§ Mr. Leeasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the total number of company winding-up orders during the last 12 months; how many of these were creditors' wind-ups ; how many were members' ; and how many wind-up proceedings were made at the instance of Government.
§ Mr. Clinton Davis:The provisional total for company liquidations involving insolvency in the year 1978 is 5,080, of which 2,240 are compulsory liquidations —that is, stemming from court winding-up orders—and 2,840 creditors' voluntary liquidations. Members' voluntary liquidations, when the company is not insolvent, provisionally totalled 3,624.
No central statistics are kept of winding-up orders made as a result of petitions by Government Departments but the total recorded by Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise, Department of Health and Social Security and Department of Trade was about 790. Those resulting from petitions by other Government Departments are likely to be very few. These figures do not include winding-up orders on other creditors' petitions supported by the departments concerned.