Insolvency Service (Hansard, 20 June 1995)

§ Mr. Jim Cunningham
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to ensure that the cost of the private sector operations of the Insolvency Service will not rise disproportionately. [27799]

§ Mr. Jonathan Evans
The contracting-out exercise will explore possible charging mechanisms for contracting out although it is likely that an inclusive single charge for the work to be undertaken on each case will prove most appropriate. Under any such arrangements the cost of any work done by contractors would vary in proportion to the number of cases which needed to be dealt with.

§ Mr. Jim Cunningham
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what changes have occurred to the plans for the contracting out of services for the Insolvency Service as a result of experience of private sector insolvency services in Scotland. [27800]

§ Mr. Jonathan Evans
None. Any contracting-out of official receivers' functions in England and Wales will be on the basis of value for money.
173W

§ Mr. Jim Cunningham
To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many official receivers' offices will be closed as a result of the contracting out of services of the Insolvency Service. [27801]

§ Mr. Jonathan Evans
No decisions have yet been taken in relation to the residual size and location of the Insolvency Service should contacting out go ahead. It is not expected that a decision will be able to be made until conclusions on contracting out have been reached.

§ Mr. Jim Cunningham
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the implications of contractors referring to the Official Receiver only cases where a criminal offence is suspected for directors and people declared bankrupt in respect of cautions under section 67 and 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. [27802]

§ Mr. Jonathan Evans
It is anticipated that contractors would report to the official receiver in all cases so that they could decide whether any further investigation was required. Official receivers may require a bankrupt or company director to attend for interview on more than one occasion and any further interviews conducted by the official receiver once the case has been reported on by a contractor will be conducted on the same basis as at present so that the provisions of sections 67 and 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 will not apply.

§ Mr. Jim Cunningham
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the implications of a requirement on the official receiver to issue cautions under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 for the provisions of the Insolvency Acts in respect of the requirement on directors and people declared bankrupt to answer questions. [27803]

§ Mr. Jonathan Evans
Counsel's advice obtained by my officials is that the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 does not currently apply to the official receiver's investigative work and that in the current state of the law contracting out would not alter the position.

§ Mrs Helen Jackson
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if staff of the official receiver's office transferred to the private sector will retain the terms and conditions of their original employment for the duration of their contracts. [28825]

§ Mr. Jonathan Evans
If, in the event of contracting out proceeding, staff were to transfer to the private sector under the terms of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981, their existing terms and conditions would be retained. If TUPE were deemed not to apply, any staff who wished to transfer to successful bidders would, in the normal way, be responsible for agreeing the terms and conditions on which they were prepared to be employed.