. Overall,325 or 2.7% of live DAScases were revoked during2018­19 Q4.

Chart 6. Approved DPP under DAS: Scotland, April to June 2006 to January toMarch 2018, quarterly data (figures for 2018­19 provisional) (table D1)

The sharp decrease in DAS approvals in 2015­16 (from 4,156 to 2,043)was likely due a number of reasons including legislative changes andthe availability of DAS from insolvency practitioners. The attractivenessof DAS relative to other statutory debt solutions could have also beenaffected by changes to regulatory procedures, operated by theFinancial Conduct Authority, in relation to money advisers andinsolvency practitioners.

DAS applications andrejections

In the fourth quarter of2018­19, 651 applicationsfor a DAS DPP werereceived by AiB. In thesame quarter, 28applications were rejected.

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AiB develops policy for certain aspects of corporate insolvency and isresponsible for receiving and recording information on liquidations andreceiverships of Scottish businesses, held in the Register ofInsolvencies (RoI).

The RoI contains details of liquidation and receivership of Scottishbusinesses which are wound up by either a Sheriff Court or the Courtof Session. AiB is required to be notified of all company liquidationsand receiverships in Scotland.

The statistics presented below are based on the date the insolvencywas registered on AiB's administrative system. There is a time lagbetween the dates when a corporate insolvency is awarded or amember voluntary liquidation is registered and when AiB receivesnotice. The figures, therefore, reported by AiB may not exactly reflectthe number of corporate insolvencies awarded or member voluntaryliquidations registered in a quarter.

Table 3 shows corporate insolvencies by type between 2017­18 Q1and 2018­19 Q4. The majority of corporate insolvencies arecompulsory liquidations, which increased by 34.2% between 2017­18Q4 and 2018­19 Q4. The annual change in corporate insolvencies was9.3% from 884 in 2017­18 to 966 in 2018­19.

Corporate insolvency Devolved and reservedelements

AiB is responsible fordevolved elements ofcorporate insolvency,including: development ofpolicy on liquidation andreceivership, and themanagement andmaintenance of the RoI.

Reserved elements remainthe responsibility of the UKGovernment and are dealtwith by The InsolvencyService, an executiveagency sponsored by theDepartment for Business,Energy & IndustrialStrategy. Reservedelements include:company voluntaryarrangements,administration, legal effectsof liquidation andregulation of insolvencypractitioners. Statistics onthese reserved elementsare available from TheInsolvency Service.

Coherence with TheInsolvency Service

Corporate insolvencystatistics from AiB differfrom equivalent statisticsfrom The InsolvencyService, who source theirdata from CompaniesHouse. Differences aremainly due to AiB using itsown administrativesystem’s data rather thanthe start date of theinsolvency.

Amount repaid under DAS

In 2018­19 Q4, £9.4 million was repaid from debtors under DAS,similar to the £9.3 million repaid in 2017­18 Q4. Through DAS,creditors receive a minimum of 90% of the debt owed to them fromdebtors (after DAS Administrator and payments distributor fees). Afterthese fees have been deducted £8.7 million was paid to creditors in2018­19 Q4.

Table 3. Summary of corporate insolvencies and MVLs for January to March 2019(2018­19 Q4): Scotland, quarterly data (table D1)

DAS outcomes

The AiB annual report for2017­18 includes detailson the outcome of DAScases awarded since2005­06, available here.

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Key terms

Receivershipappointments: a receiveris appointed by a lenderholding a charge oversome or all of thecompany's assets. Themain responsibilities of areceiver are to ensure theappointing lender is paidoff.

Compulsory liquidation:or winding up by the courtis a procedure by whichthe assets of a companyare sold, and the proceedsare distributed to thecompany's creditors. Acourt order is required toput a company intocompulsory liquidation.

Creditors' voluntaryliquidation: a director canpropose a creditors’voluntary liquidation if thecompany can’t pay itsdebts (it’s ‘insolvent’) orenough shareholdersagree. This means thecompany will stop tradingand be liquidated (‘woundup’).

Members' voluntaryliquidation: theshareholders of a solventcompany adopt a voluntarywinding up resolution andappoint a liquidator torealise the assets of thebusiness in order todistribute the proceeds tocompany members. Acompany is consideredlegally solvent when it isable to meet its financialobligations and the valueof its assets.

Chart 7. Total corporate insolvencies and MVLs: Scotland, April to June 2010 toJanuary to March 2019, quarterly data (figures for 2018­19 provisional) (table D1)

There were 280 corporate insolvencies in 2018­19 Q4 compared with259 in 2017­18 Q4 (see chart 7). Corporate insolvencies includereceiverships appointments, compulsory liquidations and creditors’voluntary liquidations.

