§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy to use bankruptcy and winding-up orders only as a last resort, and to negotiate payment by instalment of those affected, wherever possible.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonWhere my Department is a creditor I would expect every effort to be made to effect recovery, including consideration of accepting payment by instalments, prior to commencing insolvency proceedings. I am sure that most creditors adopt this same, practical approach.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the number of bankruptcies and company winding-up orders for each year since 1987; and what percentage of these were carried out at the instigation of petitions by(a) the Inland Revenue, (b) Customs and Excise and (c) other Government Departments or official body.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonThe number of bankruptcies and company winding-up orders for each year since 1987 is 'set out in table 1.
The number of bankruptcy or company winding-up orders obtained by various Government Departments since 1987 is set out in tables 2 to 5:
Table 1 Number of Bankruptcies and Company Winding-Up Orders 1987–93 England and Wales 1 Bankruptcies Company Winding-up Orders 1987 6,994 4,116 1988 7,717 3,667 1989 8,138 4,020 1990 12,058 5,977 1991 22,632 8,368 1992 32,106 9,734 1993 30,958 8,361 Source: Department of Trade and Industry.
1Bankruptcies covers bankruptcy orders and administration orders on bankrupt estates.
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Table 5 Company winding-up orders following petitions brought by Government Departments 1987–93 (where statistics recorded by fiscal years) England and Wales Company Winding-up orders Customs and Excise Percentage of total Department of Trade and Industry Percentage of total 1987–88 3,952 690 17.46 18 0.56 1988–89 3,554 552 15.53 14 0.39 1989–90 4,289 1,172 27.33 19 0.42 1990–91 6,786 1,649 24.30 30 0.40
Table 2 Bankruptcies following Petitions brought by Government Departments 1987–93 (where statistics recorded by calendar year) England and Wales Inland Revenue Percentage of total Department of Social Security Percentage of total 1987 992 14.18 n.a. n.a. 1988 1,363 17.66 n.a. n.a. 1989 1,349 16.58 n.a. n.a. 1990 1,394 11.56 190 1.58 1991 1,865 8.24 252 1.11 1992 2,003 6.24 467 1.45 1993 2,347 7.58 219 0.71 Source: Board of Inland Revenue; Department of Social Security.
n.a.=not available.
Table 3 Company Winding-Up Orders following Petitions brought by Government Departments 1987–93 (where statistics recorded by calendar years) England and Wales Inland Revenue Percentage of total Department of Social Security Percentage of total 1987 254 6.17 n/a n/a 1988 237 6.46 n/a n/a 1989 314 7.81 n/a n/a 1990 463 7.75 221 3.70 1991 786 9.39 162 1.94 1992 986 10.13 190 1.95 1993 812 9.71 289 3.46 n/a = not available Source: Board of Inland Revenue; Department of Social Security.
Table 4 Bankruptcy Orders following Petitions brought by Government Departments 1987–93 (where statistics recorded by fiscal years) England and Wales Bankruptcy Orders Customs and Excise Percentage of total 1987–88 7,365 778 10.56 1988–89 7,597 1,010 13.29 1989–90 8,680 1,047 12.06 1990–91 14,379 1,394 9.69 1991–92 26,186 3,025 11.55 1992–93 33,152 3,726 11.24 Source: Department of Trade and Industry; Board of Customs and Excise.
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Company winding-up orders Customs and Excise Percentage of total Department of Trade and Industry Percentage of total 1991–92 8,911 2,098 23.54 16 0.19 1992–93 9,542 3,434 35.99 12 0.14 Source: Board of Customs and Excise; Department of Trade and Industry.