Official Receiver (Hansard, 11 July 1995)

§ Mr. Soley
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what measures will be taken to ensure the continuity of work in the event of the business of the official receiver being contracted out. [32703]

§ Mr. Jonathan Evans
Officials are exploring arrangements which would enable the transfer of existing cases at 1 April 1996 to contractors to complete their administration.

§ Mr. Soley
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the average cost of dealing with(a) bankruptcy and (b) company liquidations. [32704]

§ Mr. Evans
In the light of the current contracting out exercise, this information is commercially confidential.

§ Mr. Soley
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if, when work currently undertaken by the official receiver is contracted out and the contractor is unable to sustain a lower cost performance, the contract will be cancelled and returned to the official receiver, and if he will make a statement. [32705]

§ Mr. Evans
Potential providers will be asked to submit prices which would be incorporated into the terms of their contract. The Insolvency Service would have the right to terminate the contract should a provider be unable satisfactorily to maintain its terms and conditions. Contracting out to a number of contractors would enable alternate providers to be used in the event of a contract cancellation.