The chart also shows the number of Members’ Voluntary Liquidations(MVLs). Retirement of company member(s), restructuring of acompany, deregistering an inactive company or changes in theprofitability of a market are some of the reasons why member(s) of acompany may decide to adopt a voluntary winding up resolution andappoint a liquidator to realise the assets of the business and distributethe proceeds among the company members. There were 137 MVLs in2018­19 Q4 compared with 119 in 2017­18 Q4.

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Infographic: January to March 2019 (2018­19 Q4)

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Background information

Data Sources

These official statistics provide key information on personal and corporate insolvencies inScotland. Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff. Furtherinformation on the standards of official statistics in Scotland is available here.

The statistics for individual insolvencies (bankruptcies and PTDs) and DAS are derived fromadministrative data of records processed within AiB and stored on the systems BASYS, ASTRAand DASH respectively. The exception to this is creditor and trustee petition bankruptcies whichare sourced from the courts that grant them and subsequently stored on the BASYS system.

Corporate insolvencies are derived from administrative records provided by the courts,administrators and receivers.

Methodology

Figures are produced from tabulation of raw data from relevant administrative systems for thenumber of bankruptcies, PTDs, DPPS under DAS and corporate insolvencies.

The numbers of personal insolvencies reported are based on the date of the court order,agreement of the insolvency procedure or approval date.

For creditor petitions, the published figures will be influenced by, for example, the late reportingof court orders which may lead to underestimating the number of creditor petitions awarded.Creditor petitions statistics are subsequently adjusted after the final quarterly release of thefinancial year and the revised figures are reflected in the first quarterly report of the next financialyear.

DPP under DAS statistics are based on the date the DPP was approved. Corporate insolvenciesare based on the date the insolvency was registered in AiB’s administrative recording system.

Revisions

Revisions are usually made as a result of data being sent to AiB and logged on to theadministrative systems after the cut­off date for data being extracted from the systems toproduce the statistics. These revisions tend to be small in the context of overall totals.

From 2018­19 Q1, scheduled revisions will occur every quarter, which will provide users withdata in a more timely manner and improve the accuracy of provisional estimates as moreinformation becomes available. On the first release of the quarterly statistics, all new quarterlydata are given provisional status and labelled with 'p'. These statistics will remain provisionaluntil the data is finalised (i.e. no planned revisions). Any revisions that occur will be clearlymarked with 'r' and an explanatory footnote in the relevant table. As is the current policy,revisions made for any other reason will be highlighted separately. Finalised figures will bepublished in the first quarter of the next financial year as the current policy states. Further detailson the new revisions policy for scheduled revisions is shown in the table below.

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Quality

Relevance

The statistics produced by AiB are the most complete record of the number of personal andcorporate insolvencies in Scotland. They include all statutory insolvency procedures available.Statistics on DAS, the only statutory debt management solution available in Scotland, are alsoincluded.

The statistics presented here do not include non­statutory debt solutions. This is where debtorsmake their own arrangements with creditors or enter informal debt management plans with adebt management firm.

The demand for statutory debt solutions should be seen within the context of the overall debtsolution market (both statutory and non­statutory solutions). This demand will be affected bychanges in the legislative and regulative environment. For example, changes to regulatoryprocedures operated by the Financial Conduct Authority could affect the supply of non­statutorysolutions and in turn the demand for statutory debt solutions.

Key users of AiB’s insolvency statistics are: AiB itself, which has policy responsibility for personalinsolvencies in Scotland; the insolvency profession; debt advice agencies; media organisations;academics; creditors and the general public.

Accuracy and completeness

All formal insolvency procedures entered into by a company, a partnership or an individual arerequired by law to be reported to the appropriate body, so the statistics should be a completerecord of statutory insolvency in Scotland.

The numbers of bankruptcies, PTDs and DAS DPPs are based on the date of the order,agreement of the insolvency procedure or the approval date, not on the date it was registered onthe administrative recording system. This does not have any implication for cases processedwithin AiB. However, the published number of creditor petitions will be influenced by, forexample, the late reporting of creditor petitions court orders, which may lead to missing data.

Scheduled revisions for Quarterly Scottish Insolvency Statistics

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The number of corporate insolvencies are based on the date the insolvency was registered onthe AiB corporate insolvency recording system (BASYS). The corporate insolvency figures willbe influenced by, for example, the late reporting of orders which may lead to a quarter's figurescontaining cases awarded in the previous quarter. This should be noted when makingcomparisons of trends over time or comparing with other sources of data.

Checks are in place to identify and remove duplication of cases when extracting data from theadministrative systems, to make sure that returns cover all debt management solutions, and tocheck consistency within tables and between related tables.

Coherence

AiB publishes year end totals of the quarterly statistics in its annual corporate report. Thesenumbers may differ slightly to those reported throughout the year but the quarterly statistics aresubsequently revised to match.

When producing statistics by local authority, numbers may differ slightly as postcodes of debtorscannot always be assigned, where this occurs these differences will be highlighted.

