§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the cost to date of the evaluation process of the Scottish bankruptcy system initiated in March 1990.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 21 May 1992]: No specific figures are available for the cost of the evaluation process.
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what consideration the evaluation process initiated in March 1990 has given to the appropriateness of sponsorship by licensed insolvency practitioners of debt helplines or other such means of promulgating insolvency advice to the public.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 21 May 1992]: The sponsorship by insolvency practitioners of helplines is a matter for the ethical committees of the recognised professional bodies to consider. The evaluation of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985 did not specifically cover this area.
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, in the evaluation exercise of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985, the procedures operative in other European countries and in the United States of America and Canada have been considered.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 21 May 1992]: In its review of bankruptcy and insolvency law in Scotland, the Scottish Law Commission considered the procedures operative in a number of other countries and took these into account in framing the recommendations which led to the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985. The Government's evaluation of that Act did not expressly consider practices in other countries.
§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state for each district council in each year since 1976(a) the total number of local authority houses allocated to debtors, as defined by section 73(1) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985, and spouses of debtors, (b) the total rent due by debtors or spouses of debtors, (c) the total rent written off or to be written off by local authorities in respect of debtors or spouses of debtors and (d) what specific allowance is taken of such rent arrears in computation of Government funding for local authorities.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 21 May 1992]: Information relating to local authority house 327W allocations to debtors, as specified by section 73(1) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 1985, and to the spouses of such debtors is not held centrally. Nor is information relating to outstanding rent arrears or rent arrears written off in respect of such debtors or the spouses of such debtors. While estimated local authority rent arrears written off as irrecoverable are included in estimated eligible expenditure for the purpose of determining the housing support grant payable to local authorities in any year, no separate estimate is made of the rent arrears written off in respect of such debtors or the spouses of such debtors.