§ Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade what is the average amount of fees payable on a debtor's petition in bankruptcy with declared assets of less than £500, and the estimated average percentage costs of realisation.
§ Mr. DarlingOn a petition by a debtor who is not represented by a solicitor the fees total £10. It is estimated that, if a debtor is represented by a solicitor, additional expenses of about £13 will be incurred in an average case with assets up to £300 and additional expenses of about £25 in an average case with assets between £301 and £500.
The estimated average percentage of costs of administration in relation to amounts realised in cases with assets up to £500 is about 53 and in all cases about 37. A large proportion of the cases with assets up to £500 consists of cases in which the assets are less than £100.
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§ Mr. Haleasked the President of the Board of Trade what is the number of official receivers in bankruptcy in England and Wales; and what is the total cost to public funds of the bankruptcy service.
§ Mr. DarlingOfficial receivers in bankruptcy also deal with compulsory liquidations of companies. There are 34 official receivers in England and Wales.
The total cost of the service to public funds (i.e., after deduction of fees, etc.), for the year to 31st March, 1966, was about £966,000 (bankruptcy £887,000, companies winding-up £79,000).
Further information about bankruptcies and liquidations may be obtained from the Bankruptcy and Companies General Annual Reports, copies of which are available in the Library. It is hoped to publish the reports for 1966 shortly.