§ 39. Mr. Boyd-Carpenterasked the Attorney-General how many copies of Form B.10A were sent out by the Land Registry during the last year; how many staff were employed on this work; what was the cost to public funds; how many of the recipients turned out in the event to be the bankrupt concerned; and how many did not.
§ The Attorney-General1,194 forms B.10A were issued in 1967. It is estimated that the work, which was carried out in the nine District Land Registries, would occupy one man for three weeks in a year, with some supervision, at an estimated annual cost of £180. 171 24 recipients of the form proved to be the bankrupts concerned; 1,023 did not.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterDo not the last figures given by the Attorney-General show how inaccurate is the gunnery in respect of this missive? As every one of these forms sent to an innocent person can cause alarm and involve him in difficulties if he happens to be away, will not the right hon. and learned Gentleman reconsider the whole procedure?
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe purpose of the legislation is to protect creditors and to prevent a bankrupt from quickly selling a parcel of land which he may own, to the detriment of the creditor. The fact that the procedure has worked with the sort of results which I have indicated shows that on the whole it is, I think, a satisfactory procedure. It is just as important for the question of identity to be cleared negatively as affirmatively. I am not convinced that the procedure is unsatisfactory.