HC Deb 26 May 1994 vol 244 cc316-7W
Mrs. Fyfe

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy to seek to amend the Insolvency Act 1986 so as to make it possible for creditors who do not have substantial funds to raise court action through the liquidator in cases of alleged fraudulent trading or wrongful trading.

Mr. Neil Hamilton

I have no plans to do so. It is a matter for those who stand to benefit in individual cases to provide the funds to take such actions.

Mr. Deva

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action he intends to take following the enactment of the Insolvency Act 1994, regarding the position of receivers or managers who are not administrative receivers and their liability under contracts of employment they may adopt.

Mr. Neil Hamilton

The Government wish to learn the views of interested parties on whether it would be appropriate to extend the restrictions that the Insolvency Act 1994 introduced in relation to liability under contracts of employment adopted by administrators and administrative receivers and receivers in Scotland, to other receivers or managers.

During the passage of the Bill I indicated that extending its provisions to other receivers or managers would go beyond the Bills narrow purpose and that such a step would need careful consideration. Interested parties are therefore invited to submit their views on this issue to The Insolvency Service (Policy Unit) at PO Box 203, 21 Bloomsbury street, London WC1B 3QW, by 15 August 1994.