Overall, the annual corporate report and quarterly official statistics are the definitive source ofstatistics for statutory debt solutions in Scotland.

AiB is required to be notified of all company liquidations and receiverships in Scotland, andpublishes quarterly official statistics based on its own administrative records. These differ fromthe UK Insolvency Service's Insolvency Statistics publications, which use data from CompaniesHouse as the source. Differences are due to AiB using its own administrative system’s datarather than the start date of the insolvency.

Timeliness and punctuality

The Scottish Insolvency Statistics are published on the fourth Wednesday of the month followingthe end of the quarter being reported on. This publication date allows receipt of all the datainputs and sufficient time for quality assurance of the data extracts, tabulating records andcompleting the compilation of the statistical release.

Accessibility and clarity

The Scottish Insolvency Statistics are available free of charge to the end user on the AiBwebsite. They are released via the website and ScotStat. Contact details can be found at theend of these background notes for any specific data requests.

Comparability

Changes in legislation and policy can affect the extent to which comparisons can be made overtime for individual data series. Where such changes are known, they have been highlighted inthe commentary and in the general background notes.

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Insolvency legislation

AiB supervises all personal insolvencies in Scotland and administers those bankruptcies whereThe Accountant is appointed as trustee.

Insolvent individuals in Scotland are subject to bankruptcy (sequestration) or enter PTDs underthe Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985 (the 1985 Act). The 1985 Act was amended by theBankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1993 and on 1 April 2008, part 1 of the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc.(Scotland) Act 2007 came into force making changes to some aspects of bankruptcy in Scotland.Changes included the introduction of a type of bankruptcy for people with low income and lowassets (LILA). The changes also took a number of processes out of the Scottish Court system,reducing costs and freeing up court time.

There were a number of changes to bankruptcy, debt relief and money advice in Scotlandintroduced by the Bankruptcy and Debt Advice (Scotland) Act 2014 (BADA(S)) which came intoforce from 1 April 2015, and amended the 1985 Act. A new type of bankruptcy was introducedthrough the BADA(S) for people on low income who do not own property and have very little insavings or other assets. This is known as Minimal Asset Process (MAP), and it replaced LILA.

On 30 November 2016 the new Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 came into force. TheBankruptcy (Scotland) Act brought together Scottish laws on insolvency for the first time.Although no new policies were introduced, this consolidation exercise has made the complexarea of bankruptcy more accessible for insolvency professionals, money advisers and thoseexperiencing financial difficulties.

DAS is administered by AiB. A DPP approved under DAS allow individuals to repay their debts infull over an extended period of time whilst providing protection from enforcement by theircreditors and safeguarding their home as long as mortgage payments are maintained. A DASDPP can last for any reasonable length of time and, if approved, will freeze all interest, fees andcharges on the debt included, resulting in them being waived if the individual fully complete theprogramme.

The legislation relating to DAS is contained in the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland)Act 2002 and subsequent regulations. The Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Regulations2011 increased access to allow more debtors to apply for a debt payment programme underDAS and simplified the process, forms and notices. The Debt Arrangment Scheme (Scotland)Amendment Regulations 2014 made provision for the application of the Common Financial Toolto individuals using the DAS scheme and required all qualifying debts to be included in anapplication by the debtor.

AiB is also responsible for receiving, extracting and recording information from certain formsrelating to company liquidations and receiverships. The legislation appropriate to liquidations andreceiverships is contained in the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Insolvency (Scotland) Rules 1986.

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An Official Statistics publication for Scotland

The figures released today were produced in accordance with professional standards set out inthe Code of Practice for Official Statistics; they undergo regular quality assurance reviews toensure that they meet customer needs.

Correspondence and enquiries

For enquiries about this publication please contact:Ken O'Neill, Statistician, Accountant in BankruptcyE­mail: Ken.O'Neill@aib.gov.uk

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:Office of the Chief StatisticianTelephone: 0131 244 0442E­mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

How to access background or source data

The data collected for this statistical bulletin are available on the AiB Statistics webpages atwww.aib.gov.uk/about­aib/statistics­data/quarterly­reports

Details of bankruptcies, PTDs, liquidations and receiverships can be found on the Register ofInsolvencies, which is maintained by Accountant in Bankruptcy and can be accessed at:https://roi.aib.gov.uk/roi/

The DAS register is an online public register which holds information about those who have aDPP under DAS, available at: https://services.aib.gov.uk/dasregister/

Complaints and suggestions

If you are not satisfied with our service or have any comments or suggestions, please write tothe: Chief Statistician, 2W, St Andrews House, Edinburgh, EH1 3DGTelephone: (0131) 244 0302E­mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

If you would like to be consulted about statistical collections or receive notification ofpublications, please register your interest at: www.gov.scot/scotstat

Details of forthcoming publications can be found at:www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/ForthcomingPubs

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You may use or re­use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format ormedium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. See:www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open­government­licence/